YMMV / Steven Universe S2E25 "The Answer"

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Blue Diamond really as unstable as Garnet said? Or was this because the story comes from two heavily biased Gems that didn't know her personally? Or was Garnet making her seem like a villain to make Steven think of her as one?
  • Given how differently Gems view time due to being ostensibly immortal, how long were Ruby and Sapphire truly on Earth before Pearl and Rose found them? Was it an afternoon? A week or so? Maybe even a few months?
  • The gems of Blue Diamond's court all seem to be instantly offended at the concept of Sapphire and Ruby's fusion, instantly converging on her while ignoring the terrorist attack that just happened in their midst. Did it really happen this way, or was it just Garnet's bias of the events coloring her retelling?
• Fan Nickname: Garnet's first form is called "Cotton Candy Garnet."
• Fridge Horror: If Garnet was the very first cross-gem fusion (or at least the first in recorded history), it may have been her fighting in the war that demonstrated their power to Homeworld... and inspired the fusion experiments.
• Genius Bonus: The episode takes place 5750 years ago, which would put it right around the date of the creation of the world (3750 BC) as calculated by the Tanakh (aka the Hebrew Bible).
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Bad Pearl fan art meme. It turns out that Pearl is EXACTLY THAT in the context of Homeworld Gem society, "her (Rose Quartz's) terrifying renegade Pearl."
• I Knew It!: The fan theory about there being a Blue Diamond proved correct.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: The episode got some complaints that 11 minutes wasn't enough time to properly tell this story, ending up making it look like Ruby and Sapphire were Love at First Sight despite Garnet's previous declaration to Jamie that such a thing doesn't exist. Perhaps in an attempt to combat that, there is a children's book of this episode. It's said that the book gives more detail than the episode could.
• Strawman Has a Point: While Sapphire's schtick as The Fatalist made it relatively understandable for Ruby to do what she did, throwing herself into an attempted Heroic Sacrifice (and accidentally fusing with Sapphire) was actually unnecessary within context. Sapphire only said that the physical forms of various gems (including herself) would be destroyed. She didn't say that Rose and Pearl would destroy Sapphire's namesake. Though, it's entirely possible Ruby just didn't know that, either through not hearing a private conversation between Blue Diamond and Sapphire, or not understanding Sapphire's words correctly.
• The Woobie: Poor, poor Ruby... Not only did this episode show how Homeworld's Fantastic Caste System made her not care for her own existence (which add a darker tone to her line in "Jail Break"), but she keeps blaming herself throughout the episode of putting Sapphire in danger. Even more? She was going to get shattered just for doing her job.

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