Steven Universe Season 5 / Fridge Brilliance

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The Trial

"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 are 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 psychic powers must have been subconsciously triggered by her presence.
Why are the lawyers Zircon Gems? In Gemstone mythos, Zircons are known for repelling negative energy.
Despite Blue wanting "Rose" to have a Fate Worse than Death, 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.
- This is also probably why she assigned a Zircon with 4,000 years of courtroom experience to the case. Blue Zircon may think she's being punished by having to defend the most wanted criminal in the galaxy, but it's really in recognition of her skill as a lawyer. If any Gem could analyze the case and piece together how and why Pink Diamond was shattered, she could.
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 Suicide Mission 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 Word of God. 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 Emotion Bomb after questioning Steven, notice how, while still crying, Blue Pearl is faring better emotionally than Yellow Pearl, who does some Ocular Gushers. Being constantly in 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 Emotion Bomb.
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 Fantastic Caste System played against them that Stating the Simple Solution is out of their reach.
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.

Off Colors

"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 shapeshifters. 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.

Lars' Head

"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 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 half-Filipino. His tree is the 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.

Dewey Wins

"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).

Gemcation

"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 anyone 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 Loophole Abuse. 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 Undying Loyalty to Steven, instantly sided with her and went with her when she stormed off in frustration. If Steven's sacrifice caused Lion to be furious with him and leave, from Steven's point-of-view, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume that everybody else was just as mad.

Raising the Barn

"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.

Lars of the Stars

"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.

Jungle Moon

"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. Maheswaran, 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 appearance didn't show up until the very end because 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 Dream Walker 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.

Your Mother and Mine

"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.
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.

The Big Show

"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!

Pool Hopping

"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.

Can't Go Back

"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 Cheerful Child tendencies interrupting her work); Blue, meanwhile, came off as a bit condescending, reminding Pink that she was the one who wanted a colony in the first place, insisting that the "Rose Quartz" rebel was not a problem, and not letting the smaller Diamond get a word in edgewise. This could explain why Yellow and Blue (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.

A Single Pale Rose

"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 The Un-Favourite 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 "son", after all) and tried pulling a What the Hell, Hero? 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 Taking the Bullet 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 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. It’s easy to be a chessmaster 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 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 façade 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 Bad Boss.
- 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: When Eyeball dismisses Steven's gem and says it doesn't look like a rose quartz? That's because it isn't. The gem was a pink diamond.
Steven's increasing displays of Super-Strength 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 Character Development. 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 Visual Metaphor 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 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 hang-ups 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.
Stealth Pun: Pink Diamond's gem is shaped in a brilliant cut. Hence, The Reveal 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 Centipeetle. 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 Gang", 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 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.
"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 What the Hell, Hero? 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 Green-Eyed Monster 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 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.
Pearl's various layers inside her memory aren't random. Together, they show the consequences of Pink Diamond's decision become Rose Quartz. They provide Steven (and the audience) with context and fill in a lot of gaps that Pearl didn't have another way to explain (and Pearl herself might not have known if she'd be allowed to talk about it even after showing Steven).
- The first Pearl (Surface) warns Steven that the events are traumatic (she says it's messy) and hints at the various layers.
- The next Pearl (grieving Rose's upcoming death) hints at the cost of Rose/Pink Diamond's plan (the corruption beam destroyed the Gem Rebellion, making their victory rather pyrrhic in the end, at least for Pearl who lost nearly all of her comrades).
- The third Pearl (immediately post Diamond Corruption beam) tells Steven about the attack itself and implies it was the result of something she did.
- The fourth Pearl reveals that Pearl herself was the who "shattered" Pink Diamond while shapeshifted into Rose Quartz before showing Steven that Pink Diamond wasn't actually shattered.
- The final Pearl shows Steven that Pink Diamond decided to fake her own death to live as Rose Quartz and that she placed Pearl under an order that prevented her from talking about it, forcing Pearl to find another way.

