Original airdate: January 7th, 2016
Production code: 1031-077
While the Gems talk about their not-yet-finished drill, Steven follows Peridot into the barn. He takes her into the car inside, and asks her about her loyalty to the Diamond Authority. She reaffirms that she's loyal to the Diamonds because she believes that they're objectively better than normal gems, especially her supervisor, Yellow Diamond. Steven tells her that Yellow Diamond is behind her, and when Peridot turns, he snatches the thing she'd been hiding behind her back and then locks her in the car.
Peridot is horrified at being imprisoned, and asks why he did it, since they were supposed to be friends now. Steven points out that she took something from the Moon Base, and asks what it is. She says that it's not important.
Peridot caves and admits that it's a communicator, meant for the express purpose of contacting the Diamonds. Peridot has a plan for it. Steven asks if she's still trying to contact Homeworld.
Steven is horrified by this, and argues that the Diamonds are bad, and don't care about Earth at all, as they tried to hollow it out and now are trying to blow it up. Peridot says that "that's the point!" This does not endear her to Steven, who locks her in the car with the child proof locks. He calls out for the Crystal Gems as Peridot wails in protest.
Outside, Steven shows the Crystal Gems the communicator, horrifying Pearl and infuriating Amethyst, who attempts to come up with some derogatory nicknames for Peridot. She can't, though, as she's too mad. Peridot honks the car's horn, prompting Steven to comment that she now knows what a horn is.
Steven is furious at Peridot because she betrayed his trust by continuing on her Earth-Shattering Kaboom plans, and at himself because he thought that he could make her see the error of her ways. Garnet tells him that he's optimistic and patient, just like his mother, but the truth is that some people are just not worth it. Pearl tells him:
Steven agrees. Of course, Peridot breaks out right then in her robot — the one she built in Back to the Barn. She gloats that their "Invisible rotary shield" was no match for her and her application of logic — in other words, she rolled down the car's window. She steals the communicator and runs off. Amethyst transforms into a helicopter to follow her.
Steven is stuck in a Heroic BSoD because he befriended and encouraged Peridot, so Garnet uses her power to expand her arms to catch him and put him in the helicopter. Peridot tries to work the communications device with her robot's claw hands, but doesn't succeed before Amethyst and the Crystal Gems catch up to her.
Steven compliments Amethyst on the insult as the Crystal Gems draw their weapons and disable Peridot's robot, causing it to lose the communicator. The Crystal Gems attack the robot, but Peridot escapes through one of its arms and goes for the communicator. Steven notices and tries to stop her. He wrestles with Peridot, who argues that it's the Crystal Gems's problem, as they let their emotions rule over their logic, so Peridot will do what has to be done. She then manages to activate the communicator. It glows yellow and rises into the air while Peridot claims "she'll sort this out."
The Crystal Gems (including Steven) hide behind the wreckage of the robot while Peridot talks to Yellow Diamond. At first she just gets Yellow Pearl, who berates Peridot for using the line without proper authorization. Yellow Pearl is interrupted by someone offscreen, who asks why there's someone on the Diamond Line. Yellow Pearl says that she was just about to tell Peridot... something. The offscreen voice interrupts her and is revealed to be Yellow Diamond, who is huge. Yellow Diamond tells her Pearl that she'll take it from there.
Peridot is awestruck, but says: "Peridot, reporting in." Yellow Diamond asks which Peridot, and Peridot clarifies that she is Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG. She begins to tell Yellow Diamond that she only used this because there were no other options, but Yellow Diamond interrupts to ask what happened to her mission, her Jasper bodyguard, and her ship. Peridot does not reveal the Crystal Gems' involvement, instead saying that the ship was destroyed in an accident. When Yellow Diamond asks about the cluster, Peridot says that it will emerge shortly. Yellow Diamond is happy about this, as it means they'll "finally get some use out of that miserable planet." She tells Peridot that a ship will be coming to retrieve her shortly.
