text:
The show has many moments that makes our hearts happy. See: for non-canon work. All spoilers are unmarked.
open/close all folders
- In an overall sense, the parental relationship between Steven and the rest of the Gems is so strong and genuine, that one would think they actually are related. This is best exemplified by the fact that Steven has three distinctive relationships with the Gems. When he's with Amethyst, she's like a Cool Big Sis whom he's able to have fun and run around with; Pearl is constantly worried over his safety and well being, and with Garnet he's most eager to impress her because she has such complete faith in him and is able to call off Pearl and Amethyst when they're being a bit overbearing.
- The relationship between Greg and Rose. Despite what the other Gems seem to think of Greg, Rose obviously loved him very, very much.
- And it was mutual, because it's clear that Greg still adores Rose.
- The relaxing credits. And the lyrical version played after the season finale. And the full version.
- Even better, many fans interpret it as being sung from Rose's perspective.
- The Gems playfully tossing Steven around in the Cartoon Network logo.◊
- In contrast to the first opening, the second opening has the Crystal Gems are all seen close together. A visual representation of their character development from season 1, that had them growing closer.
- The second opening also has Connie and Lion joining the beach cookout. They're part of the family now.
- Connie runs off happily to follow the van instead of just watching, and Greg's reclining on Lion as he happily strums a chord on his guitar.
- Seeing all three Gems tousling Steven's hair (instead of just Garnet) and the four of them sitting on the beach together is liable to make you squee. Steven also grins at the sign of affection rather than express annoyance at being treated like a kid.
- Garnet, heck everyone, smiles a lot more during this version of the opening.
- Steven also gets a part when the Gems sing "We are the Crystal Gems"!
- And if you listen closely, you realize it's Greg who says "believe in" before the final roll call, affirming his belief in them all.
- The extended version amps it up even more. Wittle baby Steven, just learning to play the ukulele, and singing his song for his whole family? Pearl tenderly sharing their history, vowing to protect Rose's ideals, the Earth, and Steven from harm? Amethyst reaffirming her existence as an Earth-made Gem? Garnet (and Ruby and Sapphire) protecting Earth as a place that allows them to love freely? Hearts may explode upon watching it.
- The audio piece they use for the ukulele intro was actually the same audio from Steven's performance in the Pilot episode. Quite Heartwarming in Hindsight to see the Crewniverse use audio from one of the very first pieces of the show for the audience to enjoy.
- As pointed out here (warning, some spoilers), every character in the show, no matter what the body type, appearance, or traits, is depicted as beautiful in some way. Everyone has someone who loves them or finds them beautiful.
- This can even be seen in a meta-way. Even Big Bad characters like Jasper or the Diamonds have a lot of fans and fanart. There is no character yet where the fandom agrees on that they are not attractive to some extent (with the exception of certain Fusions, possibly).
- Steven's powers in general are really heartwarming: Whenever he needs to protect himself he can summon his bubble, but when he wants to protect someone else he gets his shield. Also, his spit can heal cracked Gems, poor vision, and broken bones. It's not even a conscious choice; His shied gets summoned by protective instincts, and all his nonweapon powers so far are devoted to protecting and healing people.
- Greg's entire life is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. He's emotionally devastated, having lost the love of his life in childbirth (or something like it) when she bore him a son, after fully coming to understand that both Rose and Steven aren't human, and there are things about their lives that he simply can't be part of. It's not what he wants, but letting Steven move in with the Gems is what's best for him in the long-term, and he never lets that stop him from being an affectionate, patient, supportive dad. This is even clearer when he becomes something of a mentor-in-law for Connie, offering his support as someone who knows what it's like to just be a human being surrounded by all these drastic Gem things... and it's clear that Steven gets his rampant optimism from his dad, not his mom.
- The adorable theme song Steven strums out on his ukulele and how Garnet is the one who starts everyone clapping for him. Steven gets stars in his eyes when he's excited.
- The theme song for the show (which is the song from the pilot, but in a higher tempo and keyed up). Steven's song holds so much meaning to the Gems that they'll sing it altogether.
- Garnet calling Steven a buttface. It's not because she actually thinks he is a buttface as much as she knows that he'll be able to use a comeback to return before the fight with the knowledge to save the day.
- While he's introduced as an obnoxious jerk, Lars seems to be trying to keep Sadie safe during the Gems' fight with the skull creature.
Season 1 A
"Gem Glow"
- Sadie letting Steven take the Cookie Cat freezer home.
- The reason why the Gems went out and stocked up on his favorite ice cream snack: because they knew it was Steven's favorite and heard it got discontinued. There's just something incredibly simplistic and sweet about the fact that they did that just because they wanted to do something nice for him for no reason other than just because.
- "You're one of us, Steven! We're not the Crystal Gems without you!" After Amethyst says this, Garnet smiles and nods.
- At the end of the episode, the Gems assure Steven that he'll discover how exactly he summons his weapon. And Garnet remarks:
Garnet: Yes... in your own Steven-y way!
- Amethyst and Steven hanging out at the beginning of the episode
- Greg may be a Bumbling Dad, and he knows that what the Gems do is way out of his league, but he still loves his son enough to help him out with whatever he might need, whenever he comes looking for him.
- "Let Me Drive My Van into Your Heart" is a song by one-man-band Greg Universe. When he performed it in concert, no one showed up... except Rose Quartz, the woman who would eventually give birth to Steven Universe. Hell, the song itself is pretty heartwarming in its own right.
- Rose using one of Greg's silly Catchphrases as the activation Code Phrase for the light cannon.
- The Gems helping Steven hold the Light Cannon.
- Greg shedding a few tears at seeing Rose in the beam of the light cannon.
- The motherly, almost neurotic concern Pearl shows for Steven. Once they show up at the Crystal Spire, she saves him from falling down a chasm and immediately wants to send him back to keep him safe.
- Even though Steven did botch the mission, none of the Gems blame him. They even try to make him feel better about it afterwards, despite how much the tower obviously meant to them.
- All the Gems getting excited for, and believing in, the power of Steven's Cheeseburger Backpack. Even when the raft doesn't work out, Garnet and Amethyst tell Steven it was a good idea anyway.
- The entire premise of the episode, which is simply Steven trying to gather all the Gems in one place, just so they can all eat breakfast together.
- Steven finds himself in Amethyst's "room", where she declares she's going to add him to the Junk Pile, but in a fun, sisterly, teasing manner, making it impossible to be anything but heartwarming.
- Steven spends most of the episode trying to comfort and be a good friend to a fellow child named Peedee, who's having some serious daddy issues and is depressed by his new job. It just goes to show what a sweet, outgoing kid Steven is. There's something really adorable about the way that Steven tries to help Peedee feel better, even though it's clear he doesn't understand why Peedee is sad. Even if he can't comprehend or fix the problem he can still try and support Peedee through it.
- Peedee standing between his dad and Frybo in an attempt to defend the former, despite clearly being scared out of his mind.
- "Dad, I'll... (beat) Are you gonna get another costume?" "(beat) Nah... I don't need another Frybo. I've got the Fry-man."
- Steven and Greg bonding with a playful water fight.
- A YouTube comment summed up the climax as thus: Someone cares about you when they're concerned when you're in danger. Someone loves you when you've turned into a metamorphing cat monster and they still only see you as their son.
- After the Gems have returned and found that Steven has got his shapeshifting under control, Garnet tells the others that they should have more faith in Steven.
- The first thing Pearl does when they get back? Jump off the boat, ask if Steven's okay, and instruct him to "let me see it" while inspecting his fingers. She treats him like a toddler who's just banged his finger, and it's absolutely precious.
- Garnet tells Steven to just talk to Connie, rather than let Pearl over-plan it.
- Steven unconsciously creating the bubble to protect Connie and himself. Especially when you realize that this was by accident, and he was risking his own life to save Connie.
- Steven kept Connie's bracelet safe for over a year until he saw her again. He finally worked up the nerve to talk to her and gave it back to reassure Connie when she's feeling overwhelmed. They both recall each other even after an entire year.
Connie: I'm going to disappear without making a single friend... (crying)
Steven: (shows her the bracelet) ...We could be friends.
- Heck, the way Steven gives Connie her bracelet is a reminder of a proposal.
- After Steven takes down the monster, he and Connie hold hands.
- When Amethyst and Pearl start to be too meddlesome with Steven and Connie, Garnet steps in to keep them from being a bother while repeating how Steven asked not to "Mess up his funky flow". While it's funny that she took a comment like that so seriously, it's also very heartwarming that she listened, took note and indeed took it completely seriously. Simply because Steven asked her to.
