History FridgeBrilliance / StevenUniverse

* The "Steven Universe Future" opening theme is a shortening of "Happily Ever After" from the movie. One line from the original prominently cut from the opening version is, "Nothing to fear, no one to fight." The place in the title sequence where this line would be sung shows an antagonist lineup, showing that there ''is'' something to fear and someone to fight. But even still, the protagonists will "so happily face whatever comes their way."

** Quite conspicuous is the fact that Rose Quartz is the only one that ''isn't'' a birthstone gem. Rose Quartz's gem is [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter actually Pink Diamond]], and Diamond is the birthstone April.

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[[folder:General]]

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[[folder:Season 5]]
%%[[AC:Stuck Together]]

[[AC:The Trial]]
* While many people think Yellow is Pink's murderer for poofing the Zircons, remember that Blue Zircon accused her of '''murdering her own sister.''' Yellow is meant to be a Foil to Amethyst, both being known for temper, and Blue Zircon accusing the temperamental Commander-in-Chief Yellow Diamond of such an act would likely be a recipe for disaster.
** In addition, we know from Message Received that Yellow Diamond especially doesn't like being disrespected by a low-ranking gem. It's possible that Yellow would've been more amenable if, say, it was a high-ranking commander like Emerald speculating "Could she have been betrayed by an aristocrat?" as opposed to a lowly defense attorney basically shouting "YOU DID IT!" at her, which would certainly be more likely to piss her off.
* Why would Blue Pearl be assigned to draw the events of Steven's trial? In real life, criminal trials were often private with no cameras allowed, so courtroom artists were usually the only way the media could see what happened in the court room.
** Notice the way she draws Steven and the defense. He looks wonky and overall terrible, only drawing him at his weakest points. She is likely making him look bad intentionally to uphold the image of the Diamonds.
* This episode explains why Steven started crying Blue Diamond's tears while she was on the opposite side of the planet: Blue Diamond has empathy powers. Steven's own [[TheEmpath psychic powers]] must have been subconsciously triggered by her presence.
* Blue thinking that Rose used her sword to shatter Pink when we know it's impossible makes sense ''only'' if it was a FrameUp by someone who didn't know that particular fact.
** Though this causes FridgeLogic when we later fight out [[spoiler: Pink's "assassins" DID know that fact.]]
* Why are the lawyers Zircon Gems? In Gemstone mythos, Zircons are known for repelling negative energy.
* Despite Blue wanting "Rose" to have a FateWorseThanDeath, she insists on going through with the trial, and not accepting Steven's confession when he's pretty much demanding to be executed. Why? Because she doesn't want revenge; she wants closure. She wants to know how Pink died, if she could have prevented it, because nothing in her view can shatter a Diamond. Blue was hoping that "Rose" would have the answer. When "Rose" doesn't, Blue breaks down, and is more willing to hear that Rose was framed with the holes in the testimony. Visiting Earth and knowing it's doomed hasn't brought her solace the way it has offered Yellow revenge. It only makes Blue sad to see needless destruction.
* Whether or not the Breaking Point was used, we can see another reason for Rose to be against it: the backlash against a Diamond being shattered was a Corruption Beam hitting the Earth, wiping out most of the Gems there. Taking the fight to Homeworld would have been a SuicideMission for Bismuth because even if she got close enough to shatter the Diamonds, she'd have to deal with their retinues and Pearls.
* In "Cry For Help", Garnet failed to see who was fixing the Communication Hub because she was looking for Peridot fixing it, not Pearl. Pink Diamond's Sapphires were likely specifically looking for ''Rose'' attacking, and would have missed any other attacker because of that.
** Garnet's Future Vision and the Future Vision of a Sapphire are totally different according to WordofGod. Sapphire can only see one, usually precise future, which is why she never saw the possibility that Ruby would ruin capturing Rose and Pearl by saving her. Garnet, however, can see multiple outcomes, as a result of Ruby's drive and hands-on influence (something that the singular and idle Sapphire lacks). For Ruby, '''everything and anything''' can happen and would be best to be prepared for any scenario like most soldiers, unlike Sapphire who is focused on the only one outcome and thrown into chaos if she encountered something that she doesn't expect.
* When Blue Zircon argues how Rose couldn't have shattered Pink Diamond, she mentions how Pink's court, which included Sapphires and Agates, would have seen Rose coming and acted to prevent her from coming near Pink. The flashback in ''The Answer'' supports this by showing what happened when Rose tried to attack a Diamond, specifically Blue. Sapphire, then under Blue, was able to foresee the Crystal Gems' attack on the court. When Rose and CG!Pearl appeared, the Quartz soldiers present then went straight for them while Blue fled in her palanquin. The main reason Rose and Pearl were able to get away was because Ruby accidentally fused with Sapphire while knocking her out of CG! Pearl's way, which distracted the court long enough to let the two escape. It did prove, however, that a known rebel Gem getting close to a Diamond would have been a difficult if not impossible task, further supporting the theory that Pink's shattering was an inside job.
* When Blue Diamond unleashes her grief-filled EmotionBomb after questioning Steven, notice how, while still crying, Blue Pearl is faring better emotionally than Yellow Pearl, who does some OcularGushers. Being constantly in [[TheEeyore Blue Diamond]]'s presence, and constantly exposed to human emotions all the time, would naturally make Blue Pearl better prepared to handle her master's outbursts.
** On a similar note, why do some of the individuals in the courtroom, when they start tearing up, look confused, or even just annoyed? With Steven(whom they believe is Rose Quartz) making statements that contradict the actual events of Pink's shattering, as well as the other factors regarding the travesty that didn't piece together properly, it was likely that she was just as overwhelmed with confusion as she was grief, and that carried over via her EmotionBomb.
* Why didn't either Yellow Diamond or Blue Diamond think to simply look for the missing Pink Diamond's Pearl to ask what happened at Pink Diamond's shattering? Because they were more concerned with a fellow Diamond's murder than a missing, low-ranked Pearl who would have been the key to solve the Diamond's death since logically, pearls would be at their masters' side 24/7. Their own proud FantasticCasteSystem played against them that StatingTheSimpleSolution is out of their reach.
** Might relate to the whole Diamond setup thing. In-universe, if Yellow has anything to do with it, she might not have wanted Pink Pearl there, because she would tell the truth as it happened. From a narrative standpoint, it's for dramatic effect.
** Alternatively, this could also go with the coverup. If Blue or Yellow were the ones to shatter Pink, they might've dismissed her Pearl before doing the job, and just said something like "we were just talking, and all of a sudden, Rose came and shattered Pink!" and when Pink Pearl testified, she couldn't provide any conclusive evidence.
** Another possibility, [[spoiler:later proven correct]], is that Pink's Pearl vanished after the assassination and couldn't be found.
* The traitorous Diamond might not have wanted her testimony, as she could just explain “Rose didn’t do it” whereas with Eyeball, who is smart, yet delusional, would probably believe what she’s told.
* Why is it that Zircon realizes only another Diamond could've shattered Pink, and/or had the authority to cover it up by either collaborating with Rose or blaming it on her? Because in real life, the Diamonds are the only Gemstone who rank 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness, and the only thing that can break another Diamond is a fellow Diamond.
** Except that it's fairly easy to break a diamond. ''Scratching'' one can only be done with another diamond. Hardness is not the same as durability.
* Notice how Yellow and Blue Pearl stop typing/drawing the events after Blue Zircon goes on her rant. They likely did it intentionally so that they could strike it from the record and uphold the overall belief that Rose shattered Pink.
* We have twice seen the Diamonds bring their Pearls with them on hugely personal scenes (Blue bringing her Pearl to Earth with her, Blue and Yellow Pearls being present while the two Diamonds are talking in the bubble room). This gives extra weight to Defense Zircon's argument. Even if Pink Diamond had dismissed or snuck away from the rest of her court in order to have some private time, her Pearl still should have been with her and should have been able to warn her about Rose Quartz.
* The Diamonds have been repeatedly shown to have spectacular levels of power at their disposal. Blue Diamond can alter the emotions of an entire room without even really trying, Yellow can fire blasts powerful enough to instantly poof a gem or slice through thick metal, and all three Diamonds can corrupt an entire ''planet'' of Gems if they combine their powers. So even if Pink Pearl's warning had come too late for Pink Diamond to make it back to her palanquin, even a moment's warning would have given Pink Diamond enough time to ''fight back''. And in a straight-up fight between Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond, Pink would have had a pretty good chance.

[[AC:Off Colors]]
* Rutiles can actually form a branching structure in real life, which explains the twins.
* Why do the devices designed to hunt fugitives depend solely on gem-detecting sensors without so much as a simple camera? Because they're meant to hunt down [[VoluntaryShapeShifting shape shifters]]. By focusing entirely on the one body part a Gem cannot alter, these sensors can find their prey in almost any disguise.
* Why did the Shattering Robonoids come and nearly find the Off-Colors now? Considering how Rose Quartz, the most dangerous Gem to Homeworld, is precisely trapped there, they might've been sent by Yellow Diamond to find "her."
* The Off Colors didn't realize something was wrong with Lars at first because of their unfamiliarity with human biology. Lars wasn't "poofed", and didn't have a gem that could get cracked or shattered, so as far as they could tell he was okay.

[[AC:Lars' Head]]
* The other tree that forms in Rose/Steven's pocket dimension looks quite a bit different than the one that already existed there. Lion's tree looks like an [[http://imgur.com/a/6Xm2a Acacia tree]], while Lars' tree looks like a generic Deciduous tree. In both cases, the trees are native to where the tree's owner is from--Lion from the desert/savanna, and Lars from North America.
** Lars is Filipino. His tree is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterocarpus_indicus narra]], the Philippine national tree.
* Why are there so many Shattering Robonoids all of a sudden? Since the cavern was the last place Rose Quartz was spotted, Yellow probably sent them on a manhunt to find her. The Off-Colors just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
* Lars is so much taller than Steven and he doesn't have much hair, so for Steven to step into it, Lars must kneel down and bow his head forward. It looks very much like Lars is a subject bowing to his liege, Steven.

[[AC:Dewey Wins]]
* Connie not returning Steven's calls parallels "Full Disclosure" only with the roles reversed: Connie doesn't return Steven's calls or talk to him. Only, while Steven was being impulsive by wanting to sever their friendship, Connie was being somewhat mature, as she didn't want to talk to Steven over the phone, but rather resolve their issues in person (at least, after she had time to process everything and realize her ghosting him was as immature as what Steven attempted to do).

[[AC:Raising the Barn]]
* Why does Lapis take the Barn, besides it being a plot device to get Peridot back to the Temple? Perhaps she wanted a memento of Steven and Peridot, as the Barn would serve as a constant reminder to her.

[[AC:Gemcation]]
* If Steven is so worried Connie won’t talk to him, why doesn’t he just go to her house? There's also the fact that the whole reason he didn’t tell his father or the Gems was because he believed they’d be mad at him. He has no way to get there, as Lion stayed with her. Why doesn’t he just get Greg to drive him? Because then he’d have to explain why he’d be going there, and to Steven, it’d run the risk of him having to tell his father the truth.
* The fact that Pearl seems to be literally physically incapable of revealing certain secrets makes a lot of sense when you note that the Diamonds have been shown to take their Pearls with them ''everywhere'', even when they are doing things or having discussions that they don't want anygem else to know about. If you're going to have a servant who is permitted to see the facets of yourself that you want to keep secret, it only makes sense to engineer them to be physically incapable of sharing those secrets.
* Pearl's attempt to talk to Steven about the Gem War on the porch may have been an attempt at LoopholeAbuse. Pink Diamond commanded Pearl never to tell anyone else about how she was "shattered", but since Steven ''is'' Pink Diamond (sort of) and there was nobody else around, Pearl might have thought she could tell Steven.
* Why did Steven think that Greg and the Gems would have sided with Connie if they found out about the fight? Lion, who has always demonstrated UndyingLoyalty to Steven, instantly sided with her and went with her when she stormed off in frustration. If Steven's sacrifice [[EvenTheDogIsAshamed caused Lion to be furious with him and leave]], from Steven't point-of-view, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume that everybody else was just as mad.

%%[[AC:Sadie Killer]]

%%[[AC:Kevin Party]]

[[AC:Lars of the Stars]]
* It might have looked like that Padparadscha having a position of Technical Advisor was just the Off Colors being nice to her by giving her a cool title; after all, what is the benefit of getting reports of what just happened? But then again, when there is chaos going on, being reminded of important events that just took the place may clarify the situation (Crew: "AAAAH everything is shaking and objects are being thrown all around the ship!" Padparadscha: "Oh my stars! We will get shot into the wing!" Crew: "Oh yeah, we've got to mind the wing!"). One just needs to translate Padparadscha's future tense into past tense (albeit it might be confusing).
** "Your Mother and Mine" pretty much confirmed this; See the episode notes to see further notes.
* Fluorite being the Chief Engineer may not sound intuitive either, but when given thought, it makes sense. Since she speaks slowly because her component Gems need to agree on what to say next, said component Gems appear to possess and share their respective autonomies. What is the benefit of six semi-independently operating beings in one being? Well, Fluorite (or her components) may focus on several things at once and also have a shared view on what's going on! In other words, Fluorite is a whole TEAM of extremely well-communicating technicians! Given it's a whole spaceship, there may be quite a lot of technological checks throughout the Star Destroyer.
** Her non-humanoid shape might indicate heightened autonomy, too; remember how a centauroid Malachite was not really a single coherent being, but more like Lapis and Jasper constantly trying to dominate the other? While Fluorite is a much more benevolent fusion by her origins (most likely a polyamorous relationship), her caterpillar-like appearance might indicate vaguely similar individualism among her component Gems.
* Lars learns that Stevonnie is a fusion between Steven and Connie for the first time, but his only reaction is a look of mild surprise. Of course, he would be very familiar with fusion as a concept now, he's been hanging out with Rhodonite and Flourite.

[[AC:Jungle Moon]]
* A lot of Pink's determination to keep Earth may have been trying to prove herself to Yellow.
* During the dream sequence, why does Yellow look like Dr. Mahaeswaren, despite the fact Steven already knows what Yellow Diamond looks like? Well, he is fused with Connie, who doesn't, and since dreams come from the subconscious, Connie subconsciously linked the relationship between the young Pink to the cold Yellow, like her relationship with her mother prior to the events of "Nightmare Hospital."
** Why does Pink Diamond look like Stevonnie, excluding the brief cameo at the end when she shatters the glass? Both of their components have no idea what she looks like beyond a brief mural.
*** A Single Pale Rose gives another possible explanation for this. Pink Diamond's actual appearence didn't show up until the very end because [[spoiler: Pink's memory of her own appearance didn't bubble out of Steven's gem until that moment, likely coaxed out by remembering that she saw herself in that mirror]].
* Even though this episode shows Pink Diamond to have poofy hair that is a mix between Blue's curly hair and Yellow's bob, why does Garnet's flashback in "Gemcation" show Pink with big, spiky hair, looking more like her mural? Well, if you go with the whole "Steven's perspective, so he's imagining the flashback" idea, Steven has no idea what Pink looked like, other than a not-so-accurate mural.
* In this episode we learn that Pink Diamond may be defective, as she is shown to be Stevonnie's size, not a giantess like Yellow or Blue. This could account for why the Off-Colors are so reviled on Homeworld and shattered on sight: they might remind Yellow of her fellow Diamond, so she might want to remove them to move on.
* This episode shows that Stevonnie has a special variation on Steven's DreamWalker ability that allows them to see past events through their dreams. This makes sense because, as shown in "Buddy's Book", Connie and Steven have a shared interest in history.
** In "Can't Go Back", Steven shows he can dream past events without being fused.
* Stevonnie doesn't comment on any of the odd parts in their dream until after they wake up. This includes Connie's mother being a giant hybrid of herself and Yellow Diamond, Beach City changing from itself to the control room inexplicably, and Stevonnie themself acting like a brat. This all makes sense because, lucid dreaming aside, nothing in a dream ever seems weird to the dreamer. When was the last time you questioned the fact that you were a killer robot pirate in a dream before you woke up?
* Pink Diamond’s design is shown to be a fusion of Yellow and Blue’s: she has Yellow’s shoulder pads, but also has Blue’s dress, due to her tutu. She has Yellow’s bob, but her hair is poofy like Blue’s. This could offer up another reason why she was trying so hard to colonize the Earth: she was trying to be like Yellow, even by the way she dressed.

[[AC: Your Mother and Mine]]
* In Garnet’s story, there is a clear bias. Why? Because in war, there’s bound to be propaganda from both sides, and the Crystal Gems would be as guilty as Homeworld. While the story might’ve not gone the way she said she did, this is how the Crystal Gems view their side.
** What's more, some parts of ''The Answer'' imply that Ruby and Sapphire only came to Earth ''after'' Pink Diamond had been shattered, and even if she was a Crystal Gem, she probably wasn't there for the actual fight. So she's only repeating what Rose Quartz said, which may or may not have been accurate.
** Ruby and Sapphire came to Earth before Pink's supposed shattering, but Garnet just repeated what Rose told her.
* White Diamond’s silhouette seems to be a hybrid of Yellow and Blue Diamond’s: she has Yellow’s large neck and Blue’s high forehead; Blue Diamond wears a cloak, while Yellow Diamond wears an overcoat and she wears a cape.
* As speculated with Padparadscha's title in "Lars of the Stars", Padparadscha's past vision IS useful: A couple of times, Padparadscha's "predictions" sum up the situation at hand, helping Garnet to realize that she was making the Off Colors uncomfortable by her enthusiasm and making Lars realize that he had been pressing a wrong button when reactivating the ship.
** This sums up the benefit of Padparadscha's ability; instead of seeing that X causes Y, like most Sapphires, Padparadscha sees that Y is caused by X. The time rate is fixed to 30 seconds or so, but it's still really helpful; in situations above, Y happened, but it was unclear what was X (especially in Lars' case). Plus, Padparadscha is vocal about her visions, clarifying points that others might not notice (like in Garnet's case).
* Rose being able to protect her friends from the Corruption Beam isn't just because her shield is really strong, since there was probably at least ''one'' other gem on Earth with a shield for a weapon. Rose's protection worked because of course only a Diamond can shield against another Diamond's attack.

[[AC: The Big Show]]
* When the band is performing "G-G-G-Ghost", why are the Suspects wearing black suits, when earlier we see them wearing homemade Halloween costumes? For the same reason that Sadie enters the stage in a coffin: the song takes place at the funeral of the narrator.
* Why does Steven not actually perform with the Suspects, instead acting as support and roadie? As Buck pointed out in "Sadie Killer", Steven's really bad at being creepy. He's just too cute to fit in with the Suspects' vibe!

[[AC:Pool Hopping]]
* Crosses over into Fridge Heartwarming, but why did Garnet choose the kitten she did to adopt? Because it has one big, blue eye, which likely reminded the Ruby half of Garnet (the more emotionally open of the two) of her beloved 'Laughy Sapphy', who also has, you guessed it, one big, blue eye.

[[AC:Can't Go Back]]
* Lapis being confirmed to have {{FTL}} flight certainly explains how she got back to Homeworld so fast.
* In Steven's dream flashback, Yellow Diamond is shown to ignore Pink Diamond and even Blue Diamond. However, Yellow's attitude towards Blue in the present day seems to have changed a bit. It's possible that losing Pink helped Yellow open up to Blue.
* This episode, along with "Jungle Moon," gives us some insight about how Yellow and Blue treated Pink when she was still around. Yellow seemed to view Pink as an annoyance (or, at least, didn't appreciate Pink's CheerfulChild tendencies interrupting her work); Blue, meanwhile, came off as a bit condescending, reminding Pink that [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor she was the one who wanted a colony]] in the first place, insisting that the "Rose Quartz" rebel [[DramaticIrony was not a problem]], and not letting the smaller Diamond get a word in edgewise. This could explain why Yellow and Blue [[TheEeyore (especially Blue)]] have been taking Pink's "death" so hard, even hundreds of years later: they probably regret the way they treated her back then.

[[AC:A Single Pale Rose]]
* Pink Diamond is the smallest of the Diamonds, and she shares a similar ballerina motif with the Pearls, the lowest social Gem caste in Homeworld. It's no wonder she felt like TheUnFavorite in her 'family'.
** On top of that, her elemental affinity seems to have been for plants and animals, which would have been almost useless on the sterile Gemworlds.
* This episode explains why Steven started seeing visions from Pink Diamond's past. He was seeing his mother's memories of her time as a Diamond all along.
* Pink’s conclusion that the other Diamonds wouldn’t care not only came from some melodramatic idea that her sisters didn't love her, it most likely also came from her seeing them shatter countless other gems without shedding a tear.
* The revelation explains why Steven was seeing things from Blue Diamond's eyes and cries her tears - since his mother was actually Pink Diamond that means he has a special connection to the other Diamonds.
* Pearl being so hurt by Rose keeping secrets from her in "Rose's Scabbard" gains a new dimension here. Given that Pearl kept the secret that Rose was Pink Diamond for millennia it's not surprising that she thought Rose would entrust her with everything.
** It adds a sad angle to the chase later in that episode: Pearl, influenced by her anger, thought that Steven was Pink Diamond (he is her "[[{{Reincarnation}} son]]", after all) and tried pulling a WhatTheHellHero on "Pink" by giving Steven the cold shoulder. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to her that Steven would be ''right near a cliff'' at that moment until it was almost too late.
* Also gaining a new dimension this episode is Pearl's tendency, shown in "Sworn to the Sword", to go around unnecessarily TakingTheBullet for Rose. Regardless of whether it was Pearl acting on her own accord, or acting in response to Pink Diamond's final order to keep their deception secret, Pearl was acting to prevent Rose Quartz from possibly being poofed, because if that happened everyone would see what her Gem ''really'' was.
* Why does Rose insist on poofing Gems instead of shattering them? She doesn't want anyone to [[ShaggyDogStory die in vain for a war fought in her old name of Pink Diamond]]. Imagine dying to avenge your leader, only to discover she was alive this whole time because she wanted to run away from her duties...
** In addition, why is she so strongly against using the Breaking Point to shatter the Diamonds? She doesn't want her sisters ''dead'' either, even if they're on different sides now.
* Rose had a reputation as a brilliant military leader. [[RunningBothSides It’s easy to be a chess master when you control both sides of the board.]]
** The Beta Kindergarten, which was constructed to provide Homeworld with on-site reinforcements during the Rebellion, is a total "rush job"; haphazardly composed, a poor choice of location, and altogether inferior in quality. The gem in charge would have to have been utterly incompetent to greenlight the project - incompetent, or an active saboteur.
* Gem's bodies are made of light, which is energy. The laws of physics say that energy can't be destroyed but transformed. Rose being heavyset, having such amount of hair and wearing a fancy, poofy dress were Pink Diamond compensating for her shorter new height by adding more thickness to her overall design.
** Pink having "more light" to spare in her shapeshift explains how she was able to maintain her "Rose form" for five millennia. And also why she usually went off on her own: if she ever felt tired for the shapeshift, she left Beach City, changed back to Pink, spent a couple of hours resting and changed again.
** The gemstone, even while being rotated, is based on the light reflection and transparency of the gem that causes it to look different when Rose Quartz changes to the shape of Pink Diamond's gemstone.
* Rose having difficulties to understand she was the object of deep affection instead of mere admiration is because, as Pink Diamond, she thought her fellow Diamonds didn't love her enough to even ''care'' for her death and as a figurehead, she was worship but never truly loved by other Gems.
* Pearl and Greg remarked in "Mr. Greg" that Rose always did what she wanted. Pink Diamond, despite her intentions, is a [[RoyalBrat petty, child-like member of basically Gem royalty]] and, like the youngest and more sympathetic of the Diamonds, doesn't consider the consequences of her actions if they do immediate good.
* Garnet's perception of Pink Diamond being a cruel, wicked tyrant makes sense when you remember that Rose planned to have Pink Diamond ''lose'' regardless of the outcome. She likely ''intentionally'' put on the facade to make it so none of the Crystal Gems would miss Pink Diamond. Of course the love from her subjects likely came from her being too caring to actually be a BadBoss.
** It also explains why Garnet seemed to confirm that Rose shattered Pink Diamond in "Bubbled", when it wasn't what happened. Rose and Pearl did everything they could to keep it a secret, so Garnet never suspected and never used her future vision to see what happened.
* Rose Quartz's true identity certainly puts a moment from Bubbled in a new light. Specifically, when Eyeball dismisses Steven's gem and says it doesn't look like a rose quartz? Thats because she isn't. The gem was a pink diamond.
* Steven's increasing displays of SuperStrength over the course of the series have seemed to be beyond what even a Quartz should be capable of, because it's actually Diamond strength.
* The reveal also explains a lot about Steven's own CharacterDevelopment. He started the series off as a bit of a dimwitted brat who meant well, constantly doing reckless things because he thought it'd be fun, get him attention from his guardians, or simply never really thought the consequences through. This mirrors how Rose came to the same exact problem of impulsive actions that made things worse for everyone around her, and that need for attention and being recognized by her Diamond family. Steven, however, has the benefit of a human side and morality, which when combined with the revelations about his mother's actions over the course of the series helped him diverge into a completely different path than her and actually begin to rein in his more reckless impulses (though not entirely).
** On the subject of that, why didn't Pearl get the idea to put Steven inside of her Gem sooner? It was simply because he was not emotionally ready to fully understand his mother's actions.
* Rose (and by extension Steven) having the ability to heal gems and create life (either new life in the form of the Watermelon Stevens or return life to something dead like Lars and Lion) is described as unique. Rose being Pink Diamond, and having created the entire Rose Quartz line, implies this is an ability inherent to the Diamonds.
* Turns out Blue Zircon was right, Pink Diamond's death was orchestrated by a Diamond. Specifically, by ''Pink Diamond herself''.
* All throughout the show, Pearl has been shown to be the one who's most enthusiastic about old Gem culture and buildings. This episode suggests at least two possible reasons for that.
** First, she's the only one to have seen the Earth Colony when it was thriving. Amethyst was born after the war ended, and Ruby and Sapphire came to Earth in the middle of the war. But Pearl was with her Diamond for the whole thing. She saw the Earth colony when it was still intact and glorious, before the war ever started.
** Second, she's the only Crystal Gem to still adhere somewhat to Homeworld values. Garnet rejected Homeworld culture, and Amethyst never learned it. But Pearl was a Gem following her Diamond, exactly as Homeworld mores dictate.
* Jasper's speech in "Earthlings" is accompanied by a VisualMetaphor of many shapes of different colors fitting together to form the four-diamond symbol. But when we finally get to see Pink Diamond, her gem has ''five'' sides, in contrast to the four-sided pink diamond of the Diamond Authority symbol. She literally didn't fit into her own place in the order of the Diamonds!
* Pink's diamond having a flat bottom indicated that she was always a base of support that "stabilized" every group - the Diamonds, the Crystal Gems, and the family she created with Greg and Steven. Remove that base, and you basically [[CynicismCatalyst shatter]] everything else.
* Pearl's mind is shown here to essentially be built out of layers, with each layer being another traumatizing memory. Real-life pearls are also made from layers built around an irritant.
* Pink Diamond faking her assassination here is a parallel to Steven giving himself up at the end of Season 4. In both cases, the person is sacrificing themselves to save everyone else, and in both cases they failed to realize that their actions would actually end up hurting the very people they were trying to protect.
* Throughout the series, Pearl was the only Crystal Gem to never once shapeshift no matter how useful it may have been. Given that the last time she did so was to impersonate Rose for Pink Diamond's "assassination", it would make perfect sense that she'd have some hangups about using this particular ability.
* Steven's fuzzy hair doesn't really resemble his dad's longer and straighter hair, or Rose Quartz's ringlets. But it does resemble Pink Diamond's equally fluffy hairdo.
* Pink Diamond's initials? PD. What do those letters sound like? ''Peedee''. Remember back in "Frybo", when Peedee was first introduced? It was a whole episode about how, despite originally being excited to join his family business, he ended up hating the job that was assigned to him by his father who expected him to do it just because he was a Fryman and failed to notice that his son was unhappy and wanted something better. What Peedee went through sounds a little similar to what Pink Diamond went through.
* StealthPun: Pink Diamond's gem is shaped in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_(diamond_cut) brilliant cut]]. Hence, TheReveal of Rose Quartz's true identity, with the 90-degree rotation of her gem, is quite literally a ''brilliant twist''.
* This episode retroactively explains why Steven was able to partially heal Centipeedle. Since the corruption was an attack by the Diamonds, it stands to reason that if anyone can reverse it, a Diamond can. However since the attack was by three diamonds, and Steven is just one, he can only partially restore her, not wholly.
* The reveal also adds another layer to why Rose bubbled Bismuth after their falling out over the Breaking Point- had Bismuth been around to know that Pink Diamond was supposedly shattered by the sword she'd made, she would have easily realized that no such thing could have happened and informed the Crystal Gems. Pink Diamond's plan to fake her own death would have been outed almost instantly.
* It explains Rose Quartz's appearance as well: The Rose Quartz gems were ''created by'' Pink Diamond, as stated by Blue Diamond herself. Pink likely made the gems to resemble her own when rotated, and the bodies to resemble the humans she was growing to love. It's entirely possible that by the time she made them she had already intended to create them as her own disguise.
* Pearl states that she hates the concept of eating. In the flashback, Pink Diamond ate fake shards of gems (essentially things that resembled a dismembered gem corpse) to make her "shattering" convincing. Given that Pearl likely did not have human contact before this, it stands to reason that she hates the concept of eating because the first time she witnessed it, it was her own diamond ''eating a fake corpse''.
* Back in "The Trial", Blue and Yellow Pearl have a very strong reaction when Zircon wonders about Pink Diamond's Pearl, this episode finally shows why: when Pink Diamond was shattered, Pink Pearl went missing. Nobody knew that Pink Pearl and the Renegade Pearl were the same gem, and they never came up with a cover story for her disappearance so to Homeworld not only did Pink Diamond get shattered but it would seem like she kidnapped Pink's Pearl as well. For everyone else Pink Diamonds' fate would be the focus point but of course the other Pearls would make note of one of their own just disappearing.
* Technically, Pearl isn't any more defective than Blue and Yellow Pearl, given that she is still, and always has been, loyal to her Diamond.
* In "Onion Friend", Garbanzo’s faked death obviously foreshadowed Pink Diamond’s faked death. If this episode is alluding to the Diamonds, then Pink did not feel like she was on the same level as the others. The other Diamonds pitied and lied to her. They understood their roles and performed them without issue, but Pink could not. Pink was upset, understandably. Pink cared for the lowly beetles, something insignificant meant to be smashed, and thus could not fulfill the task given to her. Pink felt isolated, alone, and did not have "anyone her age" (or rather, on her level) she could talk to about these concerns. If this is also foreshadowing, then the diamonds will ultimately let Pink (Steven) have the Earth (the beetle) before they leave. While they end things on decent terms, the diamonds cannot stay – they have their own things to attend to. Steven can’t keep the group of friends together, but he can be himself. This may allude to Steven never filling Pink’s shoes, never truly being Pink, but he can still be someone the diamonds can visit, if they ever want to.
* In "We Need To Talk", Rose tells Greg that she doesn't miss Homeworld. In this episode, we discover why: she kept being [[DudeWheresMyRespect underestimated]] by Blue and Yellow Diamond, and she wanted to escape her actions as Pink Diamond.
* In "Back To The Barn", Peridot asks Pearl who she belongs to, and after Pearl answers "Nobody!" asks her "Then what are you ''for''?". Pearl looks taken aback, but it's not until this episode that we find out the true reason why. Up until fourteen years ago, Pearl ''did'' belong to somebody. She belonged to ''Pink Diamond''. But now the Gem Pearl was made for is dead, and for literally the first time in her life Pearl has to try and figure out what to do with herself. Peridot unwittingly poked at the greatest source of pain and confusion in Pearl's life.
* When in her "Pink Diamond's Pearl" form, Pearl has a pink pentagon shape on her chest. Given that Pink Diamond's gem had five sides, this was probably what her Gems wore in place of the Diamond Authority symbol.
** Jossed in "Now We're Only Falling Apart".
** This also might be the origin of the Crystal Gem star, just add points to the Pink Diamond symbol.
* "Rose Quartz's" three signature powers were her shield, plant control, and healing tears. The shield is something a Rose Quartz might plausibly manifest, the plant control would have been near useless on the sterile Gemworlds, and the healing tears sprang from the empathy Pink developed on Earth. In other words, each of those powers has a very specific reason why the Diamonds would not recognize it.
* Pink Diamond ''ordering'' Pearl to keep her secret, rather than ''asking'' her, seems a major WhatTheHellHero moment, but there's at least one possible justification. Making it an official command doesn't just keep Pearl from revealing the secret on purpose, it also seems to keep her from mentioning it by accident. So it may be that Pink made her request into an order because that was the only way she knew to make sure that Pearl wouldn't accidentally let something slip.
* With the reveal that Pearl was Pink Diamond's Pearl, her GreenEyedMonster behaviour towards Greg makes sense - she wasn't just jealous, she was afraid that she'd be replaced by Greg.
** Especially with the revelation a few episodes later that our Pearl was Pink Diamond's ''second'' Pearl.
* The importance of music: Steven's had a knack for music since he was a small child and now we know why. On Homeworld, only the Diamonds have music! Peridot doesn't even know what music ''is'' when she arrives on Earth. It's easy to miss because most of them are side characters, but ''none'' of the Homeworld Gems have any kind of songs or musical interactions except for Blue and Yellow Diamond and their respective Pearls, and Yellow, the most brutal and logical of the Diamonds we've seen thus far, demonstrates a clear understanding that [[ThePowerOfMusic music has practical use]]. Specifically, she tells Pearl to sing to make Blue Diamond, a gem with actual empathic powers, feel better. Homeworld restricts music because it can be used as a weapon powerful enough to affect a Diamond. Of ''course'' Steven's good at it: he's the child of a musician and a Diamond.

[[AC:Now We're Only Falling Apart]]

* At the beginning of the episode, Sapphire is the first to flip out upon learning that Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond, while Ruby takes it somewhat better. Though this is a reversal of their usual characterizations, it makes sense if you think about it.
** Rubies are common foot soldiers and not all that bright, so they probably don't get told much beyond general objectives and their own orders. Ruby is probably used to the idea of a superior not telling her everything.
** Sapphires, on the other hand, are diviners and advisors, and accustomed to being told everything. Sapphire has probably never had to deal with her superior lying to her before.
* Instead of losing her temper, Ruby tries to calm Sapphire down and suggests that they sit down and talk about it. Why? The last time Ruby and Sapphire had a major argument was in "Keystone Motel," where they realized that Ruby blowing up and Sapphire acting indifferent about the conflict was just making things go {{From Bad To Worse}}. Ruby was probably remembering that incident and wanted to make sure nobody got even more upset.
* How did Pink Diamond [[ObliviouslyEvil have no clue what she was actually doing to Earth until she went down and saw for herself?]] Keep in mind [[FantasticRacism the other Diamonds saw organic life as not counting as real life]]. It's likely Pink had no idea 'organic life' meant living creatures as real as herself.
** Moreover, Pink makes her decision that colonizing Earth is wrong right after seeing humans for the first time. Given that we don't see ''sapient'' life on the jungle moon, it's possible that Earth was the first Gem colony world to host sapient life.
* Back in "The Answer", Sapphire had foreseen that the rebels would be captured once her form was shattered. Why? Because this was before Pink/Rose witnessed fusion of other gems, witnessed that it was possible for one type of gem to have feelings for another type. Before then, she only wanted to scare off the homeworld gems out of [[PowerOfHate righteous fury]]. If she had gone through with her initial plan, she would've been caught because she didn't have a strong enough motivation to fight for Earth beyond spiting the Diamonds [[ParentalNeglect who weren't listening to her]].
* This episode reconstructs how Pink/Rose wasn't the perfect leader she was painted to be. True, all her decisions weren't so perfect that she made the right choices from the get-go, but that's the point, her leadership was influenced by the company she kept. She could've rejected Pearl's suggestion to visit the Kindergarten in disguise, but she ''listened''. Pink/Rose was initially going to scare away the gems so they wouldn't bother Earth, but Ruby and Sapphire becoming Garnet lead to her ''changing'' her approach at fighting the diamonds. She may not have been a perfect leader, but she was at least a good one because she made ''more leaders out of her followers''.
* Pink told her Pearl that if Blue and Yellow caught her hanging out in the Kindergartens in her natural form, they would "never let her hear the end of it". This goes both ways: To the Diamonds, who are basically royalty, having one of their own hang out with another Gem would be like a king or queen befriending a peasant. And by staying cloistered away from their own colonies and subjects, it would enforce the unspoken rule that all Gems are expendable resources for Homeworld, ready to be shattered and replaced at a moment's notice.
* Pink tried to appeal to Yellow to spare Earth, the same thing Peridot tried to do. Who's to say their conversation didn't end the same way, with Pink losing her patience and calling Yellow a "clod"? Given Yellow's desire to destroy [[BerserkButton anything that reminded her of Pink]], it makes sense that she would try to blow Peridot up after the latter did the same exact thing as Pink did.
* In "Bismuth", Bismuth mentioned that Rose was "just another quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt". However, in "On The Run", Pearl specifically names Amethyst as the ''only'' good thing to come out of the Prime Kindergarten, and we know that Rose didn't come from the Beta Kindergarten because that one was set up to create cannon-fodder soldiers against her. Turns out Rose wasn't created on Earth after all, which Pearl would have known all too well.
* Ruby's letter to Sapphire is labelled in such a way that the word runs into the edge of the paper and has to be written in two parts--clearly Ruby misjudged how far from the edge she'd have to start writing. This is a brilliantly subtle clue that, without Sapphire and her future vision, Ruby actually doesn't have much foresight or ability to plan ahead.
* Think back to how Steven was at the start of the series: very impulsive and prone to messing things up thanks to DidntThinkThisThrough, and apparently totally uninterested in the real truth behind his own past and identity until it was forced on him with Lapis' reaction to the other Gems. This is just the same way Pink/Rose started out, and the major reason she wanted to create a human offspring: he's been able to develop past all this to become a more mature and knowledgeable person, something not possible for Gems who are born full-grown and as developed as they'll ever be.
* Pearl's behaviour in this episode makes a lot of sense after 'Together Alone's reveal that White Pearl used to be Pink Diamond's original Pearl, but was removed for getting too close to her Diamond. She mentions in the beginning that she was meant to make Pink Diamond happy, but couldn't. Given Pearl's initially robotic behaviour, no wonder Pink Diamond wasn't happy- nobody would be if their close friend was taken away and replaced with a robot. Pearl shows no real independent thought, even unable to imagine things without being told to- less risk of her deviating from the Homeworld norm. She does her best to prevent Pink Diamond from doing anything that might get them caught while disguised as an Amethyst- she was possibly ordered to keep Pink Diamond in line. And besides having her close friend taken away, Pink was likely chewed out a lot when she was caught playing with her original Pearl, so no wonder she doesn't want to do anything that would get Blue and Yellow mad at her.

%%[[AC:Made of Honor]]

[[AC:Reunited]]
* Wherever the Diamonds go, they take their Pearls with them. However, in this episode, Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl are strangely absent. It makes sense that the Diamonds would rather not risk bringing their {{Morality Pet}}s to an event far too dangerous for them to even stick around.
* The Crystal Gems finally use their weapon upgrades again, something only Amethyst had done up until that point. While fighting the Diamonds certainly is a good reason not to pull their punches, Bismuth has been redeemed. Any bad blood those upgrades might carry is gone.
* During her last appearance in "Can't Go Back", Steven suggests to Lapis that she "drop the barn on the beach," as a means of them being neighbors when she returns. Her return in this episode is heralded by her doing [[ExactWords literally just that]].
* Of course the Cluster sides with Steven and the Crystal Gems; not only does it remember Steven and how he helped them, it's implied that the Cluster is made up of shard of previous Crystal Gem members that were shattered during the war. So when the Diamonds show up and free it, it gets back to doing what it was doing thousands of years ago--fighting against the Diamond's tyranny.
** And of course the Cluster arm wins the arm-wrestling match against Yellow Diamond's ship. The Cluster has the whole ''Earth'' and presumably a body that it's attached to, while Yellow Diamond's ship is a disembodied arm floating in the air. The only thing Yellow's ship has that kept it in the game at all was its ''elbow''.
* The aura Steven emits was never mentioned among Rose's powers. Given the Diamonds can instantly recognize it as Pink's the moment they sense it, she could never use it, as it'd be a CoverblowingSuperpower.
* While both are powerful, Yellow has a much better chance at fighting the opposition than Blue, who took the Crystal Gems' attacks several times as well as having ''her own ship'' fall on her. This is because Yellow spent more of her time ruling and working in the front lines, while Blue did nothing but wallow in her own grief - something that Yellow called her out on in "That Will Be All".
** Alternatively, we know that Blue gems like Blue Diamond usually have diplomatic roles. Blue is in charge of the accused's defense in Homeworld trial system, for example. So of course a militaristic gem like Yellow would have more experience in fighting matters.
* Steven's liberal use of his [[NotQuiteFlight floating power]] during the musical number makes perfect sense when you consider what emotion fuels it--happiness. And Steven is ''ecstatic'' over Ruby and Sapphire's approaching wedding and reunion as Garnet.
* Fridge [[Heartwarming/StevenUniverse Heartwarming]]: Lapis {{No Sell}}ing Blue Diamond's EmotionBomb isn't necessarily a testament to [[TraumaCongaLine how much she's suffered]] but to how she's learning to ''overcome'' it, unlike Blue who still [[TheEeyore wallows in grief over Pink]]. ''That's'' why it has no effect on her. Unlike Blue, Lapis is making effort to move onto the acceptance stage.
** How exactly does it make sense that Lapis has felt worse than Blue Diamond? The former was locked away and abandoned for thousands of years without any support systems, servants, Pearls, or a family. The Diamonds have been at the top (or near it) so long and had it so good they have no real concept of what its like to have literally lost everything.
* Steven's glimpse into Yellow Diamond's mind further explains her poofing of Blue Zircon in "The Trial". Initially, people thought it was a sign that Yellow was involved in Pink's shattering, or at least outraged that she'd be accused of being involved. "A Single Pale Rose" leaned toward it being the latter, but "Reunited" reveals that Yellow blames herself for what happened. Blue Zircon's accusation struck a nerve, but not in the way people thought.
* With Rose's sword broken, Connie will need a new one. Good thing the Crystal Gems now have someone on their side who can forge weapons such as swords.
* The area the Diamond's go to retrieve the Cluster from appears to be around the barn, it may seem strange they would go there rather than the Prime Kindergarten where it was first inserted, but if one remembers Season 3, they'll know that Steven and Peridot made a tunnel straight to the Cluster using the drill. The Diamond's ship's likely detected this and they decided it'd be easier to use that instead of having to move a canyon and dig for who knows how long. This also explains why the Cluster was just an arm, as it would have had to shapeshift to fit through the tunnel.
* Peridot was being an even [[LargeHam larger ham]] than usual when throwing flowers at the crowd, calling Steven a "wedding commander" and taking her mission as the flower girl overly seriously- as though it were a direct order from a superior back on Homeworld... Could she have been acting this particular way during the wedding, because Steven had told her between episodes, about the truth of Pink's fate- and caught off guard by this twist, she once again, could not escape her old mentality of having to faithfully and loyally serve a Diamond?
* Steven ''knew'' to refer to the other Diamonds as family; he quite literally has seen the good in them and how strong their bonds are (i.e. he watched Blue and Yellow comfort each other in "That Will Be All" from afar).
* Garnet's wedding was engineered to be as impossible to censor as possible:
** Many countries have tried to get around the whole "women in a romantic relationship" thing by [[ShesAManInJapan making Ruby a boy/male presenting]]. However, at the wedding, she wears a dress while Sapphire wears a tuxedo, meaning they either have a male character in a dress or they have to face the fact that Ruby is as female as any other gem. (Which is to say, [[DiscountLesbians not really at all]], but it's the principle of the thing.)
** The characters are in formal wear for the rest of the episode. Cutting out the wedding scene means leaving this detail unexplained.
** The rest of the episode is of ''extreme'' plot importance, so it definitely cannot be cut out entirely.
** The one thing you ''could'' censor out without losing much is the [[TheBigDamnKiss marital kiss]], which gives countries where displaying such kisses on TV is illegal that much less of an excuse to not air the rest of it.
* It might be weird that Bismuth, a Gem, would wear armor, given how tough she is. But her armor covers her ''Gemstone'', the one truly vital part of her body.
** A Gem wearing armor is a good idea regardless of who it is, as even if they can't be killed without shattering the gem, being poofed would leave them defenseless and vulnerable; an enemy could easily break or at least bubble the gem before anyone else could intervene. Bismuth's knowledge of weapon smithing would make her particularly valuable in a warzone, giving her additional reason to not want to risk being put out of commission.
** The predominant fan theory as to why most Gems ''don't'' wear armor is that the gemstone has to be exposed in order for the Gem to use her abilities. And Bismuth is the only Crystal Gem who doesn't use summoned weapons or other Gem abilities in combat, instead relying on her shapeshifting.
* Peridot can't shapeshift, so the flower girl dress and shoes she wears are separate from her body. However, when Yellow Diamond poofs her with lightning, the dress and shoes also disappear, which doesn't make sense, since they should have been left behind...unless Yellow Diamond's blaster was so powerful it vaporized them on contact!