Peridot, however, has other things in mind. She reveals the real reason she contacted Yellow Diamond: She wants Yellow Diamond to stop the Cluster. Why? Earth is special. It has an organic ecosystem, which creates resources that are entirely unique to the planet; it would be stupid to let that go to waste for just a geoweapon. Peridot even has plans for using these resources without disrupting the ecosystem. But Yellow Diamond doesn't agree- or rather, she thinks that there's something in this situation more important than the resources.
Peridot does not take this well. Her pedestal for Yellow Diamond has been broken, as she now sees that Yellow Diamond is not an ultimate, logical being- she's making the decision about Earth's fate based solely on her pride, which was hurt by Rose's rebellion. Peridot gets angry, and she tells Yellow Diamond no, much to the horror of Yellow Pearl. Yellow Diamond asks Peridot if she is questioning Yellow Diamond's authority. Peridot replies that she's questioning Yellow Diamond's objectivity.
Yellow Diamond warns Peridot that she's out of line. She is a lowly Peridot, and she really shouldn't be wasting Yellow Diamond's time with her opinions. She's failed at every stage of the mission, and can only redeem herself by obeying Yellow Diamond and leaving the Cluster to grow. Peridot refuses, and tells Yellow Diamond that there are things on Earth worth protecting. Yellow Diamond asks her: "What do you know about the Earth?"
Being insulted utterly infuriates Yellow Diamond, but before she can say any more, Peridot ends the communication. She's utterly stunned at what she just did, and collapses into a fetal ball. The Crystal Gems are very impressed, especially Steven. She hands off the communicator to Pearl, because it can be remotely detonated. The Crystal Gems play Grenade Hot Potato with the communicator for a bit before Steven bubbles it and Garnet punches it into the sky, where it blows up.
Peridot laments that she thought that she could reason with Yellow Diamond. Instead, she insulted and infuriated her commander, becoming a traitor to Homeworld in the process. This can only mean one thing. Whether she wanted to or not, Peridot is now a Crystal Gem!
We Iris Out on the Earth, with Peridot's moaning being able to be heard all the way into space.
Tropes:
- Androcles' Lion: Because Steven's compassion and friendship got through to Peridot, combined with Amethyst's boisterous kindness and Pearl and Garnet's patience, Peridot begs Yellow Diamond to spare the Earth, though she's claiming pragmatic reasons. She also doesn't reveal that the remains of Rose's army, and a half-human, half-Gem boy destroyed her ship.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Yellow Diamond asks what Peridot could possibly know about Earth, she replies with:Apparently more than you, you...CLOD!
- Bait-and-Switch: Initially Peridot's attempt to contact Homeworld seem to indicate she's rejected the earth's value and Steven's friendship. When she succeeds, it turns out she has taken these things to heart: She simply had less faith in the Crystal Gem's plans to save the earth than in Yellow Diamond's "perfect" objectivity, and was trying to save the earth by reasoning with the latter.
- Bear Hug: Steven tightly hugs a prone Peridot after she tells off Yellow Diamond.
- Being Good Sucks: Peridot may have saved the Earth, but she feels awful for turning on her homeworld.
- Berserk Button:
- Peridot seemingly betraying Steven's faith in her enrages him the most we've seen him.
- Yellow Diamond choosing Revenge Before Reason ultimately enrages Peridot to the point she calls her a clod.
- Yellow Diamond does not like being disrespected, to the point she tries to kill Peridot for it.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Peridot learns the hard way that having Steven as an enemy is way worse than having him as a friend.
- Big Bad: Yellow Diamond is the one that ordered the creation of the Cluster to destroy Earth, as revenge for Rose's rebellion against Homeworld.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Yellow Diamond gets so fed up with Peridot that she yells, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"
- Blatant Lies: When Steven interrogates Peridot on the communication crystal she got from the moon base, asking what it was, Peridot simply says it is nothing special and "definitely not important at all". She caves and admits what it is when Steven threatens to smash it since she claims it "isn't important".
- Break the Cutie: Steven is positively heartbroken and disillusioned when he thinks Peridot is turning traitor.