- Steven and the Gems all going to the Amusement Park to ride the Teacups. Double as a Funny Moment as well when Steven is riding with Garnet.
- Just how nice Garnet is to Steven. She's always really kind and supportive of him but it really comes out in this episode due to how much time they spend together. A particularly notable moment is when Steven ends up fainting from seeing the third trap and the spinning nature of the pyramid giving him nausea. When he comes to and finds that Garnet had carried him through the chamber, she just tells him that he was taking a nap and remains encouraging, rather than telling him that he fainted or collapsed.
- While all the Gems obviously love Steven, Garnet also shows him a lot of respect. When Pearl goes into exposition-mode about how the place worked to begin with, Garnet immediately tells her "Steven already figured that out". Garnet clearly listens to what Steven says and always takes him seriously, which Pearl in this case, probably with her tendency to think a bit highly of herself, apparently forgot. Given Steven's insecurities about being a full member of the team, it's really very sweet.
- Garnet's response to Pearl's concern that Steven isn't ready for the mission pretty much mixes her trust and respect for him with her doting, parental side.
Shh. Just look at him.
- Steven's speech about Purple Puma's backstory, which is pretty heartwarming in itself, is followed by this plea to let Amethyst keep at it:
Steven: Can't we have this? Can't we just... wrestle?
- The speech in general can be summed up as a defense to people who detract from wrestling that it's more about enjoying the events and athleticism and having fun than it is a literal sporting event.
- Pearl looks genuinely horrified and concerned when it seems Garnet disapproves of Amethyst's need to wrestle.
- After realizing how much bottled-up anger Amethyst holds in towards their no-nonsense expectations of her, Garnet and Pearl especially decide to go along with her wrestling facade and pretend to be the Heels, allowing themselves to be "beaten" so that Amethyst and Steven can have a good time. That they decided to play up themselves as evil, fun-hating buzzkills showcases that they were willing to admit they were wrong earlier.
- The "fight" between Pearl and Steven has her pretending to be knocked out by him in an overly-dramatic fashion that's very reminiscent of a parent or older-sibling having a mock fight with a young child.
- Amethyst regretfully apologizes to Garnet while she's pretending to be knocked out, who apologizes in return.
- Lars's restored love for Tiger Millionaire by the end of the episode.
Lars: I love you, Tiger Millionaire
- Garnet gently teasing and reassuring Steven that nothing can harm him in the desert at the beginning of the episode. Very cute.
- Steven's complete and utter adoration of the lion, and the lion being completely gentle and passive to Steven in response, not to mention the lion eventually rescuing Steven and helping him reach the desert glass.
- Just the image of Steven and Amethyst taking a nap under a pillow fort they made. Further cementing their sibling-like relationship without even saying anything.
- At the beginning of the episode when Steven is in danger, all three Gems work together to save him. Garnet catches him from his fall and prevent him from being hit by a monster's projectiles, then Amethyst carries him to safety while Pearl covers their escape.
- Steven wanting to treat the Gems to a day of fun at his favorite place in Beach City.
- Steven separately grabs each one of the Gems by the hand as he leads them to a game he thinks they'll enjoy.
- It seems the only thing that can get Pearl and Amethyst to agree with each other is seeing Steven in danger.
- Steven, wondering if Opal still retains Pearl and Amethyst's memories, is reassured that it's still them by Opal gently singing "Giant Woman" to him.
- This exchange at the end of the episode:
Garnet: I also see you helped your teammates Fuse.
Steven: And all I had to do was get eaten by a bird!
Garnet: Nice work. You'll be great at fusing one day.
- Steven befriending a mountain goat and naming him Steven Jr.
- Steven, upon learning that Gems don't really celebrate birthdays, vows to throw a party for each Gem, hoping to make all of them as happy as his own birthdays have in the past.
- Steven pretends to fall to perform the classic pie in face gag. Pearl, not realizing the joke and being... well, Pearl, takes about half a second to stand up and catch him, preventing him from falling on his face.
- Sadie attempts to cheer up the greatly aged Steven after he has a breakdown in the donut shop, despite not even recognizing him at the time.
- Upon finding an aged Steven laying in the sand, Lion immediately grabs him and rushes him to the other Gems, showing that even Lion is concerned for his new friend's safety. After he transports Steven to the Gems, he lets Steven sit/lie against him.
- Garnet keeps wearing the cape and crown she had on for the party Steven tried to throw for her throughout the episode. When told she doesn't have to wear it anymore, she says that "it makes [her] feel important". D'aw.
- The moment when Steven finally reverts to his normal age and the Gems tackle him out of absolute joy should definitely garner a huge sigh of relief.
- Throughout the entire episode, Steven goes out of his way to help Lars pique the interest of the alleged "cool kids", all while just being his own sincere, goofy, loveable self.
- When it's all over, Lars tries to give Steven some very well-deserved credit for saving the day. Steven immediately interrupts him to say Lars was the one that drove them all up there. That's pretty big of both of them.
- Steven and Lars look at each other, smile, and give each other a "chest-five," nodding back to when Steven did it to Lars earlier in the episode.
- The end of the episode, in which the true nature of the moss is revealed and the kids gaze dumbstruck at the sight of the flowers floating over the city.
- Greg giving Steven the bag full of quarters so Steven can get as many G.U.Y.S. as he wants. He really is a great dad.
- The conversation Onion has with his dad. It's impossible to understand what they're saying but it's clear they love each other and that Onion really loves the little time they spend together.
- Steven giving Onion his Ranger Guy even though he tried to destroy the town because Steven realizes he needs it more.
- The conversation between Steven and his dad at the end of the episode.
Greg: You went through all that trouble for a toy?
Steven: It was more for the memories than the toy.
- Pearl offhandedly mentions that she'd be happy to show Steven real sword fighting techniques. Then she feels Steven's hand on her head and looks up to see him staring at her excitedly with stars in his eyes.
Pearl: Now?
- The way Pearl cares much more about cheering and reassuring Steven than the sword in her chest. Even knowing it cannot harm her for good, it's still pretty strong.
- The Gems don't blame Steven for Pearl getting stabbed by her own hologram because they know she is going to be fine.
- Amethyst comforts Steven by telling her that what happened to Pearl usually happens to her. Garnet teasingly reminds her that it always happens to her. Steven laughs and cheers up.
- Steven mentions that Pearl usually helps him clean his room.
- Steven tends to Pearl's Gem the entire two weeks she's gone. He talks to it, keeps it warm, and brings it with him to watch a movie. Clearly, he's doing his best to look after her the same way she looks after him.
- While also serving somewhat as Nightmare Fuel, it is pretty adorable how Steven initially tries to interact with Hologram!Pearl as if it were the real one.
- And there's Steven's reaction when Pearl is finally regenerated. He runs straight over and hugs her, with Pearl just giving a chipper little "Miss me much?". Aaawe.
- The way Pearl's shocked for a moment as he almost bowls her over before smiling gently at him and placing a hand on his hair.
- Just about every second Steven and Connie spend together in this episode can induce diabetes. Despite having very different lives from each other, they very much enjoy having fun together.
- Connie grabs onto Steven's sword when they get attacked by the robot head and manages to make use of her tennis skills to help defeat it.
- Steven and Connie can be seen holding hands while they ask for movie tickets.
- In the short amount of time that they appear, the Gems make an effort to appear impressive to Connie for Steven's sake, in a rather parent-like fashion.
- Steven's adamant determination to show the Pizza family that the Crystal Gems aren't just destructive assholes. He won't stand for anyone thinking badly of his friends/family.
- Jenny telling Nana how hilarious she is. It's a small moment but it shows even irresponsible teens love their grandmothers.
- Pearl and Kiki high-fiving each other after scoring in the volleyball game, Amethyst and Jenny teaming up, and Garnet and Kofi actually getting along.
- Garnet calling Nana brave for taking on the Gem with Steven.
- Kofi's Pet the Dog moment towards Steven in the earlier part of the episode — despite being angered over the Crystal Gems (particularly Garnet), he refers to Steven as a "good boy" and doesn't understand how he can be raised by "circus freaks".
- While this is mostly a pretty scary episode, there are lots of little heartwarming moments. Steven eating four cans of Cream Corn just so the four of them can go play minigolf is very sweet, and the Gems actually really do look sorry when they say they can't go. It's cemented further when they come back from their mission and are all happily showing him the stone they brought, clearly thinking he'll find it exciting. Too bad they interrupted him at a bad time this once... and of course, at the very end, they still end up playing minigolf.
Garnet: Guess what? We have time to hang out now.
- At the end, Steven apologizes for getting mad at the Gems, understanding that they sometimes just couldn't spend time with him when he wants it. They apologize in turn for having to always leave him behind.