[[AC:Legs From Here to Homeworld]]
* Look closely at Steven's gemstone; it's ''much'' pinker now than the reddish-pink it used to be. Since Pink Diamond could never risk revealing her cover-blowing aura, she kept it stored for millennia. But now that Steven has unleashed all that stored power, it actually also works like this: the way a gem is cut and set will either help or hinder its coloring and brilliance. Sticking a diamond into solid mass with just the top showing would really limit its color and sparkle. Think about a ring setting -- the more the diamond is allow to reflect light, the lighter and sparkly it will be.
* White Diamond's nickname for Pink is "Starlight". This might be a CallBack to Greg's old manager, Marty, who used to call Greg "Star-child." Marty was condescending, self-absorbed, manipulative, and didn't care about Greg's desires, only in the ways he could use Greg. It's a ''bit'' too early to tell, but so far that also seems to describe White Diamond and her relationship with Pink.
* It actually makes sense on how Yellow, Blue, and Steven where able to heal Centipeetle/Nephrite. Yellow Diamond's powers [[ShockandAwe attacks a gem's physical body]] so she fixed the body. Blue Diamond's powers [[EmotionBomb affects a gem's mind]] so she got the thoughts working again. And finally Steven, who as himself or Rose, [[TheHeart held the Crystal Gems together]] so he was able to pull the thoughts of Nephrite together restoring her. But since the group wasn't whole, they lacked the linchpin to hold it together for good.
* White Pearl sharing her master's voice may explain why Blue Diamond didn't become suspicious when she heard Rose speak; she assumed that Rose Quartzes had been created sharing Pink's voice.
* It's implied two episodes later that White Pearl used to be Pink Pearl, but this episode has a much earlier hint: Doesn't the bubble White Pearl use to move around look a lot like Steven's?

[[AC:Familiar]]
* With the reveal that Pink and apparently the other Diamonds have Pebbles living in the walls of their rooms attending to their every request, Rose's room in the Temple was likely a recreation of it.
* Homeworld's objectification of gems makes a lot more sense with the reveal that many of their literal objects are gems, and as such there isn't necessarily a meaningful distinction between, say, a wall and a Pearl save for their purpose.

[[AC: Together Alone]]
* In the DreamIntro, we see a Pearl that looks suspiciously similar to White Diamond's Pearl, the three biggest differences being that her color scheme is pink, her eye lacks the noticeable crack and she has a personality far from the SurpriseCreepy we get from her, implying that White Diamond did something to bleach her colors and thus remake her. In RealLife, pearls that are bleached are much more brittle and more prone to cracking due to a chemical reaction.
* Garnet's fusion inspired Rose Quartz to fight for Gem outcasts and to save the Earth as a refuge; fittingly, Stevonnie's fusion inspires Homeworld Gems to follow suit.
* Why do the Diamonds begin instantly reverting and trying to return everything to how it was before Pink's departure? Remember what Rose said: Gems ''by nature'' tend to be {{Static Character}}s. Change is not something they tend to ''do'', and the entire reason she loves the idea of Steven being human is humanity's ''natural'' state is change. The Diamonds are exhibiting that behavior she described.
* Faced with Blue Diamond's anti-fusion opinions, Garnet claims she's not going to the Ball. She never said her components wouldn't be going, which is exactly what happens.
* Surasshu, the composer, mentioned on Twitter that the music during the ball was based off of draaiorgels -- self-playing organs, primarily found in the Netherlands and Belgium, that get wound up and then keep playing by themselves until the springs have wound down. Looking at the dancing at the ball, with the dozens of cog-shaped Jades moving in perfectly-rehearsed patterns with barely any prompting, it all looks very mechanical indeed.

[[AC: Change Your Mind]]
* This could double as FridgeHorror, but when you stop and think about the Diamond's and their abilities, as well as Change Your Mind's themes about familial abuse, you'll realize that the powers, and even the ''personalities'' of Yellow, Blue and White are based on the three primary forms of abuse. Yellow represents physical abuse; physical abusers tend to remain emotionally detached and use intimidation and force to remain in control, which matches with Yellow's temperamental and cold personality, as well as many of her powers being focused on attacking the physical forms of Gems. Blue is emotional abuse; emotional abusers pull on the heartstrings and tap into the feelings of others to make their victims loathe themselves and beat themselves up, as well as making them feel too guilty or obligated to the abuser to escape them, which matches with Blue's almost excessive outbursts of emotion, as well as her EmotionBomb that basically forces her feelings onto others. White is mental abuse/manipulative behavior; these kinds of abusers have a penchant for making their punching bags question their mental state, deliberately tricking them into thinking they need them and convincing their victims that various aspects of themselves are wrong. [[ManipulativeBastard Given]] [[MindManipulation what]] [[TheCorrupter we've]] [[BreakThemByTalking seen]] of her, I think it's safe to say she fits the bill quite well.
* TheReveal of what happens when Steven's gem is pulled out of his body is one few could have predicted, but it's been foreshadowed all along:
** In the video Rose leaves him, she states that she's going to become half of him. She was being 100% literal. Same with everything about giving up her physical form.
** In "Three Gems and a Baby", Garnet believes him to be a fusion. It turns out, she wasn't actually wrong.
** All along, Steven has been described as half-gem and half-human. It's easy to think of him as a human with gem powers, but he's not. He's not like anybody.
*** Steven and the Stevens could be seen as foreshadowing the idea of "multiple" Stevens.
** Listen to Pink Steven's laughter and voice. It's a mixture of both Zack (Steven's voice actor) and Susan's (Pink's voice actor) voices. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz is still there, but she literally meant it when she said that she'll give up her form for Steven.
* White Diamond assumes [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Pink surrounds herself with flawed Gems to feel better about herself]]. Looking at it, one questions why White would create other beings with sapience to begin with...then you realize it's highly likely White is projecting and may be subconsciously aware even she's imperfect.
* Garnet's pink chest after re-fusing is much brighter than her previous post-"Jail Break" form. After Sapphire briefly and completely lost faith in Rose Quartz upon finding out she was a Diamond in disguise, she regained it upon learning the truth behind Rose/Pink. Hence, her belief in the half-Diamond Steven is stronger than ever.
* White [[EmptyShell brainwashing Blue and Yellow]] later on was foreshadowed with the formation of their [[CombiningMecha ships]] - both Blue and Yellow pilot a different arm, which are really extensions for White's ship, the torso/head.
* "Change Your Mind" abbreviates to CYM, which can also be used to denote Cyan, Yellow and Magenta - the three secondary colors, which is a major clue into White's mindset. She didn't split off her ''primary'' self (which would be Red, Green, Blue [our Blue Diamond is mostly cyan rather than the deep cerulean one would expect]), but rather the secondary, less-known and therefore less-perfect colors. Also, if she'd done Red, Green, and Blue Diamond, they may have been able to fuse into a second White and challenge her directly.
** To continue this idea, all of the color wavelengths (including "pink light") coming together DOES create white light.
* In "Serious Steven", the Gems do a three point landing... except Steven, who falls face flat on the floor. In "Change Your Mind", the Gems do another three point landing... including Steven, who lands perfectly. This really shows his growth and maturity since the first season.
* Why is Gem Steven so stoic? Perhaps it's because all of Steven's emotional maturity comes from his capacity to change by way of his human half, specifically having a brain capable of neuroplasticity. He also doesn't have any of Rose or Pink's personalities to draw anything from, as those were presumably erased from the gem and re-integrated into Steven upon his birth.
* Peridot's new outfit after reforming takes elements from Garnet (a visor), Amethyst (leggings with star shapes), and Pearl's (a sleeveless top) outfits.
* Generally gem weapons are well, weapons, from knives to spears to whips and so on. Steven's fusions however use unconventional tools, Smoky's yo-yo, Rainbow Quartz's umbrella, and Sunstone's suction cups. It shows how his fun personality contributes a lot to his relationship with the Gems.
* Pearl's first time getting a new look after being able to tell the whole truth about Pink Diamond is a huge departure from her typical stylish and very feminine outfits, with a highly outdated '80s businesswoman look. For the first time she's truly able to be ''completely'' her own Gem with none of her Diamond's old orders holding her back and likely subconsciously keeping her image of herself as her old role.
** Her losing the ribbon could mean symbolically that she’s no longer “bound” by her diamond’s final order to her.
** Pearl's outfits have always had a dancer theme to them. Pearls are made to order servants that (among other things) entertain their owners. This latest outfit loses the dancer theme she's always had, possibly because she's no longer bound to Pink Diamond's final order and (possibly) no longer thinks of herself as Pink Diamond's servant.
* Amethyst has always had her forms partially obscure her gemstone. She’s always been ashamed and insecure about who she is now with her newest form her gem is clearly on display, she’s no longer ashamed of who she is. Thanks to meeting her full kindergarten family, she has full confidence in her identity.
* White Diamond ''hates'' being embarrassed. Why? She blushes ''pink''. She goes ''off-colour'' when she's embarrassed, which is something she gives the other Gems hell for.
* As mentioned on the episode's Recap-page: ''actually'' impurity-free diamonds are ''clear'', not white. The white colour White Diamond prizes so much is, in fact, a direct result of impurities. Given her issues with being "perfect", it makes sense that White Diamond would try to play her colour off as encompassing ''all'' colours.
* Steven is only able to properly confront White emotionally once he gets "into her head" through the ship's eyes, and what are eyes but WindowsOfTheSoul?
* Rainbow 2.0's "two stones with one bird" pun has a double meaning. The two stones in question are most obviously Ruby and Sapphire... but Rainbow themselves is also two stones.
* Rainbow 2.0 yelling "ACTIVATE" for their powers is actually a subtle CallBack. Steven tried to summon his shield in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E1GemGlow Gem Glow]]" while eating Cookie Cats and yelling, "Cookie Cat crystal combo powers, ACTIVATE!" Much later, in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E19NowWereOnlyFallingApart Now We're Only Falling Apart]]", Pearl in flashback tries to fuse with Rose by holding her up over her head while yelling, "Fusion, ACTIVATE!" The fusion of both these characters would naturally pull the same gimmick.
* Stevonnie and Smokey Quartz both use "They[=/=]Them", but Sunstone also uses "She[=/=]Her" and Rainbow Quartz 2.0 uses "He[=/=]Him". In the former, it's because it's two females (Ruby and Sapphire) to one male (Steven), so the fusion is indeed more feminine than masculine. For the latter, it's to further distinguish Rainbow Quartz 2.0 from the original Rainbow Quartz, who presumably used female pronouns, to continue the theme of Steven being confirmed separate from Rose Quartz once and for all.
** It may also be because of the ButchLesbian presentation of Pearl [[DiscountLesbians (or at least lesbian coded)]]. She's definitely no stranger to presenting masculinely. In RealLife, it's not unheard of for butch lesbians to use he/him pronouns even if they aren't nonbinary or trans in any way for complex and often highly personal reasons that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement can be difficult to understand for people who are not butch lesbians]].
* The supposed flaws that White Diamond accuses the Crystal Gems of having are flaws that Steven helped them to overcome throughout the series--Amethyst has become more self-assured and secure, Pearl has begun to move on from Rose's passing, and Ruby and Sapphire are growing more comfortable with occasional alone time.
** This could be seen as {{Foreshadowing}}, since White Diamond is flat-out lying to Steven in order to make herself feel better. Since this is also what she accuses Steven of doing, she pretty much portrays herself as a {{Hypocrite}}.
* When White Diamond yells at what she believes is Pink Diamond "I only want you to be yourself!", it looks like the Crystal Gems and the other two Diamonds are saying it too, due to being under MindControl. Looking back, many other Gems throughout the series also held the belief that Steven was somehow still Rose Quartz (or Pink Diamond)...including Yellow, Blue, and even the Crystal Gems themselves after Steven was first born. Obviously, [[CharacterDevelopment things have changed]], but this scene still points out that this belief was being forced onto Steven by people he cared about (intentionally [[InnocentlyInsensitive or otherwise]]).
** This adds a layer of symbolism to Pink Steven being able to curb stomp all of them; he shrugs off all of their attacks because ''they were all wrong about him from the start''. And once he re-fuses with his human half, now our Steven is able to shrug off the pressures they all used to put on him because now he too understands how wrong they were.
* This was something covered in the NightmareFuel page, but if you consider the fact that both Steven and his Gem(after it's removal) were several feet apart ''by height'', this pretty much reveals that Steven ''was'' dying- but not by losing his Gemstone. White Diamond had dropped him from several stories high, and he had suffered critical injuries from it.
* Everyone suddenly returning to normal after White Diamond got embarrassed might seem like something of a DeusExMachina at first glance, but considering her comment about not wanting to "spread her uninhibited self so thin", and the fact that White Pearl seems to act as an active puppet more than a robot, it's possible that controlling other Gems takes constant effort and focus. With just one Gem, it's not so hard, especially for a Diamond controlling an already-easily-suggestible Gem like a Pearl. But with ''six'' Gems (seven if we count Ruby and Sapphire separately), especially when two of them are fellow Diamonds, it becomes much harder, which explains why each "puppeted" Gem is less active than White Pearl alone ever was and the one time they all take a major action at once was in sync. Once that focus was broken by Steven's ArmorPiercingQuestion, she lost control of them. This also explains why she didn't use this controlling power on ''every'' Gem if she thought that was the best way for them to be perfect like she wanted--even controlling every Gem on Homeworld would have been difficult, go figure the colonies too.
* In "Together Alone", Fusion is what got the Crystal Gems sans Steven poofed. In this episode, Fusing with Steven is what gets them all to reform.
* It was mentioned elsewhere that the reason Fluorite talks so slowly could be because her component Gems have to come to a consensus on what to say before she can say anything. Obsidian might have a similar issue, but the personalities of her component Gems vary far more wildly, and Fluorite's Gems have had more time together to synchronize to that end (similar to Garnet). Because Obsidian's components can't quickly come to an agreement on what to say in response to what happens as they're climbing the Diamond Mecha, instead of risking destabilizing the fusion by internally disagreeing about it, they just agree to not say anything, hence why Obsidian only growls and roars the whole time.
* Peridot saying "Who needs thumbs?" when the thumb of her former Diamond's ship falls off makes sense since she ''never'' needed thumbs while wearing limb enhancers, and no longer needs them now that she has her metal powers.
* In Steven's dreams we see both Pink Diamond and Pink Pearl playing together and hiding it from the other Diamonds and Blue Diamond warning Pink that White Diamond is angry and threatening to take away her Pearl, which at the end of the episode we see actually happened (Pink Pearl became White Diamond's puppet mouthpiece). Pink Diamond's second pearl's (our Crystal Gem Pearl) appearance incorporates the colors of all four diamonds (she wears pink, blue, yellow, and white). This isn't a design choice made from affection. It's meant to remind Pink of what happened to her original pearl and the that the other diamonds can step in anytime they feel like it. It's a WARNING.
* Pink's smaller size compared to the other Diamonds is not an error due to overcooking, but a ''feature by design''. Pink diamonds in real life have this colors due to infrastructure deficiency, unlike blue or yellow diamonds that are perfect diamonds that posses impurities. Blue and Yellow are heavily implied to be aspects of White that she created to purify herself, meaning all she had to do was dump her "impurities" into them, but a Pink Diamond would require an innate flaw in order to reflect her light in the desired color, which was then manifested in her size. This also furthers the idea that White was ''not'' flawless because in order to blush pink, it would mean that she had to be ''structurally flawed''.
** This also explains why Pink Diamond's flaws weren't ones that White could so easily purge herself off (on top of the blushing, note that she says she always has to repress the part of her that's Pink Diamond, as opposed to saying she's another part she had to get rid of)--''maybe'' Homeworld figured out how to purge chemical impurities, but rearranging a Diamond's physical structure would likely be beyond their abilities. Pink Diamond was a result of White, and maybe the others, incorrectly thinking it was just one more chemical impurity.
* Connie was able to defeat the possessed Pearl before getting distracted despite the fact [[EvilOverlord White Diamond]] was controlling her, however it's been stated that White Diamond rarely left Homeworld and her possession ability would deal with any enemy gem she came across and as a result [[UnskilledButStrong she has very little combat experience]] and likely couldn't access Pearl's battle knowledge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 4]]
[[AC:Kindergarten Kid]]
* Peridots have iron in them, so Peridot is a semi-literal IronButtMonkey in this episode.
* After spending the entire episode mocking the monster's intellect and growing more and more frustrated that her plans failed, Peridot only manged to beat the monster by resorting to the most grabbing hold and withstanding an unintended drop purely by her own innate durability. She got much more into the monster mindset than she ever realized.
* Peridot having SuperToughness makes sense when you think of her job: a mechanic and technician. That job would require being able to survive a lot of random accidents or heavy machinery. While [[WeHaveReserves Homeworld doesn't care much for their people,]] if a mechanic can't fix damage to a space ship or other major piece of technology, an entire warship, building, or something else important (and possibly some rare or important Gems that are much harder to replace) could be destroyed with everyone in it, making making Peridots tougher than average PragmaticVillainy.
* Another possible reason Peridot is so durable, the gemstone can rank up to 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. That's the same rank as quartz!
* Peridot, while battered and bruised, never seems to get hit with anything like the injector spar that poofed Jasper, nor the sword strike that poofed Bismuth, another possible reason for her durability.
* Peridot doesn't consider fusing with Steven to defeat the monster for several reasons: 1) She wants to prove she can do this on her own; 2) While she sees the practical side of fusing it still makes her uncomfortable; 3) While she loves Steven and Steven said he loves her in "Gem Drill," it's platonic FireForgedFriends love that doesn't necessarily lend to fusion intimacy.

[[AC:Know Your Fusion]]
* Why couldn't Smoky measure up to Sugilite? Because Sugilite is the product of three Gems, as to Smoky's one and a half; coincidentally, this makes them being on par with Garnet in strength impressive in hindsight.
* Why ''is'' Smoky's strength equal to Garnet's, when Smoky is only made up of one and a half gems as opposed to Garnet's two? Well, only one of Garnet's components was made to be a fighter; Sapphire was not designed for physical strength. Meanwhile, Smoky's components are a Quartz, who are specifically grown as soldiers, and a Diamond, the most powerful type of gem in existence. Steven's half-human biology as well as Amethyst's "defect" dampens their power, but only so much.
* While Garnet left the temple in Keystone Motel to be by herself and defuse, this episode also explains why she couldn't have stayed in her own room during the time, as defusing then would've made it collapse onto Ruby and Sapphire.
* On the strength test, we see only one non-Fusion on the entire thing, right there at the bottom. This makes sense... Not only are Steven and Amethyst not the only characters struggling with feeling inadequate... But given what happened prominently when we were introduced to her, of course the part of Sardonyx that comes from Pearl would put herself all the way at the bottom.
* Listen closely: Sardonyx's voice has a slight echo on it no matter what room she's in. Fitting, since she always seems to be hosting, performing, or presenting no matter the location or context.

[[AC:Buddy's Book]]
* The Cloud Arena is the only major Gem structure that is absent from Buddy's book, which makes sense since it’s the one structure humans would have no way of accessing back then, since flying machines hadn't been invented yet and humans can't use Warp Pads without the help of Gems.
* Some of the locations seem mythologically appropriate in hindsight. The Field of Swords is shown to be in Norway, and would have probably inspired the the myth of the war between the Aesir and Jotuns. The Sand Castle appears to have vaguely Babylonian style of architecture, which seems to connect Rose to the myth of Ishtar, a Babylonian goddess often portrayed in the company of a pride of lions.
* After watching Buddy's Book, there is a lion among Rose's pride that looked and acted just like Steven's Lion only he wasn't pink. Well after seeing Lars' Head, they are one in the same.

[[AC:Mindful Education]]
* Why did Pearl have her holo-Pearls "fuse"? Besides simulating an enemy fusion, it probably allowed her to make it bigger than she could by herself.
* Sapphire being in distress over a swam of butterflies (that represent personal issues) while Ruby sends most of her time dealing with one. Ruby is more focused on a single problem at a time, but Sapphire with her more serious behaviour and Future Vision is in constant turbulence over past, present ''and'' future bad situations. And notice that it gets worse once Ruby separates from her in order to give chase to a single issue. Once Ruby calms down and goes to her again, she can balance Sapphire's hyper awareness and fatalism, bringing calm to both, and Garnet overall. Which is a nice CallBack at "Keystone Motel" where it was Ruby's anger and refusal to forgive Pearl what unbalanced the fusion and split up Garnet.
** Additionally, the way Connie's and Steven's problems play out in the episode strongly mirror Ruby and Sapphire in the dream sequence, and is even foreshadowed with the shot juxtaposing Connie and Ruby. Connie, much like Ruby, gets very upset over a single, recent problem, to the point where Stevonnie can't function, while Steven, much like Sapphire, has several, much deeper problems that's he's managed to bury for a while, but when they're triggered, his resulting breakdown is even worse than Connie's. And Connie, as with Ruby to Sapphire, is the one to get through to Steven and help him work through his problems.
* Butterflies feature heavily in promotional material for this episode. Butterflies are often associated with nervousness and anxiety - Steven and Connie have so much on their minds that they can't even concentrate on what's presently going on around them.
* BG Artist Jane Bak made one of the [[http://stevencrewniverse.tumblr.com/post/149500701917/intindra-a-promo-i-made-for-this-episode-i promo images]] depicting Steven and Connie with butterflies. Connie stares at one butterfly (Jeff) while Steven has two on his head and a third on his hand (Bismuth, Jasper and Eyeball). They're not facing each other, thus not seeing the issues the other has to deal with.
* This episode had a myriad of things related to Buddhism, such as mindfulness, lotus poses used for meditations, and facing one's own problems in their own mind. '''This is the [[OneHundredAndEight 108th]] episode.''' Bonus points for having a Japanese animator help animate the episode.
* Steven's intense guilt over not being to help Bismuth, Jasper, or Eyeball makes more sense when you go back to previous episodes. He was able to get the older Crystal Gems to work out their problems with one another, convince Peridot and Lapis to see the beauty in Earth, help solve conflict between the Beach City residents, and convince the Cluster to not form. He was able to solve conflicts peacefully by using ThePowerOfLove and ThePowerOfFriendship. So, now he has to face people who have more complex (and understandable) reasons not to listen to him, so he has ''to respond with violence to protect himself''.
** That also adds another dimension to the meaning of his hallucination of Rose -- after Garnet told him that she was able to fight in spite of not wanting to, he probably feels like she'd disapprove of him for not having the same dedication to protecting Earth.
* Steven sees a butterfly over Rose's sword before the unleash of his emotional turmoil, which hints the connection beforehand, but it also hints Steven's issues come from the discovery of Rose's martial side and inability to associate this side with the ideal already in his mind. That sword represents all of his mom's sins.
* Steven can already float better than Stevonnie on his own, and has done so while holding things way heavier than Connie, so why did they need to fuse to float when they were falling at the end? Because that power is tied to his emotions so fusing was necessary to get him to calm down enough to use it at all.
* Stevonnie seems to flail their legs to use the float/hover ability. Smoky Quartz uses the ability fine. The difference being Amethyst has seen Steven and Rose using this ability while Connie has not.
** It could also be that Stevonnie is 75% human and thus might have to put more effort into floating. Smoky, on the other hand, is 75% ''Gem''.
* When Steven's guilt over his interactions with Ruby, Bismuth and Jasper overwhelms him during combat practice, Stevonnie's left hand drops down the rose shield. At this point, the Steven half of Stevonnie has completely collapsed and Connie herself is holding the fusion form together.

[[AC:Future Boy Zoltron]]
* Mr. Smiley seemed a ''lot'' more angry than usual when Steven broke his machine. This might seem a little inappropriate at first - yes, it cost him thousands of dollars, but he had it in ''storage'' until that point, and on top of that, it's clearly not the most well-built fortune teller machine[[note]]Most fortune teller machines have protective glass to keep people from messing with the teller[[/note]] - until you realize that he runs the ''entirety'' of Funland by himself, and Steven broke one of his means for accumulating income without having to run himself ragged.
** Of course, assuming inflation is one of the things that still occurred normally in the universe's history, it's safe to assume that "thousands of dollars" when Mr. Smiley bought it amounts to ''hundreds'' of thousands if not ''millions'' today, making his frustration with Steven doubly justified.
** Why didn't Steven just have Greg pay the machine replacement cost?
*** Because Greg's a "cool dad," not a foolishly-permissive one. Steven needs to learn responsibility for his actions, it's one of the good morals of the series.
*** While he still has money to burn, Greg's reaction towards seeing the bill in Empire City might also hint that he isn't THAT rich after that night. After all, he had mentioned how he only rented a boat in "Alone At Sea" and was beaten down when he ended up having to buy it.
* Mr. Smiley saying he'd "rather not talk about" the jokes he used as a former comedian when Steven asks, may be due to the fact that some of his jokes were adult in nature. Steven, being a kid, may not understand them, so hearing someone like Steven making a sex joke with his friends without knowing the connotations just because he finds it funny will be a bit awkward. Of course, there's Pearl and Greg we have to worry about, too.
** Alternative possibility: He has a routine with Mr. Frowney. He'd rather not talk about it, because on one hand the jokes only work well with someone depressing giving him something to react to and also because him and Mr. Frowney parting is probably too depressing for Mr. Smiley to even consider joking about.
* Remember how Garnet remarks about this being an appropriate use of her powers? It might sound like Lampshade Handling at first, but she might actually be serious. Not only she helps 2 individuals resolve some issues they're both facing, something we've seen her be willing to do in Mindful Education, it would teach Steven that sometimes there ARE no easy answers to people's issues.

[[AC:Last One Out of Beach City]]
* Pearl may be totally clueless about the difference between apple juice and alcohol; but then, alcohol wouldn't affect a Gem any more than apple juice would.
** She also could have meant, "I'm going to try drinking" literally. Steven needs to eat and drink, and Amethyst doesn't but does it anyway because she likes it, but Pearl has never been shown to do it before, and has in fact expressed complete revulsion at the process of consuming food. Consuming any beverage, alcoholic or not, would be seen as adventurous coming from her.

[[AC:Gem Harvest]]
* The "Steven Reacts" short ends up predicting the plot for this episode: a typical ''Steven Universe'' conflict occurs when Steven creates Veggie Head for Peridot and Lapis, but is wrapped up quickly. Then new, hostile characters appear (the Angry Lunch Enemies as opposed to Uncle Andy) who want the former to GetOut, only to be convinced to make peace.
* Peridot and Lapis being instant experts at farming, being able to grow a whole field of corn despite the fact that Gems dont need to eat and gems being at odds with human culture makes sense when you consider their perspective roles in gem society: a Kindergardener for Peridot and as "That Will be All" explained, terraforming for Lapis. Growing plants involves planting a seed into the ground and letting it absorb nutrients from the soil until it comes out from the ground, a principle that Peridot who used to grow gems would be familiar with. Likewise, farming involves manipulating the landscape to make land more suitable for growing (digging ditches, irrigation, etc.) which a terraformer like Lapis would be used to doing. In addition, Peridot has a tablet and access to the Internet so they could easily look up how to farm plants.
* Steven creating Veggie Head for Peridot and Lapis encapsulates how his relationship with them progresses: his first attempt to help them make a sapient vegetable backfires, but he continues to try to help them, and eventually Veggie Head goes to them.
* Andy eventually mellows when the Gems get the ridiculous wedding cake, the baby boy balloon and the tombstone. Why? Because they were trying to accommodate his wishes, without really understanding the rituals that he mentions. To Andy, they're flailing like children, hence why he cracks up, and Peridot thanking him makes him feel guilty for not fitting in when the Gems crack jokes about the Gem War.
* Steven may not have been acting TooDumbToLive by asking Lapis to toss him onto the plane and then to fly back: he was trusting that Andy would care about him enough to catch him, turn the biplane around and head back to the barn. His gamble paid off, in that Andy suffers a JerkassRealization as a result and accepts Steven's offer of becoming part of his family.
** Also remember: Steven can float, even if he missed the biplane he would have just floated down safely.
** It's also entirely possible that Steven trusted Lapis to have sufficiently good aim to not throw him anywhere he didn't want to be.

[[AC:Three Gems and a Baby]]
* When Garnet unfuses into Ruby and Sapphire, baby Steven cries, which could explain why Garnet never told Steven she was a Fusion right away.
* This episode also explains why Pearl was hesitant to comfort Steven when he regressed into a baby in Steven's Birthday. Baby!Steven served as a painful reminder to Pearl as to why Rose is gone in the first place.
* The Gems' gifts to Steven are only useless to him as a baby. Pearl's dictionary will likely make him very eloquent after he learns to talk and read, Garnet lampshades how Steven will need the shaving razor when he's older (which was confirmed all the way back in "Too Many Birthdays", wherein all of Steven's adult selves [except middle age] have some form of facial hair) and Amethyst's adult diapers will probably be helpful when he becomes an old man.
* The reasons for the Gems' speculations about where Rose's physical form went all connect back to them in some way. Amethyst and Garnet's guesses are the most obvious, but why does Pearl assume Rose is "trapped" in her gem and can't reform because Steven's in the way? Most likely because Pearl herself frequently got poofed trying to save Rose, and thus had to reform a lot.
* Pearl briefly considers physically pulling Steven's Gem out to allow "Rose Quartz" to reform, but then decides against it. With the revelations in ''A Single Pale Rose'', it's possible that she realized that pulling out the Gem would reveal its true shape, and Rose's true identity, to the other Crystal Gems.

[[AC:Steven's Dream]]
* Blue Diamond is both startled and immediately taken by Greg's offering her kindness and empathy, even if her response is to pick him up like a stray cat and stick him in a galactic zoo to "preserve" him. We've seen how every other Gem besides Yellow Diamond behaves towards Blue Diamond, with sycophantic bowing and scraping or silent unquestioning obedience, and [[TheStoic Yellow Diamond]] calling Blue out [[VillainSong in song form]] for "feeling blue" when it isn't ''useful''. Greg might be the only sapient being in the thousands of years since Pink Diamond was shattered to offer Blue genuine empathy and just listen to her in her grief; no wonder she immediately wanted to preserve him from what she thought was [[EarthShatteringKaboom the coming end of his planet]]!
** Also, Gems who have ''not'' spent an extended period on Earth don't even register Humans as sentient, let alone as equals (at least on an intellectual level). When Greg opens up about his own loss (and validating Blue Diamond's own feelings of grief), she lifts her veil and ''lowers herself to his eye level'' to speak with him as an equal, even sharing the secret that "She isn't supposed to be there" with a sense of camaraderie. Of course, this does end up leading to Greg's abduction when she remembers herself (and place), but it does demonstrate that even Diamonds can be swayed.
*** The irony, of course, is that humans (as noted in the General Fridge Brilliance section above) would actually be very well suited for helping Blue Diamond: Gems are functionally immortal unless they're shattered, so it can be a shock for a Gem if their loved one is shattered. Meanwhile, death is not only a ''natural'' part of our life cycle, but sometimes it comes in unnatural ways. Sometimes it happens abruptly and possibly even violently, like what happened with Pink Diamond. Most human adults have experience losing loved ones, and a good number of them would likely be able to relate to Blue Diamond's loss, but the Diamonds don't realize that.
* Why wouldn't Garnet have warned Steven about the possibility of Greg being abducted by Blue Diamond? She didn't foresee Steven enlisting Greg ''and Andy'' in the way he did, which likely altered the timeline as Garnet wouldn't have accounted for travel by airplane rather than warp.
* In hindsight, Blue Diamond would feel happy to know that the Cluster isn’t going to emerge any time soon, because thanks to the efforts of the Crystal Gems (namely Steven and Peridot) in “Gem Drill”, an important memento of Pink Diamond’s legacy, humans and all, has been preserved.
* Greg thinking the ruined palanquin got a paint job to explain why it was blue instead of pink is because he was equating it to a car. The palanquins are a source of transportation for the Diamonds, so it could be the Homeworld equivalent to a car.
* Pink diamonds are noted to bring joy and happiness to a relationship. When Pink Diamond was shattered, all of Blue Diamond's happiness forever shattered with her.

[[AC:Adventures in Light Distortion]]
* Assuming that the Diamonds' arm-like ships are standard space transports for them, the reason why the Roaming Eyes have "Diamond" settings is because, if their arm-like ships are somehow lost/destroyed, the Roaming Eyes would be the next (less comfortable) alternative.
* Steven and the Gems were waiting for Connie to arrive before Steven can't wait any longer and they have to go, despite this being one of the most high risk missions they've ever performed. That's probably ''exactly'' why they wanted to bring her: Connie is not only an extra warrior if need be, but can fuse with Steven into Stevonnie, who's powerful enough to fight the 'Ultimate Quartz' head to head. While it probably wouldn't have been ideal, they needed all the help they could get. In addition, Sapphire/Garnet was considering the plan they ultimately implemented (which is in her nature), Connie and Steven could've formed Stevonnie if what ultimately happened with Steven did so.
* Why did Pink Diamond have a human Zoo? The episode "It Could've Been Great" revealed that Homeworld's plans to terraform the Earth into a gem colony would've involved hollowing out the planet, resulting in the extinction of all life on Earth. By transplanting humans to a space zoo, Pink Diamond was ensuring that they wouldnt die out when the Earth did.

[[AC:Gem Heist]]
* Holly Blue Agate doesn’t understand anything Steven says. “Incessant barking” and “hilarious noises” are mentioned. The Rubies who came to Earth and the Quartzes on the station could clearly communicate with him, though, and Blue Diamond could speak with Greg and he’s speaking the same language as Steven. As an administrator, Holly Blue doesn’t need to interact directly with humans. If there’s any equivalent to TranslatorMicrobes, she has no need of them.
** The Homeworld Gems have no concept of male gendered words, so when Steven yells "Dad! That's him!" all Holly hears is gibberish. And because of her FantasticRacism, she's writing it off as Steven being an animal.
* After Holly Blue and Sapphire leave Steven, Ruby, and Pearl to check on the Roaming Eye, Ruby quickly orders Pearl to open the door. Pearl is displeased by this after being bossed about by Holly Blue, but Pearl is the only one among them who is tech-savvy and ''tall'' enough to work the door.

[[AC:The Zoo]]
* A common question raised is how after thousands of years of intermixing, there are still distinct races among the Zoomans. However, the Choosening is probably what the Gems use to ensure as many as possible multiracial pairings. A zoo is fairly dull if all your animals look the same.
** That, or the Gems replenish the Zooman population with test tube babies and Choosenings have a more social role, helping to keep them happy and docile. After all, several of the humans do appear mixed-race, and the first couple “Choosened” is interracial.
** It also explains why Greg was immediately selected for the Choosening: he was fresh genetic material due to not coming from the current Zoo stock. And given that Greg is middle aged and no longer in the prime of his life, the Zoo gems would want him fathering more children before he expires.
** The humans in the Zoo could also live longer than the humans on Earth, who at the time they got abducted, and for a number of years, only lived to be at most 60. But since they're well cared for in a healthy, sterile environment, they likely tend to live longer, not 500 years like a Gem, but rather 120-130 years.
** This might function as TruthinTelevision, because of the fact the Zoomans are virtually caged animals in captivity, and animals in captivity tend to live longer than animals in the wild, due to the fact they are being taken care of and less likely to fall victim to famine or disease.
* Given the size of the zoo, it’s entirely possible there are more than one group of humans there.
* The Zoomans have what looks like a free period before the daily routine begins. That must be when they tell stories and pass down what little culture they have. One of the few signs of individuality can be noticed when Greg’s story is mentioned and they start chanting “The bits!”; some are really into it, some are just smiling, and one looks annoyed and isn’t joining in.
* The name 'the Choosening' sounds rather odd at first...but then you remember one thing: Gems have ''no concept'' of marriage or even sexual reproduction ''period''. Their only possible means of gaining information on it would have been to learn from humans from more than 5,000 years ago. Of course the name would be strange.
* The EternalEnglish aspect of the Zoomans make sense when you remember they get their orders from Gems, who seem to speak English. They'd have to be able to ''understand'' orders, so even if they didn't speak it thousands of years ago, it makes sense they'd be taught it in some way.
* The reason why Greg and Steven have so much difficulty getting used to the way the zoo's way of handling humans is because unlike the Zoomans who were born in captivity, Greg and Steven are ''feral'' humans.
* The [[{{Manchild}} personalities]] of the zoomans make sense if one knows how domestication works. Wherever an animal is domesticated they become more baby-like in appearance and behavior over the generations (a possible origin for "the choosening") and many of the zomans do have a somewhat youthful appearance.
* Surprisingly, there's actually little reason to fear genetic degeneration. Several studies indicate that the minimal amount of humans required to feasibly colonize is roughly 260 especially if new humans are collected every 4th year or so. This combined with an AI who obviously has some algorithm to decide proper breeding pairs makes the risk almost nonexistent.