- Break the Haughty: Peridot's intellect and rational arguments mean nothing to a Big Bad matriarch that wants Earth destroyed, no matter what the consequences. She learns this in a soul-shattering way that causes her to turn traitor to Homeworld.
- Broken Pedestal: At the beginning of the episode, Peridot looks up to the Diamonds as objectively perfect, and to Yellow Diamond as the epitome of of logic and reason. And then she actually talks to Yellow Diamond in person, and Yellow Diamond makes it clear that she intends to do something logistically foolish simply out of spite and revenge. Peridot doesn't take it well at all.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Peridot looks briefly hurt that Yellow Diamond doesn't recognize her, but quickly recovers and gives her full designation.Peridot: (with glee) My diamond! Peridot, reporting in.Yellow Diamond: Which peridot?Peridot: (momentarily looks crushed, but regains her composure) F- Facet-2-F-5-L, Cut-5-X-G.
- Call-Back:
- Peridot freaks when Steven locks her in the broken down car, likely remembering her time when she was "poofed" and locked away.
- Peridot breaks out of the barn using the robot she created to combat with Pearl several episodes ago.
- Steven does a Double Take when he sees another Pearl working for Yellow Diamond, and Pearl insists that they don't all know each other.
- Peridot's report to Yellow Diamond summarizes what happened to her ship and Jasper, but leaves out Steven and the Crystal Gems' involvement.
- In "The Return", when Peridot is arriving to Earth, Steven said "Maybe when Peridot gets to Earth, she'll see how nice all the people are and she won't want to hurt anyone". It may have taken some time but Steven was eventually correct.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Peridot tries to plead with Yellow Diamond that the Earth still has valuable resources and that letting the Cluster destroy it would be a waste. Yellow Diamond ignores this argument since all she wants is the Cluster.
- Chekhov's Gun: The diamond Peridot took in the previous episode is revealed to be a direct communication link to the Diamond matriarchs.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Diamond Communication crystal is an octahedron with facets in the colors of the four diamonds. Peridot hails Yellow Diamond by turning two yellow facets to match.
- Compliment Backfire: The Crystal Gems are all kinds of impressed at Peridot telling Yellow Diamond off, but this just furthers her crippling anxiety and regret over her actions.Peridot: I thought I could reason with her...
Amethyst: Yeah. You really made her mad.
Pearl: And then you insulted her to her face. - Confusing Multiple Negatives: Steven compliments Peridot by saying his initial assessment was right.Steven: I was so wrong about being so wrong about you!!
- Conflicting Loyalty: Peridot is torn between her worshipful loyalty to Yellow Diamond, and her newfound feelings for Steven, the Crystal Gems, and the Earth. In the end, she is forced to choose one over the other and ends up choosing the latter, but she feels terrible about it.
- Cowardly Lion: Peridot trembles as she pleads with Yellow Diamond to spare the Earth, but she repeats her points about the benefits of Earth as a resource.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Peridot points out that Earth has unique resources that the Gem Empire could use, and she has the expertise to develop them. Yellow Diamond shuts her down, saying that she doesn't care about potential and resources, she just wants Earth dead and gone.
- Deadpan Snarker: Yellow Diamond has her moments.Peridot: I wouldn't have called just to waste your time with a report.
Yellow Diamond: You already have. - Deranged Animation: Lots of exaggerated animation in this episode, bordering on John K.-style, such as Peridot's mouth stretching out a lot, various characters' eyeballs bugging out and, of course, Yellow Diamond's epic angry face!
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Peridot, after practically worshiping Yellow Diamond for episode after episode only to finally realize how ruthless she is, not only furiously tells her off, she calls Yellow Diamond a "clod" to her face!
- Distant Reaction Shot: When Peridot groans into the closing star title, there is a shot of the Earth, and her moaning can still be heard.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title refers both to that Peridot finally gets a message back to Homeworld, and to the fact that Peridot shows that she understands the value of Earth (or at least understands that it's valuable to the Crystal Gems).