- Pearl takes Amethyst biting her on the arm without complaining, because she was too concerned about Steven to care about Amethyst bothering her at the moment. Likewise, Amethyst doesn't retaliate when Pearl accidentally elbows her in the face.
- At the end, Garnet does end up wearing the golf pants Steven showed her, probably just because he wanted her to.
- It's not much, but before Sugilite starts smashing the communication hub, the way she acts towards Steven, like asking him if he wants to see something cool before summoning her weapon(s), indicates that she still retains some of Amethyst's Cool Big Sis qualities as she clearly wants to impress him.
- Pearl singing out how she wants to be an inspiration to Steven.
- While singing, she picks up and folds the shirts he left scattered on the floor in a decidedly mom-like fashion.
- How Steven hears her song, is really touched by it, and sings his own bit so it's almost like he and Pearl have a Fusion of their own.
- Pearl, believing herself too weak to protect the ones she cares about, almost hits the Despair Event Horizon as she faces her teamates' Fusion form. Steven, having spent the entire episode worshiping Sugilite and believing physical strength to be "real strength", finally understands what Pearl told him earlier about being strong "in the real way" and begins yelling encouragement to her, reviving her fighting spirit.
- When Garnet and Amethyst are finally able to separate from Sugilite, Pearl responds by pulling both into a hug out of relief, though she forgets that they're currently in pain and can't move. Shortly after, Garnet apologizes for not listening to her when they should've.
- Sadie's story about how she waited seven hours for a game that Lars wanted and how Lars gave her favorite snack, oyster crackers and played the game with her in return.
- Steven's almost sibling-like relationship with Sadie while he temporarily works with her at the Big Donut. It's small, but it's sweet, especially given their age difference.
- Blink and you'll miss it: when Steven and Sadie are serving their customers donuts, Mr. Fryman can be seen leaving with Peedee riding on his shoulders like a normal little boy and his father would. Looks like their Character Development in "Frybo" is here to stay.
- A very brief little moment, but just as Steven's about to leave for Beach-a-palooza, he holds the door open for a crab and says "after you, sir!" A very cute and funny moment that shows how much of a Nice Guy and Friend to All Living Things Steven is.
- In the end after numerous time-travelling shenanigans, who fills in for Greg in Steven's Beach-a-palooza performance? The Gems of course!
- Steven and the Centipeetle's friendship, with the latter performing a heroic sacrifice to save Steven.
- The way the Gems comforted Steven after the event, telling him that his mother would've been proud of what he'd done.
- Garnet permits Steven to try and tame the centipeetle, in the manner of a parent allowing their child to keep a stray animal as a pet. He runs up and hugs her leg in gratitude.
Garnet: I can't say no to that face...
- Made even more heartwarming knowing about Garnet's Future Vision. She may see that Steven can help the Centipeetle overcome what the corruption has done to it, and maybe other Gems, something Rose supposedly hadn't quite succeeded at. Sure, the Centipeetle winds up poofing at the end of the episode, but Steven will no doubt succeed one day, and Garnet can no doubt see that.
- Steven bubbling a bag of chips (the centipeetle's favorite food) next to its gem at the very end.
- Amethyst teasing Steven for being so worried about her. Especially in light of "On the Run," which implies she was likely doing it because she just wanted to be reminded of how much he loved her.
Amethyst: *giggles* "Steven, why are you getting so worked up? *Makes a mock-lovestruck face* What— do you care about me or something?"
Steven: *eyes glistening* "YES!
Amethyst: "Aw, Steven, I didn't mean to make you—*pretends to fall backwards* woah, woah!"
- And the callback to this towards the end of the episode, when Steven is blaming himself for what happened to Amethyst, and she manages to grin up at him and say "Ha ha... you... care... about... me." Even broken-down and incapable of speaking normally, she's still trying to lighten the mood and let him know she's not blaming him for anything. What makes this even more heartwarming is that everything she says is backwards, but that one sentence is not, despite sounding slow and distorted. She literally talked backwards which then came out as normal so Steven could understand her!
- Connie doing her best to cheer up the down Steven.
Steven: "Everyone expects me to be like my mom...what if I never get those powers?"
Connie: "Then you'll be like me. That's not so bad."
- Connie and Steven having an Almost Kiss.
- Even if Connie puts a lot of admiration and awe in Steven's magical adventures, it's shown in this episode she cares about her friendship with him more than any of that, comforting Steven when he starts breaking out in tears about fear that he can't go on magic adventures with the Gems without powers.
Connie: (shyly, while holding his hand) You don't need any powers to be here with me.
- Also remember that Steven is Connie's first friend. Of course she treasures him!
- She does visibly tear up when Steven mentions that he can't feel sad about his mother since he doesn't know her. Connie finds him so precious that this insight in Steven's emotions made her almost cry.
- Pearl showing an outright terrified but motherly concern over Amethyst's cracked gem, proving without a doubt that she really does care deeply about Amethyst.
- Both Pearl and Garnet act very much like the Designated Parents throughout the episode.
- Amethyst, despite being very disorientated from her gem cracking and losing her ability to speak coherently, still pushed Steven out of harm's way and tried to comfort him when he got upset about not being able to help her.
Amethyst: (to Steven, after having a fit of animalistic screeches) !ay lliw, pu reehCnote
- She also makes an effort to help him. Additionally, someone translated some of her "backwards" speech and showed that some of the things she said were fairly sweet. For example:
- After Amethyst recovers, she floats over to Steven and shouts "Look at this guy, savin' my life!"
- Lapis Lazuli's interactions with Steven. She calls him a friend while in the mirror and actually is both astonished but touched when he helps her out of it, since he was the only person who ever bothered to talk to her instead of asking for answers she couldn't give. She even risks discovery from the Crystal Gems to inform Steven that she works "just for [him.]"
- When Steven accidentally smacks Garnet in the face when he refuses to return the mirror, Pearl tries to calm down Garnet down when the latter goes after Steven in a fit of rage, explaining that he didn't know what he was doing nor understand the severity of the situation.
- Greg, Connie and Lion teaming with Steven to bring back the ocean. Then the Crystal Gems, though they were mad at Steven for his disobdience, team along too.
Garnet: You're un-grounded, by the way.
- Despite all that happened in "Mirror Gem", Steven is the only one that tries to talk down Lapis Lazuli and the only one she allows to meet her at the top of the water tower, showing they still consider themselves friends.
- Lapis Lazuli thanking Steven for fixing her gem, allowing her to return home, the only thing she wanted.
- Steven receives a well-deserved hero's welcome from the entirety of Beach City after bringing the ocean back. And it's all set to the calming credits music, too.
- There is also a brief shot of Ronaldo and, of all people, Lars, holding up Connie and Steven respectively on their shoulders.
Season 1 B
"House Guest"
- Basically all the interactions with Steven and his dad are incredibly heartwarming.
- The song they sing, especially.
- After Greg puts his foot down on the space project out of concern for Steven's safety, Pearl works on the ship herself - and then, during the night, sneaks in to wake Steven up so she can show him the spaceship, and says they can take it for an "engine test". Let's reiterate: PEARL, of all people, breaks rules to pal around with Steven, acting very much like a parent who can't wait to show a child a gift they know they'll love.
- As Pearl muses about the probability of successfully building a functional spaceship, the one thing that pushes her decision is the glowing look on Steven's face.
- Pearl kind of loses it for a bit in this episode. She practically kidnaps Steven for their 'engine test' (which she reveals would take about 50 years, much to Greg's dismay) since she misses going to other worlds so much. But when the engine fails and they bail, Pearl, holding Steven tightly, immediately apologizes to Steven, who in turn assures her they'll go to space together someday. This prompts this adorable exchange.
Pearl: .You know, I think I'd rather be here on Earth.
Steven: (Cheerfully) With me!
Pearl: Yeah. With you.
- What makes this extra heartwarming is that this is a Call Back to earlier in the episode. Pearl laments that she is stuck on earth, Steven mentions that he is there and she gives him a smile that looks dishonest. At the end, when he repeats the statement, the smile is genuine.
- Pearl and Amethyst actually having a good time catching the Gem shards. Part of why Steven wanted to have secret team was that he was seeing Pearl and Amethyst having a nice time together instead of bickering.
- Steven and Garnet doing a little secret team of their own, with Steven playing along with Garnet's scolding and trying to spare Pearl and Amethyst punishment.
- Garnet's lesson about teamwork at the end.
Garnet: Steven, I know you wanted to help them. You wanted to protect them; even from me. They made you feel like you had to take their side. (looks at Pearl and Amethyst) But there are no sides, because we're all on the same team. The Crystal Gems! (Garnet rips her Secret Team membership card and throws it on the ground. The others do the same while the main theme plays.)