[[AC:That Will Be All]]
* Also in the song, Lapis Lazulis are made to "terraform", that is, to reshape planets in useful ways. How might they do that? Well, they can fly and therefore see things from above, and they can control water on a grand scale (at least, "our" Lapis can). Water and water pressure can have astonishing effects on land, and might wear and wash away any features deemed "undesirable".
** Both the Prime and Beta Kindergardens are located in canyons which are formed from the erosion action of rivers through rock. It's quite possible that Lapis Lazuli gems are the ones responsible for creating the Kindergardens. It might explain why Homeworld only made ''two'' Kindergardens on Earth given the Lapis that was sent to Earth wound up poofed and stuck in a mirror.
** It might account for why Lapis has such self-hatred, and acts brooding: whose to say this is the first planet she has come to and strip away its life?
* ''Steven Universe'' has been nicknamed a show about Crying and Singing (which was lampshaded in "Too Far"). Here, Yellow Diamond sings a song to encourage Blue Diamond to stop crying!
* Peridot says that Pearls are made to stand around, look pretty and hold things. Here Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond's Pearls are told to sing for Blue Diamond. They end up providing backup vocals for Yellow.
* Ruby, who has fire powers, grabs Sapphire’s hand when the latter is "freezing up" in front of Blue Diamond.
** Sapphire, on the verge of freezes up in front of the Diamonds, nearly gives them away until ''Ruby'' grabs her hand. Earlier, Sapphire stated using her Future Vision that the plan wouldn't work and they had to hope they could change fate. Remembering ''the Answer,'' that's something ''Ruby'' has been able to do before. It's possible that she did it again.
* Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond have the exact opposite reactions to losing Pink Diamond: Blue is still deep in mourning after thousands of years and refuses to get rid of any of Pink's things, while Yellow wants to destroy all of Pink's things and refuses to let herself feel grief at all. Both are extreme reactions, and neither are healthy methods of dealing with their feelings.
** Looking at it in terms of stages of grief, Blue is in Depression and Yellow is in Anger.
* After spending the last three episodes watching the Quartzes of Earth be belittled, physically abused, and shouted at, and knowing that they were all essentially ReassignedToAntarctica after the death of their Diamond through no fault of their own, to be bullied by a petty bureaucrat, never mind the ''hundreds'' of presumably blameless Rose Quartzes who were poofed and bubbled because of Steven's mother's rebellion… suddenly, our Earth-born Beta-incubated Jasper's hateful rhetoric, her self-loathing, and her desperate insistence on winning at all costs and proving herself to be stronger and better than anyone else make ''perfect sense'' as a form of severely internalized categorism.
* Why doesn't Blue recognize Ruby and Sapphire? Because they've likely gone through so many regenerations that they are unrecognizable. And since the Diamonds make all Gems identical, would this be the only Sapphire and Ruby she knows of?
* In "Message Received", Peridot seemed reluctant to use her serial number when speaking with Yellow Diamond because she was so used to being treated like an individual while on Earth. In this episode, Amethyst is delighted to learn her serial number because she's struggled all her life with feeling like she didn't fit in, like she didn't belong. Meeting her "Fam-ethyst", a small army of misfit Quartz gems like herself, probably helped her a lot with those feelings.
* For the overseer of such an important institution, Holly Blue Agate was beaten incredibly quickly. But pay attention and you realize why. Her weapon is an electrified whip, something useful for intimidation and pacification of say a rowdy defective gem soldier or possibly valuable escaped zoo specimen that you want retrieved with minimal injury but not quite so useful for outright combat. Compare this to Amethyst's whip which is much thicker, making it useful for bludgeoning and restraining others, and you realize that Holly Blue was designed to scare others into submission rather than engage in battle.
** Also Holly Blue believes that the Gem personnel at the Zoo are just rejects assigned there because of the benevolence of Blue Diamond. What's to say that she isn't in a similar boat based on her behavior?
** Not to mention that, while Holly Blue can surely handle a misbehaving Quartz, she has no idea of what to expect from a 'Warrior Pearl' and a mixed gems' fusion like Garnet, plus she's used to the Quartzes being intimidated by her so she probably had never before faced a Quartz that didn't fear her, as it's Amethyst's case. The Crystal Gems aren't just good fighters, but unpredictable ones by Homeworld's standards, and only a strong, experienced warrior like Jasper, or an UnskilledButStrong enough gem like Lapis, can really battle them without any previous knowledge of their fighting styles.
* The Zoo's Quartzes, despite being loyal Gemworld's soldiers, are pretty friendly not just between themselves but also to their so-called enemies. We know this isn't an inherent quality of their gem type, as Jasper was practically the opposite; Amethyst, and Rose before her, are an exception because they got influenced by humankind.. and the Zoo's Quartzes are the ones in charge of taking care of a human colony, so they watch over them and even directly interact with the Zoomans once in a while. That's why they're so quick to recognize Amethyst as their 'little sister' and being so nice to her and the other Crystal Gems; they've seen this behavior among the Zoomans for thousands of years, and appreciate the values of familial loyalty and kindness.
** Alternatively, Quartz soldiers ''are'' in fact inherently predisposed to be friendly, social, and boisterous, and need to be ''trained'' into being ruthless warrior-caste juggernauts. Rose broke her conditioning, Amethyst never had any, and the Beta Quartzes of the Zoo were largely disregarded, written off, and left to their own devices, allowing them to develop their own more relaxed dynamics among themselves. Jasper, on the other hand, would have been trained to be the "Perfect Quartz" in all things, and as a result has been conditioned to act as the perfect warrior; taught to act and think against her own nature, it's no wonder she's as desperate, angry, and miserable as she's proved herself to be, especially when compared with her sister Beta Jaspers.
** Alternately-alternately, ''Jasper'' was the exception. The kind of friendship and camaraderie the Famethyst show is a definite asset in a group of soldiers that have to work closely together, so it would be a perfectly logical thing for Homeworld to engineer into and encourage in its Quartzes (Note that both times we've seen batches of Rubies on-screen, they've been pretty friendly to each other). Jasper, as the one perfect Quartz in a whole Kindergarten full of defectives, simply had nobody to feel that kind of camaraderie with.
** With the revelations in "A Single Pale Rose", it's possible Pink Diamond specifically tampered with her kindergartens so that her Quartz soldiers would come out friendly, with Jasper being the only one coming out with the proper personality of a Quartz.
* At first, Blue Diamond not recognizing Ruby and Sapphire seems off, until you keep in mind the events that transpired in the room, and how both are barely holding it together. Blue and Yellow were trying their hardest to get them out as quickly as possible so they could continue talking, which you might notice when Yellow shoos Holly, Ruby, and Sapphire out after Blue loses her facade. And for not recognizing Ruby and Sapphire, remember that Blue Diamond is, by Homeworld standards, considered royalty, so our Ruby might not be the only one she's punished. Chances are she isn't going to remember a single, nameless Ruby from thousands of others.
** Don't forget that all Gems of the same type of Gemstone, seem to have the same base forms, and Ruby and Sapphire have probably gone through so many regenerations that they're unrecognizable from 5,000 years ago, and since there are a finite number of places to put a Gemstone, there's likely other Ruby and Sapphires that look like ours.
* Yellow wanting to get Blue to move on makes more sense after "The Trial" where it's implied that Yellow knows more than she's letting on.
* Why does Holly Blue [[ProfessionalButtKisser go on and on at length about the virtues of the Diamonds]] to other Gems, even when the Diamonds themselves are not physically present? Homeworld values loyalty and obedience, of course, but we also know that Gems can be shattered for extremely trivial mistakes or wrongdoings. If a Gem even so much as suspected another Gem of disloyalty, she could report her to the Diamonds and have her shattered. Holly Blue's, and later Prosecuting Zircon's, constant and excessive brown-nosing is a tactic to ensure that, at the very least, the Diamonds know they are loyal to Homeworld.

[[AC:The New Crystal Gems]]
* Peridot being the leader of the Crystal Temps makes sense, considering that she was the only one to be officially deemed as a Crystal Gem by the episode's airing.
* Despite the aesop in the end about being themselves, the choices that each member of the Crystal Temps made on which member to emulate from the Crystal Gems are on par:
** Connie as Steven -- The youngest TokenHuman member (more so with Connie), underestimated by older Gem peers, WiseBeyondTheirYears, ChildProdigy, and act as TheHeart for the group.
** Peridot as Garnet -- Both wear CoolShades of some kind, the most logical of their group, and are very strong (Peridot mostly in durability).
** Lapis as Amethyst -- The most emotional and the most comfortable when around Steven.
** Pumpkin as Pearl -- Organic based.
*** Not just that - Pumpkin is seen as a pet of some kind, and Pearls are considered servants expected to listen to their superiors on Homeworld. They're Homeworld's answer to Earth pets. Wouldn't make sense for Pumpkin to impersonate anyone else.
* Why does Lapis rudely brush off Connie's mention of attempting to drown her but was clearly ashamed of stealing Earth's water and breaking Greg's leg in "Alone at Sea"? Because Connie ''brought up Lapis's past crimes'' in clear, but [[TranquilFury well-controlled]] anger, a contrast to Steven forgiving Lapis instantly or Greg bringing it up but being nervous while doing so and just letting the subject drop.
* Connie's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to both Lapis and Peridot has more merit since their actions could have killed one or more of the Beach City citizens. And both Gems are...not that compassionate towards humans, Connie ''is'' a human. She can just see and understand the anger of the deceased's loved ones for the Gems' foolery.

[[AC:Storm in the Room]]
* Why has Steven never thought of using the room to talk to his mother as he asks rhetorically? Because before he was used to Rose not being there, and being a paragon of love and heroism. He also hasn't needed his mother, thanks to Greg and the Gems filling that gap. Now that he's had a few weeks to register that Rose wasn't perfect and did terrible, necessary things, so that Steven and Greg feel sympathy for the ''Diamonds'', Steven needs Rose's reassurances about what he thought about her, and what was real.

%%[[AC:Tiger Philanthropist]]

[[AC:Room for Ruby]]
* Navy tells Steven that she wants to stay on Earth because the other Rubies are mean to her. But Leggy is a member of Navy's team who comes off as a very innocent (if dim-witted) teammate. So what could Leggy possibly have against Navy? The answer? She ''doesn't'' have anything against her. Navy's contradictory claim is an early indication that she's lying.
* Navy initially missed the ship when she got to the barn. It's likely she knew exactly where it was all the time, but didn't try to take it immediately because she knew Lapis and Peridot would be able to stop her. When they'd grown to start to trust her, however, they let their guard down, which means it would have been way easier to take it then.
* Navy says she is unable to be mad at something or feel anger. The hint that she's telling the truth can be seen all the way back at ''Hit the Diamond'', where unlike the rest of her veteran comrades, she only reacts with a dull surprise rather than anger at being tricked by Garnet's components.
** Alternatively, it could be taken as another hint that she's lying, as she's been shown angry in "Back to the Moon", "Adventures in Light Distortion", and the beginning of "Room For Ruby" itself.
* While it may have seemed overly naive for Steven to immediately trust [[BitchInSheepsClothing Navy]] and take her at her word about not holding a grudge and wanting to settle down on Earth, something [[ProperlyParanoid Lapis]] points out, there are a few good reasons why Steven would accept her supposed HeelFaceTurn:
** First, Navy manipulating Steven is the first time someone has taken advantage of his kindness by putting on a facade to get what they want. Every other Gem that has attacked Steven and/or the Crystal Gems has always made their hostility clear, and made no bones about wanting to attack them: Lapis warning Steven and the Gems away and attacking them when they didn't back down in "Ocean Gem", Peridot acting coldly detached from Steven in "Marble Madness" before attempting to squish him like a bug, Jasper mentioning in her first appearance about wanting to pound Rose, and the Ruby Squad going on the offensive when they recognized the Crystal Gems. In contrast, Navy acts sweet and friendly towards Steven, Garnet, Lapis and Peridot, playing along with their expectations while keeping her true emotions and intentions hidden, something no other enemy had done before, so it's no surprise that Steven who would be unfamiliar with being manipulated and would fall for Navy's lies.
** Another reason is that Navy is a [[DumbMuscle Ruby]], and as "Hit the Diamond" and "Back to the Moon" showed, not very smart nor good at lying considering Ruby's BadLiar tendencies, the Ruby Squad forgetting how many members they had (which is how Ruby was able to infiltrate them), believing Steven's obvious lie about Jasper being on Neptune and falling for Amethyst's "tan" Jasper disguise. Even if Steven did consider espionage, he wouldn't believe that a Ruby would be capable of holding a believable facade due to their low intelligence, something Navy used to her advantage. Navy also acted pretty friendly and sweet during the baseball game when she and the Rubies thought the Gems were humans, and had no reason to lie then, so Steven would think that the friendly personality she had then was the real one.
** Navy mentions the other Rubies being mean to her as the reason she wants to stay on Earth. Every Crystal Gem so far has been established as not fitting to Homeworld's standards (Garnet being a Fusion, Amethyst being defective, Pearl being a fighter instead of a servant, etc) While other Rubies have been shown to be hot tempered and violent, Navy's appearances have had her being serene and peaceful, which would certainly isolate her from other Rubies (Leggy doesn't fit the Ruby mold either, though that could be excused by her literally being born yesterday). In addition, with Navy's first words upon her first appearance, "What a lovely planet!", Navy already fits the two prerequisites of being a Crystal Gem: being an outcast and having a love of the Earth.
** Third reason is that Steven is still reeling from his failures to help Bismuth, Jasper, and Eyeball, as well as the knowledge that his mother shattered Pink Diamond. He still wants to believe that he can solve things peacefully through talking and trusting other Gems, so when Navy talks about wanting to turn over a new leaf, it seemed like things would turn OK after all, without someone getting shattered or bubbled. Navy has already expressed a love of Earth, so convincing her to protect it should be a cinch, in comparison to Lapis and Peridot, who took some time in seeing it as something other than a miserable hunk of rock. Navy has no grudge against Rose, having not fought in the Rebellion (unlike Bismuth, Jasper, and Eyeball) and didn't seem to hold Steven and the Gems' transgressions against them, so she has no reason to attack Steven and the rest of the Gems. Furthermore,the threat of Homeworld means the Crystal Gems are in desperate need of numbers, and Navy could act as a source of information, being a military Gem.
* Navy does to Steven exactly what the Crystal Gems did to the Ruby Squad; she lies to them and wastes their time (like the baseball game), she pretends to be their friend (like Amethyst pretending to be Jasper) and then she blows them out of her ship (like Steven did at the Moonbase). Sucks to be tricked, doesn't it Steven?

[[AC:Lion 4: Alternate Ending]]
* Steven not being some kind of "[[TheChosenOne chosen one]]" makes sense. Rose was envious of how humans can change and grow, never staying the same for a single moment. And she wanted Steven to experience that. Not being "destined" to do something like how she (formerly) and other Gems were "destined" for one and only ''one'' purpose their entire lives.
* While it's shown numerous times Steven has some identity issues, Steven spends this entire episode DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. Why? Well, the previous episode, Steven for the ''fourth'' time was unable to help make a Homeworld Gem a Crystal Gem. And, up until this point, Steven has always identified himself as the "next Rose Quartz" or "the AllLovingHero who can befriend anyone". And so far, he's only managed to befriend Peridot and Lapis, with the former ''technically'' being an official Crystal Gem. Failing more than succeeding can do a number on one's confidence and sense of purpose.
** And adding on to that, ''this'' failure didn't have anything to do with Rose Quartz, but ''his'' past mistakes, which was constantly lying and tricking Navy and her fellow Rubies ''before'' blasting them into the empty void of space.
* Given that the physical sex of a human baby is already determined at the conception, and that the sex comes from the sperm cell as either X or Y chromosome, why was Garnet unable to tell Rose's baby's sex during her pregnancy? There are multiple options:
** Steven's development is [[HalfHumanHybrid fundamentally different from full-human babies]], and Steven's sex really was ambiguous that time. A boring option, plus if there was anything human-like included into the process, Greg's genetic material would still have determined the sex of the baby.
** Garnet was (and maybe still is) more or less clueless about sex differences, since [[NoBiologicalSex Gems don't have such thing]] and the Crystal Gems were largely isolated from humanity. Hence, she didn't really know what to look after when she was asked if the baby was boy or girl, and maybe Greg was too bashful to give details.
** The most awesome option for now (concerning the sex question): Garnet did know that Steven would be born with male sex. However, [[ScrewDestiny she didn't want to]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy ''destine'']] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy Steven to be male]], but she wanted to let him to [[{{Transgender}} determine his own gender identity in his later age]]. Even if her future vision had told her that Steven was a boy and never wanted to be a girl, she didn't want to put too much weight on that - just think about how things turned out when Sapphire predicted herself being poofed that one time.
** Maybe we all got it wrong: note that Greg's [[ExactWords exact words]] were: "When you have a kid, ''you have no idea who they're gonna be''. Even Garnet couldn't predict it." Following the exact wording, it is possible that he never asked Garnet about the ''sex'' of the baby, and that's why he and Rose came up with two names anyway.

%%[[AC:Doug Out]]

%%[[AC:The Good Lars]]

[[AC:Are You My Dad?]]
* Why were the Topaz soldiers and Aquamarine, pure [[KnightOfCerebus Knights of Cerebus]], sent to Earth to collect humans, something that Peridot was able to do with her limb enhancers? Because eight Gems have gone missing after being sent to Earth: Peridot (presumed dead due to YD executing her remotely), Jasper (MIA), Lapis Lazuli (MIA) and a five member Ruby squadron (presumably either still searching for Jasper or en route back to Homeworld to report their failure). Of course Yellow would send more firepower for such a simple task, since even a lowly Peridot couldn't follow her directive.
* Aquamarine has wings seemingly made of either water or (more likely) the blue energy her wand uses, and her gem is shaped like a teardrop. This gives her a huge resemblance to Lapis Lazuli (water wings, gem shaped like a waterdrop), but of course they would design them to be similar; her name literally means 'sea water'!

[[AC:I Am My Mom]]
* When Onion jumps off of Aquamarine and Topaz's space ship, he does so via a fearless and graceful dive into the ocean. Seeing as he's close to his dad, who is a fisherman that spends a lot of his time at sea, it's likely he got swimming lessons from him.
* Steven in "Storm in the Room" asked Cloud Rose if she just created him to handle all her mistakes. The answer is no, but Steven decides that when he has no choice but to make right what Rose did, and sacrifice himself to save his friends.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 3]]
[[AC:Super Watermelon Island]]
* When the watermelons go off to fight, a (presumably female) flower-wearing watermelon leaves her watermelon husband behind. When remembering that ''Steven'' created the watermelons, and [[MamaBear who]] [[AmazonBrigade he's]] [[MagicalGirlWarrior looked up]] [[ActionMom to]] his whole life, it makes perfect sense that in the watermelon society, the women are the warriors.
** And of course, the human-like relation Steven has with his father Greg compared to the Gems helps this notion.
* The watermelon animals make sense, as if the watermelons are anything like Steven, they'd love animals too.
* When Steven is walking through the village, he passes a giant watermelon idol with its arms outstretched. An older watermelon is teaching a bunch of kids the same position, having them all close their eyes and stretch out their arms. This is the ''same position'' Baby Watermelon made in the episode "Watermelon Steven" right before his HeroicSacrifice. They literally respected him so much, the watermelons made an idol out of him and are now teaching his ways to their children. Probably also doubles as FridgeHorror is you consider that a bunch of young kids are being taught the nobility of self-sacrifice.
* While it does border on FridgeHorror, in the short run, the watermelon sacrifices might've kept Malachite at bay all this time. On one hand, Jasper hates Steven and wants vengeance on him. So eating one of the watermelons might satisfy her sense of vengeance. On the other hand, Lapis Lazuli wants to protect Steven, and she might see the watermelon sacrifice as a way to pacify her "prisoner", so long as the real Steven remains safe.
* In a way, Steven ''did'' save the day, not just by leading the watermelons to fight Malachite long enough to distract her, but also by stabilizing Alexandrite. How? Well, gem fusions are stabilized when they have a common goal. And seeing Steven in trouble (in the form of multiple watermelon people) invoked a common goal: protect Steven.
* Why is Steven the one chosen to be sacrificed to Malachite? Well, right before the elder points to him, all the watermelon Stevens place their fingers where their noses should be. This seems like a silly gesture, perhaps a term of respect for the Elder, but they're actually playing the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_goes "Not-It" game.]] Because Steven did not touch his nose, he was "it," and thus chosen for the task.
* The fusion dance the Gems do in order to form Alexandrite consist of Pearl and Amethyst dancing around while Garnet stationarily strikes some moves; Pearl and Amethyst are the most volatile components of Alexandrite, while Garnet is the common central ground.
* A lot of people wonder why none of the Gems shape shift-stretched to save Jasper, but it's actually very simple: they'd ''just'' come out of being Alexandrite after a literally ''huge'' battle. They wouldn't have had the energy to stretch like that!
* Many people have brought attention to the fact that Pearl could've stopped Jasper from falling into that chasm but didn't, but those people overlooked something. As soon as the earthquake started, what was Pearl's first reaction? Catching Watermelon-Steven to keep him from falling. Even a living watermelon shaped like Steven is enough to invoke her maternal instinct!
* At first, fire breath might seem like an odd ability for Alexandrite to have considering her components. Until you realize that all the Crystal Gems use fire to some degree: Garnet is half Ruby and can likely generate heat like her, Amethyst can set her whips on fire and create explosions, and Pearl has her energy projectile which is named "Fireball" in the tie-in video games.

[[AC:Gem Drill]]
* When Steven is being affected by the Cluster as Peridot is attacking it, he's shown sweating and in pain and clutching his stomach (where his gem is). It almost looks like he's in labor. The Cluster was about to be ''born''. With all the other birth/giving life/mother metaphors surrounding Steven and Rose Quartz, this feels intentional.
* Why does the Cluster want to stop forming once it learns that doing so would destroy the Earth? It's made of shards from former Crystal Gems. 5,000 years later and they're still upholding their duty as defenders of the Earth, even if they're shattered.
** Even more: they got shattered while defending earth. They literally died for this purpose and most likely being fully aware of that risk. Doing the very thing they wanted to avoid - destroying planet earth - would not only have been the most horrible thing they probably could imagine, it would also have made their sacrifice utterly useless. Or worse, them having died for their believes would have otherwise ''enabled'' the enemy their victory.

[[AC:Same Old World]]
* Why doesn't Homeworld at least try to determine if Lapis is a Crystal Gem or not before interrogating her? The Diamond Authority considers other Gems [[ExpendableClone expendable and easily replaceable]], so it's no facets off of their gemstones if their civilians get caught up in their conflicts like that.
** Also as it was an opening battlefield by the looks of the flashback and the fact that Homeworld would most likely only use warrior Gems it wouldn't be too hard to assume they simply thought she was a Crystal Gem.
* If the Gem that poofed Lapis was a Crystal Gem, that would be another reason for her to blame them more for her imprisonment despite the fact that Homeworld Gems did the deed. They were just as guilty, for they didn't think to question her, and just assumed she was dangerous.
* That flash of light which has the colors of Yellow, Blue and White Diamond is likely connected to why most of the Gems left on Earth are corrupted.
* Her trance passing over the Galaxy Warp, one that causes her to almost let Steven slip, heavily implies PTSD. This was later confirmed by Lauren Zuke, a storyboard artist and writer.
* Lapis eventually decides that she'll stay "here here" for her new home-- at the barn where Steven was comforting her. That's because for her home isn't just a place; it's also the people there. In several thousand years she hasn't met anyone like Steven, who has continually shown her compassion and empathy even after she's lashed out at him; Steven in a few hours has shown her that on Earth she can live anywhere she likes and have new experiences, building a new life from the shambles of her old one. Lapis needs Steven, and the barn is close enough to him but far enough from the Temple, one of her prisons.
* The places that Steven and Lapis visit foreshadow her living arrangements with Peridot: the wacky roommate has been mentioned for Empire City, but she stays in the country and intermingles with nature which foreshadows the farming experiment "Gem Harvest"; in Jersey she finds that the people there express their hatred of the earth openly, and she and Peridot explore expressing their conflicting emotions through "meep-morps".

[[AC:Barn Mates]]
* Steven's suggestion in "Same Old World", straight from a sitcom, about Lapis moving to the big city and getting a wacky roommate comes back here with her interactions with Peridot, especially with [[http://rebeccasugar.tumblr.com/image/144973983058 this image]].
* Peridot's talk about Lapis Lazuli Gems implies that, like Pearls, any contact she had with them on Homeworld was infrequent and/or indirect.
* Peridot talking about how Lapis Lazuli Gems like flying and water implies that Lapis came to Earth because it had a lot of water.
** "That Will Be All" tells us that Lapis Lazulis are meant to be terraformers, meaning they strip the planets of water so they can start on colonization/Gem production.
* The way the [[EmpathicEnvironment sky gets cloudier as Lapis gets moodier]] is likely a byproduct of [[MakingASplash her water powers]] subtly influencing the water vapour the clouds are comprised of. Once she calms down, the sky is bright and cloudless again as well.
* When Lapis breaks Peridot's tape recorder after receiving it as a gift, the latter asks "Were you trapped in a tape recorder, too?" In a sense, that's exactly what the mirror was when she was trapped in it.

[[AC:Hit The Diamond]]
* Why are the Rubies so dumb? If they're considered expendable, why would the Diamonds put in brainpower they're not going to need?
** That leads to another question, as to why the Crystal Gem's Ruby has at least human average intelligence and more focus. Given how she was a bodyguard to a ''very'' high-ranking Gem, it's likely they deliberately selected against idiots for the ''important, long-term'' mission.
** Alternatively: the other two Rubies of the bodyguard mission hadn't been exactly smart either. Ruby might have had "a defect" and come out smarter than normal. Alternatively, she might have been as dumb as the others (she doesn't talk much before her fusion in "The Answer"), but her contact with the intellectual Sapphire made her more sophisticated as well.
*** This implies that the Rubies are the equivalents of humans who only received enough education to be good for physical labor.
*** Looking back, our Ruby seems to be able to at least count how many there where with only minor trouble (she pauses with an "uh" before stating that they sent three of them.) compared to the Ruby squad that can't even manage that. She is at the very least shown as more sane than the others.
** "Too Short To Ride" brings up an interesting possibility: the Yellow Diamond Ruby Squad, like Peridot, are all Era 2 Rubies, and thus made with few resources than our older, Era 1 Ruby, hence their comparative lack of intelligence. Because like how Peridot not needing combat abilities due to [[CripplingOverspecialization being a technician/engineer]], the Ruby Squad don't need much in the way of intelligence due to being [[WeHaveReserves disposable rank-and-file foot soldiers]].
*** This is unlikely, as shown later, at least one (Eyeball) was made before the revolution.
*** That actually makes it ''more'' likely, since Eyeball seems to be the most knowledgeable of the bunch.
*** It could be the reason as to why she knew where the Moon Base was, details about Pink Diamond, or how she grew suspicious of "Jasper" while her squad leader literally forgot. Most of the Squad, barring her, were likely Era 2 Gems.
* The Ruby that has her Gemstone in the same place as Rose/Steven is the nicest and most interested in Earth, implying that gem placement location can affect the personality of the Gem.
* It might seem weird to us that the female Pearl and Lapis choose the male names Earl and Bob as aliases...but that's just because we're human. The Rubies and other Gems, who are technically genderless aliens, would have no notion of gendered human names and thus wouldn't bat an eye at what would be a flaw to us.
** Also they're the Gems least exposed to human culture, either by choice or by confinement, so they probably don't even know what genders most names traditionally apply to. Or that there even might be something like genders.
* The Chest and Navel Rubies are both the only ones with custom uniforms and the only ones whose gemstones would be obscured by the "default", implying that Homeworld custom is to have your Gem exposed and visible.
* Bear in mind that this was intended as a suicide mission, so Yellow Diamond probably chose Rubies with "quirky" personalities that she wouldn't mind getting rid of.
** Who's to say it is? Peridot was vague to Yellow, merely saying that the Cluster would emerge "shortly" but the only problem is that while a short time to humans could be a few days to weeks, to Gems it can be anywhere from a minute to perhaps a year, especially since Pearl acted like taking Steven away for 50 years would be no different than taking him away to Disneyland for the weekend, or it taking 100 years to rescue Greg would be no different than a four hour commute from Washington DC to New York City. And Peridot did say that the Cluster's emergence would be signaled with the earthquakes, so if the Rubies thought it was going to emerge, they could very easily just get in the ship and report back to Yellow that the mission was a failure.
* The mission may have been a XanatosGambit. If they find Jasper, then fine. If they fail, then Yellow Diamond can just have them get shattered, either by the Cluster's appearance or by having them executed or otherwise punished and sent away for their failure.
* Well, now we know where Garnet gets her visor; one of the Homeworld Rubies wears one, so it's likely that our Ruby summons those too.
* Why didn't the Rubies know or care about Peridot? Yellow Diamond probably doesn't want that the knowledge of an insubordinate Gem spreads any further than absolutely necessary, since the very idea of disloyalty is practically unthinkable to the Homeworld Gems, and the last thing she wants to do is to expand their horizons on that front. She just wants the intel from the one loyal Gem left on Earth if she possibly can, so that she can plan her next move.
** Also, what evidence does she have that the bomb inside of the communicator didn't shatter her after their conversation? As far as Homeworld is concerned, Peridot is dead.
** Also, as far as Homeworld knows, the Cluster is still set to hatch any day now. To them, Peridot and the Crystal Gems are living on borrowed time, and their only concern is to extract Jasper, the only Gem stuck on Earth that's still loyal. This also means that they shouldn't engage in any risky and unnecessary behavior that would get them poofed.
* Why does Peridot claim that she's the new Crystal Gem leader? It's not just her ego, she's trying to make herself seem more important so they'll leave the others alone.
* Why isn't there an umpire? Nobody present wants to claim they're part of a [[IncrediblyLamePun Diamond Authority]].
* At first, Lapis' human name "Bob" might seem like a simple {{Odd Name Out}} gag. But thinking back to "Ocean Gem", what did Steven say to her after she thanked him for healing her? [[CallBack "No prob', Bob!"]]
* The Rubies not noticing Ruby and Sapphire flirting makes a lot of sense when you consider that romance like theirs is ''very'' unusual by Gem standards. The Rubies likely simply don't ''understand'' what they're doing.
** Also, why can't Ruby and Sapphire focus on the game and not on each other? Because this is how they act all the time: they're a couple in perfect sync, which is why Garnet only unfuses deliberately or when they have a violent disagreement, and can re-fuse just by touching like they do at the end of the episode instead of needing to do the FusionDance. After centuries of that, trying to hide their relationship, let alone pretend they're on different sides, is something they don't even consider anymore.
* The Diamonds probably try and make the Rubies stupid to better control them.
* Steven tells the Rubies that Jasper is on Neptune. Jasper is in the middle of the ocean and has been sealed beneath it for months. Now, what was the God of the Sea in mythology?
* Why doesn't Sapphire use her future vision to help the team win the game? During her life as an aristocratic Homeworld Gem, it's very unlikely that she ever had to get her hands dirty to make sure the best possible outcome occurred, but rather had other Gems to do it for her. Now that she's almost always fusing, she has Ruby to make sure that actions are taken, but on her own, she has difficulty internalizing the fact that she needs to act in order to get the best future. This attitude can also be seen in "Keystone Motel," when Sapphire did almost nothing to help smooth over the situation because she saw that everything would work out eventually. She forgot she had to take action in the present in order to shape the future.
* The Crystal Gems [[AndZoidberg and Lapis]] going through the trouble of playing a baseball game against the Ruby squad to get them to leave seems like a waste of time when they could have fought them easily and bubbled them especially when the Rubies seem not too bright, however that would not have worked out well for them for a few reasons. In a fight, there's the risk that at least one of the Rubies might get back into the ship and fly back to Homeworld to report to Yellow Diamond about rebels on Earth. Even if none of the Rubies escaped Earth, Yellow Diamond could've responded to their absence by sending a more competent squad to Earth whom might be harder to deal with than the Rubies or Yellow Diamond could've assumed the Rubie not coming back meant that they had been shattered due to the Cluster emerging and destroying the Earth at which point Homeworld would've gone to Earth to retrieve their geoweapon only to find a still intact Earth. Letting the Rubies think of the Crystal gems as humans,and sending them off peacefully to report that they didnt find anything would've given the gems more time.
* Peridot mentions that Yellow Diamond is Commander in Chief of Homeworld's military, which makes sense once you consider that her outfit is evocative of armor, and most of her subordinates appear to be soldiers. It also accounts for her temper and impulsive actions, and why she was the Diamond in charge of the Cluster project.
* In "The Answer" the Rubies were shown lacking diamonds on their clothes, while here, the Ruby Squad each have a yellow diamond somewhere. Because that episode likely took place after Pink got shattered, they were waiting to be reassigned.
* From a storytelling perspective, wouldn't it make more sense to go after Peridot? No, for Yellow likely thinks that she was killed by the Communicator exploding or if that didn't do the job, the Cluster will.
* At the beginning of the episode, Doc says "we are here to retrieve the leader of the Earth mission" which we learn at the end is Jasper. They said this within earshot, so why did nobody notice? They likely thought she was referring to Peridot, since Peridot was the reason they came in the first place (and Jasper was stated to be an escort, meaning she was just acting as backup for her) and Peridot was likely too nervous to refute them, or too narcissistic to acknowledge Jasper as the leader.

[[AC:Steven Floats]]
* Why does Steven unlock the power now? He's finally home, he's saved the world, Lapis and Peridot are safe and getting along, he's going to get a doughnut in the morning, why ''wouldn't'' he be over the moon?
* Of course Garnet would win at checkers; her future vision allows her to see every possible move Steven could make before he makes it, and counter it.
* Steven refers to the Gems as "my guys". Given that recent episodes have developed Steven's ability to not only join the team but lead it, it makes sense that they'd be '''G'''ems '''U'''nder '''Y'''our '''S'''upervision.
* I was wondering why the Gems had a cake in the fridge, and then I remembered. They only headed to the barn a few episodes before Steven's birthday, and hadn't really been planning to go until the Cluster was brought up. They must have bought the cake for Steven's birthday!
* In "It Could've Been Great", Peridot reveals that Gems automatically adjust to the gravity of any planet or moon they land on. Rose, and now Steven's, ability to slow how fast they fall may be based on manipulation of their personal gravity, actively using that effect.

[[AC:Drop Beat Dad]]
* When Sour Cream is yelling at Marty, he slips into the same language that Yellowtail and Onion use. This is TruthInTelevision in that people who were raised bilingually can sometimes slip into their second tongue without noticing it.

[[AC:Mr. Greg]]
* Steven's actions in the episode when he reveals that he intentionally invited Pearl so that she would make up with Greg. He's not just pulling it out of nowhere. He's remembering Keystone Motel, and hoping the same thing will happen with his Dad and Pearl.
* Steven saying his mother will be going on the trip too just seems like Steven having an awkward, clueless moment at first based on Greg and Pearl's reactions. Then you find out that Steven wants them to make up and encourages them to bond over their shared memories of Rose, and it turns out Rose really was there in a sense, and he may have brought her up on purpose since it's part of what makes them NotSoDifferent.
* Steven told Lapis in "Same Old World" that "What happens in in Empire City never sleeps." While Steven and Greg are found sleeping after arriving in Empire City, Pearl's song wakes them up. Steven doesn't sleep again until they leave Empire City.
* The promotional artwork shows Steven playing a big row of piano keys while grinning down at a smaller Greg and Pearl as they dance at the end of those keys. It neatly foreshadows how [[TheChessmaster he]] plays them [[VisualPun like a piano]] into confronting and resolving their tension together. Also the fact that it's done over a dance with Steven playing the piano.
* Steven's sudden proficiency with the piano. Although not always the case, pianos are commonly taught as an introduction to music and to help memorize the scales before moving on to other instruments. It's entirely possible that Greg taught Steven the piano (or keyboard as the case may be) before he started him on the ukulele.
* Greg and Pearl's interactions in this episode parallel Greg and Rose in "We Need To Talk"; after sharing a heart-to-heart and a dance they become closer and understand each other better. Like a fusion, if you go with the platonic relationship/conversation interpretation of fusion instead of the romantic/sexual one.
* In "It's Over, Isn't It", Pearl describes herself after losing Rose as "petty and dull ''with the nerve to doubt her''". That line sums up ''so many levels'' of Pearl's development. She's not just doubting Rose's judgment over falling for Greg, she's doubting Rose's judgment on ''having Steven''. Rose was a fabled general and strategist who approached many things in a very calculated way, and Pearl was willing to be poofed in order to follow her orders and even now fights in her name; Pearl doesn't realize what a huge stride it is for her independence that she's allowing her feelings to take precedence over Rose's orders. It's unfortunate that those feelings are grief and jealousy, but ''not'' blindly following Rose's wishes even when it hurts is a huge step for someone who regularly got poofed for her.
* It's been remarked elsewhere that $5.95 is a pretty steep price for a burger; unless Pepe's is some high-end chain, even for a combo meal, that's pushing it. And yet, thanks to the jingle, Pepe's sold over ten million dollars' worth. ''That'' is how awesome of a songwriter Greg Universe is: an advertising jingle just ''based on'' one of his songs got millions of people to buy an overpriced burger.
** Not really, assuming they where advertising for their Whopper (5.29$ for a double)/Baconator ($6.09)/etc equivalent rather than a dollar menu burger equivalent. That is a pretty standard price for a non-bare-bones burger from a chain restaurant.
* During "Both Of You", Greg and Pearl are colored yellow and blue respectively, while Steven is bathed in pink lighting. In light of the revelations of "A Single pale Rose" that [[spoiler: Rose was Pink Diamond]], it seems to show how [[spoiler: Pink saw Blue and Yellow as parental figures in the same vein that Steven sees Greg and Pearl]].

[[AC:Too Short to Ride]]
* Peridot unlocking a power she didn't realize she had namely [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] makes sense when you consider that, like Steven, this power was unlocked via her emotions, namely her desire to catch her tablet before it went into the ocean because of how important it was to her. If her personality pre-character growth is any indication, emotional attachment is an unusual trait for her race, so it's little wonder no Peridot has ever unlocked that ability before.
** Her HeelFaceTurn also falls under this since Yellow Diamond was giving up a perfect chance for resources all [[EvilIsPetty to destroy Earth with the Cluster.]]
** Also, in another comparison with Steven, Peridot wasn't supposed to have any powers, or so she was told, and that's why she never even tried to confirm this, and only found out because her friends encouraged her to unleash her potential, something that no other Peridot, apparently, has done before. This is similar to Steven's DreamWalker powers, as he discovered them by doing something that Gems rarely, if ever, do at all; sleeping. Both Steven and Peridot discover their powers because they're acting out of Homeworld's standards.
* Amethyst reassuring Peridot that they like her because of who she is and that she needs to focus on what she can do instead of what she can't is a CallBack to Amethyst's having had to deal with the same kind of insecurities about herself in the past.
* Peridot being so attached to her limb enhancers makes even more sense now that we know she didn't know she had any natural powers of her own and thought they were the only way she could defend herself.
** As does her initial enmity towards Pearl during their robot-building contest, as Peridot had legitimate reason to believe that the only thing she was good for was for tech related enterprises, with her apparent lack of Gem powers. Given how Homeworld treats its people, it was probably an inherently terrifying thought that Pearl could be as good as Peridot at the one thing she believed she could do. It completely threatened all sense of self-worth that she had.
* Given Peridot's magnetic nature and Steven referring to her MindOverMatter as "metal powers", it may be that its a form of MagnetismManipulation.
** It also makes perfect sense that Peridot has that as a power: peridots contain iron, making them magnetic.
* Peridot's enthusiasm about the old Earth colony makes sense now, she was probably thinking about how she might have been made as she was meant to be, powers and all, if the colony had proceeded as planned. She was also probably thinking about all the other Gems who had and would suffer from the shortage, due to her newfound sense of empathy.
** As does her anger and calling Yellow Diamond a clod after the she refuses to listen to Peridot's plans to access the planet's resources without harming the local ecosystem. Peridot is a being who is learning empathy from her newfound friends, the Crystal Gems. So Peridot isn't mad just because Yellow Diamond is being petty and willing to destroy a planet of resources for a grudge over something that happened before she was mined. She's mad because she's thinking of all the Gems who'd been made and would be made weaker than they should be because of the resource shortage, something her leader is showing her doesn't matter to her. So not only is Yellow Diamond being petty, but she's not caring about her future subjects who will suffer because of her pettiness. That is why Peridot called Yellow Diamond a clod and essentially cut ties with Homeworld, because Yellow Diamond insulted not only Peridot's sense of logic, but also her newfound sense of empathy.
* It's entirely possible that Homeworld resources crisis is ''artificial'', created by the Diamonds in order to justify limiting the powers of Gems beneath their rule to prevent another Rebellion.
** Another hypothesis is that they're fighting something that's badly draining resources, and a planet-sized weapon is more important than a planet full of resources.
** The Rebellion might've been the reason they're in a resource crisis. In an attempt to make more soldiers to fight Rose, they all but depleted their own reserves, and wasted the Gem production, as most were probably corrupted, shattered in the conflict, or joined the enemy.
* Peridot revealing that she was born without any powers due to a lack of resources means that she essentially suffered the Gem equivalent of malnourishment and stunted growth. It also means her "limb enhancers" were actually prosthesis to compensate for this.
* Assuming the resource shortage is real, Yellow Diamond sending the search party for Jasper makes sense from a pragmatic viewpoint. Warriors like Jasper who have the full array of Gem powers would take too much of Homeworld's dwindling resources to replace. It's more efficient to retrieve them if they go missing.
** Jasper is also the only member of the team to not rebel in some sense: Peridot called her a clod, while Lapis was forced into the role. Since the Cluster, in her mind, will activate at any second, she's dooming Peridot and Lapis to death for rebellion.

[[AC:The New Lars]]
* As disheartening as it is for the Cool Kids and Lars' parents to not understand why Lars is rightfully angry with Steven for possessing his body, their are some reasons to explain why they react this way: 1) Humans of the ''Steven Universe'' world are accustomed to the supernatural, 2) Lars' parents think that Lars may just be acting like his usual jerky self, 3) the Cool Kids probably know that [[AllLovingHero Steven]] would never intentionally take over Lars' body out of malice.
* How did the Big Donut get seagulls stuck in the vents? As Sadie mentioned in ''Steven Floats'', the Big Donut has started making their own donuts again, which would attract seagulls to the scent of fresh donuts.
* When Steven in Lars' body is shown his falling grades, he speaks the grade letters in succession. Makes sense since Steven is homeschooled, mainly by gems having limited knowledge in humans' school systems, thus he doesn't have knowledge in school grading.

[[AC:Beach City Drift]]
* Stevonnie being an InstantExpert when it comes to racing makes sense when you remember that Steven is explicitly said to be a ChildProdigy (at least in music, but given how quickly he picks certain things up, likely in multiple areas) and Connie has signs of being one, and is very intelligent, regardless. Both have shown the ability to very quickly become skilled in things that they've gotten the basics of. Stevonnie, as their fusion, likely has their combined skills in these areas taken UpToEleven, possibly even to the point of SuperIntelligence.
** One can very easily learn to drive via using a Driver's Ed guide and going from there. Since Connie is a bookworm, she probably picked up the book before they fused.
* Why does ''[[AllLovingHero Steven]]'' of all people state he ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness actually hates someone]]'', the someone being Kevin? Well, Kevin harassing him and Connie as Stevonnie in "Alone Together" opened up Steven to something: Not only will Steven have to deal with misogyny whenever he wants to fuse with the girl he loves, but he also has to live knowing Connie is going to deal with it all the time. He doesn’t just hate Kevin as a person, he hates feeling helpless about Connie’s societal struggles.
** That and the fact that he disregarded how Stevonnie felt. Seeing how seriously the Gems take Fusion, and how much emphasis they put on their partner and the shared experience, it was pretty much equivalent to Pearl's selfish desire to fuse with Garnet for the rush of it a while back. Steven's reaction even parallels Garnet's in terms of relative intensity.
* Kevin seems to use the reactions of others to validate himself. No wonder he crumbles when the duo walk away, he's finally found someone he can't just get a rise out of anymore, and he's trying to regain control before everyone ''else'' follows suit.
* Steven and Connie's strong response to Kevin pressuring them to dance with him only seems like a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything metaphor]] for [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar sexual assault]] until you remember that fusion is activated by FusionDance. Rather than being its own metaphor, it ties into the themes of consent and boundaries that have been long established by the show.
* Kevin's behavior makes a lot of sense when you think about him not as a simple {{Narcissist}}, but someone with actual Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Many of his actions, including being a jerk just to get a rise out of others for attention saying that Stevonnnie is obsessed with him when he's the one who's obsessed (projecting something about himself he won't accept onto someone else) is something people with this disorder do. Even his breakdown when they deny him the attention he wants is also characteristic of the "narcissistic rages" a narcissist will exhibit when their ego is bruised.
* Kevin's name has the syllables Steven and Connie loses from their names when they fuse into Stevonnie. It works on a thematic level too, since Stevonnie is a being made out of love for another, while Kevin is all about himself. He's the opposite of the two in every way.
* How were Steven and Connie able to so effortlessly fuse this time when previously they only did it by accident? They've been practicing out of sight!
* Kevin seemingly hitting on Stevonnie despite knowing their true nature makes sense when you remember one thing: Kevin is a self-admitted {{Troll}} and knows they don't like him at all and that upsets them, so ''of course'' he'd do it just to get on their nerves.
* Greg being hard on Steven for using the word "hate" becomes sadder when we meet Uncle Andy in "Gem Harvest"; from what we learn from Andy and Greg, the latter grew up in a typical anti-immigration-toting family that prided itself on tradition. Andy gives off a lot of negative vibes as a GrumpyBear, that threatens to become infectious. No wonder Greg left, and makes an effort to teach his son to be kind; being around someone like Andy is quite depressing and stressful, and Steven runs the risk of going the same way by encouraging those feelings.
* Mixing in with FridgeHorror, the episode's HighSchoolAU title card has Steven and Connie, the teacher and librarian respectively, rushing to help Stevonnie, who is being flirted with by Kevin. At first it seems they're just being {{Reasonable Authority Figure}}s concerned with some creep trying to get close to one of their students, but remember: Stevonnie is a person created out of Steven and Connie's love for each other when they fuse. This makes her, on some level, their ''child''. [[AdultFear Does that remind you of anything?]]