- Easily Forgiven: Despite Peridot speaking callously about Rose's Rebellion in the previous episode, the Gems happily accepts her as a Crystal Gem after telling off Yellow Diamond. This is likely because despite her callous words, she is still following the principles Rose's Rebellion were founded on, just in her own "logic over emotion" way. And when push came to shove with Yellow Diamond, she chose the Earth over Homeworld, just like Garnet and Pearl did (Amethyst and Steven liked her anyways).
- Enemy Mine: Initially, Peridot reaffirms that their alliance is for her own benefit, telling Steven that she's still loyal to Yellow Diamond despite their truce. Her actions at the end of the episode, though, basically guarantee she'll be working with them permanently.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Steven is deeply betrayed when he finds the communicator and locks Peridot in the car.
- Everyone Has Standards: Peridot had no problem with Yellow Diamond wanting to destroy Earth for what she thought were rational reasons. Doing it out of petty spite, however, is going too far for her.
- Evil Matriarch: Yellow Diamond, previously established as a matriarch, is also the Big Bad who came up with the Cluster. Peridot, Garnet, and Pearl are clearly scared of her.
- Exact Words: When Steven asks Pearl if she knows Yellow Pearl, Pearl simply replies "Not all Pearls know each other, Steven!" Several seasons later, we learn Pearl and Yellow Pearl did know each other.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Yellow Diamond's eyes are more detailed than most of the cast; she has thick eyelashes, yellow irises, and diamond-shaped pupils.
- Fantastic Racism:
- When Peridot mentions the Earth is full of life, Yellow Diamond says, "Organic life," with noticeable disgust.
- When Steven asks if Pearl knows who the Yellow Pearl is.Pearl: Not all Pearls know each other, Steven.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Subverted. It seems like all Steven's efforts to befriend Peridot and make her see the beauty of Earth were in vain, as she will still betray them in a heartbeat to please Yellow Diamond. Steven expresses his disappointment about this to the Crystal Gems, and Garnet tells him that some people aren't worthy of being patient with. But rather than wanting to turn on Steven and the Crystal Gems entirely, Peridot's plan is to Take a Third Option by convincing Yellow Diamond not to destroy Earth, and when that fails, she ends up defecting to their side entirely.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Peridot stops honking the car's horn a few seconds before breaking out of the barn with her giant robot.
- Foil:
- Like Lapis, Peridot pulls a genuine Heel–Face Turn. Unlike Lapis, she does it without a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Steven sees Yellow Diamond's Pearl, who like the Pearl he knows is a stickler for rules but unlike her has no motherly or compassionate qualities.
- Yellow Diamond herself seems to be one to Rose Quartz; both are the leaders of their respective groups, but where Rose was a loving and nurturing leader to her comrades, Yellow Diamond is an abusive sociopath who doesn't care at all about her underlings and would kill them without a second thought if they betrayed her. Additionally, Rose loved the Earth while Yellow Diamond thinks the Earth is "just a hideous/useless rock" and wants it destroyed.
- Foreshadowing:
- Peridot keeps repeating that Steven and the Gems have no idea what they're doing. Then it's revealed that they really don't, since she was trying to contact Yellow Diamond to convince her to deactivate the Cluster and spare the Earth, not betray them.
- Peridot's still arrogant about her superior intellect and knowledge. As it turns out, even she cannot reason with a matriarch like Yellow Diamond to spare the Earth, and Peridot makes valid reasons for saving the planet.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Yellow Diamond only asks Peridot about Jasper, not Lapis. This was probably intended to portray her detached nature, as a powerful Quartz gem like Jasper would probably be worth more to Homeworld than Lapis, who isn't very powerful when away from Earth and its enormous amount of water.
- Good All Along: It turns out that Peridot's plan was to try and reason with Yellow Diamond, and her statements indicated that her plans didn't even need to disrupt the native lifeforms. When Yellow Diamond reveals her pettiness, Peridot mouths off to her and turns.
- Grenade Hot Potato: The Gems toss around the self-destructing communicator for a bit before Steven bubbles it and Garnet knocks it into the sky right before it detonates.