- This clip, shown at the New York Comic-Con. From Steven's song of togetherness to a budding relationship between Lars and Sadie, there's no shortage or adorableness here.
- Lars kisses Sadie.
- Lars and Sadie (as well as Lars, Sadie and Steven) bonding together while cooking, fishing and eating together is really sweet. Especially since Lars started off not wanting to be anywhere near them.
- They even seem to have formed their own little family and household together while trying to survive on the island.
- The Crystal Gems coming to Steven&'s rescue, with Pearl exclaiming, "We know you have our Steven!"
- Including also Amethyst barking and growling at Ronaldo like a guard dog and Garnet trying to restrain them both.
- Peedee wanting to keep Ronaldo happy, even if it means putting up with his eccentric traits.
- Pearl carrying Steven home on her shoulder, complete with Garnet ruffling Steven's hair adorably.
- Steven has to pick a Gem to pose as his mother, and sits all three Gems down to figure it out. He has a brief scene that is basically just him listing all their good qualities (and one bad to keep them from being picked), and outright acknowledges all of Pearl's very motherly qualities.
- While Steven's idea of posing Alexandrite as his mom is laughably bad, the intention is pretty sweet: he feels all of the Gems could make a good mom, so he opts to have a Fusion of the three of them do that role.
- Let's break this down in detail. Connie's mother has already heard Garnet's distinct accent, and that makes her the most logical choice in that circumstance. At least, it does to adult/mature viewers, and most likely the Gems. They never bring it up, instead choosing to let Steven take the lead 100% and go along with his plan, not out of what might work or what is practical, but because Steven is so convinced that all of them together are great parents.
- Greg's response "Because we love you, Steven..." after Steven asks why he is grounded from TV.
- The entire episode is basically a celebration of the close relationship Steven has with Garnet.
- Just look at Garnet playing along with Steven's silliness before he asks about her day and try claiming it doesn't melt your heart.
Garnet: Tiny hands—my one weakness.
- Throughout the fantasy story, Garnet has a photograph of her and Steven together and says that Steven is her favorite person in the world. When Ringo destroys said photograph, Garnet immediately goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- The episode opens with some silly and adorable father/son bonding between Steven and Greg as the two show off their watermelon seed-spitting techniques. Greg eventually concedes defeat and crowns his son "Your Watermelon-jesty".
- Doubles as a funny moment, Pearl reveals that she likes to watch Steven sleep. When Steven objects to this, Pearl tells the other Gems that they'll need to take over for her.
- Rose's entire Happier Home Movie:
- Rose's speech about the beauty of the world.
Isn't it remarkable, Steven? This world is full of so many possibilities. Each living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the sounds they hear... the lives they live... are so complicated, and so simple. I can't wait for you to join them.
- Getting to see Rose and Greg just hanging out, enjoying each others' company.
- Seeing Greg and Rose interact together on this video has an extra tugging of heartstrings when you realize that Rose and Greg both know that Rose will disappear when Steven is born, but all you can see is calmness and a lot of love between them. Rose is satisfied with her choice and Greg is supportive of her choice, and they're both just happily enjoying the time together they have left.
- Rose Quartz telling Steven how much she loves him. How it's not possible for both of them to exist together, but she'll become half of who he is when he's born. So whenever Steven loves being himself, that is her loving him. Both Steven and Sadie are driven to tears after watching it.
You're going to be something extraordinary. You're going to be a human being. Take care of them, Steven.
- Seeing how excited Greg is about how he's going to be a daddy. He even sets up a special introduction for himself, proudly declaring that his son is going to have "the coolest dad in the universe."
- The end of the video shows Greg and Rose standing together and about to share a kiss, with Greg caressing Rose's very pregnant belly.
- During all this, Steven is just glued to the screen with an expression of pure joy.
- Rose's speech about the beauty of the world.
- At the end, Sadie calls up her mom to say that she really does appreciate the lunches she packs.
- Just before then, he Call Back to "Lars and The Cool Kids", with Steven high-fiving Lars' chest.
- The fact that Steven trusts Sadie enough, and considers her enough of a friend, to share this moment with her, seeing his mother for the first time.
- Immediately after the video finishes, Lars comes into the break room, to tell Sadie they need to open the store, only to find Sadie and Steven with shocked tears in their eyes. Lars doesn't make a snide remark like usual. He just backs out of the room, understanding that something important has just happened.
- Pearl and Amethyst actually getting along and complimenting each other's fighting techniques in the opening scene.
- Garnet and Pearl trying to wake up Steven to cookies they baked. He ended up not being the one to eat them, but the fact that they made those for him (as the Gems that don't even really get eating) is still adorable.
- Garnet rescuing Steven and apologizing to him when he and the droid fall out of the warp stream. The way she holds him during this is especially sweet.
- There's also Garnet admitting the Gems were wrong in doubting his word - even if she herself was the one who insisted they go check for his sake. With this line, she makes it perfectly clear that Steven is very much part of the team.
Garnet: I should have listened to you. You're a Crystal Gem too.
- Notice that she briefly sticks her fingers under her shades - she's wiping away tears, likely of sheer relief. Last time she cried at all was in So Many Birthdays when Steven nearly aged himself to death right in front of her. She really can't stand the thought of the little guy getting hurt.
- There's also Garnet admitting the Gems were wrong in doubting his word - even if she herself was the one who insisted they go check for his sake. With this line, she makes it perfectly clear that Steven is very much part of the team.
- Steven Jr. having two kids, one of which he lets sit on his back.
Amethyst: (to Steven) This makes you a grampa!
- The first scene of Steven trying to dance with the Gems is full of adorable mishaps. In particular, the problems of size difference arising when Steven tries to imitate Garnet and Pearl's dance, we see Pearl leaning down to lock fingers with Steven, Garnet holding him up so he can dip Pearl and Steven trying to pin Pearl to the wall but only coming up to her waist. And the smile Pearl gives Garnet on the last one.
- Steven and Connie dancing together alone on the beach.
- Pearl's worry over Stevonnie can come across as this when you realize that a half-Gem fusing with a full-on human is an unprecedented event, and she has no way of knowing how this might affect Steven or Connie, so she has every right to worry her head off about the two. It's actually quite motherly.
- The fact that Garnet's first reaction to Steven and Connie's Fusion is just a big, goofy smile.◊ Even more heartwarming when you consider that unlike the other Gems, with Pearl being unsure that Steven could ever Fuse due to him being half-human and Amethyst just teasing him about it, Garnet always believed that he could do it.
- Garnet's words to Stevonnie.
"Listen to me. You are not two people, and you are not one person. You...are an experience! Make sure you're a good experience. Now, go. Have. FUN!"
*gives even bigger goofy smile*◊
- Considering that Garnet was the first Fusion between different kinds of Gems, it is no wonder that she loves Stevonnie. Steven and Connie are pioneers, just like Sapphire and Ruby were.
- Garnet's reaction to the entire event becomes an even bigger crowning moment when you realize Garnet is a Fusion of two lovers.
- When she first sees Stevonnie, she's grinning while holding her hands clasped together. She's holding the gems in her hands in direct contact, as if her two halves were kissing!
- Garnet's words to Stevonnie.
- A lot of Stevonnie's actions come across as either Steven or Connie talking through them, leading to a few of these moments, such as what seems to be Steven assuring Connie that they can break the Fusion if she's uncomfortable, while what seems to be the Connie side not only marvels at how amazing the Fusion is, but also chastises Pearl for not showing any pride at Steven's successful Fusion. In a broader sense, Stevonnie's personality seems to be largely Connie, but with Steven's self-confidence bolstering her, which is probably a big help in the moment below.
- In a way, the ending is kind of adorable. After Steven and Connie split from their fusion, they stare at each other for a moment...and then begin dancing wildly and laughing their heads off, having the time of their lives. And this time, neither one cares if everyone else is staring at them.
- At the beginning of the episode the Gems are playing a game with Steven that they clearly don't understand and congratulate him when he wins. It's really an adorable thing to watch.
- The ending. Steven discovers that the entire test is fake and designed so that he can't lose and nothing can hurt him. This makes him angry at Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet until he overhears them talking among themselves about how much they doubt themselves as his parents. So, realizing that the rest of them need confidence as much as he does, he swallows his pride and pretends he didn't find out about the test, instead reacting as though he passed a real test so that the other Gems can feel good and be proud. Topped off with all three of the Crystal Gems hugging Steven while saying how proud of him they are.
- Pretty much the entirety of the episode, but there are a few stand-out bits.