[[AC:Restaurant Wars]]
* More Fridge Funny, but given Jenny's reaction and Kofi's near-sadistic grin when offering Steven the VIP "card", it's implied that not only has he not offered this to anyone else, but was specifically waiting for Steven. This is probably because Steven ordering the Mozzarella Sticks were what started the war.
* Why didn't Ronaldo tell his family about his girlfriend? He probably knew that they wouldn't believe him.

[[AC:Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service]]
* Why does continual use of his DreamWalker abilities tire Steven out? Because he's actively fighting against the cheese hands for Kiki, he's not really ''resting''!

[[AC:Monster Reunion]]
* Why did the Diamonds feel comfortable using whatever corrupted all the Gems? Because, as Centipeetle have shown, corrupted Gems can't activate Warp Pads, meaning that they were stranded on Earth!
* The fact the Diamonds used whatever corrupted the Gem Monsters shows ''why'' Homeworld didn't just return: as far as they knew, the Earth was currently overrun with vicious Gem monsters. Which also gives a good reason Peridot tried her best to do her job remotely rather than come to Earth and do it manually until she HAD to. This also explains why Peridot didn't find it odd that the Red Eye probe and her flask robonoids were being damaged/destroyed; she's already expecting hostilities.
** Even more, when she first meets Steven, she is very surprised. Most likely, she didn't expect any kind of intelligence on a planet that must be overrun by insane monsters.
** It's explained in "Lars' Head" that the Homeworld Gems all believe that the Corruption Bomb left the Earth uninhabitable in terms of life, which is why Peridot assumed that a race of Stevens have taken over the Earth.
* In the first episode, Centipeetle tried to get into the temple for seemingly no reason. This episode explained why; even when corrupted, she wanted to use the warp pad to find her crew.
* Why did Steven's healing spit work more than Rose's tears? Well it's revealed in this episode that the corruption caused by the Diamond's FantasticNuke isn't just physical in nature, but somehow mental too. Now think all the way back to "Monster Buddies" when Steven tried to rehabilitate a completely corrupted Centipeetle through ThePowerOfFriendship. Basically, he ''already'' started the healing process a long time ago.

[[AC:Alone at Sea]]
* Jasper's reaction shows a new potential reason for Homeworld's fusion stigma: the possibility of a loss of control in even their most loyal soldiers.
* Why is Jasper so obsessed with reforming Malachite compared to Lapis? Lapis' enjoyment of Malachite came from abusing Jasper for stress relief, which she feels guilty about liking after the fact, while Jasper reveled in the sheer ''power'' and {{Flight}} capacity Lapis brought.
** In addition, Lapis had at least ONE selfless reason to form Malachite: to protect Steven. Which she can now do WITHOUT that. Jasper on the other hand, ONLY had that PowerHigh and for no other reason.
* The reasons Jasper and Lapis enjoyed being Malachite are the exact same reasons they both ''formed'' Malachite in the first place: Jasper to get a power boost and Lapis to [[TheDogBitesBack take revenge on Jasper for imprisoning her again.]]
* This episode provides ''another'' reason that Garnet was so ticked off at Pearl for deceiving her into forming Sardonyx: Jasper and Lapis shows what happens when a fusion is based off of purely selfish emotions and personal satisfaction rather than the positive relationship between their components. They become addicted to the emotions due to that being ''all'' it's about.
* Jasper and Lapis' emotions in this episode were extremes of Pearl and Stevonnie's past issues. Jasper is like Pearl, wanting to fuse to feel powerful. Lapis is like when Steven and Connie formed Stevonnie for selfish revenge rather than because they care about each other and want to enjoy each other's company. Only unlike those two cases, they spent a much longer time in that mindset to the point neither of them was willing to separate willingly and even Lapis had difficulty shaking the mentality.
* Another reason Jasper has become so obsessed with Malachite is again, the strength and power they had, something that she's apparently always greatly admired. Being a Quartz Gem, one of the most powerful short of the Diamonds themselves, she probably never even ''dreamed'' of that kind of power before, and having it torn from her instead of de-fusing willingly probably made it worse.
* When Jasper explains to Lapis why they should form Malachite again, she mentions how they could fly. Apart from Lapis, no other gem has been shown to be capable of flying without technology, apart from Amethyst shapeshifting, though Peridot mentions that shapeshifting consumes energy so most gems dont try it so flight would be a rare if unknown power hence Jasper becoming elated at this new ability as Malachite. Another Jasper would focus on flight is due to her being a warrior , flight would be a handy advantage to have since you could scout enemy formations and stay out of range of your enemy's weapons. If Alexandrite didnt have access to Opal's bow, Malachite might have been able to win their fight by staying in the sky out of reach while using her hydrokinesis
* Originally, the ship was called the S.S. Misery. Jasper/Lapis was a pretty miserable ship, and guess what sank at the end?
* Before setting sail, Greg and Steven renamed the boat “Lil Lappy”. According to sailor superstition, renaming a boat will bring bad luck. And indeed, the trip ends very bad for the boat itself.
* The episode points out something Garnet said all the way back at the send of season 1. "Yikes. They are really bad for each other". Point to note, she didn't just point out one or the other, she said they are both bad for each other and this episode pointed that out in all its terrible glory.
* When the fishing line snaps, we get this quote. It happens before Jasper shows up, but on a second watch, this is not only excellent foreshadowing, but a very succinct metaphor for everything wrong with Jasper and Lapis as a pair: something only meant to be temporary that ends up being permanent, and advice that it's better to let "the one that got away" go.
--> '''Greg:''' Looks like this pole rental turned into a pole purchase, but you did a great job tangling with that beast.
--> '''Steven:''' Yeah, don't worry about that one getting away.

[[AC:Greg the Babysitter]]
* Greg mentioned in "Story for Steven" that Marty was the reason why he and Rose eventually got together. In this episode, Rose meeting Sour Cream, Marty's son, gives her the idea to have Steven.
* In this episode, Rose seems fascinated with the idea that humans can change and define themselves, rather than being defined from the moment of creation like Gems are. Now look at her and her closest friends: Pearl defied the set role for pearls to become Rose's "terrifying renegade pearl", Garnet's very existence is a defiance of both Ruby and Sapphire's intended roles and their society's rules, and of course, Rose herself defied her purpose when she rebelled against Homeworld. Naturally ,she'd be fascinated with the idea of an entire race of people who changes and defines themselves as a matter of course.
** Not only that, but falling in love with humanity as a species for that reason also explains a bit more. Seeing humanity having that ability when the Diamonds don't ''allow'' that and while Gems ARE capable of doing more than they were made for, the rules completely forbid it due to the rigid caste system. Not only did she see something worth protecting, she saw something that revealed the flaws in her own society.
* Rose implies that part of her reason for having/becoming Steven was to reinvent herself in ways that she normally wouldn't be able to, given how a Gem's nature is set when they are made.
** The Guidebook states that Rose had Steven to experience childbirth and to have him serve as a link between humans and Gems. However, since the Guidebook was supposed to be written from the perspective of Steven, long before he knew his mother wasn't the war hero he thought she was, take it with a grain of salt.
* Greg leaving behind his star-shirt and starting to use a "It's a Wash" one is him leaving behind his immaturity.
* You could say that Greg's HeelRealization was foreshadowed quite early in the opening song, in the shot where Rose was tossing him up and down playfully - like one might play with a baby.
** Not to mention the sight of him in the Ferris wheel is reminiscent of a baby carriage.

[[AC:Gem Hunt]]
* Connie explaining to Steven that even though the pine needle doesn't taste good, it is good for your body isn't just from her [[WiseBeyondHerYears maturity]], but also from the fact that her mother is a ''doctor''. So, it wouldn't be surprising for Dr. Maheswaran to teach her daughter the "IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou" lesson at some point.

[[AC:Crack the Whip]]
* Steven and Connie have obviously been training together offscreen, how else would they be so in sync in combat?
* Amethyst being no match at all for Jasper makes sense given Jasper is ''another'' Quartz, meaning she's as strong if not stronger than her. Amethyst may be able to handle mindless beasts with her UnskilledButStrong status, but Jasper matched or exceeded her ''on top'' of being much more skilled and experienced. In contrast, Stevonnie has Steven's experience and Connie's skill, in addition to Steven's Gem powers, so it's only natural they'd fare better.
** Amethyst is also the only one who is inexperienced fighting other Gems. Pearl, Garnet and Jasper are all veterans of the Rebellion and Steven and Connie learned to fight by training against Pearl. Amethyst, however was born strong and with a certain amount of knowledge on how to fight so she never learned how to fight someone who can match her in both power and intelligence.
** One other reason why Stevonnie is able to beat Jasper is the fact that she's a fusion involving a Diamond.
* Jasper's motives seemingly changing makes sense when you remember she blamed Steven for Lapis refusing to fuse with her. She still does and is trying to finish what she started.
* If Jasper wanted to attack the temple while Pearl and Garnet are away, why did she wait till the end of the day? She didn't; she walked all the way from the north to the beach and it took her a good day or two to do so.
* Amethyst's new appearance seems a bit random...until you make note of one thing: Jasper spent the entire fight saying how she was what Amethyst 'should be'. Jasper's color pallet arrangement has her brightest color on her chest, her darkest color on her lower body, and her middle color as her shoes. What's Amethyst's new color pallet arrangement? Brightest color on the chest, darkest color for the legs, and middle color for the boots.

[[AC:Steven Vs. Amethyst]]
* Why is Pearl's teaching method so different in this episode compared to "Sworn to the Sword"? Because she already tried her usual teaching method with him in "Steven the Sword Fighter" and learned that Steven has trouble staying focused during training. In response to this, Pearl has developed a new training regimen based on Steven's needs: She gives him several "challenges" to work on specific skills and rewards him with small prizes for his accomplishments during the day (much like quests in a video game).

[[AC:Bismuth]]
* Bismuth's sheer power and durability (which seems to be at least on par with a [[SuperSoldier Quartz]]) makes sense when you remember her purpose for being created. Bismuths are construction workers who build all of Homeworld's structures and buildings. For a job like that, one would pretty much have to be a living bulldozer.
* Note how Bismuth's gem is shaped and colored. On the outermost layer, the color is predominately pink, followed by blue, then green, and finally yellow. Along those lines, her philosophy of playing dirty and shattering their gems to make sure they're truly dead closely mimics Homeworld's tactics of putting down rebellious Gems. In other words: on the outside, she's a jovial piece of fun like Rose Quartz, but on the inside, she is just as merciless as Yellow Diamond is when it comes to her opponents.
** Moreso than that, her gem forms a cavity in her chest, unlike the others who all project outward. This could represent both that she's more focused on the past than the others and has something eating away at her such as her absolute hatred of Homeworld and Rose's betrayal.
* Why doesn't Bismuth have a Gem Weapon of her own? She doesn't ''need'' one! Even if her shapeshifting her body doesn't work, she can just ''make'' weapons as needed!
** Even more brilliant, bismuth is a type of ''metal'', which through heat, can be molded and shaped into different weapons. Bismuth worked as a blacksmith for the Crystal Gems, who can turn herself into a weapon.
* Speaking of Bismuth's namesake gem, it's interesting to note that bismuth doesn't naturally have the rainbow colors and stairstep crystal structure it's known for. It only appears that way when it's created artificially. And Bismuths on Homeworld are a caste of...builders and artificers.
* Pearl's spear being upgraded into a trident makes perfect sense when you consider the biggest advantage of a trident over a spear other than having two additional points to stab with: trapping an opponent's weapon between the prongs, at which point there are opportunities for a skilled user to twist or wrench their weapon out of their grip (or snap it if you get the right leverage), which fits Pearl's WeakButSkilled fighting style by giving her more options. In addition, the added weight likely isn't as big of a disadvantage as it would be for a human, as her strength and ability to alter the size of the spear would neutralize that issue.
* Throughout all of the promotions and leaks for the new episode they said Bismuth was a new Crystal Gem. They never said that Bismuth would be joining them.
* A breaking point is when a person (or object) snaps after taking in too much pressure. The "Breaking Point", a weapon created by Bismuth, is designed specifically to shatter Gems and how that works is it has a metal spike that applies enough force to shatter a Gem. Bismuth's "breaking point" occurs when her idea of a Gem weapon was rejected by both Rose and Steven, resulting in violent rampages that warrant being poofed and bubbled indefinitely. Alternatively, because she takes pride in a blacksmith, you can name her Breaking Point weapon her "BerserkButton".
* Rose may have been using ThePowerOfLegacy when she didn't tell the others about what happened to Bismuth, wanting to preserve her memory.
* Bismuth is a very soft and brittle metal that has a lower melting point than other metals. Bismuth (the character) is a BloodKnight who works in a weapons forge full of molten lava, and is a very destructive person when angered.
* This episode explains why the Crystal Gem's weapons are good at poofing monsters; Bismuth specifically designed them, at Rose's request, to only poof their bodies and leave the gems unharmed.
* Why is Bismuth, an architect and builder - people who are usually depicted with calm, rational, or even pedant personalities - so bloodthirsty towards her former leaders? Well, for once, she went from being a creator of buildings and other mundane, passive designs to being the forger of weapons. However, when you look at it from a philosophical standpoint: she's a creative worker who realized that her talent and powers are wasted on building the same, repetitive designs for her superiors. Rose offered her the chance to explore the full extent of her capabilities, and this brought her to the realization that she has been exploited as a worker, and on top of that, insulted her as a creator through arbitrary limitation and petty degradation. For her, the war wasn't just about her freedom and the protection of the Earth, but also, the punishment and destruction of the ruling elite that dispossessed her, and so many of her kind, and overthrow the system they created - she's essentially the gem equivalent of a militant Marxist or anarchist, while her friends are "merely" defending themselves, their values, and Earth. In other words, the show'a creator's haven't just created another blood knight to counter Jasper, but explained why you shouldn't stand up against something or someone out of sheer spite, or worse, putting your own spite before reason or others - it makes you just as bad as the ones you despise. Ideologies and factions that put revenge before the good of others can become the source of just as much, if not greater misery as the ideas they meant to replace.
* Rose refusing to use the Breaking Point makes more sense when you consider this: Jasper showed in "Crack the Whip" that crushing a Gem with your bare-hands IS something Gems are capable of, and we can assume a hard hit to an enemy's Gem could do it. However, that is having the CAPABILITY to truly kill and the choice whether to do so or not. You have the OPTION of taking them captive. If they're a civilian who was caught in the crossfire, you have the option to rectify the mistake by sparing and letting them go. The Breaking Point is designed for killing and ONLY for killing. It's a weapon with NO CHOICE as to whether or not you kill your target. It's understandable that Rose would oppose such a thing, as it means you're surrendering any possibility for a peaceful solution to the conflict.
** The Breaking Point is also wildly impractical as a weapon of war. It only works at point-blank range, and has a long priming time, meaning the Gem targeted would most likely have to be restrained in some way. It is a weapon of terror, not war.
* Bismuth treating Amethyst with respect and dignity seems like it was done specifically because of the double-whammy she just went through in the last two episodes, but it makes sense that Bismuth would be completely accepting of Amethyst; Bismuth respected Rose's philosophy that anyone can be anything so long as they chose, hence she's the only person who would have absolutely no baggage against Amethyst; to Bismuth it does not matter what made Amethyst what she is now, but what's important is what Amethyst chooses to be in the future.
* The name Breaking Point can either mean it is the point at which all gems would break (which is the weapon's intended purpose) but it could also mean that its Point (the tip) is used in Breaking gems. Given that Bismuth is known to make puns, it's not surprising that she'd name even a lethal weapon with such a mentality.
** It also refers to a structural weak spot that can be struck to destroy the entire object. Suffice to say, it's a name that works on multiple levels, both as a weapon and a metaphor for going too far.
* Bismuth constantly refers to elite Gems as 'upper crust', which is yet another pun ''and'' a phrase that works considering the history of their society, as low-ranking soldiers are grown deep underground.
* When Rose fused with Pearl, Pearl was able to keep her ShippingTorpedo plan from Rose despite the two sharing minds. It's likely that Rose shielded their memories from each other even while fused so that Pearl couldn't learn about all the things she had to do during the war, including Bismuth's fate.
* When Peridot first reformed, she was still carrying out the motions just before she was poofed. Bismuth reforms with both fists raised and panicky, hinting that she was poofed while fighting desperately. Fighting Rose would definitely be the cause.
* Why did the Gems leave Bismuth bubbled, with the other bubbled and Corrupted Gems? There are three main reasons:
** She said with tears that she wanted to be shattered so that she wouldn't feel despair at how Rose locked her away and made her an {{Unperson}}. Bismuth is a DeathSeeker who attempted SuicideByCop by attacking Rose, her leader, and then Steven. For Bismuth, being bubbled is the closest thing to death, without shattering her, and she probably won't want to be disturbed.
** For the Gems, their best friend [[MoralEventHorizon tried to kill Rose's son]] [[AdultFear while they were unaware]]. Even if they want to forgive Bismuth, they can't quite trust her since unlike Peridot, there's no way to depower Bismuth and make her harmless, while with Lapis, Steven was able to talk her down. They aren't ready, physically or emotionally, to rehabilitate Bismuth.
** Steven is an AllLovingHero, but he's visibly traumatized from the fight and TheReveal that his mother poofed Bismuth deliberately and hid her away. Most likely, with mindfulness meditation and help from Connie, he may try to reform her in the future when he's better equipped to handle the trauma.
* Bismuth asks "How can you value the Gems of our enemies more than our own?". ''A Single Pale Rose'' provides the answer: Pink Diamond was RunningBothSides. The Homeworld Gems were just as much "hers" as the Crystal Gems, and she didn't want ''any'' of her Gems to be shattered.
* Overlapping with Fridge Horror, Steven has an additional reason to be uncomfortable with shattering Gems: From his meeting with the Cluster, he knows that Gem Shards are still somewhat aware and sentient. Shattering a Gem doesn't kill it, it condemns it to a FateWorseThanDeath.

[[AC:Beta]]
* The Beta Kindergarten's appearance explains why Jasper is colored the way she is, she seems to have taken on visual cues from the environment she was incubated in!
** It would also explain Amethyst's coloring since she was made in the Prime Kindergarten.
* Jasper turning out to be pretty much the Gem equivalent of the UltimateLifeForm not only explains why she could even hold her own against Garnet, but also why Yellow Diamond bothered to dispatch a team of Rubies to try and get her back in ''[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E5HitTheDiamond Hit the Diamond]]''. She’s not just a run off the mill, expendable soldier; she’s one of the probably few perfect Gem soldiers Homeworld has, if not the ''only'' one like her, given Peridot's reaction.
** It also explains why she ''only'' sent Jasper with Peridot to begin with. Not only did she think Earth would be infested with monsters rather than occupied by an enemy, Jasper herself is abnormally powerful. Given the ease with which Jasper overpowered Corrupted Gems, she had a good reason to believe that.
* The reveal that the Beta Kindergarten was made to churn out Quartz-type Gems to bolster Homeworld's dwindling forces explains why we constantly hear about armies of Quartzes, supposedly made for war, being defeated by a ragtag bunch of random Gems from other disciplines; it's likely that due to the rushed job, all of them were defective and much weaker than they were supposed to be.
** Not only were the Quartzes likely getting weaker, the Rebellion, as we've seen, were likely continuing to improve and possibly growing (it seems the Beta Kindergarten Gems would have MORE reason to join Rose, given they were literally made to be CannonFodder.
* The reveal of Jasper's origins explains why she constantly belittles Gems weaker than her and never needed to fuse; she has every right to believe that she is the strongest Quartz soldier to have ever existed.
** Jasper's origin's and Amethyst's are very interestingly mirrored; as a Beta Gem, Jasper would have been the strongest out of the weakest group of Gems on the planet. The best of the worst, if you will. On the other hand, Amethyst, an overcooked and defective Gem from the Prime Kindergarten, would have been the weakest Prime Gem (the worst of the best).
* Steven's concerns about Amethyst's obsession with revenge on Jasper makes a lot more sense when you consider he's recently witnessed [[HeWhoFightsMonsters that kind of obsession and hate did to]] [[FallenHero Bismuth]].
* While 'meepmorps' may be an InherentlyFunnyWord, it actually makes sense that Homeworld wouldn't have art (outside of things that venerate the Diamonds or show their history, like the murals in "Serious Steven") - it has no purpose on the battlefield, it gives Gems an opportunity to explore life in a way unrelated to their predetermined caste, and it has the possibility to produce subversive social commentary; all are huge risks to the Diamonds' rigorously-structured society (and indeed, artists are usually targeted by oppressive regimes in real life for the same reasons).
** As 'meep morp' is actually Lapis and Peridot's word for 'art' (apparently something they had never heard of before), sometimes artists don't even realize the value behind their work. Peridot's works of 'meep morp' were all carefully thought out and explained, meanwhile Lapis's were very easy to understand.
-->"This is a baseball bat. It reminds me of the time I played baseball. This is the leaf Steven gave me. It reminds me of the time... Steven... gave me a leaf."
* TheReveal that Jasper was made on Earth gives a new meaning to the episode title "The Return". Jasper was returning to the planet she was made on.
* Jasper coming out better than any other quartz despite coming from from the sub-par beta kindergarten can likely be explained like this, while the unstable conditions often resulted in off-color gems, the larger variety also allowed something better to result from it. While the prime kindergarten produced consistently decent quartz that also meant that it wouldn't produce anything exceptional.

[[AC:Earthlings]]
* Why does Jasper talk more to Amethyst about the Diamonds, and about being made on an imperfect Earth that is full of Corrupt Gems? Because she can sense that Amethyst wants a rematch, and despite her disdain has some respect that the "runt" hasn't given up on fighting. In that way they're NotSoDifferent.
* Jasper during the fight with Amethyst and Smoky Quartz respectively does not attack Peridot, even though the latter is a sitting duck without her limb enhancers and has announced that she has become a Crystal Gem. Later on, she believes that "Rose" did BreakTheHaughty on Peridot to convert her; EvenEvilHasStandards in that Jasper won't go after a comrade that in her mind has been brainwashed.
* During Amethyst's rematch with Jasper, Jasper tries to catch her whip like [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E18CrackTheWhip last time]], but she's too slow this time and earns a crack to the face. Remember at the beginning of the last episode how Steven commented on [[ChekhovsSkill how much faster Amethyst was getting at her whip-cracking]]?
* Why is Amethyst the first full-Gem Steven fuses with? They're the most alike!
** For an added bonus, go back and rewatch the first scene of Alone Together when the Gems are trying to teach Steven fusion. Now, which dance does he come closest to matching and which Gem is he most in sync with attitude-wise? Amethyst. Has Pearl not been there disapproving of their laughing fits, they may have managed to form Smoky that night.
** Their fusion weapon, a yo-yo, is a toy for children. Both Steven and Amethyst (barring her 5,000+ years of age) are the most childish of the Crystal Gems. And the reason why Smoky Quartz was able to [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp]] Jasper with it is because Amethyst, the impulsive one, has Steven's skill and versatility - a yo-yo is a versatile toy that promotes skill and creativity in children.
* Now we know why Jasper is so obsessed with defeating Rose Quartz; Rose was apparently the one who took out Pink Diamond, the same Diamond she and Jasper were supposed to serve under. Since Jasper has the fanatical loyalty to her Diamond that seems to be ingrained into most Homeworld Gems, no wonder she'd be bent on revenge against the Gem who betrayed their leader.
** Even more than that, Jasper stated that Gems only exist to serve their Diamonds. By taking out Pink Diamond, Rose took away Jasper's entire purpose in life.
** One small detail that shows she's still loyal is when she talks about Gems obeying their Diamonds, the image zooms out to reveal the old diamond logo with Pink Diamond.
** Jasper's perfectionism is ''painful'' with the context in this episode. Her entire self-identity is being TheAce of Homeworld's army, the favored daughter of Homeworld's Earth like Superman is the favored son of Krypton. Unlike the rest of the Crystal Gems, who rebelled for the right to find and be themselves, Jasper is a flawless example of what a Quartz is supposed to be. She fits perfectly in the Gem hierarchy and has never had a reason to feel frustrated or doubtful... but it's lonely at the top. She can't be a peer to the Diamonds and her only equal, Rose, is no longer in existence and Lapis rejected her. What she ''really'' wants is the strength that comes from a solid relationship, but she has no idea what that even ''is''. Add this to the implied horror of ''forcing'' a Gem to fuse just to have that connection with someone, ''anyone'', to be her idea of a better self, and you get one (appropriately) well-crafted NightmareFuel.
* [[http://sashi-memer.tumblr.com/post/148653843825/a-little-detail-i-think-we-missed When Gems are talking about the Diamond they serve under, they say "my diamond"]]. In "The Return" Jasper never says "my diamond" in reference to Yellow Diamond, she always calls her just that.
* Among Jasper's army is one random Cluster Gem. It seems to be the odd one out until you remember that the Beta Kindergarten was where The Cluster entered the Earth's crust.
* Why does Smoky Quartz, a human-looking fusion, have a third arm sprouting out of their left elbow? One reason could be that the yo-yo is not known for precision, so they need support in order to better control its movements. Another reason could be due to Smoky's humor, which come from both [[PungeonMaster Steven]] and [[ThePrankster Amethyst]]. Some comedians use extra arms/hands as props in their skits.
** Also, consider this. Most Gem/Gem fusions have 4 arms. This was a fusion between a Full gem and a Human/Gem Hybrid, so there's only 3/4 of a full gem's worth in them.
* The entire reveal about Pink Diamond puts a new perspective on why Jasper said Rose Quartz was a priority back in "Jail Break". It was far more personal than anyone would have thought at the time.
* When Amethyst and Steven fused for the first time, the fusion occurred with a nuclear blast-like manner. Amethyst and Steven fusing was a spur-of-the-moment, so the feeling of complete shock from seeing that happening was represented by a ''literal'' explosion.
* Mixing in with TearJerker, Amethyst calls Jasper her "sis" before bubbling her gem because despite being wholly different from each other, they're still Quartzes. It's also SympathyForTheDevil on Amethyst's part because Jasper's recent obsessive behavior, when compared to Amethyst's made it seem like they're actually NotSoDifferent. Despite appearing to be a strong Gem, Jasper suffers from as many psychological issues as Amethyst does.
** In addition, both were made on Earth to serve Pink Diamond, who you can consider the "mother" to them. It might also be why she had such a close connection with Rose, who you can consider her big sister.
* Peridot trying to reason with Jasper shows a lot of CharacterDevelopment. Before, when she tried to reason with Yellow Diamond, it was on the basis that Yellow Diamond wouldn't destroy the Earth if [[CutLexLuthorACheck Homeworld could use its resources]]. Here, Peridot knows that Jasper is an emotional Gem who has hurt her roommate Lapis (which in part was Peridot's fault for using Lapis as an "informant" about the planet Earth). So she says that on Earth she's learned to be free, appealing to Jasper's emotional side and trauma from being Lapis's prisoner and wanting to use again. Peridot also knows that what she did to Lapis by bringing her back to Earth appeared unforgivable, but she changed and Lapis forgave her with Steven's help. Jasper could easily go down the same path, if she wished.
* When Jasper accuses Steven and Rose of only offering help to gems "after they're worthless", she isn't actually wrong. Rose only showed kindness to Ruby and Sapphire after they had become outcasts, having attacked them before they first became Garnet. Amethyst would be considered defective by Homeworld's standards, and likely killed on the spot. Steven aided Lapis when she was cracked, and again after she realized she couldn't adapt to Homeworld after thousands of years in the mirror. The gems only gave Peridot a chance to redeem herself after her limb enhancers were taken away, and Jasper was consistently called a monster by Steven and only offered sympathy when she was being corrupted and in the middle of a breakdown. Technically, she wasn't wrong about how the Crystal Gems recruit new members.
* Smoky Quartz is a fusion that's larger than even [[UltimateLifeForm Jasper]]. This is because Steven is the {{Reincarnation}} of Pink Diamond, who was quite large herself.
* Smoky Quartz Leitmotif contains the signature diamond synth. It would make sense as Steven is a diamond.

[[AC:Back to the Moon]]
* Eyeball being a Rebellion veteran explains why ''she'' was chosen for the mission: familiarity with the planet.
* Pink Diamond's gemstone being on her navel explains the positioning of the Diamonds in the original symbol. White Diamond, the color we most associate with diamonds, has her Gemstone on her forehead, and apparently has the most colonies (according to her mural, in which she also seems to be holding onto Homeworld), so she's on the top. Blue and Yellow Diamond have about even numbers of colonies, and their gems are on their chests, so they're in the middle. Pink Diamond, having her gem on her navel like her subordinate Rose (similarly to how Yellow and Blue Diamond had Pearls with Gems on their chests) is on the bottom, and only seems to have Earth and the Moon as her territory.
* Jasper and Eyeball's reaction to Pink Diamond's death adds another layer onto why Rose was against Bismuth's intentions to shatter the Diamonds and the nobility: [[EvilOverlord tyrannical despots]] and [[BadBoss horrible bosses]] or not, the Diamonds are still the leaders of a CultOfPersonality. Killing Pink Diamond may remove her as a threat, and probably frees some, but that doesn't change the fact that some are so fanatically devoted to them that killing the Diamonds might just make it ''worse''.
* In her mural, Pink Diamond is seen reaching for what looked like Earth and the moon. It's possible that Pink Diamond is the youngest of the four Diamonds (Yellow, White, and Blue have already conquered planets while Pink had none prior). Conquering Earth, her first planet, may have been her biggest aspiration and would have reached it had Rose not betrayed her.
* Why is Eyeball the smartest of the Rubies? Simple. She was made during Era 1, when the Homeworld Gems didn't have to compensate for anything when it came to making soldiers. It could be a possible reason why the rest of the Ruby squad was so stupid, as most of them were probably made after Era 2 began.
* Why doesn't Leggy know who Pink Diamond is? Because as WordofGod states, she was literally made the day before her first mission to a distant planet. Afterwards, she spends presumably several weeks to months looking for Jasper. At no point in this point does she spend any real time on Homeworld, where she would be open to indoctrination from the Diamonds.
* Eyeball is the oldest of the Rubies and has the lightest skin tone. In real life, a Ruby will become lighter the longer it is exposed to torchlight.

[[AC:Bubbled]]
* Why are healing abilities so rare as to be unheard of, if not possibly unique on Homeworld? Because Pearl claims they resulted from her love and empathy, something that the Diamonds' society has in ''very'' short supply. Also, the only Gem to ever demonstrate such powers on-screen was Pink Diamond, and Diamonds have been shown to have a level of power way beyond all other Gems.
* Eyeball's serious mental instability goes a long way to explain why despite being the eldest of Ruby Squad, she's not the leader. Unlike Jasper, Eyeball was clearly mentally unstable ''before'' coming to Earth, so it makes sense the more levelheaded Doc would be the leader instead.
* After throwing Eyeball out of the bubble, Steven re-seals himself and seems to be finally running out of air. We're treated to a shot of him drifting in the depths of space, and then the screen cuts to black for what feels like a long couple of seconds, making it seem like the Crewniverse might just end the episode there. They've actually been conditioning us to think this is a possible ending for the episode, as many episodes since Jasper's return have ended in cliffhangers, cutting straight to the credits without an IrisOut.
* The second season ended with Peridot suffering a nervous breakdown following her rejection of Yellow Diamond's petty desires and realizing her leader wasn't perfect. The third season ends in a similar fashion, but on a darker note: Steven has to accept that his mother wasn't an AllLovingHero or perfect, as the Gems and his dad have led him to believe, and suffers a lot of emotional turmoil from it after witnessing the consequences of Rose's actions. Unlike Peridot, who has Garnet to help her through it, the Gems can't help Steven through his BrokenPedestal crisis because they are the ones who insisted Rose was amazing.
* Garnet and Pearl are very vague about Rose shattering Pink. With the new episodes from season five in mind, it's probably that they didn't see it themselves, Rose told them that she did it. Whether or not Rose was using exact words and keeping yet another secret remains to be seen. She was, though Pearl knew what truly happened.
* Eyeball walking on Steven's bubble like it's a BabyPlanet actually makes sense when you consider that Gems' bodies automatically adjust to the gravity of any planetoid. Everything with mass has some gravity, even Steven and his bubble.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 2]]
[[AC:Open Book]]
* It ''seems'' like the room is back to its old nightmare-inducing simulations with Fake!Connie. But here's the thing: In order to escape the LogicBomb of "I want you to stop doing what I want", the room had to accept that Steven had conflicting wants and interests. So, it analyzed Steven's recent interests without instantly trying to gratify them. Admittedly, this still comes off as more than a little creepy. (i.e., "I know you like her. I know you want her to like you too. That's why you can't tell her [that you like the ending]. But you ''want'' to tell her!") In short, the room not only was intelligent enough to think itself out of a LogicBomb that concerned its prime objective, but it was able to BatmanGambit Steven into a situation where he had the largest probability of being satisfied.
* Steven and Connie's favorite characters of ''The Spirit Morph Saga'' go hand-in-hand with their personalities and how they relate to them. Steven likes Archemicarus the familiar falcon, a magical being devoted to his liege Lisa to the point of falling for her; Steven himself is part magical and holds feelings for Connie, who prefers Lisa because the character began as a normal girl and ended being TheChosenOne badass, something she'll like to be. Also, Steven was able to see the subtle hints of the romantic plot between Archemicarus and Lisa because of his status as TheHeart; he's is in more tune with his and others' feelings than Connie, who was just focused in the action/adventure plot.
* There's a subtle hint that something is off when 'Connie' exits the costume shop. Just a few moments before, Connie noticed that Steven imagined one of Lisa's tunics as red, while she had imagined it as black. When Steven says he wants to see Connie, 'she' exits the costume shop wearing a red cloak, hinting that it's not really Connie, but Rose's Room attempting to manifest Steven's desires. Sure enough, when the real Connie reappears later on, she's wearing a black cloak.
** It's also subtly hinted that something's off in Connie's dialogue - or rather, her lack of it. In the following scenes, she's rather passive, with her dialogue limited to either pointing out stuff from the books (like the wing-lizard) or asking Steven to continue the story. ''She's'' the one who wants to rewrite the ending in the first place, so why does all the work fall on Steven? ''Because she's a construct of the room, and she thus can't think for herself!''

[[AC:Joy Ride]]
* When the cool kids invite Steven to come "freak out some squares" with them, he declines on the grounds that he's "fond of all basic shapes." LiteralMinded as his thought process was here, it does fit metaphorically well with his AllLovingHero nature. Steven will gladly befriend, or at least try to, people of all types, including those folks generally referred to as "squares".
** A square/four-point diamond also seems to be a symbol for the Gem Homeworld (Peridot and Jasper both wear one on their clothing, and Peridot's hair/headgear is in the same general shape). Steven ''tried'' to make friends with Peridot.
* While Steven may believe the Gems as a whole blame him for the loss of Rose, Amethyst is probably the one who'd blame him the ''least''. She would, after all, [[NotSoDifferent know better than anybody how it feels to be seen as "a byproduct of" what's generally been seen as "a big mistake." And she'd know Steven, like her, "never asked to be made."]]
** Most likely, ''Garnet'' would be the one that blames Steven the least for Rose being gone. Garnet is the fusion of two Gems who are very much in love with each other so they/she have the most emotional support to overcome the sadness of Rose's loss. She also has said and demonstrated how much she loves and believes in Steven over Pearl's neurotic overprotection and condescension, and Amethyst's playful teasing. Garnet misses Rose, yeah, but she misses her more as a dear friend and leader instead of as a parental figure (Amethyst) or a heroine/lover (Pearl).
** In addition, Garnet is a fusion of two Gems who love each other unconditionally, and both Ruby and Sapphire would probably sacrifice themselves for the other if it came to that. Garnet understands giving yourself up for someone you love, as Rose did.
*** "Keeping it Together" also sheds more light on the fusion and how Garnet views herself. Not as just the combination and love of Ruby and Sapphire, but also a separate entity and life. In a lot of ways while Garnet is the embodiment of their love, she is also the product of their love, like their child. So not only would Garnet understand the love and have a more healthy relationship with Rose, she would also have a firmer grasp in understanding why Rose would want to/be willing to give up her own life for Steven's.
** This, in turn, means that the one that probably blames Steven the most is Pearl, who was not only thought she was closest to Rose, but has no frame of reference for what Steven's situation is regarding Rose. However, she still respects Rose's choices even if she cannot understand the emotional aspect of it, and tries her best to not come off as a bigot towards Steven. This causes her to overcompensate when taking care of Steven, which is why she seems to take far more interest in his physical wellbeing than any other Gem.

[[AC:Say Uncle]]
* This isn't the first time the Crystal Gems immediately attacked someone/thing [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E23MonsterBuddies for Steven's safety, despite his protests]], or because [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E44MarbleMadness they simply didn't understand its function]].
** On this same vein, Amethyst is the one shown to be more accepting of Uncle Grampa, but still attacking him anyway. She knows what it feels to be different (she was created in Kindergarten) but still follows on UG's beating out of social pressure.
* Pearl's character exaggeration makes sense when you consider that, [[ArbitrarySkepticism despite being an intergalactic rock creature]], [[AgentScully she's firmly grounded within the confines of reality]]. Her meeting [[RealityWarper Uncle Grandpa]] is not much different from a lifelong atheist meeting God in person and [[SkepticismFailure watching everything they thought they knew]] [[GivingUpOnLogic go flying out the window]].
* There was a WildMassGuessing about "Say Uncle" that said it would be non-canon or an April's Fool episode. Uncle Grampa confirm it while launching his head out of a cannon, with smoke writing 'April's Fool' in the sky. A [[{{Pun}} headcanon]] confirmed both WMG.
* Despite Uncle Grandpa saying the episode isn't canon, Steven is able to summon his shield without problems in future episodes. Why? Uncle Grandpa spelled out April Fool's immediately afterwards, meaning his previous statement is a joke, and that the episode (as well as Lars and Sadie's ship) is official.
* At the end of the episode, the [[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor Kids Next Door]] are conspicuously absent from Uncle Grandpa's list. Why? They hate adults!
* As pointed out [[https://www.reddit.com/r/stevenuniverse/comments/319wsl/you_gotta_know_where_it_is_like_a_cavedungeon_or/ here]], in "Laser Light Cannon", Steven speculated that Rose's cannon was "a cave dungeon or a cloud fortress, or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean". We later found out that cave had both a cave dungeon (her armory) and a cloud fortress (Rose's Room). And in this episode, Uncle Grandpa appears to Steven dressed as Rose in a giant ''clam''.
* Uncle Grandpa telling Steven to polish his Gemstone makes a lot more sense when we learn three seasons later that Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond. Quartzes don't need to be polished; diamonds do.

[[AC:Story for Steven]]
* Greg's guitar (as seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utULCVro9kk the sneak peek]]) is a [[BlandNameProduct Jader]]. Not only does it tie into the show's mineral motifs, but it has headstock of a Jackson guitar and the body of a Fender. Put the names together and what do you get? Jader. The guitar is a fusion.
* The five-point star was a symbol Greg used in the height of his music career, which makes sense of his camera--as seen in the video in "Lion 3"--having the show's star-shaped IrisOut as an effect. It was probably an effect he programmed in for outros on his music videos.
* Fridge Heartwarming: Despite Greg telling the story of how he met Rose so many times before, it seems this is the first time Steven playfully teases him over his love for her. Well, now we know that Rose is half Steven, and she could hear the whole version of the story, so she now can tell how much Greg does love her and has all the right to tease. Awww!
* In the flashback, Amethyst's hair is short instead of the RapunzelHair we've come to see on her, and she also says that she likes Greg's long hair when they meet. Amethyst based her hair off of Greg's.
** I think her long hair in the [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/c/ce/SoManyBirthdaysPreview07.png/revision/latest?cb=20140301212717 old picture]] from So Many Birthdays kind of contradicts that.
* While trying to let down Greg, Rose said that she would like to "play" with him. For someone so loving and caring, it was quite a derogative term, until it came to me. To Rose, Greg's feelings and, overall, lifespan are just like those of a stray puppy that took a liking for her, or even a normal human. Dogs grow older faster than humans and die in just 18 years at maximum. To Rose, a relationship between herself and Greg would be like that and (as those who had pets and had seen them die would know) just as heartbreaking.
** Or she could have just meant it as in "play music"...
** Or [[TakeAThirdOption both...]]
* In "Lars and the Cool Kids", Steven states he has no idea where his clothes come from and it is shown many times he has many of the same shirt. In "Story for Steven", Greg had a box of shirts in his van exactly like Steven's, implying that Steven's shirts are leftover Mr. Universe merchandise.
* Seeing young Greg provides another reason why Steven hasn't aged much. He could merely be a late bloomer (Greg heavily resembles Steven despite Greg presumably being a late teenager at the time) and considering how Steven got a good deal of genetics from Greg, it's merely another thing that [[ItRunsintheFamily runs in the family]].