- Hartman Hips: Peridot possesses these in this episode.
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: In the face of Peridot's betrayal, Amethyst starts coming up with a completely nonsensical plan to shrink down and manually alter her mind, but Steven shoots it down because he doesn't want to tell her what to do (and not because it was clearly impossible).
- Heel–Face Turn: Peridot shows that she was actually trying to help the Crystal Gems during the whole episode, and ends up entirely on their side when she offends her boss.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment:
- Garnet and Pearl are visibly excited when Amethyst turns into a helicopter.
- Peridot's plan to save the Earth and her subsequent Heel–Face Turn leaves the Gems still worried about Yellow Diamond, but Steven has a giant smile on his face.
- I Choose to Stay: Peridot is outright given a way home (and backup to go with it) by Yellow Diamond... but instead chooses to try and argue with Yellow Diamond about the value of Earth, and when that fails, ends up burning her bridges with the Homeworld.
- Incredibly Obvious Bomb: The communicator's Self-Destruct Mechanism is preceded by glowing red light. The remote detonation's purpose was probably to keep information out of enemy hands, so it makes sense that it would give some warning before going off.
- Inopportune Voice Cracking: As it becomes increasingly apparent that Yellow Diamond is Not So Stoic, she begins shouting to the point where her voice breaks.Yellow Diamond: Shut. Your MOUTH!
- Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Yellow Diamond doesn't care if the Cluster destroys Earth, even as Peridot argues for Earth being spared. In fact, Yellow Diamond is keen on seeing it destroyed, presumably as vengeance for Rose Quartz's rebellion.
- Interrogation by Vandalism: Steven gets Peridot to tell him exactly what the diamond communicator is by threatening to smash it when she simply says it isn't important.
- It's All About Me: Played for laughs with Peridot's reaction to Steven stealing the communicator from her and locking her in the truck.Peridot: No! How could you do this to me, the great and lovable Peridot!?
- It's Personal:
- Amethyst and Steven are the angriest when it seems that Peridot has turned traitor and wants to contact Yellow Diamond.
- Yellow Diamond has a stake in destroying Earth not just because the Cluster could be useful, but as an act of vengeance against the Crystal Gems.
- Large and in Charge: Yellow Diamond towers over all non-fused gems seen in the series up to this point besides Blue Diamond, easily standing two to three times taller than her servant Pearl.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Peridot seems to lampshade her own
Ensemble Dark Horse status when Steven locks her in the car.Peridot: No! How could you do this to me, the great and lovable Peridot!? - Locked Out of the Loop: Yellow Diamond has no idea how much Peridot has "failed" and remains unaware of Steven's existence.
- Look Behind You: Steven tells Peridot that Yellow Diamond is behind her so he can grab the diamond communicator while she's distracted.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": When Peridot starts talking to Yellow Diamond, we cut to the Crystal Gems freaking out multiple times:
- After Peridot succeeds in activating the communicator, they're blank-faced with shock and hide behind the wreckage of Peridot's robot.
- When Yellow Diamond asked who destroyed Peridot's ship, they're all very worried when they think Peridot will sell them out.
- After Peridot calls Yellow Diamond a clod, Garnet and Pearl are aghast and Amethyst seems equally surprised and impressed, but Steven is smiling with glee.
- After Peridot says the communicator can be remotely detonated and it instantly turns red, everyone else goes bug-eyed starring at it (except Garnet).
- Mistaken for Betrayal: Steven and the gems think Peridot is planning to betray them after she salvages a communication device from the Moon Base. She does use the device to contact Yellow Diamond, but only to try to convince Yellow Diamond not to destroy the Earth.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Played With, as Peridot tries desperately to find a way to save the Crystal Gems and Earth without betraying Homeworld. After it becomes clear the only thing Yellow Diamond cares about is the Cluster hatching and destroying Earth, Peridot finally snaps and calls her a clod. Despite Peridot regretting it within seconds, Yellow Diamond finds this to be a betrayal worthy of immediate execution, essentially forcing Peridot to betray Homeworld for real.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Steven boasts of the unbeatable child-proof lock on the truck he's locked Peridot in. Peridot then boasts how she applies the power of logic to escape the nefarious trap...by rolling down the window.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Peridot after she tells off Yellow Diamond.