I took a risk at your expense. There was a chance you would understand [future vision] and we'd be closer. Steven, I see so many things that could hurt you. I should never have let one of them be me. There are a million possibilities for the future! But it's up to you to decide which one becomes reality. Please understand! You choose your own future!
- Garnet catching Steven, then giving him a nose-boop and calling him a 'cutie pie'.
- The two of them spending the whole morning together; exercising, getting breakfast, walking the board-walk...It's usually Pearl and Amethyst who are seen spending time alone with Steven, so this was a refreshing change.
- Steven and Garnet exercising is adorable.
- When Lars accidentally spills hot coffee all over Garnet, he sounds genuinely concerned. (According to Garnet, there was also a very real chance where he could have high-fived Steven, and that alone seems rather kind for him.)
- Garnet's monologue at the end of the episode:
- They end the episode hugging (while Garnet casually deflects a bolt of lightning).
- We also see, for the third time, Garnet without her shades on. And she's not possessed with rage or Meat Beat Mania this time; she did it so Steven could tell how sincere she was.
- Even though Amethyst is not whole-heartily in it, seeing her and Steven go on a adventure while singing is pretty adorable.
- Pretty much everything about Pearl and Amethyst talking in Amethyst's hole.
Pearl "You're the only good thing to come out of this whole mess. I always thought you were proud of that."
- When they come out, Amethyst looks away for a sec, then starts to cry a bit again and hugs Pearl tightly, who returns the hug after the surprise wears off.
- Complete with a heartwarming reprise of the first few notes of Opal's theme.
- All the Ship Tease moments.
- Sadie refusing to abandon anyone.
- Ronaldo's little "turn it down a notch" comment, and Lars' embarrassed reaction. That moment seems to imply they might be able to repair their friendship, or at least let go of the bad feelings associated with it. The post Ronaldo put on his Character Blog some time after helps as well.
- It's a bit misleading but when they're watching the horror movie together Steven is behind the couch, not because he's afraid but the Gems told him he's not allowed to watch TV for a thousand years. The punishment may be rough, but him honoring it is just cool.
- Garnet gives Steven a kiss on the forehead. It's actually to temporarily transfer her powers to him, but that doesn't make it any less sweet.
- Steven and Connie eating marshmallows and generally being adorable together.
- Connie's parents letting Steven and Greg stay the night rather than let them try and go home through the storm.
- Connie coming down and watching the snow fall with Steven.
- At the beginning of the episode, Steven asks Greg what his favorite type of firework is. Greg responds that he doesn't have one; he just likes watching them with Steven. Cue Steven blushing.
- Greg and Amethyst spending time together was pretty nice, unfortunately they got totally sucked into the show and started neglecting Steven.
- Amethyst moving all of Greg's stuff to her room so he won't have to throw anything out and getting a new frame for the picture of him and Rose as an apology.
- Pearl and Garnet attending the New Year fire-works with Steven, even putting on human clothes to do so. Extra points for both going along with the Universe tradition of making noise during the fireworks and Pearl even asking shyly, if she is doing it correctly.
- Steven is still trying to avoid catching sight of TV even when Amethyst and Greg tell him it's okay because he's still honoring being grounded!
- Connie obviously loves "Unfamiliar Familiar", so it's nice to see her try and share it with Steven.
- Though it was mostly a funny moment, the Gems hugging while covered in Robonoid goo was pretty sweet.
- Pearl telling Steven how much he looks like Rose, after just having described her as "beautiful".
- During the initial argument, Steven speculates that Rose might have kept secrets from Pearl to protect her, and Pearl snaps and yells at Steven that he doesn't know what he's talking about because "You never even met her!" Last time someone used his mom against him in a fight (when Lars insulted her during the moss incident) he angrily talked back, and by God he had every right to do the same here. But no, he asks if Pearl is alright even though her outburst left him in tears. As sad as the scene is, that is beyond sweet of him.
- Pearl reveals that she stayed on Earth because of her loyalty to Rose, and she even reenacts the scene with a hologram. It does cross with being a Tear Jerker though.
- Steven chases after Pearl to cheer her up after her Heroic B.S.O.D.. When he finally catches up to her, she reveals that she decided to stay on Earth because Rose Quartz did, but now she's wondering if Rose is seeing her through Steven's eyes and what she's thinking.
Steven (hugs Pearl from behind) Well... I think you're pretty great.
- The torment and salvation on Pearl's face, and the fact that Steven, her own sorta-adopted son and an aspect of her beloved Rose, is holding her and telling her she's pretty great, after she has been so vindictive towards him, just puts so many emotional layers on this scene.
- They then proceed to have a tender moment, with Steven doing a couple of 'magic' tricks with Lion, and Pearl telling him a story of the battle. The fact that we don't hear them makes it loads more intimate.
- Doubles as some needed one-on-one relationship building for Pearl with Steven as his own person, rather than as "half-Rose". Who else would try to do silly magic tricks for her?
- Steven's ode to Lapis Lazuli, as he improvises lyrics to his father's song in order to help him understand her better and not see her as just another villain.
- Garnet placing Steven on top of the pile of cushions she'd covered the Wailing Stone with.
- The origin of the message. Even though she obviously fears what her home has become, she still tries to contact and warn Steven about what's coming. And in turn, the fact that despite how scary the warning is, Steven's first reaction is to be sad at how unhappy Lapis looked.
- Garnet keeps calm in light of the bad news to give a sincere thank you to Greg for all his help. Judging by Greg's response, it's probably the nicest thing any of the Gems have said to him recently.
- Even when she gave up on him earlier, she offered him her sincere thanks for trying and seems genuinely sorry he couldn't help, while the other Gems dismiss him offhandedly from the start.
- Steven's unwavering support for his dad throughout the episode.
- Mayor Dewey's crush on Pearl is adorable. When listing off the Gems, he refers to her as "the hot one"; his first reaction to hearing Pearl coming to the door is to straighten his tie, blushing the whole time; and when she asks if she can help him, he replies with a dreamy "yes" before pulling himself together.
- Steven talking down the angry mob by appealing to the best in all of them, then covering for Mayor Dewey.
- While defending Mayor Dewey's deceptive actions, Steven realizes that the Gems keep him in the dark because they're trying to protect him and keep him from panicking. Steven lets them know this but demands the truth anyway. When they finally let him know the severity of the situation, does he panic? No:
Garnet: The truth is... we're scared.
Steven: We've been scared before, right? None of us knows what's gonna happen, but that's okay. We'll figure things out. Together.
- And then the lights come back on. It's cheesy, but touching.
- The Gems sending Steven off with Greg, telling him that he might be needed to save the townspeople if they fail.
Garnet: Steven, I know you don't think we trust you. I know more often than not we treat you like a human child. But the truth is, we rely on you. Your voice inspires us, binds us, reminds us why we promised to protect the planet. You must now be that voice for [the townspeople].
- How about this completely defining Steven quote:
"Maybe when Peridot gets to earth, she'll see how nice all the people are. And she won't want to hurt anyone."
- And how utterly right he was!
- When Steven and Greg swerve off the road, Fryman and Peedee shows up to see if they are okay, and then camera pans to show the entire town. They might be bemused and exasperated by Steven from time to time, but they do care about him.
- Greg leaves with Steven fully knowing the weight of the situation, and just how hopeless it might be. He was willing to risk dooming his town and possibly the planet to protect his boy, however slim the chance it might be.
- Lion shows up to get Steven back to Beach City. And then the latter calls Connie to say goodbye.
- Garnet and Pearl are visibly distraught to find Steven returning to fight alongside them, but Amethyst seems more relieved than anything. She doesn't show it often, but his presence really gives her strength.
"You came back!"
- The Crystal Gems going into Mama Bear mode when Jasper notices Steven.
- Pretty much everything about Ruby and Sapphire is incredibly heartwarming, both in this episode and in hindsight. Note that it basically covers this entire entry, which shouldn't be a surprise since it makes up more than half the episode.
- The first thing that happens when Steven meets Ruby is Ruby being upset about him being there and asking him not to look before even noticing that he escaped his cell. Garnet wanted to surprise Steven with her being a Fusion on his birthday. Despite the horrible situation, the first thing that Ruby cares about is that the surprise birthday gift they had planned for him is ruined.
- When Ruby begs Steven to let her out, she argues that she needs to find Sapphire since she is all alone. We later find out that Ruby were Sapphire's assigned bodyguard before they fell in love, and Ruby honors her job of protecting Sapphire til this day. This and the fact that both have decided to exist as Garnet, so they are no longer used to being alone in any way.