[[AC:Love Letters]]
* Garnet isn't interested in forming a relationship with Jamie because she already IS a relationship between two lovers. You could even say she ''is'' love. Jamie literally fell in love ''with love''.

[[AC:Reformed]]
* Amethyst's final form has less FashionableAsymmetry than her usual one, which makes [[SuperOCD Pearl]] very happy; this ''could'' just be coincidental, but since the two are closer with Steven's influence, especially after "On the Run", it could be that the original element stemmed from her irritation with Pearl, and with that reduced, she doesn't need to wear it as proudly on her sleeve.
* Why can Amethyst regenerate in a few hours, or even in a few minutes if she rushes it, while Pearl took two weeks to regenerate? Amethyst is a Quartz soldier. She's far more likely to get poofed, and when she does get poofed it's probably going to be in the middle of battle, when she'll need to be able to regenerate in a hurry. Pearl, on the other hand, is basically a living art piece. She's never supposed to be in a situation where she could get poofed, and if she does get poofed by falling off a ledge or something, there's no particular need for her to be able to regenerate in a hurry. Quartzes are probably built to be able to regenerate fast, while Pearls are not.

[[AC:Sworn to the Sword]]
* Steven and Connie singing about jam together. They're [[StealthPun jamming.]]
* Why was Connie so easily convinced of Pearl's speech of her being a sacrifice for Steven? Because Connie has self-esteem issues and a case of IJustWantToBeSpecial. What better way, in her and Pearl's minds, to boost the former and be the latter then to die protecting someone who is considered to be on the level of a messiah? Also counts as NightmareFuel and a bit of FridgeHorror.
* Pearl has holo-Pearl set to actually hurt her enough to cause her to poof if she makes a mistake because, as we see in "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl doesn't place enough value on herself and probably think she deserves to get hurt if she makes a mistake fighting because she's been on the battlefield where even just one mistake can have serious consequences and end up with people you care about getting hurt.
** Pearl not valuing her own life can also be seen in the hologram scene during the song ''Do it for her/him''. We see Pearl running to defend Rose, but the recording stops right when she's about to get a hit. This most surely means she had just died there.
* The age gap between Pearl and Connie adds additional subtext to Pearl's harshness: having been ''thousands'' of years old when she started training, she had emotional resilience and autonomy that a kid like Connie does not. She held Connie to the standards of an adult, not a child.
** Though given how Gems age, or more accurately how they ''don't'' age, Pearl could have been the Gem equivalent of Connie's age at the time. Which adds another whole layer of FridgeHorror as that would make Pearl a ChildSoldier...
* Why didn't Connie's parents notice the bruises or calluses on her hands? Steven probably healed them after each training session.
* Pearl's description of a knight, while fitting the LadyAndKnight concept, doesn't bear much resemblance to the actual medieval code of chivalry. It sounds more like a {{Samurai}} than anything else. But consider that A) Pearl doesn't really understand or care for human culture so she could have gotten the two mixed up and B) she's romanticizing it anyway. It makes sense for her to be inaccurate.
** In an early interview introducing the Crystal Gems, Rebecca Sugar herself did not describe Pearl as a knight, but as a {{Samurai}}. Now we know [[SenselessSacrifice EXACTLY]] [[DevotedToYou how accurate the foreshadowing in that description was.]]
*** As an aside note, this is a rare example of the show's creators not [[ShownTheirWork showing their work:]] 5000 years ago, there was nothing on Earth resembling either knights or samurai. Pearl couldn't have picked up that concept from us until several thousands of years later.
*** [[WildMassGuessing Maybe the terms didn't exist yet, but the concepts that Pearl remembered were similar enough to what became Knights or Samurai that that's what she started likening it too later on for simplicity's sake.]]
* The Quartz in the flashback seems to be twice Rose's size when Jasper is normally only a little taller than Rose ''at best'' and was able to crush Pearl. This is despite the fact we later see that Pearl was capable of defeating ''multiple'' Quartz Gems at the same time. At first, it seems like this is simply for dramatic purposes, but we learn later in "The Answer" that Gems of the same type fusing together during battle wasn't uncommon. The Quartz in the flashback was likely a fused Quartz Gem, explaining her size and power.
* Notice the fighting style when Steven and Connie fight together. Steven is the defensive fighter whose sole job is to protect Connie, with Connie doing all the real damage. Connie was being trained as Steven's knight and explicitly told to sacrifice herself for Steven, yet Steven is the one defending Connie and rushing to save her life, while the best way to support Steven involves leaving Steven to attack rather then standing beside him to defend him; in short their combat style is in a sense a reverse of the typical styles expected of a Knight defending a higher value individual. Even their genders are reversed from the 'standard' male attacker and WhiteMagicianGirl were used to. This makes sense in multiple levels:
** It shows one of the key flaws in Pearl's training of Connie, she was so focused on setting up Connie as a sacrificial knight she failed to see that Connie could better "serve" Steven as a complement to Steven's powers rather then a subservient knight. Basically, the two must break the inferiority complex that Pearl projects onto Connie and instead of fighting as invincible messiah and lowly knight, instead fight together as ''equals''', so as to complementing Steven's lack of offense and Connie's pathetic defense (all humans are squishy compared to a Gem) to make a single powerful unit.
** This is in keeping with a sort of subtle meta-theme of all of Steven Universe, one about gender roles and stereotypes. The show is well-known for breaking gender/stereotype roles by having a boys' show with a primarily female cast, the male being the NonActionGuy (or closest to it), and being more in touch with his feminine side then typical boys in such cartoons. Their team up similarly breaks a lot of the expected tropes for LadyAndKnight. Here the person defended is arguably 'stronger' and yet the knight has far more raw power; the knight is the female and the protected individual, male; the magic individual(Steven) breaks the SquishyWizard trope by being a StoneWall and the melee fighter is the GlassCannon; and the one doing "support" does it by adding offense and the one being "protected" offers the defense.
** Their fighting as a single unit, two sides complimenting each other to make one fighting force, has some obvious parallels to Stevonnie fusion. Maybe the fact that they have already fused helps to explain why they manage to work together to support each other so naturally now with little training.
* Another thing about "Do It For Her/Him": Steven is partially his mother, so when Connie fights for him, she is indeed doing it for her.
* Why is Pearl so willing to take on a "mere" human as a student, given that she usually doesn't seem to think highly of them and knows Connie would be at a severe disadvantage against gems? Because Pearl, herself, was once a "mere" Pearl who followed the same path.
* Pearl training Connie to think of herself as Steven's ''knight'' rather than his ''equal'' echoes the scenes in ''We Need To Talk'' where she tells Greg that he is just an amusing pet to Rose, not her equal. While Pearl probably wasn't consciously trying to get Connie killed, she may very well have been consciously trying to inculcate Connie into a role as Steven's inferior.
* The true reason Pearl kept sacrificing herself to protect Rose? Because if Rose ever got poofed, they would see she was really a ''Diamond''.

[[AC:Rising Tides/Crashing Skies]]
* Jenny makes Garnet almost hitting her back in "Joy Ride" a lot more malicious than it actually was. During that episode, Steven revealed some of his issues regarding the Crystal Gems to the Cool Kids and given that they actually like him, in addition to the fact that Garnet was at least guaranteed to harm Steven before they interfered, she may have done so out of indignation towards the Crystal Gems for how they have treated Steven.

[[AC:Keeping It Together]]
* The title has two meanings: One, TheReveal that Homeworld have used the shards of Crystal Gems as experiments by ''keeping them forced together''. Two, how Garnet nearly defused into Ruby and Sapphire upon witnessing what happened to her fallen comrades, but managed to ''keep it together''.
* [[https://soundcloud.com/aivisura/steven-universe-gem-shards The song]] that plays when the fused gem shards appear sounds like a lot of different songs stuck together randomly. Just like the gem shards.
* The piles of clothing each of them that represents their personality.
** Garnet has two piles -- reminder that she's a fusion.
** Amethyst folds the shirts messily and just piles them on --indicating her slobbish, wild nature.
** Pearl's pile is perfect and neat -- something that matches with perfectionist qualities.
** Steven's pile emulates Pearl's probably because he learned how to do it from her -- he's a student of hers, along with Garnet and Amethyst. Plus, he thinks of Pearl as the closest thing to a mother figure in the absence of Rose, his actual mother.
* The Injectors look very similar to bacteriophages, viruses that kill bacteria by injecting their DNA into them and turning the bacteria into a virus-making factory. Similarly, the Injector turns the Earth into a Gem-making factory, destroying it in the process.

[[AC:We Need To Talk]]
* After watching the episode, I realized that the ending's song could be seen from Rose Quartz's perspective on her relationship with Greg. I mean, I'm sure that Rose at some moment ever thought "If I could began to be half of what you [Greg] think of me, I could do about everything...I could even ''learn '''how to love''' like you''".
* Rainbow Quartz is an incredibly positive fusion, if your subscribe to the theory that better relationships produce more human-like fusions. Her only glaring oddity is the separation of eyes and and seemingly a degree of maintained individuality. This ties in nicely with how their relationship is: Both have deep, genuine care for the other, but neither has really "seen" a complete picture of the other. Pearl has a distorted view of what she was to Rose and what Rose needed/wanted from her (Rose's Scabbard/Sworn to the Sword), and Rose seemed unaware of Pearl's nastier side, not realizing she was trying to break her up from Greg.
* [[http://jen-iii.tumblr.com/post/122535693616/jen-iii-i-was-making-an-observation-while The reason]] behind Greg's shiver after Rose calls him by his first name.
* It might be surprising for Garnet to be supportive of Greg and giving him advice with Rose, but there are a few points to consider:
** Rose was clearly interested in him too, so the feeling was mutual.
** He was trying so hard to make her happy. He wrote her songs and made her laugh and showed her the human way of expressing love, which seemed to excite her. Garnet saw how happy they were together and tried to help, because she knows what it's like to be just starting a relationship and you're maybe nervous and shy, maybe even scared, but really want to make it work.
** Being from a world that seems to frown on committed love, and then living in a world where it's normal and encouraged, Garnet would naturally have studied how human relationships work.
** Another factor to consider is that, in just the previous episode, we saw that Garnet takes the concept of fusion incredibly seriously. Greg wasn't just trying to make Rose happy, he was making an effort to understand something he was unfamiliar with but was clearly important to her. He was doing his best to fuse with Rose, and Garnet saw the respect he was treating the idea with even though he's just a human - why ''wouldn't'' she want to help someone out in that case?
* Garnet's sheer glee over Stevonnie also has an extra dimension thanks to this episode - although Greg never was able to do it, Steven was able to fuse with Connie, validating Garnet's belief that humans could be capable of fusion.
* The Gems clothing back when Rose was still early in her relationship with Greg is more obviously Earth-like implying Rose encouraged them to try and fit in more and since her departure they've withdrawn from humanity slightly and are only now starting to engage with it again, thanks to Steven.
* RuleOfSymbolism for both Greg's flashbacks about the beginnings of his relationship with Rose (the other one being in "Story for Steven"). Both flashbacks are set in nighttime, reflecting how Greg and Rose are in the dark about the real implications of being in a InterspeciesRomance, and especially about the real nature of their significant other (both are unable to see each other beyond their initial fascination). Interesting, Rose's video in "Lion 3" was recorded during daytime; they had around ten years to get to know each other as individuals instead of [[LovingAShadow concepts]] and their relationship morphed into something meaningful and deep, to the point of awaiting a child.
* Garnet insists that Greg's attempt to fuse with Rose worked, even though they were still two separate entities from everyone's view. Fast forward about 20 years, and one realizes that she wasn't directly referring to that particular moment - she was referring to Steven being born.
* Rainbow Quartz has a somewhat skinny body type despite the fact one of her components is the heavyset Rose Quartz, however now that we know that her real identity is Pink Diamond who has a rather lean build, her shape make more sense.

[[AC:Chille Tid]]
* [[http://themillenniumtoenailclippers.tumblr.com/post/121970131731/i-absolutely-love-how-steven-cast-the-other-gems Steven's dream]] in "Chille Tid" shows how he views each of the Crystal Gems.
** Garnet getting a lot of cheers also makes sense on a meta-level; due to being voiced by Estelle, she's a CelebrityStar on a sitcom!
* Pearl's dream is interesting. She's overjoyed to be surfing with Rose Quartz on a pizza slice, and asks Rose to run away with her to space. Rose shifts into Greg, who thanks her for fixing his van, and another pizza slice comes out of his mouth. We know Pearl is grossed out about eating. Why all the pizza? Maybe it's ambivalence towards being locked in an Earth-style family. The Pizzas are one of the most stable, content families Pearl knows.
* Pearl and Amethyst's quick acceptance of Steven's dream telepathy is both a sign of their character growth and trust in his maturity, and a realization that Pearl's prophecy in "Monster Buddies" is coming true. After all, Steven is the only known gem in the universe who ''has'' to sleep, so his discovering this new power makes sense!

[[AC:Cry for Help]]
* Garnet's anger over Pearl wanting to fuse with her just experience the rush of fusion is justified, but seemed a little out of place at first, considering how casual she was about fusing with Amethyst in "Coach Steven" ("We don't need a plan, we just need to be huge."). But consider what's happened to Garnet since then -- Sugilite proved to be a huge, dangerous mistake, Ruby and Sapphire were separated, and possibly worst of all, Garnet found out about the Cluster, and just what Homeworld thinks of Gems like her. After all that, Garnet had probably gotten really protective of the lifestyle she leads, and would get especially angry over attitudes like Amethyst and Pearl's, who essentially have taken a more benevolent view on Jasper's posturing about fusing being only to make weak Gems stronger. To have your enemy call a relationship built on incredible love, trust, and loyalty reduced to an insulting battle tactic by your enemy is bad enough, but to have your friends and teammates do the same? It makes Garnet's anger even more justified and painful to watch.
** Pearl's intense desire to fuse might be a holdover from her status on Homeworld. As a member of the lowest servant class on the planet, Pearl would never have gotten the chance or permission to fuse with anyone else. As seen in later episodes, the only fusions allowed by Homeworld were A) in combat situations, and B) all of the same kind of Gem.
** This goes a long way in explaining Garnet's reaction to Amethyst trying to stand up for Pearl. Amethyst basically said the same thing as Jasper did, but in kinder and tamer words. No wonder Garnet was having none of it.
** Pearl using Garnet for fusion like that is bound to make her even more upset because fusing with her for her own self-interest and power like that is making an mockery of Garnet's entire being. Garnet sees fusion as something built out of love and trust, and while Pearl's motivations are far more complex than simply enjoying the power high of being fused with Garnet, it's an incredible betrayal of trust for her.
** This crosses over into FridgeHorror when you see at the end of the episode Garnet demands Amethyst fuse with her to destroy the tower. Sugilite does have better control now, but only because Amethyst is intimidated at Garnet. The fusion gem doesn't have Amethyst's wild nature that drives Sugilite back at "Coach Steven". After withstanding such an insult from one of her closest friends, she is forced to fuse with Amethyst, who is obviously uncomfortable at the moment, [[{{Hypocrite}} which basically goes against what Garnet believes about fusion.]]
** The last time Sugilite appeared, her personality was wildly out of control because Amethyst, in her wild ways, upset the balance between the normally hot-headed Ruby and calm Sapphire. This time however, Sugilite just silently and violently destroyed the tower without so much as a word. This is because Amethyst is too terrified of Garnet to do her normal hijinks, while Ruby and Sapphire are the ones in rage; Sapphire's calmness instead turned it into [[TranquilFury tranquil rage]].
* This is another title with more than one meaning: Peridot's message to Yellow Diamond is an actual cry for help -- a distress signal. Sardonyx maintains that she is a ''response'' to a cry for help, and that she'll be there whenever she's needed. Finally, Pearl and Amethyst "cry for help" in the more psychological sense -- acting out in a destructive way in a desperate bid to get someone to assist them with their issues. Amethyst's gloominess and dejection elicit a response from Steven, who moves to make her feel useful and empowered again...but Pearl's cry for help (her increasingly reckless and selfish behavior) is destructive to the people around her, so Garnet is in no mood to provide the reassurance and validation that Pearl's so desperate for. The title hints that this might be a flashpoint for Pearl's ongoing issues.
* The first time Sardonyx was formed was some kind of {{foreshadowing}} - Pearl had the idea to rebuild the Communication Hub while she and Garnet were Sardonyx the first time. Think about it: when Garnet and Amethyst form Sugilite at the end, Sugilite pretty much obliterates the Communication Hub -- there's probably no way we'll be seeing it in future episodes. Meanwhile, earlier on in the episode, Sardonyx is able to use her weapon more efficiently to aim at specific structures of the Communication Hub rather than just cause more collateral damage than necessary. This could very well be because Pearl's personality was dominant (graceful movements and perfect precision - Sardonyx was probably enthusiastic because Pearl and Garnet - basically Sapphire and especially Ruby - were excited). Pearl could have kept Sardonyx from simply destroying the Communication Hub by making her remove the pillars instead of simply smashing them, thus having Pearl frequently rebuilding the Communication Hub.
* Sardonyx being FunPersonified seems like an odd choice. Given that she's a merge of TheStoic Garnet and the generally finicky Pearl, her showy personality seems more akin to Amethyst's than her actual component gems. However, after Pearl and Garnet's heart-to-heart in "Friend Ship" it makes a lot more sense. Pearl derives a lot of her usual personality quirks from her insecurity and fusing with Garnet gives her not just a PowerHigh but a much needed boost in self-confidence. On the topic of her aforementioned stoicism, Garnet's input in personality could be pretty minimal since Ruby and Sapphire form a near-perfect balance that a third gem tips, hence why Sugilite was so much like an exaggerated Amethyst, so Pearl could very well be the dominant mind in Sardonyx. In short, Sardonyx is what Pearl would be like without her own perceived weaknesses.
* Why does Sardonyx [[StillWearingTheOldColors have a pink diamond on her shoes?]] Because Pearl herself has a pink diamond hidden as well, on her pilot outfit seen in "Space Race" (and later in "Back to the Barn"). And Pearl being the only one to have a memento of her allegiances in her wardrobe makes sense as well: she has stated after all that she rebelled for/because of Rose as a person (whose colour is also pink.)
* During "Tower of Mistakes", Amethyst picks up a triangular piece of rubble while singing, "Is there something I can do/Is there something I can do/Can I make it up to you?" It resembles both Sardonyx's head/hair and Peridot's gem, foreshadowing Pearl's obsession with catching Peridot to "make it up to" Garnet.
* Pearl and Amethyst both have serious issues with feeling abandoned or alone. No wonder they both want to fuse to Garnet so badly: She's the living incarnation of Ruby and Sapphire's love for each other, and when they're fused into Sugilite/Sardonyx, Amethyst/Pearl can experience that same sense of connection.
* This episode establishes that one of the Gems in a fusion can keep secrets from the others. This will be hugely important later on, because it explains how Pink Diamond or Pearl could fuse with other Crystal Gems without them finding out about Rose Quartz's true identity.

[[AC:Keystone Motel]]
* Ruby's PlayingWithFire abilities neatly explain why Garnet can swim through molten lava without a problem while neither Pearl nor Amethyst can.
* Greg makes a comment that Garnet "likes to eat sometimes," which fits perfectly into the IdSuperegoAndEgo dynamic that the Crystal Gems have. Pearl (the superego) never feels the compulsion to eat, Amethyst (the id) gives into desire and eats constantly, and Garnet (the ego) finds a happy medium between these two extremes.
* Sapphire's hair somewhat resembles a cloud in shape. With the reveal that Garnet gets her precognitive powers from her, as well as Sapphire's focus on what happens in the unknown future (such as her fixation on Garnet forgiving Pearl), Sapphire's a literal representation of the saying "head in the clouds" (which is to refer to a person who has unrealistic ideas and doesn't pay attention to his/her current surroundings).
* While she may have been acting dramatically (and out of anger) at the time, Ruby referring to herself as an "eternal flame" takes on another meaning when you realize that rubies are used to amplify emotions and are usually associated with courage, love, and passion. So she may be referring to herself as the "eternal flame" of love and passion for Sapphire, but also the eternal flame of rage and fury towards her enemies (the latter considering what happened between Garnet and Pearl in "Cry for Help").
* With TheReveal that Sapphire only has a single eye instead of two like Ruby, it could be a reference to Greek mythology, where the Cyclopes traded their normal eyes for a special "third eye" that allowed them to look into the future. It could also be a literal way of saying "She has eyes only for [Ruby]".
* Why does Garnet have [[ShockAndAwe electrical powers]]? Because when hot ([[PlayingWithFire Ruby]]) and cold ([[AnIcePerson Sapphire]]) fronts meet, electricity is created.
** Garnet confirms this in the "Guide to the Crystal Gems" companion book.
** You could say that when Sapphire and Ruby get together, "sparks fly".
* In ''Beach Party'', Garnet stayed in the air a little longer that gravity would allow during both times she 'spiked' the beach: in this episode, Sapphire is clearly seen floating in the air.
* In this episode, we see that Ruby has PlayingWithFire abilities, and Sapphire has AnIcePerson abilities. Normally, characters with these abilities would be emotional or stoic and usually shown as incompatible, but here it only shows how well they go together emotionally, especially when they reconcile and reform into Garnet. Ruby warms Sapphire up, making her feel despite her normal stoic demeanor, while Sapphire cools Ruby down by showing she actually is hurt by Pearl using them.
* Sapphire was probably focusing even more intently than usual upon the future, because she ''really'' didn't want to deal with her feelings in the present.

[[AC:Onion Friend]]
* Onion's mouse being alive in the end, rather than being fed to the snake is actually foreshadowed; feeder mice are typically sold already dead, so as not to put up a fight and potentially kill the snake. The fact that it was alive in the first place indicates it may just be another of Onion's pets.

[[AC:Historical Friction]]
* The entire play of Captain Dewey takes on a whole new meaning when you consider that it's been entirely rewritten by Pearl. The key phrase is said by the first mate just before he's taken away by the squid tentacle cutout: "I still think you're great even if you screw up often because you keep trying." In ''Friend Ship'', Pearl is seen failing precisely because she keeps trying too hard to capture Peridot. This entire play is ''Pearl begging Garnet for forgiveness'' the only way she knows!
** The play also calls back to Rose's Scabbard. In that episode Pearl had difficulty explaining herself until she used a visual aid, which was the hologram of her and Rose talking. She's using the play as another aid. Also in Rose's Scabbard, despite Pearl's FreakOut nearly hurting Steven, he still forgave her, saying "I think you're pretty great". Echoing that line shows that Pearl knows she's in a really bad place with Garnet.
* "Rising Tides Crashing Skies" showed the Gems as rather dismissive of the trouble that the humans living near them go through because of their presence, basically saying "we were here first so deal with it." The play shows that the town founder settled there while being very aware of the dangers that could crop up so the Gems attitude becomes less "suck it up" and more "we warned you so don't complain".

[[AC:Friend Ship]]
* Peridot's increasingly crazy (yet extremely hilarious) behavior as compared to the cold and calculating gem that was introduced in "Warp Tour" has some merit: in real life, peridot is based on olivine, an Earth-based material that is very abundant, yet due to its properties, it's also chemically unstable and has weathering tendencies. Perhaps this was the reason Peridot displayed more emotion and developed EvilIsHammy tendencies while on Earth -- she was slowly being driven insane the longer she stayed there!
* Why is the Gem ship functional ''at all'', despite its advanced age and state of disrepair? Gems are TheAgeless, so they would use technology that can last for a long time with minimal maintenance.
* The way Peridot's fingers are positioned when firing a laser [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/3/33/Friend_Ship_Peridot_03.gif/revision/latest?cb=20150717232122 here]] looks hilariously reminiscent of a person giving someone "the middle finger".

[[AC: Nightmare Hospital]]
* When sayings that she will try to accept Connie's role of dealing with magic, Dr. Maheswaran says she'll try to keep an open mind about Connie and Lion, but squints her eyes when saying she'll try to keep an open mind about Steven. She has this reaction because Steven possessively referred to Connie as "my Connie" when defending her. While she can begrudgingly accept Connie fighting because she has witnessed her sword skills and ability to take care of herself firsthand, the idea of Connie having a boyfriend at such a young age bothers her much more.
* It may seem weird for Dr. Maheswaran to treat two obviously inhuman patients as if they were normal, but she knows almost ''nothing'' about the Gems and how they work. It's not unreasonable for someone with no experience with aliens to assume that, whatever these things are, they have similar biology to humans, and it's mentally easier to blame faulty equipment than consider life-forms that ''don't have heartbeats''. It's also not unreasonable to assume from the distressing sounds they were making that the fusion monsters needed treatment, normal patients or not, and she's first and foremost a doctor.
* Priyanka's FreakOut about Connie's sword is partially contextualized by Garnet's earlier phone call to her.
-->"The children are playing swords. Sorry, playing ''with'' swords. They're bleeding! Oh no, they are dead."
* Steven saying "My Connie" seems a little off at first, until you remember that "My X" seems to mean something along the lines off "I really respect/admire you" in Gem culture.

[[AC: Sadie's Song]]
* Comparing to the previous episode: it's interesting to see the contrast between Connie and Sadie's moms because they are both control freaks, just in different ways. Whereas Connie's mother is very strict in forcing her daughter to follow her rules, Sadie's mother tries to support her daughter's interests but always goes overboard and forces her into a position where she ''has'' to be the best and gets angry at anyone who she thinks is getting in Sadie's way. It seem a lot like she's trying to live vicariously through her daughter. The moms are both trying to do what they think is right for their kids, but they don't listen to their girls and put what they want over what their daughters want and it ends up alienating them. Barb at least thinks she's listening to what Sadie wants, but she really doesn't, and it ends up just as unhealthy as Connie's mom's strictness.
* Lars stops paying attention to the concert when Steven appears onstage, despite everyone else cheering for him. It's possible that Lars suspected that Sadie would be performing and lost interest when it was Steven instead.

[[AC:Catch and Release]]
* Why is Peridot so small? Peridot crystals are pretty tiny.
* Unprotected peridot (as in the real life, non-sentient gem) tends to decay quite rapidly on Earth. Similarly, Peridot is completely defenseless without her armour/limbs or robots, to the point where she doesn't even quite get the idea of being able to attack unarmed.
* If the Cluster really is a DoomsdayDevice of some sort, that would explain why Homeworld waited so long to come back to Earth, they were waiting for it to finish incubating.
* Peridot's most notable traits have been a lack of empathy, and a pouty attitude towards things not going her way. Overall, she's profoundly immature. Naturally, it's revealed she's physically a child underneath her armor. As far as Gem aging goes, she probably ''is'' one!
* The title of the episode becomes meaningful with what happened to Peridot: She was ''finally'' caught by the Crystal Gems (Catch); then set free from her bubble and her true form is revealed (Release).
* With TheReveal that Peridot's "limbs" are actually artificial prosthetic limbs to cover up the fact that she's actually quite tiny in size, it becomes apparent that she was...ahem, CompensatingForSomething...
* Peridot's confusion over what a shirt is makes sense when you remember that gems' bodies are just projections created by their gemstones, which likely includes their clothing.
* How did the Crystal Gems manage to find Steven so quickly after Peridot kidnapped him? Because Pearl is still set up to track Peridot through her escape pod.
* Why was Peridot angry when Steven called her 'cute'? She probably doesn't even know what the word ''means'', and naturally - given the circumstances - assumes it's a pejorative term.
** That doesn't explain why she [[BlushStickers blushes]] when [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bringing this up in her list of offenses]].
** Cute is still a somewhat diminutive term, one that might remind her that she's basically powerless without her limb enhancers. She might even have some history with being disrespected by other gems over her appearance, particularly if Jasper was indicative of what gems are like on Homeworld. If personal strength and prowess are held in high-esteem among gems, she might have dealt with quite a bit of mockery, potentially explaining her being so maladjusted and paranoid.
* Peridot knows what citrus fruits are, but not shirts- likely because Homeworld's records of Earth predate the invention of shirts.
* With the revelation that Peridot's limbs are artificial, it's clear now why she randomly had powers pop up on earth that she never had before; she upgraded her Limb Enhancers when she was at Kindergarten and later on at the Old Ship. This also explains why in this episode she didn't have any new powers; she'd run out of raw materials to upgrade with.
** Another explanation is that she'd simply never been in actual combat before (given her apparent role as a technician), and that she was simply unaware of and/or lacking practice with everything her limbs, which seem to have been built to compensate for her lack of offensive ability, could do, explaining why her first blaster shot in "Friend Ship" knocked her back and seemingly took her by surprise with its power.
* Peridot was likely asking if everything was a weapon in the hopes that it would provide her a tool to help her escape; it was hardly an innocent gesture.
* At first it seems weird that Peridot looks unchanged after regenerating, but since Homeworld forbids any kind of individualism, it's very possible that Homeworld Gems aren't allowed to make changes to their physical form.

[[AC:When It Rains]]
* Peridot says she has read centuries of reports about Earth. This might explain her low opinion of humans, as she only knows about the early humans who were not as smart or capable as modern humans.
* Why doesn't Peridot know what rain is? The Gem Homeworld must either lack Earthly weather or have some kind of climate control.
** The Gem Homeworld lacking the amount of water that the Earth does would certainly explain why Lapis isn't higher up on the chain of command, despite being so powerful on Earth.
* Peridot mentioned that she got all her info on Earth from old reports she had stored in her limb screen, which explains why she's such a FishOutOfWater, she can't look stuff up now, even assuming she has information on a lot of Earth stuff.
* Peridot assuming that Steven came from the Kindergarten because he's a type of Quartz makes some sense when you think about it. Quartz and its variations, like Amethyst, are ''very'' common on Earth, so it's not unreasonable that the Kindergarten would produce a lot of Quartz-type Gems.
** Not to mention that Rose Quartz is the most human-looking Gem seen in the show.
* Peridot's implication that the Kindergarten made mostly Quartz Gems, along with her assumption that "mom" and "dad" are either some kind of rocks or other planets and the wording of the info in "How Are Gems Made" short released the same day as this episode implies that other methods of Gem production exist, or maybe Kindergartens on other worlds without native life, which is where Ruby, Sapphire, and Pearl came from.
* The longer Peridot's been spending on Earth and the more her appearance deteriorates, the less ''triangular'' her hair gets. What are triangles associated with in this show, again?
* While mostly unintentional, the Crystal Gems were using the Good Cop Bad Cop interrogation to get information out of Peridot. The Crystal Gems were the bad cops, scaring Peridot to the point she refused to leave the bathroom, while Steven was unknowingly playing the good cop, being genuinely nice to the frightened Peridot. Peridot was unwilling to give information to the other Crystal Gems because of how dangerous they were to her, but she opened up to Steven, who treated her with kindness.

[[AC:Back To the Barn]]
* Peridot reveals that Pearls are mass-produced luxury gems while being second-class citizens that are made to order back on Homeworld. This is rather appropriate, since A) pearls, unlike other gemstones, are organic in nature, giving credence to a class system and B) can be manufactured en-mass in RealLife by way of cultured pearls.
** In addition, since pearls need to be warmed up for maximum beauty, they were often worn by servants during the day so they'd be at their best when the lady of the house wore them in the evening.
* Pearls are designed to "stand around and look pretty". The [[LargeAndInCharge tall]] [[FusionDance one]], the [[MorphicResonance purple]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifting one]], and the [[BeautifulSlaveGirl hot one]]?
* Given what we've seen, Pearl was so devoted to Rose because she gave Pearl a ''choice''. In "Rose's Scabbard", we see that Rose gave Pearl a chance to back out of the Rebellion, and what else we've seen indicates she treated Pearl as a friend. Pearl fell in love with Rose because (if Peridot's attitude is the Homeworld norm) [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Rose was the first Gem to treat her as a person instead of just a servant]].
** Which makes it all the more appropriate that Steven has been able to bridge the gap between the Crystal Gems and Peridot by showing her some concern and kindness. Homeworld is starting to slip into a bit of a pattern with its people.
* The implication that Peridot's attitude is the Homeworld norm certainly explains why Pearl wasn't exactly sad about leaving it behind to stay with Rose on Earth.
** But Pearl was sad to leave Homeworld. Both her and Rose refer to it as "home". Pearl desperately wanted to see what had changed on Homeworld in "Space Race" but wasn't that happy that they wouldn't be able to land or they'd be killed. Pearl's devotion and love for Rose outweighed how much she would miss her home. Pearl wishes Pearls had been treated better and Homeworld caused her a lot of pain, but it doesn't mean she can't miss the place.
* There's also the implication that Peridots are meant to be engineers and technicians. Not only does this explain why Peridot's pride was so easily wounded when Pearl suggested that she could engineer just as well as Peridot, it also explains why she was so quick to lord over Pearl. She seemingly lacks experience around them, implying that she isn't much higher on Homeworld's social ladder, and she wishes to be in charge of somebody for once.
** She also seems to be jealous of higher-ranking Gems, who apparently have Pearl servants as a status symbol.
* Pearl being a created servant explains why she takes such delight in domestic tasks (like when she took over the chore wheel in "Keeping It Together").
* Pearl's SuperOCD makes perfect sense now, of course a created servant would have a natural dislike of uncleanliness and disorder. In addition to this, Peridot's dialogue in "Log Date 7 15 2" specifically shows that one of a Pearl's ''duties'' is to clean. After so many years on Homeworld, she's probably better at cleaning than either Garnet or Amethyst would be [[note]]the former being an army grunt merged with a renowned aristocrat, the latter being unaccustomed to even ''living'' inside a building - much less maintaining one[[/note]].
* This episode explains why Pearl has so many diverse talents, besides the fact that a servant would be expected to be able to do a lot of things, she's deliberately tried to improve her skillset and show she's not just another servant Pearl.
* Why doesn't Peridot know what a wheel is? She was probably made after it became obsolete on Homeworld.
* Rose keeping the knowledge of Lion's existence from Pearl makes a lot more sense now. In the "Guide to the Crystal Gems" book, Steven mentions that he thinks his mom used Lion's pocket dimension to carry stuff around for her like a living bag. Given that Pearl can store stuff inside her Gemstone (she is shown to have a similar pocket dimension to Lion's in her Gemstone, albeit with air, in the comics), and that, according to Peridot, Pearls are meant to hold your stuff for you, implies that she kept Lion a secret from Pearl so that Pearl wouldn't know she needed help and wouldn't worry about her.
* Peridot erodes easily on Earth. In this episode Peridot gets some character development and seems to be starting to move past her preconceived notions on Pearl.
* The confirmation of a Homeworld caste system provides another possible reason that Fusion is frowned upon - it gives lower-class Gems the potential to become one of higher status.
** This actually has some TruthInTelevision - in real life, those of the working class who manage to become wealthy through hard work and dedication are called "nouveau riche". They tend to be looked down upon by the more "older" wealthy families who earn their wealth through inheritance, because they are seen as upstarts who threaten the traditional social class hierarchy that has been established for centuries.
* In the very first episode, Pearl teaches Steven that one way to summon a weapon is with hard work, determination, and focus, and this episode reveals why she taught him that: She was made to "stand around and look pretty", and wasn't intended for fighting. So, of course she had to summon her weapon with hard work, determination, and focus.

[[AC:Too Far]]
* Why does Peridot try to make Amethyst laugh so much? She's probably subconsciously associating Amethyst with the Quartz Gems on Homeworld, and who wouldn't want to impress their superiors?
** That, or the highly militaristic Homeworld has no time for such things, and Peridot's just realizing how much she enjoys it.
* Why are Quartz Gems warriors in the Gem FantasticCasteSystem? Quartz has a 7 hardness on the Mohs Scale, meaning that they're tougher than most minerals. Of course it makes sense for them to be soldiers, especially since Quartz is a ''very'' common mineral, and thus much more suited to forming an army than other Gems that are harder, but less common.
** And it makes a lot sense why the Gems chose Earth to colonize. Quartz is extremely abundant in the Earth's crust
* As mentioned above under ''The Return'', amethysts and jaspers are the same stone, just under slightly different circumstances while forming, namely amethysts being buried deeper. No wonder why it took Amethyst longer to dig herself out and why Peridot's description of what Amethyst is SUPPOSED to look like is a dead ringer for Jasper: she ''is'' supposed to be exactly like her!
* Fridge Heartwarming: Amethyst had no clue that upon Homeworld she would have been considered defective. For that to have happened, Garnet and Pearl must have never looked down upon her for it, nor even mention it.
* It turns out that Quartzes are high-ranked in Homeworld's hierarchy, implying that every kind of Gem has its set place. No wonder they would abhor and discourage fusion, it can potentially change the type of Gem drastically! Remember how Pearls are a ServantRace or SlaveRace back on Homeworld? Two of our Pearl's fusions (Sardonyx and Rainbow Quartz) are ''Quartzes'' too!