- The Nicknamer: Amethyst re-evaluates her nicknames for Peridot after Steven explains about the communication diamond. She retracts "Peri" and "P-dot", while being too angry to think of an properly insulting one until later, when refers to her as "Perisnot". Finally at the end of the episode goes with the more complimentary "Peridactyl".
- Nightmare Face: Yellow Diamond gives Peridot one when the latter called the former a clod, complete with a veiny neck, a contorted face, and bulging eyeballs.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Yellow Pearl's smugness turns to shock when she hears Peridot disobey Yellow Diamond's order and then she gets really scared when she sees Yellow Diamond getting off her chair to yell at Peridot.
- Peridot is nearly petrified when she signs off after insulting her boss, and she stays like that for the rest of the episode. She's not only scared of what she just did, but of the potential consequences.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Steven looks legitimately pissed when he locks Peridot in the truck and interrogates her about the diamond she took from the moon base.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Peridot regrets insulting Yellow Diamond immediately.
- Pet the Dog:
- Despite being visibly disappointed with Peridot failing her mission, Yellow Diamond did offer to send a ship to retrieve her.
- Throughout her brief interaction with her Pearl, Yellow Diamond didn't act disrespectful and she even gave her Pearl a job as her secretary, something that was in contrast to how many other pearls are treated.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Peridot tries to reason with Yellow Diamond to keep Earth from being destroyed by the Cluster with a rational argument. Yellow Diamond insults her for this.
- Poor Communication Kills: If Peridot had explained to the Gems why she wanted the communicator, instead of swiping it in a suspicious manner, they probably wouldn't have agreed to her plan, but wouldn't have gone on the offensive either. Peridot does try to explain why she's doing it to Steven, but she isn't very clear about her intent and he sees it as nefarious.Peridot: All that matters is that I'm of use to Yellow Diamond! This planet can be of use to Yellow Diamond! I must contact her, to reveal what I've discovered!
Steven: But the Diamonds are bad! They don't care about the Earth! They wanted to hollow it out, and now they wanna blow it up with the Cluster!
Peridot: Yes, yes! That's the point! - Pragmatic Villainy: Peridot tries to convince Yellow Diamond to spare Earth by appealing to her pragmatism, arguing that that sparing the Earth for its resources has more value than allowing the Cluster to destroy it. Unfortunately, Yellow Diamond puts Revenge Before Reason.
- Psychotic Smirk: Yellow Diamond's Pearl wears a crooked smile once Yellow Diamond starts chewing Peridot out for her supposed failure.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Yellow Diamond, after Peridot tries to interrupt her one too many times.Yellow Diamond: You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps. Is! That! Clear?!
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: Yellow Diamond gives one towards Peridot, telling her that she's been wasting Yellow Diamond's time with her plans, she's completely failed her mission, and the only way she can redeem herself is by leaving the Cluster to grow.
- Revenge Before Reason: Peridot tries to explain to Yellow Diamond that they might gain more by leaving the Earth the way it is, but Yellow Diamond refuses to listen because she wants to see the Earth destroyed after all the trouble it's caused the empire. In the end, this costs Yellow Diamond Peridot's loyalty. While she's not above destroying whole planets, Peridot believes it's for the greater good, and she loses all respect for Yellow Diamond when she realizes it's a matter of petty revenge and that her action is illogical.
- Rewatch Bonus: Watching the episode a second time, after realizing Peridot's plan was to try to convince Yellow Diamond to cancel the plans to destroy the Earth rather than to betray the Crystal Gems to her, you interpret most of Peridot's dialogue throughout the episode differently.
- Rule of Three: Peridot groans three times into the closing star title while in a Troubled Fetal Position.