Now We're Only Falling Apart

"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.
- Not only that, but their fighting in "Keystone Motel" actually convinced Steven that their fighting during the episode was somehow his fault. The revelation that Rose was Pink Diamond means that Steven is functionally the new Pink Diamond, and is so because of Rose's lies and controversial choices, so immediately blowing up in a rage over this runs the risk of hurting Steven, who already has problems with holding himself emotionally accountable for conflicts that aren't his fault. Sapphire, who has stopped trusting her ability to know and predict others' actions, has consequently stopped focusing on how others will react in this moment of trauma and on the consequences of her reaction, but Ruby hasn't.
How did Pink Diamond have no clue what she was actually doing to Earth until she went down and saw for herself? Keep in mind 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 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 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 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 Didn't Think This Through, 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 the reveal in "Together Alone" 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 a Rose Quartz — 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.

Reunited

"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 Pets 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 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 Diamonds' 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 Cover-Blowing Superpower.
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 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: Lapis No Selling Blue Diamond's Emotion Bomb isn't necessarily a testament to how much she's suffered but to how she's learning to overcome it, unlike Blue who still 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 Diamonds 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 Diamonds' ships 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 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 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, 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 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!
- It's also not impossible that a gem changing their clothes is distinct from shapeshifting, similar to how Pearl has no qualms around changing her clothes in Beach Party even though she has established trauma around shapeshifting and it's treated like a milestone when she does finally shapeshift on screen in Snow Day.

Legs From Here to Homeworld

"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 Call-Back to Greg's old manager, Marty, who used to call Greg "Starchild". 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 attacks a gem's physical body so she fixed the body. Blue Diamond's powers affects a gem's mind so she got the thoughts working again. And finally Steven, who as himself or Rose, 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?

Familiar

"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.

Together Alone

"Together Alone"

In the Dream Intro, 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 Surprisingly Creepy Moment we get from her, implying that White Diamond did something to bleach her colors and thus remake her. In Real Life, 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 characters. 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.

Change Your Mind

"Change Your Mind"

This could double as Fridge Horror, but when you stop and think about the Diamonds 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 Emotion Bomb 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. Given what we've seen of her, it's safe to say she fits the bill quite well.
The Reveal 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 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.
White brainwashing Blue and Yellow later on was foreshadowed with the formation of their 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.
Each of the crystal gems new forms showcase how much they’ve grown over the past five seasons;
- 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.
- 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.
  - Pearl explicitly states she's "particularly excited about the jacket". The last (and most likely first) time she wore a jacket was when she went to the rock show with Steven and Amethyst and met the Mystery Girl, an adventure which signaled a conscious effort of growth on Pearl's part.
- 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: actual 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 windows of the soul?
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 Call-Back. Steven tried to summon his shield in "Gem Glow" while eating Cookie Cats and yelling, "Cookie Cat crystal combo powers, ACTIVATE!" Much later, in "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 Butch Lesbian presentation of Pearl (or at least lesbian coded). She's definitely no stranger to presenting masculinely. In Real Life, 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 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 Mind Control. 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, things have changed, but this scene still points out that this belief was being forced onto Steven by people he cared about (intentionally 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 Nightmare Fuel page, but if you consider the fact that both Steven and his Gem (after its 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 Deus ex Machina 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 Armor-Piercing Question, 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 possess 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 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 she has very little combat experience and likely couldn't access Pearl's battle knowledge.
The reason Jasper sinks down into the water near the end is, not only does she regret going against the Diamonds' orders (her original mission was to check on The Cluster), Amethyst was explaining the situation to Jasper and probably included the fact that Rose Quartz(or Steven) was actually Pink Diamond in disguise. She suddenly realized she had been trying to shatter her own Diamond, and after giving Steven hell over Rose betraying Pink Diamond!
Whilst in her own head, she grew out of her mind!
Remember Bismuth's lion metaphor she told Steven before they left Earth back in "Legs From Here to Homeworld?" It looks like Gem Steven took that to heart as his Suddenly Shouting has the feel of a lion's roar, especially Lion's roar which can also cause some force.

Fridge Brilliance / Steven Universe Season 5

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Fridge Brilliance / Steven Universe Season 5

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