[[AC:The Answer]]
* Ruby and Sapphire's places in the Gem caste system. Ruby is literally a RedShirt while Sapphire is literally a BlueBlood!
** If this is true, then it adds more reasons for Ruby and Sapphire to rebel against Homeworld and defend Earth. Homeworld not only seems to hold prejudice against fusions but it will likely frown upon a romantic relationship between two Gems of different social caste. So Ruby and Sapphire practically [[{{Elopement}} eloped]]!
** Given what little we've seen and figured out so far, Gems on Homeworld seem to be ranked by their hardness, sort of like a social Mohs scale. Rubies and sapphires are two of the hardest gemstones second only to diamonds, which would put Ruby and Sapphire very high in Homeworld's hierarchy. Ruby's incredible strength, durability, and her ability to [[PlayingWithFire control heat]] would make her roughly Homeworld's equivalent to a SuperSoldier, while Sapphire, with her [[{{Seers}} precognitive powers]], would make her an excellent battlefield tactician and commander because she can predict the enemy's moves before they happen. This would probably add another reason to why Homeworld would frown on their relationship - Ruby, while an extremely valuable warrior, would still be seen as a military grunt compared to Sapphire due to one being more useful to society than the other, and a romantic relationship between the two would be like a front line soldier having an affair with his commanding officer.
* Sapphire defecting Homeworld seems a little out of character. She was a respected and loyal aristocrat and diplomat with useful powers and even, it seems that Sapphires are a rare class of Gems in Homeworld, so why giving up everything for a low-class ruby, already condemn to die? But remember, Ruby saved Sapphire from being poofed, something that Sapphire already saw and accepted, but also she fused with her in seemly the first different-gems fusion in all recorded history. Ruby demonstrated to Sapphire that future is not set in stone, she proved to her that she has autonomy and can choose; she literally shocked Sapphire's whole ground of beliefs, no wonder she got fascinated with Ruby.
* In the other side, Ruby most probably fell for Sapphire not only because with her she felt different while fusing, but because Sapphire saved her from from being broke despite being one of many other Rubies; Sapphire recognized her as an individual with a meaningful existence.
* Why are Rubies ranked so far down on the caste system? Ruby is actually more common than most people think, but rubies of large size and high enough quality to be considered real gemstones are rarer, explaining why they're "common" soldiers and child-sized.
* The fact that Sapphire Gems, despite sapphire having a chemical composition almost identical to ruby, are much rarer than the latter, heavily implies that the Diamonds control how many Gems of a type come into being to support the FantasticCasteSystem.
* Sapphire foresaw Rose and Pearl's capture and the end of the rebellion. However, Ruby's act of selflessness and love didn't register in Sapphire's premonitions. Meaning Sapphire can't predict love, unseen and uncontrollable force of attraction that it is. In other words, love saved earth.
* While on Homeworld, all the Gems are shown in monochrome (the rubies are all shades of red, sapphire is all shades of blue). They're uniform. Singular. This pallet even affects Rose and Pearl, who have since defected from Homeworld. In fact, the first show of any character displaying more than one shade of any color is ''Garnet''. The fusion. The abomination in the eyes of Homeworld society. Garnet breaks the monochrome, the conformity, of Homeworld. As a mix of two different gems, she is literally the first fusion of her kind, and an anomaly. As soon as Ruby and Sapphire fall to Earth, they break the monochrome as well. While they're still shades of their respective colors, they're no longer the uniform slate of red and blue - they have darks and lights mixed in with their pallets. They no longer fit the uniform. The same goes for Pearl and Rose when they are on Earth. Homeworld represents unity, and conformity. Every Gem serves Homeworld as a whole, and there is virtually no distinction between Gems of the same kind. Earth represents individualism and rebellion, and breaking free of the societal norms.
* Related to the example above, the color palette of Garnet's first fusion incorporates both red and blue in contrast to Garnet's later forms which are mostly purple with a few different color highlights. In addition to representing Ruby and Sapphire's break from Homeworld, their individual colors bleeding through represents their newness as a coupled entity. Garnet's later forms are mostly monotone in color because Ruby and Sapphire have been together for far longer and it shows the strength of their comfort level and identity as a cohesive being. In their earlier days, Ruby and Sapphire's bond hasn't matured to that level yet, thus Garnet's first form has more red and blue instead of the mixed purple.
* When seeing Garnet for the second time, Pearl is surprised, even shocked, and doesn't move to attack. Then when she hears Garnet talk about her feelings, she is seen smiling as broadly as Rose. Garnet saying she feels much more at ease with herself now than she ever was and would do whatever she will do now much sooner than what she was ''meant'' to do must have resonated with Pearl, who, probably inspired by Rose Quartz, grew beyond her intended role of silent servitude into a dreaded and badass warrior of a case which, before Garnet, only had 2 sympathizers as far as we know.
** Garnet (Sapphire, especially) would have been inspired by CG Pearl as well. (cf. her speech in "Friend Ship") After all, our Pearl broke out of the path of servitude destined for her in just about the most spectacular way possible.
* When Garnet said in "Love Letters" that love takes time and work, considering she sees herself as a being made of love itself she must have included herself in that sentence. Look what a mess Garnet is when she first was born; Ruby and Sapphire surely encounter many impasses in their relationship that ended splitting them, and when they made up and re-fused, Garnet came more balanced and better clothed to represent the increasing harmony.
** The episode actually almost seems like a visual episode-long CallBack to "Love Letter", not just a mere hint on what Garnet had said. We get to see how Ruby and Sapphire fell in love and that it took time and effort. While Ruby appears to feel some sort of attraction to Sapphire when she bumps into her, she doesn't act on it. It takes her until at least an hour later when she sees Sapphire's eye to actually really notice that she is probably attracted to the other Gem, same with Sapphire who "took her first good look" at Ruby (and they don't say it or push their feelings on the other, instead Sapphire starts a conversation). We then see at least one day pass (if not more) which they spend enjoying their time and getting to know each other before they start their love song. The love song itself is all about trying to know more about the other with only the last line feeling like a LoveConfession. And when starting their FusionDance, they still start out very shy and awkward until they apparently finally accept their love and start properly dancing which leads them to fuse again. Just like Garnet had said, love takes time and love can't happen on first sight.
* Even MORE parallels between Garnet and Stevonnie: both of them were the first of their kind, the former being the first fusion between two different Gems, and the latter being the fusion of a Gem (well, half-Gem) and an actual human being, and both of them first fused by accident. After seeing Stevonnie, Garnet probably relived a lot of sweet memories.
* It turns out that Gems refer to their leading Diamond as 'My Diamond'. When Rose referred to Pearl as 'My Pearl' all those thousands of years ago, Rose was basically saying that Pearl was practically royalty herself.
** Not necessarily. "Diamond" is as much a title as it is a name, and "my Diamond" is used similarly to an address like "my liege". Calling her "my Pearl" implies ownership rather than allegiance, but this was happening a long, long time ago, even by Gem standards. That was the moment that Rose actually decided to stay and lead the rebellion she started, and Pearl was almost certainly recently liberated; Rose taking informal ownership of Pearl would have been the best thing she could have done for her at that point. Even Garnet refers to her as "Rose Quartz's Renegade Pearl".
* Given that Sapphire was fatalistic to the point of accepting death and Ruby changed what Sapphire thought to be inevitable, the two of them and Garnet are a living embodiment of the well-known prayer called the serenity prayer: "May God grant me the strength to change what I can [Ruby], the serenity to accept what I cannot [Sapphire], and the wisdom to tell what is which [Garnet]."
* FridgeBrilliance and HeartwarmingInHindsight: Garnet was the first fusion of different Gems. Which means all the Crystal Gem fusions we saw before, Opal, Sugilite, Rainbow Quartz, Sardonix and Alexandrite, all that the Crystal Gems know about fusion and all the times they spoke of how beautiful it is (like Pearl saying it's much more than just combining as water is much more than just oxygen and hydrogen), is only possible because they know and have listened to and learnt from Garnet.
* Sapphire tells Blue Diamond she looks forward to speaking with her again, "once I reform back on Homeworld." This implies she had complete faith someone (maybe our Ruby, the guard she didn't see being poofed) would pick up her Gem and take it back to safety. We have no reason to think they wouldn't do that if the prediction was correct, and if the one to pick up and take back Sapphire's Gem was Ruby (which is possible as she was assigned to Sapphire as a bodyguard), there is a chance Garnet still would have happened eventually. Sapphire didn't know this (or that Ruby would save her and prove her prediction to be incorrect) because she believed her future vision to be absolute and unchangeable. It took Ruby's diving save to give her faith in the power of actions, both her own and those of others.
* While Blue Diamond's desire to crush Ruby may seem like a way to show she's a villain, when one thinks about it, her anger against her makes perfect sense. Fusion between different Gems aside, there's already a lot of evidence of fusion being linked with intimacy. The fact that Ruby fused with Sapphire without her consent (granted, accidentally) could be considered something along the lines of sexual assault, and against a gem of higher standing as well (note that Blue Diamond only wants to crush Ruby, not Sapphire). Also, Ruby's actions also cost Homeworld a major victory, one that could never recover from. Ruby cost them the entire war!
** Pushing this further is that Sapphire only said the gem's physical forms would be destroyed, not their gems. Indeed we see Pearl only poofing her opponents, not shattering them. And as we know gems can regenerate, Sapphire wasn't in any real danger. In other words, Ruby's heroic act not only cost Homeworld the war, but was completely unnecessary. No wonder Blue Diamond wanted her crushed.
** If this episode takes place after Pink Diamond's shattering, it could also account for why Blue Diamond was so violet in this episode: she was going through grief and took it out on a common Ruby who cost her the only chance she'd ever get to avenge Pink.
* Sapphire's comment about how it is nice to have more than one eye might have seemed a bit random liking, but actually, that ''was'' a whole new experience to her: with one eye, she has no in-built depth perception. She liked it, though someone else might have had a FreakOut on this new-found ability.
** Additionally, later in the episode after they re-fuse, Garnet spends a while staring at every branch and tree in the forest. Part of the reason for this is because Sapphire is ''literally'' seeing the world in a whole different way.
* Garnet's almost completely red color scheme from Season 1 is due to Ruby's guilt and frustration over her perceived failure as Sapphire's bodyguard, so she becomes the dominant Gem to protect Sapphire from everything that comes their way, which naturally caused Sapphire to take a backseat. Being separated in "The Return" must have made Ruby realize that in trying to protect her from everything, she forgot that being Garnet actually required both Gems to work together as equals. So when they reunited in "Jail Break", Ruby's appreciation of being fused with Sapphire resulted in Garnet's current unified appearance with a (mostly) purple color scheme from Season 2 onward.
* This episode establishes that fusions between gems of different types are considered absolutely forbidden on Homeworld... and that such fusions are ''much more powerful'' than usual. Given that the modern-day Crystal Gems use cross-type fusion freely as their ultimate technique, it seems likely that they adopted it after Garnet showed both that it was possible and powerful, and that this is part of the reason the rebels ultimately won.
* Garnet's description of Pearl as Rose's "terrifying renegade Pearl" implies that Pearl was TheDreaded to Homeworld's loyalist forces. In addition to Pearl honing her grace and skill with a sword into nearly a CharlesAtlasSuperpower, a big part of the reason why a renegade Pearl would be so terrifying is because Pearls are normally treated as ''slaves'', with many of them in key positions as retainers to powerful Gems. The idea of one of them defying their supposed place in the natural order of things is a direct challenge to Homeworld's entire culture and raises the specter of a broader Pearl rebellion that could destabilize everything. (Most real-world cultures that relied heavily on slaves lived in constant fear of slave rebellions.)
* Even though we learn in later episodes Pink Diamond controlled the Earth, why did Garnet make it seem as though Blue was the one calling the shots? 1) This could've taken place AFTER her shattering, in which case the diplomat team was there to capture Rose, the alleged shatterer, and bring her to justice and/or 2) this took place before, with Blue only being there to back up Pink. Since Garnet didn't think Steven ready to hear about Pink Diamond, she might've altered the story so that he didn't ask questions.
** [[spoiler: Eventually explained. This is after Pink Diamond had had her HeelFaceTurn, and Blue and Yellow had effectively seized control of the colony from her.]]

[[AC:Steven's Birthday]]
* Why is it that shapeshifting is shown as being very stressful to maintain, when extended periods of shapeshifting have been shown before in previous episodes without such strain? Except in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E8Reformed "Reformed"]], where Amethyst strained herself trying to assume a form substantially bigger and stronger than her usual one. So it's not that shapeshifting in and of itself is dangerous to maintain for too long, so much as that using it to become bigger [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm than usual]] is.
* Why did Steven revert back to being a baby after abusing his shapeshifting powers for the entire day? Well, with [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E8Reformed what we've seen of this before]], Gems who do this will be forced to revert to their gem in order to recharge. Since Steven is part human though, and thus can't revert to his gem, it went with the next best form that'd be easiest to maintain while his energy recharged, that being a baby.
* Garnet becoming more gentle and affectionate with Steven. In "So Many Birthdays", Garnet tries to turn old!Steven back to normal by shaking him violently. Here, she tries to cheer baby!Steven up by making funny faces.
* Steven grows a hair at the end of the episode, showing he's (physically) finally growing up. But Steven's physiological level of maturity (physical age) is based on ''how old he perceives himself to be.'' Steven ''never aged'' while he was living with the Gems because a) they're ageless themselves, b) to them, he was always little Steven, and they were always his older guardians to him - that fact didn't change no matter how much time passed, leaving him in limbo age-wise.
** ''Brilliance:'' While Steven couldn't ''force'' himself to age, his body subconsciously reacted to his desire and aged him to match how he sees Connie in terms of "age." [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Connie, and their love for one another, is responsible for Steven finally growing up, and will most likely cause Steven to keep aging throughout his life to match Connie.]]
** ''Brilliance:'' This may also explain why Stevonnie appears to be older than Steven or Connie: their fusion is a comparatively more mature version of their relationship.
** ''Horror:'' On the flip side, had Steven never met Connie, he more than likely would have remained at relatively the same mental and physiological age forever, since life with the Gems and isolation from peers likely would have caused him to effectively "freeze" in time.
** ''Horror:'' When you remember that Steven's physical age is directly tied to his mental age, the horror sets in that once Connie dies, Steven might very well die as well due to a combination of grief and thinking his own life should come to an end. It could even trigger when Greg dies, since Steven will almost certainly outlive Greg.
* It was somewhat confusing when the Crystal Gems were confused over the concept of birthdays back in "So Many Birthdays". However, this episode reveals via Greg's baby book of Steven that ''none'' of the Crystal Gems were present in Steven's past birthdays.
* One reason Steven hasn't hit puberty yet? TruthinTelevision, as boys go through puberty later than girls, so its not uncommon to see a female start to go through changes in sixth grade and a boy to still look like a six-year-old until freshmen year.

[[AC:It Could've Been Great]]
* Why isn't Peridot was horrified about what the Earth would have become once it was colonized? Well, just because she's working for the Crystal Gems doesn't mean she agrees with their views. While she has grown fond of them for only several weeks, that won't immediately stomp a thousand years of having Homeworld's beliefs drilled into her. Like Garnet stated in ''Love Letters'', "Love takes time", and that can be love between two people or the feeling of love or empathy towards others.
** This whole episode could also be indicative of the massive disconnect between Homeworld Gem culture and that which the Crystal Gems have adopted. It seems most of the Crystal Gems were rather caught off-guard by Peridot's continued support of Homeworld ideas and efforts, despite the fact that they seemed to be getting along with Peridot. Which is rather surprising, given that Peridot has said in explicit terms that she doesn't actually support the Crystal Gem cause. But, Peridot comes from what is apparently a hyper-conformist, caste-based system where Gems are explicitly expected to put their goals ahead of themselves. As abhorrent of an ideology as it may be, it might have actually instilled one surprisingly virtuous quality into its people, and that's how to work with others that you disagree with. On Homeworld, it may be that personal disputes are expected to take a backseat to completing your job; Peridot might not have seen her improved rapport with the Crystal Gems as her coming around to their ideas, but of her being a good team player. It might be that, to her, getting along with someone for the sake of the 'mission' isn't the same as agreeing with them, something that may have been lost on the Crystal Gems.
** Additionally, Peridot is a Kindergartener, whose job is literally to incubate Gems in the crust of a planet and suck the life out in order to come to life. As a result, Peridot is likely desensitized to it the same way you and I are desensitized to shooting a man in Call of Duty, treating it like no big deal, just a fact of life.
* The double meaning of the title not only refers to what Peridot said about the Earth colony plans, but also refers to how Peridot's relationship with the Crystal Gems "could've been great" if she hadn't insulted Rose Quartz so callously and essentially erased all the trust and goodwill the Crystal Gems were starting to feel towards her.
* Peridot seemed to pick up very quickly on music, when Steven decided to introduce it to her, despite the implication that Peridot had effectively no prior experience with musical theory. This actually makes a certain amount of sense, given that music is fairly heavily tied-in to mathematics. If Peridots are meant to serve as engineers and technicians, it would make sense for them to have a certain amount of inherent affinity for math, and by extension, things like rhythm and tempo. One could also expect that as technicians, they would have good use for finely-honed senses for the diagnosis of mechanical problems, giving Peridot a certain degree of insight into tone.
** The song even points out the precise moment Peridot gains insight into music: she recognizes it as some sort of a pattern, and patterns of various kind are what all technicians, scientists and engineers work with. Having recognized it as a pattern, it was indeed almost discouragingly easy for her to follow it and sing in tune.
* At the beginning, it almost seems as if Peridot is starting to come around on Earth and grasp why it is that the Crystal Gems seek to protect it. She quickly gets caught up in the song and even starts contributing her own lines much to their approval. This contributes to a quite a bit of the shock when it becomes apparent that Peridot's views hadn't changed nearly as much as they thought, nearly invalidating their earlier activities in the episode. But, if one pays attention while Steven is trying to explain music to her, Peridot explicitly refers to it as hypothetical and without substance. While she quickly picks up on singing it, she seems almost to be parroting Steven and mastering it as a mechanical exercise without ever connecting with the experience emotionally. Her song didn't ''mean'' anything to her and it may have been the approval she received that she truly enjoyed.
* Why does Peridot so callously insult Rose even thought the Crystal Gems are giving her a DeathGlare? Well, using some lines from "Marble Madness" about her being unaware of any Gems on Earth, it's most likely that Peridot doesn't have any information about Rose. Aside from that the only mentioning of Rose she has heard were from Jasper ("Jailbreak") and Steven ("When It Rains"), both of which didn't give a full explanation on who she was. Had Peridot learned how important Rose was to the others, she may have toned down on her BrutalHonesty.
** If the recent episodes are anything to go by, most Era 2 Gems only know of Pink via rumors the same way most kids only know about JFK through rumors about his death. So Peridot probably knew Rose existed, but was of no value until she came to Earth.
* The Cluster's position near California could be an in-universe reason for the area's massive earthquake records.
* Peridot freaks out when Garnet gives her an appreciative pat on her back. The last time that Garnet had her hands near Peridot's back was when she poofed her in 'Catch and Release'.
* The difference in values between Peridot and the Crystal Gems seems simple enough, but it's easy to forget that Peridot only knows Rose Quartz as a historical figure, not a person. To her, Rose Quartz is essentially a ''cult leader'', and when Pearl reminds her that Rose believed that all life is precious, it was just the cult leader's pretty servant parroting her late mistress's words. The magnitude of what "all life" means can't hold much meaning for someone who only started thinking of non-mineral life forms ''as'' life forms a few weeks ago at most. She thinks nothing of a hollowed-out planet because Gems don't need food or water or sleep or a breathable atmosphere or even consistent gravity, so she has no real reason to know what an ecosystem ''is'', let alone why one would matter.
* Also, as we find out in "Too Short to Ride", Homeworld is experiencing a ''massive'' resource shortage, one with direct and serious consequences to Peridot personally (resulting in her intentionally stunted development and lack of powers, something she's extremely self-conscious about.) Her musing that it could have been great if Earth were strip-mined for resources isn't just idle detachment; she can't help but consider how her own life could have been better if Homeworld had had Earth's resources at its disposal and used it to create full-fledged Gems like the Era 1 ones.
* Why is the chair on the Moon Base so small that Peridot and Steven can comfortably fit, despite the fact that the Diamonds are effectively giants? As "Jungle Moon" shows us, Pink was much shorter, not much taller than Stevonnie is.

[[AC:Message Received]]
* Peridot turning on Yellow Diamond makes sense when one realizes something: Yellow Diamond likely has ALWAYS acted that way and treated the other Gems as expendable...but Peridot never had a ''contrast'' before now. After being treated as a ''person'' and actually shown compassion and how it feels, she could finally compare Yellow Diamond's mistreatment to something enough to recognize how horrible it is.
* Peridot very specifically describes Yellow Diamond as being the (literal) Paragon of rationality and objectivity. She had no doubts that such an intelligent and practical Gem could put aside their personal feelings and spare the Earth, if Peridot could offer up reasonable, sensible reasons for why it would be a waste not to. But what Peridot found was that the being she idolized was nothing more than a stubborn, petty, and utterly ''un''reasonable being who wanted the Earth destroyed more for personal satisfaction than anything. Peridot holds notions of intelligence, efficiency, and practicality as being high virtues and is visibly taking aback when Yellow Diamond falls short. Peridot was dedicated and loyal to this idea of what she thought Yellow Diamond was truly like, so it's no wonder she was so upset to the point of HeroicBSOD at finding out that she was basically worshiping a lie.
** Feeding into the above, it's heavily implied that Peridot knows nothing about the rebellion on Earth, so from her perspective the Gem she worshiped was completely willing to destroy the planet not out of spite but of [[ForTheEvulz pointless cruelty]].
* Why were the Crystal Gems so happy that Peridot is a part of them now, [[EasilyForgiven even though]] in the last episode she made callous remarks against Rose's rebellion? Because Peridot is ''doing'' the very thing Rose did: Seeing the value of Earth and trying to protect it.
* Yellow Diamond's Pearl might explain why Peridot was so unwilling to see Pearl as an equal in "Back to the Barn". Considering Peridot has likely dealt with this Pearl before and as such made to kowtow to what is technically a lower class Gem as though it were a higher class one it makes sense she would have difficulty acknowledging the CG Pearl, who is lower in her eyes for being a traitor to Homeworld.
** In "Back to the Barn" Peridot implies that Pearls have no function other than being the Homeworld equivalent of trophy wives/designer handbags, just standing around doing nothing. Here, we see Yellow Pearl have the role of a secretary, and "The Trial" shows that Yellow has so much trust in her she is given other jobs and treated more like a handmaid/lady-in-waiting. So why did Peridot get it wrong? She's a lower class Gem whose probably only interacted with Pearls when she had to interact with her masters, who likely just let them stand around and do nothing, or just observed them from a distance the same way you and I probably assume all servants stand around houses waiting for messes to clean up. Of course she wouldn't know they might be given more freedom!
** In the case of Yellow Diamond's Pearl, even if a Pearl is treated like a trophy wife, her being given more freedom might be precisely due to the fact that she serves one of the three most powerful Gems on Homeworld, which would entail more responsibility on her end. Yellow is also seen as a logician, so it'd be more logical to put her Pearl to more use than just simply standing around, as she woudln't have to waste the resources making another Gem or croney to. She likely is a social step above other Pearls for this reason and given more freedoms.
* Peridot trying to reason with Yellow Diamond is in direct parallel to when she and Steven first officially met in "Marble Madness": They (Steven and Peridot) try to convince another Gem (Peridot and Yellow Diamond, respectively) to talk about why they're on Earth (Steven to Peridot) or the reason why Earth should be spared (Peridot to Yellow Diamond), basically they have a discussion revolving around the planet. But for some reason the Gem won't listen (Peridot's apathy and Yellow Diamond's pettiness) and attempt to kill them for a very stupid reason (Peridot tried to kill Steven simply because he was there, Yellow Diamond attempted to kill Peridot because the latter called her a "clod").
* This ties into previous episodes, but the fact that we don't see much of Peridot interacting with the Crystal Gems between "Too Far" and "It Could've Been Great". Had there been more episodes between those events, or had Peridot gotten more screen-time during the given episodes, the audience would have quickly picked up how Peridot analyzes her environment and how she thinks. This would have easily led to the tension of this episode being lost, as most of the audience would have understood Peridot's explanation on the first viewing and would have known that she was never planning to betray Steven or the Gems, and that she came to appreciate Earth from a logical rather than emotional standpoint. By limiting her appearances even in the background, the writing team successfully managed to produce a PoorCommunicationKills episode where even the audience misunderstood the character's intentions.
* Yellow Diamond's exaggerated reaction to Peridot telling her off may be due to the fact that, as someone who has a reputation for being very logical, she grew used to having her plans go as she expected them to. So when something went wrong with one of her plans, it completely took her by surprise and threw her off her game, which was why she became absolutely ''furious'' at Peridot's refusal to obey. Now imagine what would her reaction be if she learns that the Cluster had stopped growing and failed to destroy Earth...
* The last straw for Peridot is when Yellow Diamond says that she doesn't care about Earth's resources. As we later see in "Too Short to Ride", Peridot is an Era 2 gem, with significantly reduced abilities due to the resource crisis facing Homeworld (and it's reasonably clear she's ''extremely'' self-conscious about it); to her, this crisis is an extremely personal issue. When Yellow Diamond is so dismissive of it, she's effectively dismissing the problems that have defined Peridot's entire life. Peridot was fine with being an Era 2 Gem as long as she thought the sacrifice had some ''meaning'' (and was willing to fight for the Gem Homeworld as long as she believed they were trying to solve it.) Yellow Diamond's response showed completely clearly that this wasn't the case.
* Yellow Diamond wanting the Earth destroyed out of a grudge makes sense when you remember that Pink Diamond was shattered there, and Yellow wants to destroy all reminders of her fallen sister to move on. In addition, it is a spot of embarrassment for Homeworld, which prides itself on conquering, so it'd show to other races that the Gems aren't as feared as one may think. Towards her Homeworld, we discover in "Lars' Head" most of the Homeworld Gems think that Earth was decimated, or rendered inhospitable for life, so it'd be a great way to cover up evidence of shame on the part of the Diamonds. And if "The Trial" is anything to go by, Yellow might want the Earth destroyed to cover up evidence of Pink Diamond's shattering.
** In addition, the Homeworld seems to at least suspect that Rose Quartz might have survived the Corrupting Light (Jasper mentions that she was hoping to fight Rose when she came to Earth), and even if they think she's Corrupted they at least believe she's alive. Yellow wants the Earth destroyed in order to ''finally'' shatter the Gem who shattered Pink Diamond.
* During her interaction with Yellow, Peridot mentions that the Cluster will emerge shortly. But despite the fact that by Season 5 a couple of months have flown by, Homeworld doesn't seem that concerned with sending Gems to check on it. Why? Because Peridot was being vague and never gave an exact answer. While we the audience know the Cluster will likely start to hatch a few episodes from now due to the narrative standpoint, Yellow Diamond doesn't. To Gems, a "short time" can be anywhere from a day to a century. Heck, even to Pearl, she acts like taking Steven away for 50 years is no different than taking him to Disney World for a weekend, or that it taking 200 years to get to Pink Diamond's Zoo and back would be no different than a 4-hour drive from Washington DC to New York City. To a being whose probably existed for hundreds of thousands (or even ''millions'') of years, a "short time" can mean anytime. So in a sense, Peridot pretty much saved the Earth, if even in the short term.
* When asked if she knows Yellow Pearl, CG Pearl says that "not all Pearls know each other", but she doesn't actually ever say that she doesn't know Yellow Pearl. As Pink Diamond's personal Pearl, she almost certainly ''did'' know Yellow Pearl, but she didn't want to explain to the others ''how'' she knew her. Another possibility is that Yellow Pearl frequently made fun of her, and so Pearl didn't want to talk about her.
* The [=StevenBomb=] this episode was part of centered around both Steven's birthday and Peridot's redemption. Given that Steven's birthday is August 15, and peridot gems are the August birthstone, that makes it [[RuleOfSymbolism somewhat symbolic]] that Peridot's HeelFaceturn would happen around Steven's birthday.

[[AC:Log Date 7 15 2]]
* Peridot is quite right about Steven being the source of madness. If "madness" is emotivity and compassion going against Homeworld's logic and practicality, Steven was the first one to treat her with true compassion and respect. Steven is also a human-Gem hybrid, making his own existence illogical and proving that inorganic and organic life can come to an union and co-exist. Steven is also able to fuse with humans, the mere idea is crazy. And if Peridot believes the idea of rebelling against Homeworld is the madness, well Steven is Rose Quartz's son ''and'' reincarnation; she was the first one in getting the idea and she spread it to other Gems, the same thing Steven did with her.
* Peridot bonding with Garnet and coming to sympathize with her with makes her HeelFaceTurn make a lot more sense: Garnet was the angriest out of the Gems, so after realizing she didn't understand Garnet.
* Peridot's EurekaMoment in regards to Garnet's status as a fusion actually makes quite a bit of sense. Peridot very much treats her obsessive shipping of Percy/Pierre as an exercise in optimization, with her being concerned not so much with emotional compatibility, but with finding the best combination of individuals for dealing with challenges. This is perfectly in-line with her clinical and objective approach to most things and Garnet actually seemed to pick up on that. So when Garnet described herself as Percy/Pierre, Peridot was finally able to grasp that Ruby and Sapphire are, from her point-of-view, the most effective and ideal pairing. She still doesn't quite ''get'' the romantic element, but she's finally found a way to place the Crystal Gems' views on fusion into terms that she can understand.
** Even better, Ruby and Sapphire are indeed a perfect match from a practical standpoint as well, being a trained soldier with determination and sometimes a bit of a temper and a Gem with future vision that not only is able to give out vital tactical advice but possesses the maturity and yes, patience, needed to keep Ruby from attacking recklessly to the point of tragedy.
** Peridot shipping Percy and Pierre because they are the optimal pair makes perfect sense: she still thinks humans can ''fuse'' and that those two would create the most powerful fusion form.
* Peridot's YaoiFangirl moment in regard to Percy/Pierre from ''Camp Pining Hearts'' makes sense. All Gems seem to be female, and the only humans she knows are male (Steven and Greg), so she likely assumes humans are also a monogendered species. Since she doesn't understand the concept of sexuality, she's {{Shipping}} them purely based on potential fusion strength.
** She obviously doesn't get romance and sexuality, seeing that when Paulette and Percy kiss, she calls it a "strange ritual" and when Steven later tries to explain that they like each other, Peridot simply dismisses it. Which may give even more layers to "The Answer", seeing that Ruby and Sapphire were not only pioneers regarding fusions, but maybe also the first Gems that openly engaged in a romantic relationship.
** To add onto this, note that Peridot never says she supports Pierre/Percy as a romantic couple. She speaks adjectives to the likes of "they make the superior pair" and that they destroy the camp, which could be applied platonically. As noted above, she makes calculations based on which characters' components would make the best fusion in combat. Since she was created in not only Homeworld, but Era 2, she must have no concept of romance or marriage. Why would she then suddenly ship two characters who are not only human but part of a "meaningless distraction" in the form of entertainment? Simple; she doesn't.
* Garnet's relative silence over the course of "Message Received" makes a whole lot of sense once you realize that the entry for date 7 14 2 was recorded before the trip to the moon. Opal was formed to place the drill on the sawhorses, Garnet and Peridot attempted a fusion, Garnet makes a log entry in Peridot's diary telling Steven to give the tape recorder back, and only after that does Peridot steal the communicator and subsequently become a member of the Crystal Gems. Garnet ''knew all along'' what would happen and why Peridot would lose the diary. She foresaw having to talk to Peridot about where to put her star before her allegiance ever came into question. Over the last three episodes, Garnet had not only foreseen that this was a likely path that Peridot would choose, but trusted that it would be a path she would choose. HeartwarmingInHindsight indeed.
* Think back to the first time Amethyst and Pearl fused to form Opal in the series, and how much difficulty they had doing so. Compare it to how effortlessly they did so in this episode's flashback, and it's a subtle nod to how far the two have come in their relationship with one another. On a smaller note, given that the fusion dance requires dancing, in addition to compatibility they need to be able to synchronize their movements while doing so, something they couldn't do in "Giant Woman" without tripping up over themselves. This was lightly foreshadowed by the two of them dancing together in "Steven's Birthday".
* Peridot says most Gems don't shapeshift as often as Amethyst because of the energy expenditure. Since we now know she was originally supposed to be bigger, maybe Amethyst's energy is super-concentrated so that she's better suited to transforming than most Gems.
** Also, she [[BigEater eats a lot]], which probably gives her more energy than she would otherwise have.
** Since Peridot mentions in "Too Far" that Steven must have a high energy consumption since he has to eat (indicating that Gems with no familarity of ''having to'' eat know what it is and does), it may actually be true that Amethyst's habit of eating allows her to do more straining things.
* A bit of Meta Fridge Funny; back when it was still unclear exactly where Peridot's escape pod landed, fans were pointing out Canada as a possibility given the trajectory shown in the episode (presumably somewhere in Quebec). Fast forward to now, and what show does she fall in love with? One set in Canada, and judging by Percy holding a container of poutine, it was probably set in Quebec to boot. The writers probably had a field day with that one.
* Garnet being the only Gem other than Steven to comfort Peridot in this episode is understandable, when you remember Garnet basically already been through the same situation as Peridot. Ruby was initially depressed and questioning of her value when she realized she was an outlaw and wanted dead by Blue Diamond, just like how Peridot is by going crazy in this episode, while Sapphire, like Peridot, betrayed her Diamond when she realized how horrible she was by attempting to kill Ruby for "changing" the future she predicted, just like Yellow Diamond's refusal to spare the Earth out of clear spite.
* The 2 at the end of the log date probably refers to the fact that the Gem empire is in its 2nd era.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 1]]
[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E1GemGlow "Gem Glow"]]]]
* Cookie Cat contains a surprising amount of foreshadowing. He's a refugee from an interstellar war who left his family behind, which is similar to the Crystal Gems' backstory. In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E39FutureVision "Future Vision"]], Steven imagines being attacked by him, exclaiming "I never considered you would be evil!", which, due being sheltered from knowledge of the Homeworld Gems, winds up being his reaction to Peridot.
** Cookie Cat's bindle is covered with pink diamonds, making the foreshadowing even more obvious in retrospect.
* The "Cookie Cat" song lyrics alone foreshadow not only to the true nature of the Crystal Gems (refugees from a interstellar war) but to the revelation of Steven and Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond.
** "Ohh, he's a frozen treat with an all new taste" — Steven is the "whole new taste" to the original Pink Diamond; the "he" for lack of a better word, in this case.
** "Cause he came to this planet from outer space" — Rose Quartz and the rest of the Gems came from Gemworld, in outer space.
** "A refugee of an interstellar war" — Rose Quartz and the Gems are refugees after the war.
** "But now he's at your local grocery store" — this turns out the be literal. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz gave birth to and in a sense became Steven, though as established he is his own person. Where does he go to buy the Cookie Cat ice cream bars? '''At his local grocery store!'''
** And the line "He left his family behind" is also on the nose since Pink Diamond left behind her family, the Diamond Authority, back on homeworld. The context on why the family is left behind changes, however, given the series revelations.
* Amethyst says that when she needs to get her whip, "it just happens." Since Quartz gems like her are made for combat, then it's pretty obvious why she never needs to put any effort into summoning her weapon. She was literally born to fight.
** Pearl needed a lot of dedication and training to learn how to summon her weapon because she was made to be a servant, not a fighter.
*** The "compartmentalized" part of her mind as shown in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose "A Single Pale Rose"]] contains many identical spears, which might mean that she's not summoning her weapon in the conventional sense. Considering a Pearl's function is summarized as "look pretty and hold your stuff", it's likely that Pearl ''can't'' summon a weapon — instead she's just storing her weapons of choice inside her gem, and retrieving them for combat.
** Garnet's way of doing it also makes a lot more sense when you consider that she's a fusion of an aristocratic Gem who probably would never need to summon a weapon and a warrior Gem who can probably summon her weapon as easily as Amethyst does, so she really did have to "work really hard and not try at all at the same time" to figure her own powers out.
*** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E4MindfulEducation "Mindful Education"]] shows that Garnet is good at mindfulness and meditation by necessity, which implies that her bit about channeling the power of the collective universe through her Gems is less literal and more like a meditative mindset that she uses.
** Now that we know Steven is a Diamond, not a Quartz, how he learned to use his shield makes perfect sense as well — it seems that at least some of the Diamonds' powers are directly connected to their emotions, and weapon summoning would be no exception.
* Steven's reaction to the Centipeetles is to call them cool and ask if they could be pets, this foreshadows his eventual friendship with the mother Centipeetle.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E2LaserLightCannon "Laser Light Cannon"]]]]
* Steven finds the Laser Light Cannon when it starts to glow faintly — [[{{Foreshadowing}} right after Greg says the line about pork chops and hot dogs]] for the first time.
* Steven loving "fry bits" is clever for two different reasons: First, Steven is the guy who sees the good things in stuff no one else would. Fry bits, the discarded pieces that would normally be thrown out, are basically the potato equivalent of a hot dog. (If every potato was perfect, we wouldn't have fry bits?) Secondly, Steven doesn't exactly have the healthiest appetite. The bits have a greater amount of surface area compared to fries and have been sitting in the frier all day, so they're probably [[DeepFriedWhatever even greasier than regular fries]].
** Another foreshadowing; Pink Diamond had swallowed bits of fake shards in order to fake her shattering...
* In light of the newest Pink Diamond revelation, a clever bit of foreshadowing with the broken photo: Rather than a shattered frame, it's more like a framed shattering.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E3CheeseburgerBackpack "Cheeseburger Backpack"]]]]
* Steven has a cheeseburger backpack. Peedee (whose hair looks like french fries) is his friend. Burger and fries!
* With TheReveal of the Crystal Gems being rebels against Homeworld, it doesn't make sense why they would be so determined to save the Lunar Sea Spire, and why Pearl would be so emotionally invested in it — it's a Homeworld structure, so what do they care? Especially considering that every other Homeworld structure they come across, the first reaction is always to destroy it. But when Bismuth is first talking about herself in her forge, she mentions that Bismuths are made to build various structures for Homeworld, and specifically mentions spires as being one of them. The Lunar Sea Spire was probably built by Bismuth before she joined the Crystal Gems, and given how close she was to Garnet and Pearl, they would want to preserve her work, regardless of who she originally built it for. They think Bismuth is dead, so the Lunar Sea Spire is practically a memorial to her. Enjoy re-watching the episode with that context.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E5Frybo "Frybo"]]]]
* Frybo was only doing what Peedee told him to — he just said "make people eat fries," he never specified ''how''.
* Peedee was originally excited to join the family business but ended up hating the job his father gave to him and expected him to do just because he's a Fryman, and his father failed to notice how unhappy he was. This parallels someone else with the initials PD...

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E7BubbleBuddies "Bubble Buddies"]]]]
* Upon realizing Steven has a crush on Connie, Pearl immediately [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents tries to set up a "playdate"]], while Amethyst begins teasing him. Garnet, meanwhile, tells Steven that the best thing to do is just introduce himself and start a conversation, and promises that she and the others won't watch, so he doesn't have to be embarrassed. Garnet being the only one of the three that's helpful makes sense when you realize, she literally ''is'' a romantic relationship, and a very happy one at that.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E8SeriousSteven "Serious Steven"]]]]
* The Gems make a strong point of calling the Inverted Pyramid mission Steven's "first serious mission". This gains some significance after we learn in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E38TheTest "The Test"]] that the Lunar Sea Spire mission in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E3CheeseburgerBackpack "Cheeseburger Backpack"]] was... well, a test. After the test mission, this one was the first one he'd attend that actually meant something.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E10StevensLion "Steven's Lion"]]]]
* When Garnet says "we kept Amethyst" at the end, Pearl goes into extremely unnatural, forced over-the-top laughter, while Garnet remains completely stoic. On a first watching, this looks like it's just Garnet being TheUnfunny; but after [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E40OnTheRun "On the Run"]] reveals that that's ''exactly'' what happened, it seems more like Pearl's forced reaction was to try and keep Steven from asking uncomfortable questions about Amethyst's origins.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E11ArcadeMania "Arcade Mania"]]]]
* Why is Garnet so talented with the ''Samba de Amigo'' style maracas rhythm game? She's using her future sight to ''cheat.''
** Totally cheating. When Steven took her shades off to try and get her attention, her third eye was flashing crazy colours. Garnet, you cheating cheater.
** Garnet mentions when her future sight gets revealed to the viewers and Steven that she sees "so many things" and so many possible ways the future could go. The rhythm game only had about 56 possible moves at any time. Considering Garnet is implied to see ''everything'' that could ''possibly'' happen, no matter how unlikely, seeing "only" 56 combinations ahead of you would be a relief, wouldn't it? No wonder she likes the game.
* Why did Garnet enter a trance while playing? She was using her future vision to predict the game's pattern. When she reached a high enough level, the game likely entered a random mix mode. Her future vision was showing her so many possibilities for each move that she couldn't stop looking into them all until Steven broke the game to eliminate all those possible futures so she could focus on the outside world again.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E12GiantWoman "Giant Woman"]]]]
* The bird monster that Opal was ultimately needed to take out was quite powerful. Look at both its stomach and when its main body is destroyed: it wasn't like most other monsters who only have ''one'' primary gem, it had ''dozens''. Is it any surprise Opal was needed to defeat it? This also shows just how powerful Opal actually is.
** Given what we now know about the monsters, this makes even more sense — it's likely as close to a "fusion" as corrupted Gems can get, so naturally they needed another fusion to stand up to it!
* Look back at the episode after having watched the entire season and pay close attention to every single line Garnet says: every line she delivers is clearly loaded with future sight!
* At one point, Garnet mentions only she can swim in lava. At the time, it just seems like another demonstration of how badass she is. But in hindsight, who would be better equipped for swimming through lava than a fusion between [[AnIcePerson an ice gem]] (for cooling it down) and [[PlayingWithFire a fire gem]] (to withstand the remaining heat)?
* This could be thought of as Fridge [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Funny]]. We learned in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E3CheeseburgerBackpack "Cheeseburger Backpack"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E8SeriousSteven "Serious Steven"]] that when the Gems warp, they spend some time in the warp stream before they reach their destination. In this episode, Garnet tells Steven before he warps with Pearl and Amethyst to keep the harmony. Steven begins with "Harmooooo..." when he warps with the two and finishes with "nyyyyyyyyyy!" when they arrive. That means that Steven held the "O" in harmony the whole time they were in the warp stream (or he stopped to take a breath). Either way, it's a hilarious off-screen moment.
* A small one, but Pearl getting angry when the bird eats her spear makes sense — Pearls are non-combatants, but one of their functions is to store their owners' stuff. Pearl isn't summoning a weapon in the traditional sense, she just owns her preferred weapons, stores them in her gem, and retrieves it for combat. The other gems can probably reform their weapons at will, but if Pearl loses a spear, it's gone. She's not just bothered about being disarmed mid-fight, she's upset about having lost something she liked.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E13SoManyBirthdays "So Many Birthdays"]]]]
* Garnet's comment about the crown and cape making her feel important makes sense when you consider that her Sapphire component was once a gem aristocrat. It would make sense she would like wearing something befitting royalty.
* When confronted with a rapidly aging Steven, the usually level-headed Pearl and Garnet show much more vulnerability than the laid-back and immature Amethyst. In some instances, more thoughtful and mature individuals will freeze up in a situation similar to this one due to automatically thinking of [[AdultFear too many things that ''could'' happen (i.e. the very real chance that Steven would die right there and what they'd have to deal with afterwards, such as a funeral, telling his friends/family etc.)]], therefore clouding their judgement. Alternatively, the more brash and headstrong Amethyst would focus more on what's actually happening in the present rather than worrying about the future, leading to immediate action.
** Amethyst isn't handling it well either. She may not be weepy but she keeps trying out party methods over and over again in spite of them being ineffective. She also keeps insisting that [[BlatantLies that everything is alright]] while doing it. Pearl is breaking down but Amethyst is firmly in [[SelectiveObliviousness denial]].
*** This works with the prior observation however; while Garnet and Pearl are frozen up and breaking down due to over-thinking the situation, Amethyst's denial is caused because she isn't thinking at all about what could happen, only that nothing HAS happened, reinforcing her denial, making her believe everything is alright.
*** Not completely in denial — storyboards were posted, revealing that during the fight between the Gems, Pearl says that she thinks the party might have been working, and Amethyst says "The parties weren't working! I turned into a car and everything!"
* Pearl's inability to properly assist Amethyst in reverting Steven's age with the pie skit is most likely due to losing her grip on her emotions. However, it may also be that, after watching Amethyst and Garnet's prior attempts, she already realized that what they were doing wouldn't work and just went through with the motions due to Amethyst's insistence knowing it would fail, which caused her complete breakdown. Amethyst, being caught up in the moment and acting out of desperation, would not have gotten to the same conclusion.
* Garnet shakes Steven in an attempt to cure him and then says, "I thought violence would be the answer." She knows how to protect Steven from external dangers — with violence. This could be her first time trying to save him from himself, and she doesn't know how.
** The funny thing is that violence really was the answer. Garnet shaking Steven causes the Crystal Gems to argue among themselves which causes Steven to revert to a younger age.
*** This is both better and worse in hindsight, now that we know about Garnet's future vision. On the better side, we realize that violence really was the answer — she must have seen that it was the possibility that would probably work. On the other hand, she was probably overloaded with her future vision at the time, combing every possibility for a solution and [[FridgeHorror seeing tons of scenarios where Steven died]].
* The above scenario shows that in contrast to how they were in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E9ThreeGemsAndABaby "Three Gems and a Baby"]], the Gems became aware of Steven's fragility and mortality while helping to raise him. They've learned that Steven will die someday, though they hope it will be later than sooner.
* Steven's birthday suit is a royalty's outfit(king's crown and cape). Fitting, since he was originally born a (kind of a) royalty, aka a ''Diamond''.
* The whole story is Steven being forced a role that doesn't fit him, resulting him to "die". His family members try to cope with that fact in different ways; among the three gems, one of them tries to deny that something is wrong, while another breaks down sobbing. Foreshadowing of the Diamond family's situation, perhaps?