- When they reunite, Ruby asks if Sapphire is hurt, and she answers no. When Sapphire asks the same, Ruby just exclaims "Who cares?", merely being glad to have found Sapphire. Sapphire's answer? "I do!" and then proceeds to kiss away Ruby's Tears of Joy from her eyes. AWWWWWWWWW~
- Becomes even more heartwarming in hindsight: Ruby thinks of herself as one of many, she literally doesn't know why she would be special. But Sapphire loves Ruby and only this one, so of course she cares.
- Ruby grabbing Sapphire for a Twirl of Love as they Refuse into Garnet, laughing all the while.
- Ruby and Sapphire love each other so much that they choose to be Garnet forever, and have no desire to be anything else. Practically making Garnet the walking embodiment of Gem marriage.
- This also explains Garnet's reaction back in "Alone Together". If anyone can appreciate what it means for two beings to Fuse simply because they just naturally connect, it'd be Garnet.
- Not to mention how difficult Fusion is for others. They can only maintain it for a short time, can lose control, have to do this long dance to make it happen, and often look quite monstrous, but Ruby and Sapphire become Garnet easily and live as her permanently. This despite having radically different personalities, and a stubborn streak as the most visible trait they have in common. Every second that Garnet exists, you're seeing The Power of Love taken Up to Eleven. Yup, Jasper never did stand a chance.
- Garnet is a little upset Steven got to see her as Ruby and Sapphire... because she wanted it to be a birthday surprise. Not that it stops her from surprising him with something similar on his birthday.
- When Steven asks Garnet if he made a good first impression on Ruby and Sapphire.
Garnet: Oh Steven. We already love you.
- When Steven asks Garnet if she can beat Jasper on her own:
Garnet: It's okay, Steven. I'm never alone!
- The creators of the series managed to make Garnet singing an "I Am" Song/Badass Boast into this, due to being about how her nature as a Fusion between two Gems who are so perfect for each other makes her stronger than the two of them combined.
Garnet: And you're not gonna stop what we made together./We are gonna stay like this forever.
Garnet: I am made oh-oh-oh-oh-of/Lo-oh-oh-oh-ove, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
- Garnet's song is both more awesome and heartwarming when you realize the melody is a triumphant version of the song Sapphire was singing to calm down Ruby. The song is indeed a true representation of their love.
- There's also this line from Garnet: "I won't let you hurt my planet. I won't let you hurt my friends." The former part of that lyric is especially heartwarming because she says "my planet", not "this planet". It doesn't matter to her if Earth is not her Homeworld. It's her home, and she won't let anyone harm it.
- It also adds even more Heartwarming in Hindsight to all your favorite Garnet moments. Everything about her, from the times she's badass to the times she's gentle to the times she's stern, the warrior, the leader, the surrogate mother; and any time you held your breath 'cause now crazy-strong Garnet's angry and she doesn't usually get angry but in the end her Anger Born of Worry never leads to a rash decision, or that time in Tiger Millionaire when Amethyst actually attacked Garnet and in defending herself, Garnet proves that she's leagues beyond Amethyst in power and yet she never actually hurt Amethyst. All that is all because, as we hear in what's probably the only instance of a war song and a love song being one and the same, she's made of love.
- And the fact that this is the song she sings during a battle that wouldn't look out of place in DBZ really shows that that's where everything she does is coming from, what she sees as the most important part of herself even as a warrior.
- Even though Lapis has totally given up hope, Steven refuses to give up on her, promising to come back even though she doesn't want to be rescued.
- The fact that the Gems wanted to show Ruby and Sapphire to Steven for his birthday implies that they may have intended to throw him a birthday party. This would, in turn, imply that they're learning about human culture and might be slowly inching away from their Noble Bigot/Smug Super tendencies. It also counts as a bit of Fridge Brilliance when you realize how important birthday parties are for Steven and what nearly happened the last time the Gems knocked/didn't understand the concept of birthdays.
- It's also since been confirmed that the reason Ruby freaked out and told Steven "don't look at me!" was because she was upset the surprise was ruined.
- Lapis sacrificing herself. She doesn't care about the Crystal Gems and she doesn't care about Earth, so the only reason to take Jasper into the ocean was to save Steven.
- Blink and your miss it, but at the very end of the episode, after everything has gone down, you can see Pearl gently leaning on Garnet.
Season 2
"Full Disclosure"
- Greg still trying to be a good supportive father to Steven despite pretty much having a panic attack after Steven tells him what happened after they parted ways in "The Return." Dude's having a damn meltdown over his son nearly dying in a spaceship crash, and he still takes the time to say he loves and supports him before immediately digging for the relaxing music and driving away.
- Garnet's insistence on "no fences" on the grounds of Steven needing to stay in touch with his father and Connie is a quiet one, but it's a subtle reinforcement of what we've learned about her last episode: Garnet knows love and strong relationships are a source of strength (both emotional and literal, at least for her) and doesn't want Steven to lose that, especially after his Fusion with Connie.
- As heart breaking as it was to see, Steven deciding to break off his friendship with Connie solely because he doesn't want her getting hurt on his account is one of the most selfless things he's ever done, and this is Steven we're talking about! "Selfless" may as well be his middle name and this is still the most heartwarming act he could have done for her.
- The fact that Steven values their relationship enough to not only rescind his request that they not see each other again, but also spill his guts to her about all that he's feeling in light of the revelations from "Jailbreak" and Lapis' sacrifice. She then promises to always be there for him, even if she's just there to listen or be a shoulder to lean on. If there was any doubt about how powerful their friendship is, it's in this episode.
Steven: Are you ok?
Connie: Are you okay? You're the one who's been through everything. The least I could do is just listen.
Steven: I can't ask you to do that.
Connie: I want to Steven, I want to be a part of your universe!
- At the end of the episode, Greg (having recovered from his Heroic B.S.O.D.) finds Steven and Connie talking and asks if Connie needs a ride home. As they drive through Beach City, Steven sees all the townspeople working to fix the buildings that had been wrecked during the invasion. It's a great way to show Steven that while things looked grim at first, Greg and the other townspeople are pretty good at bouncing back.
- Steven's song in this episode. It's all about how much he cares about Connie and doesn't want to see her get hurt accompanied with images of them having fun and fooling around.
- Connie being alright with Steven loving the ending of the book, considering how passionate she was about hating it.
- Connie realizing that she was basically forcing her interpretation of the book on Steven without really asking how he enjoyed it, and then backing off after the confession was forced out of him by Room!Connie
Connie: Oh, of course you liked the wedding. You're Steven, you love schmaltz.
- Connie listening to Stevens interpretation of the ending and why it would work out. They discussed about it and went a bit back and forth, but it was polite and both sides acknowledged that it was their individual interpretation which is quite mature, seeing that both are big fans of the series.
- Steven using a piece of ancient Gem tech that he doesn't fully understand and had already run afoul of once before just so he could give Connie the ending to the book that she wanted was a really sweet gesture, even if it didn't quite work out.
- Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream notice that Steven isn't his usual fun loving self, so they decide to show him a good time.
Buck: But you always look so upbeat. (Takes off glasses) You're a real champ, Steven Universe.
- When he tells them his many major life problems and ends it with his worries that the Gems blame him for his mother dying, they treat it with all the somberness and seriousness such a thing deserves. Buck also praises him for still smiling despite all the problems he has.
- What makes this especially heartwarming is that the Cool Kids at first talk about their individual issues and argue a bit about who got it worst. When Steven talks about his own, they don't even try to act like it's nothing and instead all acknowledge that he has serious troubles and react understanding.
- Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream all standing up for Steven when the Gems get upset at him for playing with Peridot's escape pod instead of bringing it straight to them, even though they admit they don't understand a lot of what's going on in Steven's life.
- The teens, when calling the Gems out on not giving Steven much of a break so soon after the events of the season one finale, take the time to acknowledge that the stuff that he and his caretakers do is really important for the safety of the planet. Which shows that they are able to put themselves in other's shoes, a skill that doesn't usually show up in teenagers in cartoons.
- Before that, Jenny steps in the way of one of Garnet's punches to keep her from punching the escape pod with Steven still inside.
- Garnet ungrounding Steven from his 1000 year ban from watching TV after Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream talk them into cutting Steven some slack was really touching.
- The Gems actually joining on selfies with them, although the concept seems to confuse the hell out of Pearl.
- The Cool Kids wanting to hang out with Steven in general. When you consider that they're young adults old enough to drive, have jobs, and have their own social lives, yet they choose to spend that time with a kid several years younger than them, it's a very rare yet incredibly awesome sight. They just find him that much of a blast to be around.
Buck Dewey: You got that much needed counter-part to our cynical world view. You have to come.