- So Proud of You: The Crystal Gems are proud that Peridot was trying to save them and impressed at her telling off Yellow Diamond.
- Strange Salute: Peridot salutes Yellow Diamond by crossing her arms and arching her hands back to form a diamond.
- The Stoic: Yellow Diamond is coolly businesslike throughout Peridot's call, and she treats the whole thing as something entirely routine. It's Downplayed, though: she gets angry when Peridot starts questioning her, and flips out when Peridot calls her a clod. However, given the near-worship most Gems have for the Diamonds, it's likely that this is the first time in a very long while that she's been contradicted at all.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Peridot insists that the diamond she covertly swiped from the moon base is "definitely not important at all". Steven naturally isn't buying it.
- Take a Third Option: Peridot's job as a Homeworld Gem was to make sure the Cluster went on according to schedule, and the Gems have worked with her to dismantle it. She tries to convince Yellow Diamond to abort the mission, thus saving herself, the Crystal Gems, and the Earth without officially turning traitor. It completely fails as Yellow Diamond dismisses the plan and insults Peridot.
- Tempting Fate:
- Steven, after revealing the communicator to the Gems, says it's a relief Peridot is locked in the car. She then breaks out with her robot.
- Peridot at the beginning of the episode professes her Undying Loyalty for Yellow Diamond. By the end of the episode, she's insulted her boss for not caring about the Earth's potential.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Peridot goes nearly catatonic with dread when she realizes that she just insulted who she truly believes to be the most powerful Gem in existence.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Peridot insulting Yellow Diamond and defying her orders is apparently such a serious crime that it constitutes a betrayal of Homeworld.
- Trapped in Villainy: Yellow Diamond tries to kill Peridot for insulting her, essentially forcing Peridot to work with the heroes from now on.Steven: (excited) Do you know what this means!?
Peridot: (gravely, on the ground) I'm a traitor to my homeworld.
Steven: You're a Crystal Gem!
(Steven hugs Peridot)
Garnet: (smugly) Whether you like it or not!
Peridot: *distressed moaning* - Troubled Fetal Position: Peridot falls over into a ball after handing over the (soon to explode) communicator and stays that way for the rest of the episode.
- Villains Never Lie: Played With. Peridot openly gushes about her loyalty to Yellow Diamond, but when he locks her in she tries to lie about the purpose of the diamond until Steven threatens to smash it.
- We Have Reserves: Yellow Diamond seems more concerned about the destruction of Peridot's ship than that Jasper was lost and makes it clear Peridot is simply "a Peridot" to her. Yellow Diamond refers to Jasper as "the Jasper", as if she were equipment. This fits the impression we're getting that the Diamonds consider lesser gems to be expendable drones, as when Ruby said, "Who cares? There's tons of me!".
- Wham Episode: Peridot officially becomes an enemy of Homeworld and is accepted by the Crystal Gems. We also get a long-awaited appearance from Yellow Diamond.
- Wham Line:
- From Yellow Diamond herself (at least for Peridot):Yellow Diamond: I don't care about potential and resources. I want my Cluster and I want that planet to die.
- Peridot finally coming around:"I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!"
- ...immediately followed by, inarguably, the best one:
- From Yellow Diamond herself (at least for Peridot):
- With Due Respect: Peridot tries her best to disagree with Yellow Diamond without showing any kind of disrespect.Yellow Diamond: Are you questioning my authority?
Peridot: I'm questioning your objectivity... (tries to save face) My Diamond. (salutes) - You Are Number 6: Peridot identifies herself to Yellow Diamond by her Gem Type, Facet, and Cut, (Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG) indicating that this is the standard form of identification on the Gem Homeworld. Peridot started off by just saying "Peridot" and is momentarily hurt when Yellow Diamond asks "Which Peridot?", indicating that she much prefers being just "Peridot" instead of "Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG", since the former gives a more individual feeling compared to the latter, which has a more 'you're just one of many' feeling.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Peridot, after failing to reason with Yellow Diamond, realizes that she's turned traitor and can never return home.