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E16StevenTheSwordFighter "Steven the Sword Fighter"]]]]
* It's explained that a Gem can release and regenerate their physical form as long as their gem is intact. Theoretically, Rose could return to life if her gem was removed from Steven. Whether Steven would survive the separation is doubtful.
** If/when Steven dies, Rose would return to her physical form (as long as the gem isn't damaged). Rose — or any Gem willing to breed with a human — could bear an infinite number of hybrid offspring since, upon the offspring's death and decomposition, the Gem would regenerate back into the original form. The emotional duress Rose will have to endure, however, knowing her resurrection was at the expense of Steven's life may curb her enthusiasm to have any more children.
* Despite the Gems' bodies being [[HardLight holograms with mass]] and their high resistance to harm, Pearl was easily "poofed" by a holo-Pearl; a hologram with less mass than her body, equal to less strength than her own and a simple sable sword. Garnet needed Gem technology specifically designed to disrupt Gem bodies, Amethyst needed the superior strength of a Gem Monster. Why Pearl was so easy to "poof"? Thanks to more information given in new episodes, Pearl is revealed to be considerable less strong than Amethyst and Garnet in virtue of being "defective"; maybe the same applies to the fragility of her body.
** Or it could be because holo-Pearl had enough cutting power to cut through a tree with a balloon.
** In the same episode, considering the duality of the song that Pearl sings to Connie, it's possible that "Pearls" (assuming from recent a episode mentioning multiple Pearls that she isn't the only one) aren't meant for battle, so they wouldn't need to be nearly as physically durable as Garnet or Amethyst. Reinforced by the fact that she admits she didn't learn fighting until well after meeting Rose, implying she had no need for the skill beforehand on their home planet.
*** Elaborated on in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E23BackToTheBarn "Back to the Barn"]]: Pearls are custom-made slaves/glorified designer handbags, meant to "stand around looking pretty and hold your stuff for you." She wasn't ''allowed'' to learn ''any'' of her skills before she defected with Rose, and of course she wasn't made to be physically durable ''or'' especially fast: she was never supposed to get in a fight, thus, never supposed to get poofed or destroyed, and even if she did get into a fight and get destroyed or poofed, [[WeHaveReserves she was expendable]].
** Alternately, she could have poofed more easily due to the nature of the wound. Most of the other Gems and gem monsters we see are poofed by crushing, not piercing. It would stand to reason that stabbing through her body would be more lethal than an equal amount of force applied externally for the same reason it's easier to kill a human by stabbing instead them of crushing them, especially if the gems pseudo-organs are located in their chest.
*** This is backed up in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E30IslandAdventure "Island Adventure"]] when Sadie drives her makeshift spear through the invisible gem monster. Regardless of how buff Sadie has gotten on the island, she doesn't have anywhere near the strength equivalent of anything else that has poofed Gems. Clearly the pointiness has something to do with it.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E17Lion2TheMovie "Lion 2: The Movie"]]]]
* Steven's lion being able to [[WalkOnWater walk/run on water]] might be a stylistic reference to one of Jesus' names being "the '''Lion''' of Judah."
** Also Aslan from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', who is a clear allegory for Jesus, is of course a lion.
* Initially, I thought the chamber reacted to how Steven was poked, but really the chamber was giving Steven what he wanted. When Steven wanted to get his arm off the slab it gave him swords to cut his arm off with. When Steven didn't want to cut his arm off the swords went away. When he wanted Connie to stop tickling him the chamber gave him armor (to keep him from getting tickled). And when he said he wanted to see explosions, well, one can't deny Steven got to see a lot of explosions thanks to that machine.
* It took me a couple rewatches to notice, but when Steven and Connie are trying to get Lion to go to the movie theatre, Steven says "I'm not trained very well either" and Lion's eyes seem to focus. Of course he took the two to what seems to be Rose's training room — he wanted Steven to get trained better!
* Rose's collection of armor — the "Armor of the Fallen" — is more than just a bunch of useful equipment. It is a reminder of the fallen friends that she could not save with her shield, and an expression of her desire to guard the people she cares about, whether they are with her or not. It is also an expression of hopefulness, as there would be no utility in keeping the armor (she never wore any herself) unless she intended to restore others who would wear it.
* In the second episode, Steven refers to Greg's shed as "a magical storage unit". In this episode, Steven finds an actual magical storage unit.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E18BeachParty "Beach Party"]]]]
* The teams for Volleyball are similar to each other in some way:
** Garnet and Kofi: Both are the leaders of their respective group, known to be serious, and hardly crack a smile.
** Amethyst and Jenny: Rebellious teenage archetypes, full lips, are known to irresponsible and lazy, and are [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold jerks with hearts of gold]], though Jenny is a little more nicer.
** Pearl and Kiki: The responsible one, like cleanliness, and frequently scold the irresponsible one.
** Steven and Nanafua: {{The Heart}} of their respective group, the shortest member, the nicest one.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E19RosesRoom "Rose's Room"]]]]
* Why is Greg the best acting hologram in Rose's room? Because if the room runs on her magic, the one she'd know best would be her lover.
** That seems highly unlikely, considering that many of the characters generated in the room, such as Frybo and Onion, were characters that Rose had likely never seen before. Connie's one line was also something she said in a past episode to Steven, again something Rose couldn't know about. It's more likely that Greg was the best acting hologram because ''Steven'' knows him the best, not Rose, and he appeared because Steven was scared and needed reassurance.
*** It could easily be both. The pink whale had Rose's voice even though Steven never would've heard her speak. The room could be operating on both Steven and Rose's memories.
** Another possibility, although it's not necessarily entirely incompatible, is that it has to do with the room's stated inability to properly handle something of the scale of the town and the fact that Steven expressed a desire for "someone to explain" just before speaking to holo-Greg — the new wish, combined with the fact that Steven and quite possible ''Rose'' would have memories of Greg explaining things to them may have made the room prioritize simulating Greg over other things Steven wouldn't see.
* Recall the strange conversation Steven had at the doughnut shop. Pearl mentioned that the room couldn't handle something of that scale, meaning basically it was lagging trying to process everything, causing a delay in their responses.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E20CoachSteven "Coach Steven"]]]]
* Steven tries to get Pearl to work out with him and his friends, to which she curtly refuses. While she was upset about him looking up to the extremely reckless Sugilite, it should be noted that since a Gem's body is a mere physical projection, she literally can't get physically stronger.
** In a similar vein, Pearl is known for her precision and intelligence, not fighting power. She wanted to show Steven that having the smarts and cunning to defeat your opponents is just as valuable as being physically strong like Sugilite, which of course later led Sugilite's defeat via HoistByHisOwnPetard.
*** This manages to be even ''harsher'' after [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E23BackToTheBarn "Back to the Barn"]], where we learn Pearl will never be anything but WeakButSkilled and was made to be a servant, not a warrior. Compare this to Sugilite, a fusion of two warrior gems who is stronger than her components. Pearl might have been uncomfortably reminded of Homeworld's mindset.
* When Steven started coaching Lars, Sadie and his dad he was still going on the premise that being strong physically is being "strong in the real way". Even though he was only trying to help them get buff he also helped them find the ''inner strength'' ('''"strong in the real way"''') to not give up and push them to excellence. Sadie's jump-roping like a pro, Lars can do a push-up with Steven on his back and Greg lifts a two-armed dumbbell instead of using the one-handed one he was going to use first (at Steven's suggestion, of course). He may not have realized it, but he ''was'' showing them how to be strong "in the real way", like how he inspired Pearl to defeat Sugilite later in the episode.
** It can also be interpreted as forshadowing to the powers he attains in the future.
* Steven walks into the Big Donut with ridiculously overdone bandages, acting like it was a huge deal. He drops this when Lars and Sadie laugh, but considering how worried Pearl was, and how there were no other gems around, she overdid the dressing for the "wound" in question, making Steven see it as more of a big deal than it was and add the sunglasses to act tough about it.
** Alternately, he dons the glasses since Sugilite was wearing a pair and he was in the process of idolizing her.
* When Garnet & Amethyst first form Sugilite, she is briefly shown to have 5 eyes before 4 of them are covered by shades. Why would Sugilite have 5 eyes while Opal didn't? Because Garnet has 3 eyes due to already being a fusion. Garnet's 3 eyes plus Amethyst's 2 equals...
** Plus, Sugilite's extreme aggression that even leads her into a FaceHeelTurn is likely because she's actually made of two overly aggressive gems, Amethyst and Ruby, plus Sapphire who can't counteract their tempers on her own.
* Steven and Pearl saying "I want to be your ''rock'' " could be an IncrediblyLamePun about being Gems.
* Pearl begging to fuse with Garnet becomes much HarsherInHindsight after the events of [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E14CryForHelp "Cry For Help"]], in which it is revealed that fusing into Sardonyx gives her a sort of PowerHigh which she enjoys so much that she is willing to fuse with her under false pretenses. Elaborated on further in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E18FriendShip "Friend Ship"]], where it is explained that she loves fusing with her because it gives her a sense of strength that other fusions (like Opal) did not possess.
* It may seem odd that Garnet didn't foresee the consequences of fusing into Sugilite, but there are two things we have to consider: First, it's implied the reason Sugilite went berserk is because Garnet and Amethyst spent way too long fused and felt abandoned. Second, if the Warp Pad hadn't been smashed, Garnet and Amethyst would have been able to safely defuse and warp back once they had finished smashing the Hub. Most likely, Garnet looked forward in time, saw herself and Amethyst smashing the Hub and then safely defusing and warping back, and so went ahead with Sugilite. She just got blindsided by the Warp Pad getting smashed.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E21JokingVictim "Joking Victim"]]]]
* The Tiger Millionaire poster in the back. Of course it was back there - Lars is still a huge fan of Tiger Millionaire.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E22StevenAndTheStevens "Steven and the Stevens"]]]]
* At the concert at the end, Garnet is playing a keytar — an instrument that's a fusion.
* The reason why Garnet and Pearl were looking for the largest and grandest? Compare the Diamonds to other gems.
** Notably ''Amethyst'', the one that has never seen a Diamond before, was not using the same criteria.
* Many consider the show in general to be goofy and pointless in its earliest episodes, and it only gets really good past episode 20 — especially episode 25, which introduces the first non-Crystal Gem we've seen. What could cause this change in tone? Maybe it's because the original Steven ''dies'' in episode 22, and from this point on we follow a new Steven: one who's a lot more serious, a lot smarter, and who is in a timeline in which he comes into contact with much more dangerous and fascinating situations.
* This is the only episode where Steven gets DrunkWithPower, in that he manipulates a strange Gem object to have a band for Beachapalooza; in any subsequent fillers, his good intentions tend to go awry. The original Steven's simple desire to have a band quickly goes awry with Gem magic, and he gets a JerkassRealization on seeing his past self cower in fear while hundreds of Stevens occupy the room. Steven in the alternate timeline gets a serious case of FutureMeScaresMe and realizes that a small part of himself can get corrupted, hence why he takes care not to use powerful weapons like Bismuth's Breaking Point.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E24AnIndirectKiss "An Indirect Kiss"]]]]
* Steven having magic spit may seem weird and gross, but really? It's actually more useful than healing tears! After all, you have to be sad or hurt to cry, but you will always have saliva in your mouth.
** Not only that, but it could be less gross then you think. After all, what's one way to get the spit onto somebody without hawking a loogie? Kisses! And what do you do to an injury to make it better?
** Also, it would be "licking one's wounds". Saliva contains tissue factor which promotes the blood clotting mechanism, especially the enzyme lysozyme is found in many tissues and is known to attack the cell walls of many gram-positive bacteria, aiding in defense against infection. Tears also have this as well, though.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E25MirrorGem "Mirror Gem"]]]]
* Remember how difficult it was to heal Amethyst's gem when it was damaged. It's not entirely unlikely Lapis simply couldn't be healed at the time and by the time the current three came in possession of it they were apparently unaware there ''was'' a being in the Mirror (note, the Gems seem to think the Mirror became SENTIENT, not that the entity inside is trying to reach out and Lapis is a bit of an UnreliableNarrator given she's bitter). This has FridgeHorror because, if true, Rose could have saved Lapis had she only known.
* Why were the Crystal Gems so mad and [[OOCisSeriousBusiness out of character]] when they found out that the mirror was sentient? They thought that it contained an imprisoned Homeworld Gem from the war that would try to kill everyone and was using Steven. Fortunately, the Mirror only contained the relatively peaceful and friendly Lapis.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E26OceanGem "Ocean Gem"]]]]
* Lapis Lazuli can control water, and after Steven heals her gem, she sprouts a pair of wings on her back. They're [[{{Pun}} water wings]]!
** Not to mention that she turned the ocean into a sort of tower. It's a [[{{Pun}} water tower]].
* Choosing the lapis lazuli as the namesake for the new Gem is very clever. A lapis lazuli is a rock, not a crystal, and Lapis Lazuli makes clear that the Crystal Gems are different in some way to the rest of their kind.
* Pearl had the easiest time with her double. (Until it split into two, anyway.) And ''why'', you may ask? Because she essentially does the same thing all the time whenever she practices with her holograms! She's probably used to "fighting herself" by now.
* Making the Crystal Gems fight doubles of themselves, as opposed to doubles of Lapis or something more abstract, makes sense for someone who lived in a ''mirror'' until recently.
* As noted on the main page, all of the Crystal Gems have a five-pointed star on their outfit. As in, only the ''Crystal'' Gems. Which Lapis Lazuli is not, judging by her comments ("You're one of them, one of the Crystal Gems!"). Lapis is a Gem, but not a Crystal Gem, so she doesn't have one on her outfit.
** If you look at her shirt, it (sorta) has a four pointed star/Diamond on it.
** Her mirror and the shapes the water she controls make an octagonal star similar to Peridot.
* While perusing the wiki for more infos on gems, I found a tidbit about lapis lazuli: there used to be a paint made out of it, and that particular hue of blue was (thanks to the gem making it hella expensive) held in such high regard, it was only used in paintings when depicting angels or when painting the blue of the Virgin Mary's robes. Suddenly it's clear why Lapis Lazuli has wings!
** Adding to this, the name of that paint/colour is azure (from the name of the stone) or more commonly, ''ultramarine'', meaning "from beyond the sea". Small wonder they chose to give her power over water of all the blue things they could have picked! It also hints to her feeling out-of place both on Earth and Homeworld.
* During the fight between the Crystal Gems and the water clones, the Steven clone engulfs Steven and Connie's heads with water. It may seem harsh for Lapis to try and drown the kids like this, but remember, at this time Lapis thinks that Steven was a gem. She doesn't know he's half human and needs to breathe. She probably assumed Connie and Greg were also Gems since they decided to come along on such a dangerous mission.
** Considering her time spent trapped in the mirror seemed to have also been spent largely inside of Pearl's pocket dimension, it's hard to say how much she knew about humans to begin with. Even if she knew they were human, who's to say she knew humans needed air to breathe?
* Lapis: "Wait, you have healing powers?" When she realized that this little kid was the infamous Rose Quartz, leader of the rebellion and she may know that Rose killed Pink Diamond.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E29SecretTeam "Secret Team"]]]]
* It would've been quicker and easier for Steven to just tap his newly conjured Rose Quartz bubble and warp the shards back down to the Burning Room. Except that method would've run the risk of Garnet seeing the bubble arrive and realizing it had been removed from the room in the first place. Hence placing the bubble back manually so as to keep an eye out for her.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E32FusionCuisine "Fusion Cuisine"]]]]
* Garnet's deadpan delivery of "Sorry, I panicked" is justified now that we learned she's a fusion; Ruby and Sapphire were probably flipping out at what they did, but in different ways, which meant that Garnet's zero emotional reaction was because they were panicking so much that the only common ground they could find was to keep Garnet whole.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse "Garnet's Universe"]]]]
* "Garnet's Universe" can now be seen as a plot parallel to [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E48TheReturn "The Return"]]/[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E49JailBreak "Jail Break"]]. In both episodes, Garnet fights against two opponents (the Fox and Jasper) and loses the first time. Why? Because she wasn't strong enough, as she said in "Garnet's Universe". In both episodes, her two friends are detained: Hoppy and Hopper and Pearl and Amethyst. When she curb-stomps Ringo, it's because he burned Steven's picture. Jasper hurt Steven and Garnet fought her to give Steven time to get to the others. And finally, Garnet's worries in "Garnet's Universe" about not being strong enough are diminished in the song "Stronger Than You".
* The Fox parallels Lars (voice, hair color, etc.), but there's one more similarity. The Fox was originally thought to be the villain until it was revealed that he was the actual protector of the shrine. This is probably how Steven views Lars; just a misunderstood teen who isn't as bad as he seems.
** Similarly, Ronaldo (Ringo) seems like a decent, albeit weird, person until it's revealed that he's quite deranged.
** It makes sense that Ringo and the Fox would be rivals. Consider the relationship of their real-world counterparts.
* Garnet was in the right place at the right time when Steven jumped onto her head. How is that possible? A few episodes later, we discover she has Future Vision.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E34WatermelonSteven "Watermelon Steven"]]]]
* Pearl being actually frightening on the battlefield is quietly foreshadowed here. Amethyst and Garnet are both forced to the ground and trapped by the Watermelon Warriors dog piling them. In comparison, Pearl is upright and capable of struggling.
* Likewise, Amethysts fear of being buried alive (or, ''returned to the Earth'' as it were) is subtle foreshadowing of her origins in the upcoming [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E40OnTheRun "On the Run"]].

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E35Lion3StraightToVideo "Lion 3: Straight to Video"]]]]
* The pocket dimension in Lion's mane has no air in it because, as a Gem, Rose didn't need to breathe.
* [[FriendToAllLivingThings Seagulls approaching Greg]] during Rose's video hints at his [[NiceGuy "beautiful" heart]], the thing that Rose loved the most about him.
* Greg wearing a t-shirt and shorts while spending time with Rose at the beach and while sleeping under the sun (most likely without sun blocker) explains his sun burn-looking tan.
* One when you look at future episodes: As we see in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer "The Answer"]], the dress that Rose wore 5,750 years ago is the same one she wears in Steven's video. Gems tend to change their forms when they regenerate. It's quite possible that Rose has ''never'' fallen in battle. Not ''once.''

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E36WarpTour "Warp Tour"]]]]
* Garnet displayed a previously unseen ability to enlarge her gauntlets to deliver a larger impact on hit, this was previously seen in the entirely fabricated story made up by Steven in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse "Garnet's Universe"]]; perhaps this was the inspiration for the new attack?

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E37AloneTogether "Alone Together"]]]]
* When Steven and Connie first fuse into Stevonnie, Garnet has a grin from ear to ear in a sort of OutOfCharacterMoment. It's only after you realize that Garnet herself is a fusion of two gems that very clearly love each other that her grin makes a lot of sense. Ruby and Sapphire kiss and laugh when they fuse, almost like a married couple. To Garnet, she may have seen that as Steven admitting his feelings for Connie, and like a motherly substitute, got excited for them and their budding emotions.
* When Stevonnie introduces themself to the gems as a fusion, Garnet is smiling happily and holding her hands clasped together. Ruby and Sapphire's gems are in her ''palms'', so she's holding both her gems together as if they were kissing!
* Stevonnie using "they/them" pronouns could be counted as having a double meaning; apart from the fact that Stevonnie [[AmbiguousGender doesn't have an established gender]], they're also technically [[MindHive more than one person]].
* Additionally, Pearl's reaction to Stevonnie is the exact opposite of Garnet — she's deeply uncomfortable, says that fusions with a human are "impossible, or at least inappropriate", and tries to convince them to separate immediately. This makes a lot more sense in light of [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E12WeNeedToTalk "We Need to Talk"]], where she used the impossibility of human/Gem fusions as an argument for why Greg and Rose's relationship couldn't really be serious.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E38TheTest "The Test"]]]]
* Garnet's room having a lava motif makes a lot more sense following [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E15KeystoneMotel "Keystone Motel"]], which reveals that Ruby, one half of her, has [[PlayingWithFire fire powers or at least the ability to control temperature]].
* Back in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E3CheeseburgerBackpack "Cheeseburger Backpack"]], Pearl finally gives in on letting Steven join in on the mission when Amethyst calls it a "learning experience". Garnet outright states that the test "wasn't something [they] planned behind [Steven's] back", and that they "saw and opportunity and took it". Meaning that mission was a learning opportunity to see how well Steven would do in future ones.
* Steven being frustrated and hurt by the idea of the Gems' new test has been brewing almost since the beginning. He keeps having to remind his surrogate moms that ''he's a Crystal Gem too'', over and over, even after they admit they should have listened to him. [[SecretTestOfCharacter The real test]] was realizing that, if he really were on equal standing with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, he wouldn't need them to act as gatekeepers to his own self-worth: choosing to focus on ''their'' need to feel like they're helping him grow up proves that Steven really is growing up. The Test ended up being for the Gems themselves, and they passed without ever knowing it.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E39FutureVision "Future Vision"]]]]
* Garnet's future vision might explain why she could be entranced by the Meat Beat Mania game. If she sees potential outcomes and the game was randomized there would be no end to what she sees, it completely overtaking the potential futures sees.
** Though videogames are not truly randomized — they only use pseudorandom numbers. It could still overwhelm the future vision, though, if the random numbers were affected by the player input.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E40OnTheRun "On the Run"]]]]
* Garnet's joke about how they "kept Amethyst"... [[FunnyAneurysmMoment is not actually a joke]]. They literally kept her.
** Further brilliance from this: Pearl's reaction to the "joke" seems a bit over-the-top and almost forced. Given she'd been keeping Steven LockedOutOfTheLoop, she likely treated Garnet's comment about Amethyst as a joke to ensure that's all Steven would think it was.
** Garnet cared about Amethyst. She probably assumed that Amethyst would understand it was just a joke, that they "kept" her and she turned out wonderful. She became a valued and loved part of the team. The same might happen to Lion, too.
* "On the Run" reveals that Amethyst was created on Earth and has never been to the Gem Homeworld. Amethyst has always behaved the most human of the Crystal Gems, she's the only one who regularly eats and sleeps, despite not needing to.
* Of the Crystal Gems, Amethyst is the one who embraces her role as Steven's CoolBigSis the most and the one always ready to try human stuff, like eating and sleeping. She, like Steven, is not from Gemworld and was born on Earth. She identifies more with Earth than Garnet or Pearl do and feel a stronger connection towards Steven because of their shared origin.
* Sugilite being the TokenEvilTeammate makes more sense considering she's an [[UpToEleven amplified]] version of Amethyst; considering Amethyst's origins and the evil purposes behind her creation, Sugilite is what Amethyst was ''meant'' to be.
* All those holes in the Kindergarten makes you realize this is where all those Corrupted Gems probably came from. [[FridgeHorror Then you realize this is where all those Gems came from, these thousands of holes. And there's only somewhere between 30 to a 100 Gems stored at the Temple.]]
* If you look at the other holes in the kindergarten, you see that most of them are bigger than Amethyst's hole (many of them twice as tall), fitting in with Peridot's observation that she should be twice as tall, and Jasper's calling her an "undercooked runt".
* Pearl saying "None of this is your fault! You didn't build this place!" gains extra significance with later revelations. Pearl has been on Earth since her Diamond arrived at the colony's very beginning. She ''did'' build the Kindergarten, or at least was part of Homeworld's forces while it was being built.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E42WinterForecast "Winter Forecast"]]]]
* Garnet transfers her power to Steven by kissing him on the forehead — where his third eye would be, if he had one.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E43MaximumCapacity "Maximum Capacity"]]]]
* Steven finds a book, ''[[InterspeciesRomance Passions of Xanxor]]'', which Greg snatches away. We know that Rose was attracted to Greg because she was a FriendToAllLivingThings, but Greg was attracted to Rose because she was a badass alien warrior.
** Or, alternatively, she influenced his "type", and he's now attracted to badass alien warriors because he no longer has her.
* Amethyst's fight with Greg when she says he "stole" Rose away from her. Coupled with her previous comments about Rose, it's clear she was probably the closest thing Amethyst had to a parent or at least the Gem she was closest to. It casts her whole teenager personality in a whole new light: she's ''still'' grieving the loss of her closest friend/mother the way that a child would, and she's angry at Pearl and Garnet for not getting that.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E44MarbleMadness "Marble Madness"]]]]
* Peridot is under the impression that when Steven introduces himself that he is literally "a Steven" and inquires whether humans have been replaced as the dominant species of Earth. There is a good reason for Peridot's confusion, as Steven is part human and part Gem, and a scan would probably not show him as either.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E45RosesScabbard "Rose's Scabbard"]]]]
* If Pearl was really as intimate with Rose as implied, it contextualizes Pearl's relationship with Amethyst a little more: Amethyst is like a child who is under the custody of a stepparent. It also provides an explanation for why Pearl is the TeamMom despite Garnet being the most leader-like of the three.
** Further, it shows why Pearl is as devoted to swordplay as she is. The sword was Rose's weapon. What better way to get close to Rose than to train with her? And what better way to memorialize her than to hone her skill in Rose's way of fighting to absolute perfection?
* [[RuleOfSymbolism The way Rose's portrait fell from the wall]] after Pearl punched it in anger at the revelation that Rose actually kept secrets from her as well is a beautiful way to show how [[BrokenPedestal the pedestal of perfection where Rose is on Pearl's eyes broke up a little]].
* The fact that Rose calls Pearl "My Pearl" at first seems like she's saying she appreciates her loyalty. Then in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E28MessageReceived "Message Received"]] we learn that Peridot refers to Yellow Diamond as "My Diamond", implying that in Gem culture calling another gem "your" gem is a symbol of loyalty. Suddenly Rose's line fits in much more with how she "made (Pearl) feel like she was everything."
** It also fits with Pearls being a ServantRace. Part of Pearl's struggle after Rose is gone is finding a sense of confidence and self-worth, and part of the development of Rose as a posthumous character is that she was a good and wonderful person, but she did embrace values of her culture that [[ValuesDissonance don't jive with an Earthly perspective]]. Regardless of the morality involved, Pearl ''was'' made to be a servant, and Rose understood that. In a more human context, calling someone "mine" is as much a statement of belonging as affection. It's only natural that Pearl is devastated by her loss, Rose was the only person who fully accepted her for what she was without forcing her to choose between her inherent nature and what she chose to be.
** It also happens to be a subtle bit of {{Foreshadowing}}. Throughout the series, the only Gems shown to actually own Pearls are Diamonds. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose "A Single Pale Rose"]] reveals that Rose was Pink Diamond.
* When he's jumping from platform to platform after a fleeing Pearl, it looks like Steven is going to make the last jump, even though he shouldn't be able to. Then Pearl turns around, there's a significant moment where he realizes that she's ''glaring'' at him, and he suddenly starts falling ''straight down'', right in the middle of his jump, as though the sudden negative emotions caused him to fall. Fast forward all the way to [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E6StevenFloats "Steven Floats"]], where it turns out that not only can Steven control the speed of his descent, but negative emotions cause him to fall faster.
* Pearl's speech about being Rose's sole confidant for a war leader who had to keep secrets to protect everyone, especially where it concerns warfare has a ''ton'' of deeper meaning with the ever-deepening implication that she was, or was meant to be, a Diamond's Pearl.
** In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose "A Single Pale Rose"]], we learn that Rose was Pink Diamond. This was something that Rose was keeping secret from both sides of the war (and something that she had ordered Pearl to never tell anyone).
* At first, it's not clear why Rose would hide the sword away and seemingly pretend it was lost. However, using the sword in battle again would be a risk to her secret; if she were to accidentally strike a gem (such as the Corrupted Gems they fight all the time), it wouldn't actually shatter that gem.
* Why does Pearl [[WarIsGlorious look back fondly at the battle fought at the Strawberry Battlefield]], unlike [[WarIsHell Garnet]]? Because to Pearl, any time spent with Rose is wonderful, especially protecting her.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E46TheMessage "The Message"]]]]
* We learned in this episode that the Wailing Stones are communication devices that should send and receive sound, and the Gems are perturbed when it produces a discordant howl instead of speech. We also learned that they have gathered every Wailing Stone on the planet and brought them back to the Temple. Back in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E19RosesRoom "Rose's Room"]], when Amethyst activates the stone, it produces a different, high-pitched shriek. Given that all the other Wailing Stones are presumably nearby in the Temple, the shriek could simply be audio feedback, like when a live microphone is placed next to a speaker.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E47TheReturn "The Return"]]]]
* The Gem Destabilizers are essentially the Homeworld equivalent of tasers. Both of them are nonlethal weapons that deliver a shock that incapacitate an attacker, allowing the user to detain the attacker without resistance.
* Thanks to AlternateHistory, Greg addressing Gemkind as aliens and all the theories in the real world about it, we can be sure that humanity in this show pretty much evolved thanks to the Gems bringing technology. They may not "give" it to them, but humans tried to figure out and imitate what Gem technology could do.
* Garnet says that the Crystal Gems rely on Steven, that his voice inspires them and reminds them why they fight. You could say that [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E20CoachSteven he's their rock, and when he talks, it lights a fire in them]].
* Jasper refers to Amethyst as an "overcooked runt". Jasper and amethyst are both types of quartz, as is rose quartz. Jasper is very large, as is Rose, but Amethyst is extremely short. It seems that Quartz-type gems are naturally big bruisers, but Amethyst is much smaller than she should be, probably because the Kindergarten was abandoned, and so she stayed in longer than expected.
** Additional brilliance from a geological perspective: amethyst and jasper are not just the same type of stone, they're the ''same'' stone. The only difference is that amethysts tend to be buried more deeply and subject to more tectonic pressure than jasper; amethyst is also a crystalline quartz, while jasper is classified as cryptocrystalline. A possible hint that not only is Jasper a Kindergarten Gem herself, but that if Amethyst hadn't been buried as deeply as she was, abandoned, and then taken in by the Crystal Gems, she would have turned out ''just like Jasper''.
* Pearl is referred to as "defective", an ironic moniker given that she earlier called Amethyst "the byproduct of a mistake".
* Garnet is referred to as a "shameful display", one of the final hints at her true nature as a fusion — the "shameful" part referring to Homeworld's view of two different Gems fusing being unacceptable.
* Why does a show that makes a consistent point of accepting yourself and showing everyone as beautiful in one way or another make such a classic example in BeautyEqualsGoodness in Jasper looking so monstrous? Because, due to the fact that Gems determine their own appearance, she is deliberately enhancing the intimidating aspects of herself, making herself an enemy of the weak and fearful from the first impression.
** Adding to that, remember, she's a warrior, and has been for millennia. Based on her behavior, she's proud of it, too: of course she would chose to present as a haggard, no-nonsense, intimidating warrior who by the looks of her has been through hell and back! Her stripes, especially the one on her face, are pretty reminiscent of battle scars or burns. As we later find out, "intimidating warrior" is pretty much the default look for a Quartz like Jasper, adding even more evidence that she fiercely embraced the role expected of her. Not to mention, a case can be made that what really makes Jasper look monstrous is the tendency for SlasherSmile, and otherwise she's almost an AmazonianBeauty, being a taller and more muscular version of Amethyst with a different color palette.
* When Lapis tries to convince Jasper that Steven is harmless, Jasper interrupts with, "I know what a ''human'' is." How would a Gem warrior who's never been to Earth know that? As it later turns out, Jasper was made on Earth and has likely had run-ins with the locals before.

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E49JailBreak "Jail Break"]]]]
* About Sapphire's gem. Her gem on the temple door has her triangle facet upside down: upside down triangles are a symbol of femininity. It's also related to her physical form: her dress gives her physical form a triangular look.
* Garnet being the one that give to Stevonnie really good advice about what a fusion is and how them should enjoy the experience makes sense now that we know she herself is a fusion; she has more experience with it since she lives it all her life.
* Ruby was clearly angry at the sight of Steven and tries to tell him to go away. She was upset that the surprise they had planned for Steven's birthday was ruined and was trying to see if it could be fixed.
* A few fans have pointed out how real garnet isn't actually a single gemstone, but rather its own class of several types. In much the same way, Garnet herself isn't a single Gem, but rather a fusion between Ruby and Sapphire. The show runners should be commended for having this reveal planned for over a ''year'' in advance, intentional or not.
** Similarly, this troper always found that the absence of Ruby and Sapphire in a show with people named for gemstones was rather conspicuous, chalking it up to staying away from low-hanging fruit. Now with the revelation of Garnet's status as a fusion, it shows they were there all along. We just never met them until now.
*** Rubies and sapphires are actually the same type of gem, called corundum. It makes sense thematically that they would be compatible. Corundum is also the second hardest mineral after diamond, hence, Ruby and Sapphire combined makes the toughest of the Crystal Gems.
* All of the Fusions that have appeared in the series have been voiced by women best known as musicians. This includes Garnet, who is actually a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire, and has been voiced the entire time by famous British musician Estelle.
* Sugilite having a far wilder personality makes more sense after meeting Ruby and Sapphire and the line "I am their fury, I am their patience" in Garnet's song. Garnet is a balance between Ruby (fury) and Sapphire (patience). So when Amethyst is added to the mix the ratio is off, and Ruby's fury and Amethyst's wildness take control.
* The garnet gemstone is said to represent love/romance, so it makes sense for Garnet to be a fusion of a seemingly perfect romance.
* Why is Lapis Lazuli able to so easily trap Jasper both in Malachite and at the bottom of the ocean? Everything we see about Jasper shows her to be a hyper-aggressive BloodKnight interested only in proving her physical prowess in hand to hand combat. Even her signature weapon is a helmet that she uses to headbutt opponents with. Lapis's hydrokinesis, though, is completely mental in nature and logically must require incredible levels of control and discipline, she managed to use what must have been billions of tons of water to make her tower in Ocean Gem while she was injured. By fusing Jasper gave up her advantage in sheer physical strength and unknowingly stepped onto a playing field where Lapis would be dominant using her will power and mental discipline.
* Why did Lapis Lazuli easily make the choice to trap herself and Jasper in the ocean on Earth, a place she hates? She literally has no home to go back to and has nothing to lose.
* My thought is also that Lapis has to have one hell of a HeroicWillpower. Between the strength of concentration it would take to build a tower of the entire ocean ''without killing the sea life'' in the process combined with the strength of self and will that it would require for Lapis to have been trapped in a mirror for a thousand years but still come out of it sane. On top of that, as above, Jasper is all about the physical muscle, saw Lapis as a weakling, and underestimated her will. I'm willing to believe that it's going to take a lot of Jasper rage beating against Lapis' will before Malachite breaks fusion.
* Malachite's gems are, as with all fusions, on the same location that with the original Gems; in her case, they're on her nose and her back. Lapis used her chance and ''got under Jasper's nose'' in order to ''backstab her'' at the end.
* How are Lapis and Jasper so easily able to form Malachite? Simple: They want revenge. Thing is, their targets are completely different — while Jasper wants to get revenge on the Crystal Gems, Lapis just wants to take revenge on those who would imprison her. The Crystal Gems may not have helped her at all, but they are allied with the altruistic Steven, and it was implied Jasper imprisoned her every step of the way.
* Peridot's cry of "you clods don't know what you're doing!" when Pearl and Amethyst hijack the ship makes sense after [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E23BackToTheBarn "Back to the Barn"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E24TooFar "Too Far"]] confirm that in Gem society, Quartz Gems like Amethyst and Pearls like Pearl are seen as foot soldiers and pretty servants/decorations, respectively. Peridot doesn't think they don't know how to use tech they're thousands of years out of date for, she literally believes they're incapable of handling sophisticated equipment ''period''.
* The relationship of Jasper and Lapis is implied to be abusive. ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Y'know, for kids!]]) The name of their fusion, Malachite, is potentially toxic, especially when inhaled or ''submerged in water''. More so to prove they ''literally'' are in a toxic relationship.
* During the end of her fight with Jasper, Garnet watches Jasper flying around the room with her [[RollingAttack Spin Dash]] for several moments, looking focused... then smirks right when Jasper chose which direction to attack from. She was using her future vision and when Jasper decided to come at her from that direction, she knew exactly what was going to happen.
* During the escape, Ruby is seen several times having a frustrated looking headache as Steven breaks her out. The reason for that is that she keeps ''trying to access Garnet's future sight'' but forgot that her unfused form doesn't have that ability!
** If you listen closely, she even ''says'' "I can't see..." at one point.
[[/folder]]

[[AC:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E20CoachSteven "Coach Steven"]]]]

[[AC:Steven and the Stevens]]
* At the concert at the end, Garnet is playing a keytar -- an instrument that's a fusion.

** Notably, ''Amethyst'' the one that has never seen a Diamond before was not using the same criteria.
* Many consider the show in general to be goofy and pointless in its earliest episodes, and it only gets really good past episode 20 - especially episode 25, which introduces the first non-Crystal Gem we've seen. What could cause this change in tone? Maybe it's because the original Steven ''dies'' in episode 22, and from this point on we follow a new Steven: one who's a lot more serious, a lot smarter, and who is in a timeline in which he comes into contact with much more dangerous and fascinating situations.
* This is the only episode where Steven gets DrunkWithPower, in that he manipulates a strange gem object to have a band for Beachapalooza; in any subsequent fillers, his good intentions tend to go awry. The original Steven's simple desire to have a band quickly goes awry with gem magic, and he gets a JerkassRealization on seeing his past self cower in fear while hundreds of Stevens occupy the room. Steven in the alternate timeline gets a serious case of FutureMeScaresMe and realizes that a small part of himself can get corrupted, hence why he takes care not to use powerful weapons like Bismuth's Breaking Point.

[[AC:An Indirect Kiss]]

** Also, it would be 'licking one's wounds.' Saliva contains tissue factor which promotes the blood clotting mechanism, especially the enzyme lysozyme is found in many tissues and is known to attack the cell walls of many gram-positive bacteria, aiding in defense against infection. Tears also have this as well, though.

[[AC:Mirror Gem]]

* Why the Crystal Gems were so mad and [[OOCisSeriousBusiness out of character]] when they found out that the mirror was Sentient? They thought that it contained an imprisoned Homeworld Gem from the war that would try to kill everyone and was using Steven. Fortunately, the Mirror only contained the relatively peaceful and friendly Lapis.

[[AC:Ocean Gem]]
* Lapis Lazuli can control water, and after Steven heals her gem, she sprouts a pair of wings on her back. They're [[{{Main/Pun}} water wings]]!
** Not to mention that she turned the ocean into a sort of tower. It's a [[{{Main/Pun}} water tower.]]

* As noted on the main page, all of the Crystal Gems have a five-pointed star on their outfit. As in, only the ''Crystal'' Gems. Which Lapis Lazuli is not, judging by her comments ("You're one of them, one of the Crystal Gems!"). Lapis is a gem, but not a crystal gem, so she doesn't have one on her outfit.

* During the fight between the Crystal Gems and the water clones, the Steven clone engulfs Steven and Connie's heads with water. It may seem harsh for Lapis to try and drown the kids like this, but remember, at this time Lapis thinks that Steven was a gem. She doesn't know he's half human and needs to breathe. She probably assumed Connie and Greg were also gems since they decided to come along on such a dangerous mission.

[[AC:Secret Team]]

[[AC:Fusion Cuisine]]

[[AC:Garnet's Universe]]
* "Garnet's Universe" can now be seen as a plot parallel to "The Return/Jailbreak". In both episodes, Garnet fights against two opponents (the Fox and Jasper) and loses the first time. Why? Because she wasn't strong enough, as she said in "Garnet's Universe." In both episodes, her two friends are detained: Hoppy and Hopper and Pearl and Amethyst. When she curb-stomps Ringo, it's because he burned Steven's picture. Jasper hurt Steven and Garnet fought her to give Steven time to get to the others. And finally, Garnet's worries in "Garnet's Universe" about not being strong enough are diminished in the song "Stronger Than You."

[[AC:Watermelon Steven]]

* Likewise, Amethysts fear of being buried alive (or, ''returned to the earth'' as it were) is subtle foreshadowing of her origins in the upcoming 'On the Run'

[[AC:Lion 3: Straight to Video]]

* One when you look at future episodes: As we see in "The Answer", the dress that Rose wore 5,750 years ago is the same one she wears in Steven's video. Gems tend to change their forms when they regenerate. It's quite possible that Rose has ''never'' fallen in battle. Not ''once.''

[[AC:Warp Tour]]
* Garnet displayed a previously unseen ability to enlarge her gauntlets to deliver a larger impact on hit, this was previously seen in the entirely fabricated story made up by Steven in Garnet's Universe; perhaps this was the inspiration for the new attack?

[[AC:Alone Together]]

* Additionally, Pearl's reaction to Stevonnie is the exact opposite of Garnet - she's deeply uncomfortable, says that fusions with a human are "impossible, or at least inappropriate", and tries to convince them to separate immediately. This makes a lot more sense in light of "We Need to Talk", where she used the impossibility of human/gem fusions as an argument for why Greg and Rose's relationship couldn't really be serious.

[[AC:The Test]]
* Garnet's room having a lava motif makes a lot more sense following "Keystone Motel", which reveals that Ruby, one half of her, has [[PlayingWithFire fire powers or at least the ability to control temperature.]]
* Back in "Cheeseburger Backpack", Pearl finally gives in on letting Steven join in on the mission when Amethyst calls it a "learning experience." Garnet outright states that the test "wasn't something [they] planned behind [Steven's] back," and that they "saw and opportunity and took it." Meaning that mission was a learning opportunity to see how well Steven would do in future ones.

[[AC:Future Vision]]

** Though videogames are not truly randomized -- they only use pseudorandom numbers. It could still overwhelm the future vision, though, if the random numbers were affected by the player input.

[[AC:On The Run]]
* Garnet's joke about how they "kept Amethyst"... [[FunnyAneurysmMoment is not actually a joke.]] They literally kept her.

[[AC:Winter Forecast]]
* Garnet transfers her power to Steven by kissing him on the forehead -- where his third eye would be, if he had one.

[[AC:Maximum Capacity]]
* In Steven finds a book, "[[InterspeciesRomance Passions of Xanxor]]", to which Greg snatches away. We know that Rose was attracted to Greg because she was a FriendToAllLivingThings, but Greg was attracted to Rose because she was Badass alien warrior.
** Or, alternatively, she influenced his "type," and he's now attracted to Badass alien warriors because he no longer has her.

[[AC:Marble Madness]]
* Peridot is under the impression that when Steven introduces himself that he is literally "a Steven" and inquires whether humans have been replaced as the dominant species of earth. There is a good reason for Peridot's confusion, as Steven is part human and part gem, and a scan would probably not show him as either.

[[AC:Rose's Scabbard]]
* If Pearl was really as intimate with Rose as implied, it contextualizes Pearl's relationship with Amethyst a little more: Amethyst is like a child who is under the custody of a step parent. It also provides an explanation for why Pearl is the TeamMom despite Garnet being the most leader-like of the three.

* The fact that Rose calls Pearl "My Pearl" at first seems like she's saying she appreciates her loyalty. Then in "Message Received" we learn that Peridot refers to Yellow Diamond as "My Diamond," implying that in Gem culture calling another gem "your" gem is a symbol of loyalty. Suddenly Rose's line fits in much more with how she "made (Pearl) feel like she was everything."
** It also fits with Pearls being a ServantRace. Part of Pearl's struggle after Rose is gone is finding a sense of confidence and self-worth, and part of the development of Rose as a posthumous character is that she was a good and wonderful person, but she did embrace values of her culture that [[ValuesDissonance don't jive with an Earthly perspective.]] Regardless of the morality involved, Pearl ''was'' made to be a servant, and Rose understood that. In a more human context, calling someone "mine" is as much a statement of belonging as affection. It's only natural that Pearl is devastated by her loss, Rose was the only person who fully accepted her for what she was without forcing her to choose between her inherent nature and what she chose to be.
** It also happens to be a subtle bit of {{Foreshadowing}}. Throughout the series, the only gems shown to actually own Pearls are Diamonds. "A Single Pale Rose" reveals that Rose was Pink Diamond.
* When he's jumping from platform to platform after a fleeing Pearl, it looks like Steven is going to make the last jump, even though he shouldn't be able to. Then Pearl turns around, there's a significant moment where he realizes that she's ''glaring'' at him, and he suddenly starts falling ''straight down'', right in the middle of his jump, as though the sudden negative emotions caused him to fall. Fast forward all the way to "Steven Floats", where it turns out that not only can Steven control the speed of his descent, but negative emotions cause him to fall faster.