- Likewise, consider that when they're discussing the various issues they have with their parents and family, not once do they question or deride Steven for his own outstanding and unconventional issues. They acknowledge the gravity of his problems, especially for his age and work to show him a good time to help him relax in response. They don't treat him as just a kid; they treat him as an equal and accept his word at face value, no matter how unusual it sounds.
- In a strange way, the fact that Yellowtail wants Sour Cream to follow in his footsteps as a fisherman can be seen as evidence that Yellowtail doesn't care that Sour Cream is not his biological son.
- The premise of the episode is that Uncle Grandpa crossed dimensions to help Steven with his problem, and the end shows that he's done it before to help others and is going to do it at least once more.
- Not only that, but the people he's helped before are all characters of other Cartoon Network series. Billy and Mandy, Mac, Finn, etc.
- Hell, he's even helped out the SWAT Kats! And that's the first time the series has been acknowledged by CN or anyone in more than a decade, especially given the series' online following.
- Not only that, but the people he's helped before are all characters of other Cartoon Network series. Billy and Mandy, Mac, Finn, etc.
- While the episode as a whole is a Crowning Moment of Funny, when Pearl sees Pizza Steve dressed up as Steven, her immediate reaction is to scream "That's not my baby!" while clinging to Garnet's leg.
- Steven quickly bonds with Uncle Grandpa, and he ultimately manages to summon his shield and not his bubble protecting the man from the Gems.
- Lion and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger briefly bonding, and Lion being sad when she has to go.
- After Pizza Steve defaced Mr. Gus' picture, Uncle Grandpa called in a favor from Rebecca Sugar herself and got her to draw Mr. Gusite fanart in order to cheer Mr. Gus up.
- A younger, shorter-haired Amethyst running around Greg like an excitable child.
- Bonus points: She says she really likes his hair. Next we see her (chronologically at least) she has almost the exact same hairdo. She based her new 'do off of his! And still does, even after their apparent falling out in Maximum Capacity
- Amethyst taking an immediate liking to Greg as if he's some potential new pal for her.
- Amethyst holding onto Rose's dress, she is like a child clinging to her mother.
- The full set of the Crystal Gems are adorable together, laughing with each other like best friends.
- Greg calling out his manager about being a womanizing prick is a nice touch.
- Greg putting the moves on Rose at the end:
Rose: *sigh* You're awfully cute, and I really want to play with you, but your life is short and you have dreams. I won't let you give up on everything you want.
Greg: Well, that's gonna be a problem.
Rose: Huh?
Greg: You're everything that I want!
* Rose's pupils become star-shaped just like Steven's.*
- Bonus points for her coming out of the temple wearing the T-shirt from his show that he gave her.
- Steven teasing Greg about Rose.
Steven: ♫You loved her~♫
- Steven having the same laugh as Rose.
- The revelation that Greg's music career wasn't just a dream that never got off the ground. He had a decent shot at making it big, gave it up to be with Rose, and doesn't appear to have a single regret about this (of course, it helps that his manager Marty was a total jerk).
- In the scene where Greg meets the Crystal Gems for the first time, you can notice none had the five-pointed star on their outfits, but Greg did. And now in present time, all Crystal Gems have it, and it's their symbol.
- Despite being a consistent source of embarrassment for his son Buck, and his frequent requests for Buck to get into politics, Mayor Dewey does seem to genuinely support his artistic pursuits, and cherishes the campaign flyer that Buck drew for him as a little boy.
- Although it made things worse, Steven and Connie tried to let Jamie down gently.
- Garnet's surprisingly gentle advice to Jamie. Made all the more touching when you realize it's coming courtesy of Ruby and Sapphire.
Garnet: Love at first sight doesn't exist. Love takes time and love takes work.
- Steven, Pearl and Garnet giving Amethyst a hug after her final regeneration. She likes it, even if she pretends she doesn't.
- Her smile is just precious.
- Considering their history, and the general assumption that Pearl would dislike Greg, Pearl and Greg fixing Greg's van together and shared confusion about Crying Breakfast Friends counts. They seem to get along well.
- As Amethyst starts to come back the final time, Steven urges Pearl and Garnet to be supportive no matter what, fully understanding what her issues really were the whole time.
Garnet: It's perfect.
- Garnet's reaction to Amethyst's new form.
Amethyst: Eh, whatev. It's just what feels right.
Garnet: That's why it's perfect.
- Pearl also congratulates her. In her usual way, but it's obvious that she's very proud.
- Steven and Connie having a "jam" session at the beginning is just precious.
- Pearl's wibbling, teary-eyed joy and pride at Connie's resolve to fight alongside Steven to protect the planet is extremely sweet considering she probably saw herself in Connie at that moment.
- It's a bit sad and entirely adorable that Steven's reaction to Pearl summoning a Holo-Pearl is to reflexively form a bubble around Connie.
- Steven's insistence that he'll always be there to fight alongside Connie.
- Pearl, at the end. It's clear that while she was almost insanely devoted to Rose, Rose tried to get her to throttle it back and spare some care for herself - the argument she has with Steven is pretty clearly a reprise of one she had with Rose at some point.
Connie: Did Rose make you feel like you were nothing?
Pearl: (smiling through the tears) Rose made me feel like I was everything.
- Steven and Connie instantly going to sit next to Pearl and talk it out with her after her outburst.
- It's also nice to see that, unlike the last time Pearl had to confront her feelings for Rose and Steven, she gets over her turmoil very quickly this time.
- Pearl is actually a very good teacher when she has a genuinely interested student. While it showed something really lovely that she never got angry at Steven for her being stabbed, her lessons with Connie really showcase what a good teacher she is. She's speaks gently when correcting technique, telling what to do and not simply what not to do, she's not shy with the praise, and she recognizes Connie's limitations while also expecting her to do her best. While it's obviously not good, even the "sacrifice yourself" message doesn't seem to be malicious - Pearl has been shown to have a tendency to get a little carried away in other episodes when she's passionate about something, like Space Race.
- The group picture of the Crystal Gems together. Here's a transparent version of it.
- Garnet lifting Steven so he can sit on her head. Here's the cute moment.
- It's kind of touching that Mayor Dewey's desk has a "#1 Rad Dad" mug on it.
- Even after everything Ronaldo did, just to make his crappy video, Steven decides to click the like button when he sees that he and the Gems were the only ones to see it.
- Hell, Steven is adorable throughout the whole episode. Whilst most of the citizens Ronaldo interviews are annoyed or apathetic, Steven always remains his normal, cheery, friendly self. Plus, bear in mind that Ronaldo once kidnapped Steven, believing him to be an evil snake person.
- In the lower thirds on his interview with Steven, he calls Steven "gracious host."
- Ronaldo thanking Peedee and complimenting him.
- The Gems all folding laundry together at the start of the episode.
- The look on Steven when Garnet asked him to come along with the mission.
- He later compliments Garnet for being a Genius Bruiser when she observes the area for what Peridot was really looking for after Peridot flees from Pearl and Amethyst.
- Steven showing concern for Peridot when Pearl knocks an Injector on her. It's classic Steven.
- The implication that the Crystal Gems did their best to find all the shattered pieces of their fallen comrades.
- Steven and Garnet talking about Fusion at the end of the episode.
- The "wouldn't want to split up a pair" scene with the red and blue socks.
- Steven and Connie dancing and fusing Stevonnie again.
- Also, the fact that fusing, an act that usually requires great care and effort, comes so easily and naturally to them that they can do it by accident. It really shows just how close these two are.
- It actually calls to mind how Ruby and Sapphire simply did a Twirl of Love to Fuse again in "Jail Break".
- Even just the two of them dancing before fusing. Both blushing while staring at each other and laughing. They have so much fun and joy just being together, it's absolutely adorable.
- Greg being supportive of Steven and Connie fusing once he gets past the initial surprise.
- Greg, Rose, Garnet, and Amethyst doing a homemade music video together, also counts as an Awesome Music moment too.
- Although Pearl's doing it for all the wrong reasons, the effortlessness with which she Fuses with Rose (even while trying to stick it to Greg) and the way Rose immediately trusts her and goes along with it is (mostly) heartwarming.
- Greg attempting to Fuse with Rose.
Pearl: Why are they still dancing, it didn't work?!Garnet: Yes, it did. It worked.
- Garnet's advice to Greg about his attempts to Fuse with Rose - he shouldn't dance like Pearl he should dance like himself. And while they don't Fuse, they do get closer together as a result.
- There's something very cute about Garnet giving Greg this advice, even going as far as to admit she believes Greg and Rose can work it out. Given two months ago, she was willing to, essentially, beat him up if he didn't play good enough music. And it's not at all sarcastic or anything - Garnet genuinely wants to help Greg.