** In "A Single Pale Rose", we learn that Rose was Pink Diamond. This was something that Rose was keeping secret from both sides of the war (and something that she had ordered Pearl to never tell anyone).

[[AC:The Message]]
* We learned in this episode that the Wailing Stones are communication devices that should send and receive sound, and the Gems are perturbed when it produces a discordant howl instead of speech. We also learned that they have gathered every Wailing Stone on the planet and brought them back to the Temple. Back in "Rose's Room", when Amethyst activates the stone, it produces a different, high-pitched shriek. Given that all the other Wailing Stones are presumably nearby in the Temple, the shriek could simply be audio feedback, like when a live microphone is placed next to a speaker.

[[AC:The Return]]

* Thanks to AlternateHistory, Greg addressing Gemkind as aliens and all the theories in the real world about it, we can be sure that humanity in this show pretty much evolved thanks to the Gems bringing technology. They may not "give" it to them but humans tried to figure out and imitate what Gem technology could do.

* Jasper refers to Amethyst as an "overcooked runt." Jasper and amethyst are both a type of quartz, as is rose quartz. Jasper is very large, as is Rose, but Amethyst is extremely short. It seems that Quartz-type gems are naturally big bruisers, but Amethyst is much smaller than she should be, probably because the Kindergarten was abandoned, and so she stayed in longer than expected.

* Pearl is referred to as 'defective', an ironic moniker given that she earlier called Amethyst "the byproduct of a mistake."
* Garnet is referred to as a "shameful display", one of the final hints at her true nature as a fusion - the "shameful" part referring to Homeworld's view of two different gems fusing being unacceptable.
* Why does a show that makes a consistent point of accepting yourself and showing everyone as beautiful in one way or another make such a classic example in BeautyEqualsGoodness in Jasper looking so monstrous? Because, due to the fact that gems determine their own appearance, she is deliberately enhancing the intimidating aspects of herself, making herself an enemy of the weak and fearful from the first impression.

[[AC:Jail Break]]

** Similarly, this troper always found that the absence of Ruby and Sapphire in a show with people named for gemstones was rather conspicuous, chalking it up to staying away from low hanging fruit. Now with the revelation of Garnet's status as a fusion, it shows they were there all along. We just never met them until now.

* Why is Lapis Lazuli able to so easily trap Jasper both in Malachite and at the bottom of the ocean? Everything we see about Jasper shows her to be a hyper-aggressive BloodKnight interested only in proving her physical prowess in hand to hand combat. Even her signature weapon is a helmet that she uses to head butt opponents with. Lapis's hydrokinesis, though, is completely mental in nature and logically must require incredible levels of control and discipline, she managed to use what must have been billions of tons of water to make her tower in Ocean Gem while she was injured. By fusing Jasper gave up her advantage in sheer physical strength and unknowingly stepped onto a playing field where Lapis would be dominant using her will power and mental discipline.
* Why Lapis Lazuli easily made the choice to trap herself and Jasper in the ocean on Earth, a place she hates: she literally has no home to go back to and has nothing to lose.
* My thought is also that Lapis has to have one hell of an HeroicWillpower. Between the strength of concentration it would take to build a tower of the entire ocean ''without killing the sea life'' in the process combined with the strength of self and will that it would require for Lapis to have been trapped in a mirror for a thousand years but still come out of it sane. On top of that, as above, Jasper is all about the physical muscle, saw Lapis as a weakling, and underestimated her will. I'm willing to believe that it's going to take a lot of Jasper rage beating against Lapis' will before Malachite breaks fusion.
* Malachite's gems are, as with all fusions, on the same location that with the original Gems; in her case, they're on her nose and her back. Lapis used her change and ''got under Jasper's nose'' in order to ''backstab her'' at the end.
* How are Lapis and Jasper so easily able to form Malachite? Simple: They want revenge. Thing is, their targets are completely different - while Jasper wants to get revenge on the Crystal Gems, Lapis just wants to take revenge on those who would imprison her. The Crystal Gems may not have helped her at all, but they are allied with the altruistic Steven, and it was implied Jasper imprisoned her every step of the way.
* Peridot's cry of "you clods don't know what you're doing!" when Pearl and Amethyst hijack the ship makes sense after "Back to the Barn" and "Too Far" confirm that in Gem society, Quartz Gems like Amethyst and Pearls like Pearl are seen as foot soldiers and pretty servants/decorations, respectively. Peridot doesn't think they don't know how to use tech they're thousands of years out of date for, she literally believes they're incapable of handling sophisticated equipment ''period''.
* The relationship of Jasper and Lapis is implied to be abusive. ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Y'know, for kids!]]) The name of their fusion, Malachite, is potentially toxic, especially when inhaled or ''submerged in water.'' More so to prove they ''literally'' are in a toxic relationship.
* During the end of her fight with Jasper, Garnet watches Jasper flying around the room with her [[RollingAttack Spin Dash]] for several moments, looking focused...then smirks right when Jasper chose which direction to attack from. She was using her future vision and when Jasper decided to come at her from that direction, she knew exactly what was going to happen.

* According to Peridot, the Gem Homeworld is facing a crisis due to the inability to create new gems without consuming vast amounts of resources. This, combined with the inability to repair gems that get damaged past a certain point, leads to inexorable population decline if they don't constantly conquer and consume worlds, and was almost certainly the reason they attacked earth in the first place. This implies that Rose Quartz was looking for a long-term solution to this; that's part of the reason she focused on trying to repair damaged gems, and it ''may'' have been part of the reason she decided to sacrifice her physical form to create a half-human child in hopes that Steven's hybrid abilities could find a solution to the population crisis that she couldn't.

* Pearls being depicted as essentially Homeworld ballerina slaves has some real-life context - they're performers, designed specifically for their audience's amusement. And like Homeworld, people misunderstand that it takes a lot of work, time, and patience for a ballerina to dance the way they do.

* There's quite a divisive stance on human centric episodes in regards to how they contribute to the plot. But, they ''do''. The humans in those episodes show that they all have desires, flaws, insecurities, strengths, and weaknesses that they have to deal with in their life. Human centric episodes reminds the audience of two things: One, the main themes of the story (i.e., talking about feelings, respecting boundaries). And two, humans and Gems [[NotSoDifferent are more alike than they really know]].

* The "Wanted" special was broadcasted on Memorial Day, the day to commemorate those fallen in battle. "The Trial" focuses on Pink Diamond's murder, which happened in the middle of the war, while "Off Colors" and "Lars' Head" have Lars making {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s (one even costing his life) and having to be left behind, creating a reason to remember him.
* Gems' bodies are made of light, so there is no problem in changing their forms in Fusion. But what about humans? Humans can't normally Fuse because their physical body would be DESTROYED. But Steven has healing powers -- he's essentially using them to break his (and Connie's) body down and creating the Fused body, and then to regenerate the original bodies after de-fusing!

* VideoGame/SaveTheLight introduces Hessonite, who is a non-fusion Garnet. She is a high-ranking general and she is also implied to be Centipeetle's superior. This might add some context to the negative reaction to Garnet, as she was not only a cross-gem fusion but from the perspective of the other homeworld gems it looked like she was trying to impersonate an important military leader. Also, the comparison makes sense considering Ruby and Sapphire's roles: Soldier + Tactician = General.

* With the recent reveal that Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond, Pearl's solo lyrics in the Extended theme song take on a new double meaning if you look closely. For example: "If you could only know what we really are" refers to their real identities of Rose Quartz and her renegade Pearl as Pink Diamond and her actual Pearl respectively and the rest that follows is pretty much Pearl's flashback from Now We're Only Falling Apart. The repeating of "we will protect your Earth," seems to hint at a double-meaning; 1) it's "his" Earth as in his home, and 2) it's "his" Earth in that he inherited it from the Diamond who originally colonized it. In addition, Pearl's reason for fighting: she's still fighting in the name of her Diamond.
* A minor one, but the Prime Kindergarten turning out only sub-standard quartz soldiers. We see briefly on the map that the Prime Kindergarten is located in North America, near the western end of Lake Superior. What's there in real life? Thunder Bay, Canada, which has one of the largest sources of amethyst on the planet. It's all low quality amethyst however, you want to look at South America or Africa for amethyst mines that routinely bring up good gems. It's not unreasonable to believe that Earth was scanned, a massive deposit of amethyst was found by Lake Superior, and so they set up the Prime Kindergarten there to make Pink Diamond's first Quartz soldiers. Once they emerged, it would have been discovered that the amethyst there wasn't the best - and immediately after the Amethyst's emerged from the Prime Kindergarten, Pink Diamond saw the Earth and realized she didn't want to colonize it, so she would have been purposefully choosing less than ideal Kindergarten spots after that. No wonder almost every Earth-made gem we see isn't up to Homeworld's standards.
** The Prime Kindergarten is the high quality one, the only gem that wasn't up to Homeworld's standards is our Amethyst. The others are treated badly because with their Diamond gone they are considered worthless due to their lack of purpose, it has nothing to do with their quality. In fact Peridot has stated several times the Prime Kindergarten is an excellent job.

* Ever since the reveal of "A Single Pale Rose", fans have darkly speculated that Steven's black "Rose Quartz" eyes may, at one important point or another, become exactly like Pink Diamond's (either momentarily or permanently). However, that hasn't ever been touched upon yet in-universe, and it actually seems about as likely as Smoky Quartz becoming Smoky ''Diamond'', because of this one factor: Steven isn't even Pink Diamond; it's been established that he's his own person, his own being.

** As Rose Quartz, she moved into the Lion stage. She became a fighter and a rebel in order to gain freedom from the values Homeworld placed upon her. But unlike most of those in this stage, she didn't rebel for the sake of rebelling (at first), she did it with the clear purpose of defending Earth and later for the rights of "deviant" Gems to exist. But a Lion, while a predator and hunter, it's also the leader of a pride that commonly hunts for it. With time, Rose, after obtaining a not-so-clean but satisfying victory, had no other reason to continuing neither rebelling nor developing further...until she met Greg.

[[AC:Gem Glow]]
* Cookie Cat contains a surprising amount of foreshadowing. He's a refugee from an interstellar war who left his family behind, which is similar to the Crystal Gems' backstory. In "Future Vision", Steven imagines being attacked by him, exclaiming "I never considered you would be evil!", which, due being sheltered from knowledge of the Homeworld Gems, winds up being his reaction to Peridot.

** "Ohh, he's a frozen treat with an all new taste" - Steven is the "whole new taste" to the original Pink Diamond; the "he" for lack of a better word, in this case.
** "Cause he came to this planet from outer space" - Rose Quartz and the rest of the Gems came from Gemworld, in outer space.
** "A refugee of an interstellar war" - Rose Quartz and the Gems are refugees after the war.
** "But now he's at your local grocery store" - this turns out the be literal. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz gave birth to and in a sense became Steven, though as established he is his own person. Where does he go to buy the Cookie Cat ice cream bars? '''At his local grocery store!'''

*** The "compartmentalized" part of her mind as shown in "A Single Pale Rose" contains many identical spears, which might mean that she's not summoning her weapon in the conventional sense. Considering a Pearl's function is summarized as "look pretty and hold your stuff", it's likely that Pearl ''can't'' summon a weapon - instead she's just storing her weapons of choice inside her gem, and retrieving them for combat.

*** Mindful Education shows that Garnet is good at mindfulness and meditation by necessity, which implies that her bit about channeling the power of the collective universe through her Gems is less literal and more like a meditative mindset that she uses.
** Now that we know Steven is a Diamond, not a Quartz, how he learned to use his shield makes perfect sense as well - it seems that at least some of the Diamond's powers are directly connected to their emotions, and weapon summoning would be no exception.

[[AC:Laser Light Cannon]]
* Steven finds the Laser Light Cannon when it starts to glow faintly--[[{{Foreshadowing}} right after Greg says the line about pork chops and hot dogs]] for the first time.

[[AC:Cheeseburger Backpack]]

* With TheReveal of the Crystal Gems being rebels against Homeworld, it doesn't make sense why they would be so determined to save the Lunar Sea Spire, and why Pearl would be so emotionally invested in it - it's a Homeworld structure, so what do they care? Especially considering that every other Homeworld structure they come across, the first reaction is always to destroy it. But when Bismuth is first talking about herself in her forge, she mentions that Bismuths are made to build various structures for Homeworld, and specifically mentions spires as being one of them. The Lunar Sea Spiral was probably built by Bismuth before she joined the Crystal Gems, and given how close she was to Garnet and Pearl, they would want to preserve her work, regardless of who she originally built it for. They think Bismuth is dead, so the Lunar Sea Spire is practically a memorial to her. Enjoy re-watching the episode with that context.

[[AC:Frybo]]
* Frybo was only doing what Peedee told him to--he just said "make people eat fries," he never specified ''how''.

[[AC:Bubble Buddies]]
* Upon realizing Steven has a crush on Connie, Pearl immediately [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents tries to set up a "playdate,"]] while Amethyst begins teasing him. Garnet, meanwhile, tells Steven that the best thing to do is just introduce himself and start a conversation, and promises that she and the others won't watch, so he doesn't have to be embarrassed. Garnet being the only one of the three that's helpful makes sense when you realize, she literally ''is'' a romantic relationship, and a very happy one at that.

[[AC:Serious Steven]]
* The Gems make a strong point of calling the Inverted Pyramid mission Steven's "first serious mission". This gains some significance after we learn in "The Test" that the Lunar Sea Spire mission in "Cheeseburger Backpack" was...well, a test. After the test mission, this one was the first one he'd attend that actually meant something.

[[AC:So Many Birthdays]]

*** Not completely in denial - storyboards were posted, revealing that during the fight between the Gems, Pearl says that she thinks the party might have been working, and Amethyst says "The parties weren't working! I turned into a car and everything!".

* Garnet shakes Steven in an attempt to cure him and then says, "I thought violence would be the answer." She knows how to protect Steven from external dangers--with violence. This could be her first time trying to save him from himself, and she doesn't know how.

*** This is both better and worse in hindsight, now that we know about Garnet's future vision. On the better side, we realize that violence really was the answer - she must have seen that it was the possibility that would probably work. On the other hand, she was probably overloaded with her future vision at the time, combing every possibility for a solution and [[FridgeHorror seeing tons of scenarios where Steven died]].
* The above scenario shows that in contrast to how they were in "Three Gems and A Baby," the Gems became aware of Steven's fragility and mortality while helping to raise him. They've learned that Steven will die someday, though they hope it will be later than sooner.

* The whole story is Steven being forced a role that doesn't fit him, resulting him to 'die'. His family members try to cope with that fact in different ways; among the three gems, one of them tries to deny that something is wrong, while another breaks down sobbing. Foreshadowing of the Diamond family's situation, perhaps?

[[AC:Steven's Lion]]
* When Garnet says "we kept Amethyst" at the end, Pearl goes into extremely unnatural, forced over-the-top laughter, while Garnet remains completely stoic. On a first watching, this looks like it's just Garnet being TheUnfunny; but after "On The Run" reveals that that's ''exactly'' what happened, it seems more like Pearl's forced reaction was to try and keep Steven from asking uncomfortable questions about Amethyst's origins.

[[AC:Arcade Mania]]
* Why is Garnet so talented with the ''Samba de Amigo'' style maracas rhythm game? She's using her future sight to ''cheat.''
** Totally cheating. When Steven took her shades off to try and get her attention, her third eye was flashing crazy colours. Garnet, you cheating cheater.
** Garnet mentions when her future sight gets revealed to the viewers and Steven that she sees "so many things" and so many possible ways the future could go. The rhythm game only had about 56 possible moves at any time. Considering Garnet is implied to see ''everything'' that could ''possibly'' happen, no matter how unlikely, seeing "only" 56 combinations ahead of you would be a relief, wouldn't it? No wonder she likes the game.
* Why did Garnet enter a trance while playing? She was using her future vision to predict the game's patters. When she reached a high enough level, the game likely entered a random mix mode. Her future vision was showing her so many possibilities for each move that she couldn't stop looking into them all until Steven broke the game to eliminate all those possible futures so she could focus on the outside world again.

[[AC:Giant Woman]]
* The bird monster that Opal was ultimately needed to take out was quite powerful. Look at both its stomach and when its main body is destroyed: it wasn't like most other monsters who only have ''one'' primary gem, it had ''dozens''. Is it any surprise Opal was needed to defeat it? This also shows just how powerful Opal actually is.
** Given what we now know about the monsters, this makes even more sense - it's likely as close to a "fusion" as corrupted gems can get, so naturally they needed another fusion to stand up to it!
* Look back at the episode after having watched the entire season and pay close attention to every single line Garnet says: every line she delivers is clearly loaded with future sight!
* At one point, Garnet mentions only she can swim in lava. At the time, it just seems like another demonstration of how badass she is. But in hindsight, who would be better equipped for swimming through lava than a fusion between [[AnIcePerson an ice gem]] (for cooling it down) and [[PlayingWithFire a fire gem]] (to withstand the remaining heat)?
* This could be thought of as Fridge [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Funny]]. We learned in Cheeseburger Backpack and Serious Steven that when the gems warp, they spend some time in the warp stream before they reach their destination. In this episode, Garnet tells Steven before he warps with Pearl and Amethyst to keep the harmony. Steven begins with "Harmooooo..." when he warps with the two and finishes with "nyyyyyyyyyy!" when they arrive. That means that Steven held the "O" in harmony the whole time they were in the warp stream (or he stopped to take a breath). Either way, it's a hilarious off-screen moment.
* A small one, but Pearl getting angry when the bird eats her spear makes sense - Pearl's are non-combatant's, but one of their functions is to store their owners stuff. Pearl isn't summoning a weapon in the traditional sense, she just owns her preferred weapons, stores them in her gem, and retrieves it for combat. The other gems can probably reform their weapons at will, but if Pearl loses a spear, it's gone. She's not just bothered about being disarmed mid-fight, she's upset about having lost something she liked.

[[AC:Steven the Swordfighter]]

** If/when Steven dies, Rose would return to her physical form (as long as the gem isn't damaged.) Rose - or any gem willing to breed with a human - could bear an infinite number of hybrid offspring since, upon the offspring's death and decomposition, the gem would regenerate back into the original form. The emotional duress Rose will have to endure, however, knowing her resurrection was at the expense of Steven's life may curb her enthusiasm to have any more children.

*** Elaborated on in ''Back to the Barn'': Pearls are custom-made slaves/glorified designer handbags, meant to "stand around looking pretty and hold your stuff for you." She wasn't ''allowed'' to learn ''any'' of her skills before she defected with Rose, and of course she wasn't made to be physically durable ''or'' especially fast: she was never supposed to get in a fight, thus, never supposed to get poofed or destroyed, and even if she did get into a fight and get destroyed or poofed, [[WeHaveReserves she was expendable.]]
** Alternately, she could have poofed more easily due to the nature of the wound. Most of the other gems and gem monsters we see are poofed by crushing,x not piercing. It would stand to reason that stabbing through her body would be more lethal than an equal amount of force applied externally for the same reason it's easier to kill a human by stabbing instead them of crushing them, especially if the gems pseudo-organs are located in their chest.
*** This is backed up in Island Adventure when Sadie drives her makeshift spear through the invisible gem monster. Regardless of how buff Sadie has gotten on the island, she doesn't have anywhere near the strength equivalent of anything else that has poofed gems. Clearly the pointiness has something to do with it.

[[AC:Lion 2: The Movie]]

* It took me a couple rewatches to notice, but when Steven and Connie are trying to get Lion to go to the movie theatre, Steven says "I'm not trained very well either" and Lion's eyes seem to focus. Of course he took the two to what seems to be Rose's training room - he wanted Steven to get trained better!
* Rose's collection of armor- the "Armor of the Fallen"- is more than just a bunch of useful equipment. It is a reminder of the fallen friends that she could not save with her shield, and an expression of her desire to guard the people she cares about, whether they are with her or not. It is also an expression of hopefulness, as there would be no utility in keeping the armor (she never wore any herself) unless she intended to restore others who would wear it.

[[AC:Beach Party]]

[[AC:Rose's Room]]

** Another possibility, although it's not necessarily entirely incompatible, is that it has to do with the room's stated inability to properly handle something of the scale of the town and the fact that Steven expressed a desire for 'someone to explain' just before speaking to holo-Greg -- the new wish, combined with the fact that Steven and quite possible ''Rose'' would have memories of Greg explaining things to them may have made the room prioritize simulating Greg over other things Steven wouldn't see.

[[AC:Coach Steven]]

*** This manages to be even ''harsher'' after Back To the Barn, where we learn Pearl will never be anything but WeakButSkilled and was made to be a servant, not a warrior. Compare this to Sugilite, a fusion of two warrior gems who is stronger than her components. Pearl might have been uncomfortably reminded of Homeworld's mindset.

* Steven walks into the Big Donut with ridiculously overdone bandages, acting like it was a huge deal. He drops this when Lars and Sadie laugh, but considering how worried Pearl was, and how there were no other gems around, she overdid the dressing for the 'wound' in question, making Steven see it as more of a big deal than it was and add the sunglasses to act tough about it.
** Alternately, he dons the glasses since Sugalite was wearing a pair and he was in the process of idolizing her.

* Pearl begging to fuse with Garnet becomes much HarsherInHindsight after the events of ''Cry For Help'', in which it is revealed that fusing into Sardonyx gives her a sort of PowerHigh which she enjoys so much that she is willing to fuse with her under false pretenses. Elaborated on further in ''Friend Ship'', where it is explained that she loves fusing with her because it gives her a sense of strength that other fusions (like Opal) did not possess.

[[AC:Joking Victim]]

* Why are Gems from Homeworld (or in general) able to fluently communicate with humans, in spite of the clear establishment that Gems have their own language? Because the language SU's humanity have come to know as English '''isn't actually human in origin'''. It's been established since Season 5 that the presence of Gems on Earth have been influencing humanity for thousands of years. It's been heavily implied that humans fought in Rose's rebellion to protect Earth, and even if they didn't, Gems would constantly be interacting with humankind due to their attempts to colonize the planet. It seems that "English" is a language that humanity picked up from Gemkind and passed down through the generations.
* The show has been praised for, among other things, its extremely egalitarian beliefs: no character is depicted as lesser based on their appearance, ethnicity, orientation etc. Steven himself literally won't even hurt a bug! But it isn't so much a positive message for its own sake as it is a reinforcement of the Gems' beliefs: they are the defenders of earth and "all of its living creatures." And that means AllOfThem! Any kind of intentional prejudice would sully that message.

* It may be a coincidence, but [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bd/a2/7e/bda27e5f6141fac67cb93f828e1b1a4c.png this]] might mean something.

* Rose's gem--and later Steven's--[[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/3/3a/NewRoseGem.png/revision/latest?cb=20150425065852 has a pentagonal center facet]]. Greg's symbol is a five-pointed star--the middle of any five-pointed star ''also'' contains a pentagon. Though it may be coincidental, this small detail makes Greg and Rose seem even more perfect for each other.
* Although some people think the term "kindergarten" sounds like an odd thing to call a place where an alien race grows its population, it's actually a very fitting term; when it is translated from German, it can mean "children's garden (kinder = children, Garten = garden)". In a garden, to grow completely new plants, people plant seeds in the dirt, and the seeds absorb nutrients from the soil to grow until they sprout from the ground-- a similar process to how Gems are created. The Kindergartens are "gardens" where the Gem empire grows its "children".

** This is pretty much confirmed in the companion book "Guide to the Crystal Gems", where it is said that Rose gave up her physical form in order to pass on her Gem to Steven- because doing so would allow him to inherit the information about Rose's being stored within.

* The Gems' [[HeartDrive gems]] locations can be tied to their personalities and habits:

*** If one considers her Gem Weapon is a helmet for her to ram people with her head. You can add the metaphor for her being headstrong, dominant and "bullheaded".
*** Alternately it could symbolize her feelings of superiority to the Crystal Gems. She "looks down her nose at them".

*** Or to combine many of these, she's shrewd, tough, and unsentimental. She's "hard-nosed"

* It was stated by Pearl that Rose's loving nature was what empowered her healing tears; why the other Gems don't have this power as they share certain powers like shapeshifting? Because Gems are not very empathetic individuals unless it's their own kin, except for Rose, who was loving by nature and learned to see humans and the Earth with compassion and care over time. This also explains why Steven has her powers aside of being inherited; as a half human he's more used to the concept of empathy towards humans and as a child he's caring and compassionate by nature.
* Opal's Bow is literally Amethyst and Pearl's weapons combined. The colors of the bow indicate that the body is formed from Pearl's staff while the string is made from Amethyst's whip.

* Steven said the Gems' bodies "are an illusion". Their bodies can shape-shift, and regenerate inside their gem, all implying that a Crystal Gem's body is a projection of the Gem itself- which contains the Gem's actual personality. This explains why an anthropomorphic species would be called "Crystal Gems", as well as why they don't age. Gemstones don't deteriorate over time, right?!

** Alternatively, information in even more recent episodes (specifically, "Friend Ship") says that each of the Gems in the fusion can feel what it's like to be the other. Pearl and Amethyst, who are each rather self-loathing, enjoy fusing with the self-loving Garnet, but not with each other.
*** And with them working through a lot of their issues (with themselves and with each other) since Opal's first appearance, "Log Date 7 15 2" shows Amethyst and Pearl fusing into Opal willingly, easily, and happily, no life-or-death situation required.

* A sad mix between this and FridgeHorror: even if Rose/Steven's abilities could heal the corrupted Gems - not just the broken ones like Lapis Lazuli - it's more likely that the ones sealed in the temple were sympathizers with the Homeworld Gems rather than allies. They can't risk letting them go and creating more of a threat to the people of Earth.

* Why does LargeAndInCharge seem to be a theme with Gems? Given how Amethyst's larger and more muscular form started failing in "Reformed", more powerful Gems are simply able to project a larger body than weaker Gems are.

* The show's tagline, "Believe in Steven," might have more to it than once thought. Steven's powers only seem to activate [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve whenever he believes in himself]], either by being encouraged by others or through his own doing; believing in Steven, or rather Steven believing in himself, might be a prerequisite for his own powers to function properly.

** Her original form - "Cotton Candy Garnet" - is pastel pink and blue. She's a color change garnet, which is either pink or blue depending on the light. Which makes sense, because this is the first time she's ever formed, and she's still working out what she is. Her disjointed color scheme reflects this.

** On the topic of the girls being different sides of Rebecca--They can be said to be different facets of the same gem.

** As the Crystal Gems were able to use Lapis's power when she was poofed, Steven could be drawing power from his mother's gem in the same way

** Pearls outfit is now - for the first time for all we know - ''not symmetrical''. It may hint at her becoming more relaxed and ok with herself in contrary to being overly stuck-up.

** Garnet's suit had a color change with a split of color down the middle from the chest down, indicating how she was split in half by the destabilizer in "The Return". It also represents Ruby and Sapphire finally appreciating fusion as "do everything by yourself while your partner takes a backseat", so they now work as equals in their relationship.

* In ''VideoGame/AttackTheLight'', Steven is never directly attacked, other than chameleon monsters stealing from his inventory. From a gameplay standpoint, this is because he's only a support party member, only having healing or buffing abilities, and he has no HP count of his own. But from a story standpoint, the light monsters see Steven as their master. Whether or not they [[PoorCommunicationKills think he's testing them in combat, they would never harm their master.]]

* Steven's ukulele -- The ukulele is an instrument that is popularly associated with Hawaii, a place known for its beaches, food, surfing spots, and overall laid-back nature. Besides the fact that Steven inherited his father's musical talent, the ukulele represents Steven's childlike, happy-go-lucky, and friendly personality.

*** "Change Your Mind" has Steven fusing with all the Crystal Gems' inactive gemstones one (two in Garnet's case) at a time, which would have [[UnfortunateImplications horrifying rape implications]] if fusions were strictly an allegory for sex, which further reminds us this is '''not''' the case.
* Pearl has consistently shown apathy towards the Earth and its inhabitants, and she admits in Rose's Scabbard that Rose Quartz was the only reason she stayed. The one time we hear her say something positive is in Serious Steven, when discussing the wild strawberries: "Oh, that's what I love about the earth!" We can assume that she admires the Earth's ability to cover over places of destruction with nature and wildlife. Why would she like this aspect over all others? It reminds her of [[GreenThumb Rose Quartz!]] Rose may have even sown those plants, another reason why Pearl is fond of them. Finally, Pearl is happy and excitable when talking about the Gem war itself. Like the strawberries, Rose Quartz grew over the pain and horrible memories until that was all she could see.

** In light of this information/idea, it is interesting to note, Rainbow Quartz's only extra body part is an extra pair of eyes. Rose and Pearl must have been close.

** Smoky Quartz's appearance looks rather unusual, even compared to some of the other fusions- no extra eyes, but three arms, with the left arm splitting into two arms between the elbow and the shoulder. This might be a reflection of Steven and Amethyst's closeness, with the more unusual trait of three arms coming from the unusual fusion of a half-gem half-human with a full gem.
* The more stable a fusion is, the smaller they are and the fewer extra body parts they have. This could be seen as their bodies "overlapping more" -- the more two shapes overlap, the less space they take up and the fewer parts of either shape stick out.

** It's not a coincidence. The episode Three Gems and a Baby had titular three gems bring gifts to Steven, same as the three wise men. Ocean Gem had Steven walking on water and Lapis saying she doesn't have faith in the earth; similar to the biblical story where Jesus walks on water had Peter not having enough faith.

* Corrupt gems are attracted to the Crystal Gems, apparently putting Beach City in danger- but the Crystal Gems are there to protect them. Whenever they warp, it's always somewhere desolate and overgrown with wildlife. Never have we seen another human settlement of any form. By having the enemies come to them, it's actually easier for them to do their job! Then again, doubles as Fridge Horror. Did rampant corrupt gems prevent humans from settling in the places they warped to, or ''''destroy'''' them?
* Ever since Season 2 of the show took off, Pearl has been earning a reputation of being [[ClingyJealousGirl salty]] by the fanbase. Intentional or not, it would make sense that Pearl is the salty one - pearls are found in oysters, which mostly reside in '''salt'''water habitats. [[IncrediblyLamePun Get it?]]
* Peridot has been growing [[SanitySlippage increasingly unhinged]] the longer she's trapped on Earth. In real life, pure peridot gems are extremely rare due to something in Earth's atmosphere often causing it to break apart.

* Why does Garnet hardly ever use her [[ShockAndAwe electric powers]]? Because most gems/minerals are good conductors, which means [[NoSell electricity passes right through them.]]

** As another possible explanation, the tan lines don't match Greg's usual outfit, but they exactly match the outfit he's wearing in flashbacks. Maybe it's not a sunburn at all, but something more permanent he got when he was younger. He did get a sunburn while shirtless in "Greg the Babysitter".

* If sentient Pearls are anything like their Earth counterparts, they were originally formed in an ocean. Pearl's color scheme- coral orange hair, sand-white skin- would camouflage perfectly into such an environment.
* The Crystal Gems have round gemstones, and the Homeworld Gems have pointed gems with straight edges. Lapis' tear-shaped gem is both rounded and pointed, marking her ties to both factions -- the Crystal Gems through Steven, and the Homeworld Gems through Peridot/Jasper. Peridot has a triangular gem with flat sides and rounded corners, and later episodes show her to be slowly warming up to the Crystal Gems, particularly Steven.

** Arguably, Sour Cream can be seen as a "human counterpart" to Pearl. Both have light skin complexions, and pointy hairstyles and faces. Both also came from different "families" - Pearl was originally a Homeworld Gem who was adopted by Rose, while Sour Cream is Marty's son through a one-night stand with Vidalia who now lives with Yellowtail as his stepfather.

* Looking at all of the Crystal Gems (minus Amethyst, though to a degree her too), a trend appears that makes it clear ''why'' Rose got a massive Rebellion going, with her son Steven following in her footsteps. Bismuth was only taught to build things the Diamonds wanted and not what ''she'' wanted, Pearls are a SlaveRace who exist to being treated as window dressing, Sapphire was disgraced when during a time of crisis she accidentally fused with her lower-class Gem bodyguard Ruby, who also nearly got ''killed'' by Sapphire's boss Blue Diamond for ''doing her job'' but in a way Blue Diamond didn't approve of, and Peridot was mistreated by Yellow Diamond. Homeworld doesn't care about Gems and saw them as expendable...but not Rose and Steven. It's likely her compassion and loyalty was the first compassion that the Gems under her care ever got.

* Throughout the series a variety of Gems have some sort of sacrifice complex -- Pearl with Rose (which was explored in "Sworn to the Sword"), Lapis with Steven (in "Chille Tid"), and Ruby with Sapphire (in "The Answer"). In fact, when Steven brings up this self-destructive complex that Pearl is teaching Connie in "Sworn to the Sword", both Garnet and Amethyst don't seem too disturbed. Why? Because (sans Amethyst) all of them were conditioned to live for the Great Diamond Authority, a mindset that causes to not be concerned about their own wellbeing. This unhealthy mindset can also be transferred onto others (i.e., Pearl's dedication to Rose, Lapis' "sacrifice" for Steven).

** In "That Will Be All" Yellow Diamond mentions the role of Lapis Lazuli gems is for terraforming which ties in to Lapis hydrokinesis and flying powers. Water has high dissolving properties and can exert a lot of pressure making it ideal for reshaping landscapes while flight would allow a Lapis to gain a wider a view of the landscape while changing it

** Pearl and Steven share the burden of a role that was forced upon them that may not "fit" - Steven's role as leader and Pearl's as a servant - but that they cannot escape. Both of them also have very complex emotions about Rose that cannot be pinned down easily.

* For all that they dismiss him as "kind of a mess", Greg seems to have coped with Rose's "death" better than all the gems except Garnet (who, aside from being the most mature, was the least dependent on her to begin with). This makes sense when you realize that humans age and die as a matter of course; Greg has known his entire life that he would see loved ones die sometimes, and is psychologically wired for it in a way that the ageless gems are not.

* Music, especially the gems leitmotifs, are a very big thing in the series and there is plenty of fridge brilliance in it. To summarize, the instruments dedicated to each main character currently are as follows: Pearl = Piano, Amethyst = Beat, Garnet = Bass, Rose = Strings, Steven = 'Game Boy sounds', Peridot = Techno, Greg = Guitar, Jasper = Drone noise. Lapis has a piano, but with a minor key which makes it more sad than Pearl's. Connie doesn't seem to have a clear motif for now.

** The logo of four diamonds (white, yellow, blue and pink) are visible on the old structures on earth. The same logo, but with an empty spot where pink would be appears on spots that were relevant during the late part of the rebellion (and in Centipeetle Mother's drawings). Afterwards, all logos now have only three diamonds visible, showing that Pink Diamond was probably victim of {{Unperson}} after she became shattered.
** The murals of the diamonds on the moon base show show all diamonds holding planets in their grasp: Pink Diamond has one planet (with one satellite [Earth and Moon]), Blue Diamond has eight planets (or seven and one satellite), Yellow Diamond has nine planets (with fourteen satellites) and White Diamond has fifteen planets (with twenty satellites). Corresponding with this, the logo always shows White Diamond on top, Pink Diamond on the bottom and Yellow and Blue in the middle. Furthermore, all Diamonds show to the right on the murals except for White Diamond who looks straight, possibly hinting at her being TheLeader, though so far she's (for unknown reasons) more a AllPowerfulBystander.
** Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond have their gem at their chest, connecting them with Amethysts impulsive behavior (as seen in Yellow Diamond's pettiness and outrage in "Message Received"). White Diamond has her gem on her forehead, thus possibly hinting on her being logical, a thinker and planner similar to Pearl and Peridot. Pink Diamond has hers on her navel which can either mean that she might have had the potential to be loving (like Rose Quartz) or was childish due to being the youngest (like Steven Universe) — later episodes revealed that she realized that potential, because she ''is'' Rose Quartz, and thus part of Steven.
* So far, gems that stated belonging to a certain diamond have corresponded with the colour of the regarding diamond, thus possibly proving also in the future who was made for which diamond.

** Unlike Homeworld their egalitarian ethics allowed Gems from non-warrior castes like Bismuths and Pearls fight in combat roles increasing their effective numbers
** Rose's healing powers allowed for her to heal any injured Crystal Gems instead of having their numbers only diminish. It's possible other Rose Quartzes could have done this for Homeworld, but given the bubble-room seen in That Will Be All, Homeworld may have bubbled them just after Rose's betrayal, meaning Homeworld could ''not'' fix its broken Gems. And since CG!Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond, Rose Quartz gems may not actually possess healing powers.

* Likewise why does Jasper so strongly believe that fusion is why she loses? She has no concept of the underlying teamwork and loyalty behind it. It's due to this that her fusions tend to be so unstable and uncoordinated, she thinks everyone else is also in it just for the power.

* Steven's love for ''Crying Breakfast Friends'' makes sense when you consider Steven's personality: he's a BadLiar, likes to avoid PoorCommunicationKills, and hates persisting conflict. In ''Crying Breakfast Friends'', all of the problems are solved because the breakfast friends are so open with each other. This contrast is shown most obviously in "Cry for Help" where Pearl was hiding her desire to get the fusion power high, and caused a rift with Garnet for several episodes. The in-show tears provide "sweet catharsis," as Steven puts it in "Steven Reacts".
* All of the 'noncombat' gems (such as Pearl and Holly Blue Agate) that have summoned weapons have had lighter blades/pointed weapons (Pearl's spear, Agate's whip) that can damage gem bodies easily but would have trouble harming gems themselves. Gems made for combat (such as the Rubies and Jasper) have had heavier, often blunt weapons (Ruby's gauntlet, Eyeball's chisel, Jasper's helmet) that could crush or crack gems more easily. The Diamonds made it so that the soldiers (which are likely even more heavily drilled into obedience and loyalty to the Diamonds than the other classes) are the only ones who can easily kill other gems.

** Fusions are supposed to only be used for fighting; fittingly, all fusions we've seen have had heavy blunt weapons except for Opal, who is a fusion between a 'defective' combat gem and a noncombat gem.

** Also, "Story for Steven" shows that Greg also has preferences for large women. Makes sense Steven would inherit it.

** "But now he's at your local grocery store" - this turns out the be literal. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz gave birth to and in a sense became Steven. Where does he go to buy the Cookie Cat ice cream bars? '''At his local grocery store!'''

** The "Cookie Cat" song lyrics alone foreshadow not only to the true nature of the Crystal Gems (refugees from a interstellar war) but to the revelation of Steven and Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond.
--->'''Ohh, he's a frozen treat with an all new taste''' - Steven is the "whole new taste" to the original Pink Diamond; the "he" for lack of a better word, in this case.
--->'''Cause he came to this planet from outer space''' - Rose Quartz and the rest of the Gems came from Gemworld, in outer space.
--->'''A refugee of an interstellar war''' - Rose Quartz and the Gems are refugees after the war.
--->'''But now he's at your local grocery store''' - this turns out the be literal. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz gave birth to and in a sense became Steven. Where does he go to buy the Cookie Cat ice cream bars? '''At his local grocery store!'''
** And the line "He left his family behind" is also on the nose since Pink Diamond left behind her family, the Diamon Authority, back on homeworld. The context on why the family is left behind changes, however, given the series revelations.

* Pearl's description of a knight, while fitting the LadyAndKnight concept, doesn't bear much resemblance to the actual medieval code of chivalry. It sounds more like a {{Samurai}} than anything else. But consider that A) Pearl doesn't really understand or care for human culture so she could have gotten the two mixed up and B) she's romanticizing it anyway. It make sense for her to be inaccurate.
** In an early interview introducing the Crystal Gems, Rebecca Sugar herself did not describe Pearl as a knight, but as a {{Samurai}}. [[SubmissiveBadass Now we know]] [[SenselessSacrifice EXACTLY]] [[DevotedToYou how accurate the foreshadowing in that description was.]]

* The Quartz in the flashback seems to be twice Rose's size, when Jasper is normally only a little taller than Rose ''at best'' and was able to crush Pearl. This is despite the fact we later see that Pearl was capable of defeating ''multiple'' Quartz Gems at the same time. At first it seems like this is simply for dramatic purposes, but we learn later in "The Answer" that Gems of the same type fusing together during battle wasn't uncommon. The Quartz in the flashback was likely a fused Quartz Gem, explaining her size and power.

** As Pink Diamond, she was in the Camel stage. She was seen as a mere entertainer at best and as a batty child as worst, who was always ordered to obey rules that were against her true nature merely because it was "the way things were supposed to be. For Nietzsche, the camel is an individual that just obeys the status quo because it's the easies thing to do, carrying the believes and values of others because they "must".
** As Rose Quartz, she moved into the Lion stage. She became a fighter and a rebel in order to gain freedom from the imposition of values Homeworld placed upon her. But unlike most those in this stage, she didn't rebel for the sake of rebelling (at first), she did it with the clear purpose of defending Earth and later for the rights of "deviant" Gems to exist. But a Lion, while a predator and hunter, it's also the leader of a pride that commonly hunts for it. With time, Rose, after obtaining a (not so clean) but satisfying victory, had no other reason to continuing either rebelling or developing further, regressing into a Camel stage...until she met Greg.
** Pink's last reinvention of herself as half of Steven is she moving into the final stage of the Child. For Nietzche, the Child is a pure, amoral creative being who, with all its playfulness and wanderlust, is capable of creating new vales, believes and new forms of of existence for himself because he's just himself, free of pre-concieved biases placed upon him. And Steven's whole character arc is about becoming his own Child by moving out of his mom's shadow and recognizing he's just, well, himself.

** This also explains why Pink Diamond's flaws weren't ones that White could so easily purge herself off(on top of the blushing, note that she says she always has to repress the part of her that's Pink Diamond, as opposed to saying she's another part she had to get rid of)--''maybe'' Homeworld figured out how to purge chemical impurities, but rearranging a Diamond's physical structure would likely be beyond their abilities. Pink Diamond was a result of White, and maybe the others, incorrectly thinking it was just one more chemical impurity.