- Greg and Rose dance and not only are both having fun, but by the end, Rose is visibly absolutely amazed by her human boyfriend. Though the scene soon turns to Mood Whiplash for her making fun of him and not understanding his problems, it is very apparent that she is deeply attracted to him.
- And it becomes even more heartwarming when they just start to dance again once they had their first good talk.
- Garnet's advice to Greg about his attempts to Fuse with Rose - he shouldn't dance like Pearl he should dance like himself. And while they don't Fuse, they do get closer together as a result.
- Greg and Rose coming to terms with just how many problems their relationship has, how quickly they rushed into things, and how vastly different they both are. It's a tearjerker, but after talking it out, they realize that being lost and confused about the whole business is the one thing they have in common. They laugh and dance together, relieved and happy as can be. Also of note is that at around this point Rose moves from calling him "Mr. Universe" to just "Greg".
- Rose tells Greg that she is glad he doesn't know much about her, implying to her background of having fought a horrific war. Greg mentions in "The Return" what had happened during the war. He doesn't know a lot of details, but he knows quite a lot for a human, possibly hinting that Rose in the end trusted him enough to actually tell him about herself, including the bad things.
- Greg promising Connie that if she ever feels overwhelmed with all the magic stuff, she can talk to him about it.
- Amethyst in general is adorable in this episode as it once again shows how much more childlike she used to be both in appearance and personality. She also acts the most familiar around Greg and by the end calls him her "favorite".
- Steven's determination to find and help Lapis.
- Though it's a bit of a tearjerker too, especially with the similarities to "Sworn to The Sword", Lapis's desire to protect Steven is pretty heartening. Lapis was trapped in the mirror for ages, finally got free only to discover her home was as good as gone, got shoved right back into being a prisoner, willingly condemned herself to something that would be a living nightmare for herself and still chooses to give up the only things she has left, her freedom and her very identity, all so she can keep the first person in a very long time to show her any kindness safe. Lapis is a Crystal Gem in all but name by this point for the sacrifices she has chosen to make.
- When scared, Steven immediately running to Pearl and Garnet for cuddles.
- In Steven's sitcom dream, he's taking Connie to the School Dance and Pearl is fussing over his suit like a typical mom.
- The WHOLE dream is pure delight (well, until Lapis shows up). It shows that Steven always thinks of the Crystal Gems as his family.
- In the dream, the Crystal Gems are all human. It shows that Steven just thinks of them as people and doesn't really think about them as being different.
- Garnet supporting Steven's sleepover idea. On top of that, instead of telling Pearl to look after the others, she gives the command to Steven.
Garnet: Steven, put these Gems to bed.
- Amethyst and Garnet watching Crying Breakfast Friends with Steven, even if they don't like/understand the show.
- The fact that Pearl's initial reaction to Garnet deciding to Fuse with her is her bursting into tears.
- After The Reveal that Pearl had been fixing the hub in order to keep fusing as Sardonyx, despite their usual animosity, Amethyst goes to her defense and tries to explain why she acted the way she did. It doesn't work, but it helps mitigate the Tear Jerker nature of the ending just a bit.
- It's worth emphasizing this. Until the halfway point, it looked like the episode would explore Amethyst's jealousy over Pearl and Garnet Fusing, and given their prior interaction one would expect Amethyst to be hostile towards her. But when it turns out that Pearl is lying to them all, Amethyst is devastated, tries to clue Pearl in without telling Garnet the truth, and leaps to her defense when Garnet figures it out. She doesn't even take a moment of satisfaction, even though she gets what she wanted at the beginning of the episode.
- It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but in Steven's room, you can see he has a picture of Connie.
- While waiting outside the communication hub hoping that they can catch Peridot repairing it, Steven and Amethyst pass time by playing with their fingers to make optical illusions. It's the happiest they've been for the entirety of the episode, especially Amethyst.
- When Steven realizes that Amethyst is feeling down because of Pearl and Garnet fusing, he decides to plan a stakeout for Peridot for them so she'll feel better.
- The Fusion dance between Pearl and Garnet, and especially when they Unfuse. They're so happy that Garnet twirls Pearl around, laughing the entire time, in a manner rather reminiscent of Ruby and Sapphires' reunion in Jailbreak. And they looked about as ecstatic to have shared that experience together as Ruby and Sapphire did to find each other. It also strengthens Garnet's beliefs on Fusion as opposed of her distressful reaction in "Keeping it Together". Which makes the later half of the episode even more of a Tear Jerker.
- Sardonyx playfully teasing and entertaining Steven while he's completely amazed by her, and showing genuine excitement and joy at meeting him for the first time.
- Lion being Lion and doing cute cat things, like trying to eat Sardonyx's dragonflies.
- After an entire episode spent arguing, Ruby and Sapphire make up.
Ruby: You know what's nice about being split up?Sapphire: What?Ruby: I get to look at you.
- Two words: Laughy Sapphy.
- Then they proceed to be such a pair of Sickeningly Sweethearts that Steven actually has to cover his eyes and look away.
- Though Garnet is still mad at Pearl by the end, she's at least speaking to her again.
- The Oh Crap! look shared between Ruby and Sapphire when Steven storms off. Argument or no argument, Garnet never wants to hurt Steven and so her components.
- While their argument gets much more focus, we get quick insights into Ruby and Sapphire's individual connections to Steven — appropriately, they're Garnet's reactions split down the middle. In short, Sapphire apparently provides Garnet's parental side, while Ruby confers the respect and belief Garnet has in him.
- Sapphire tries to be both reassuring and practical, assuring him that the conflict won't last and downplaying the drama, as many parents would. Basically, she tries to avoid involving him in the fight. However, when Steven's upset, she immediately realizes why he's upset... and the part she and Ruby have played in upsetting him.
- Ruby speaks to Steven as an equal, being honest with him and expecting him to understand why she's so angry. If anything, she overestimates his maturity and is horrified when he blames himself for the situation — why would it even occur to him that he was somehow at fault? If you hear Garnet telling everyone have faith in Steven and never mess his funky flow, it's Ruby that speaks for us.
- Steven's reaction to seeing Garnet, Fused and whole, again.
- When the gang gets back to the Temple, Amethyst is apparently trying to comfort Pearl. Blink and you miss it, but she even had a reassuring hand on Pearl's knee.
- Despite the fact that they're too incensed with each other to pay much heed to Steven, both Ruby and Sapphire do make their separate attempts to humor him. Ruby does end up entering the pool at Steven's request, although her anger and continuing rant about Sapphire causes her to forget that he's in the pool (and as a result almost boil him to death). Sapphire likewise agrees to Steven's request for her to watch TV with him and suggests the channel he'll enjoy the most, but also is too absorbed in her anger to notice that she's freezing the whole room (and him by extension). The other half of it borders on Tear Jerker though due to their being busy being angry.
- The fight itself, ironically, has some sweetness to it. Ruby and Sapphire never resort to petty insults to one another, even after Ruby apologizes to Sapphire and calls herself "stupid", Sapphire quickly responds that Ruby isn't.
- Greg's unwavering patience with Ruby and Sapphire's antics, and his repeated attempts at distracting Steven from their bickering in the diner. Throughout the whole episode, he tries desperately to downplay the tension because he knows how sensitive Steven is and make the best of the bad trip. He shows disappointment when Steven finally reaches his limit and leaves the restaurant in extreme frustration. Despite Steven's outburst ultimately being Ruby and Sapphire's fault (along with the two of them costing him a lot of money in property damage), he doesn't get angry at them, possibly realizing more anger will only make the situation worse. He doesn't even ask to know what was going on; he realizes something is up and they need to be given their space. Greg definitely won the MVP award for this episode.
- Amethyst and Vidalia's friendship. They presumably haven't talked since Steven was a baby, but they don't hold any animosity towards each other. If anything, they're delighted to finally talk to each other again.
- We see a couple of adorable pictures of Amethyst and Vidalia at one point, two friends just goofing off together.
- After getting fed up with Onion's antics, Steven's ready to leave Onion behind and head for the hills... only to spot Amethyst pouring her heart out to Vidalia. Realizing how much Amethyst needs to get away from the drama at home, he turns around and plays with Onion some more.
- Onion showing Steven his private collection of toys, and then giving one to him. As creepy as he may be, Onion really seems to like having Steven around.
- In Onion's secret room, there's a picture of him as an infant in starchild-like pose, and likely painted by his mother when he was a baby.
- Amethyst inviting Vidalia over to the Temple sometime at the end.
- Runs into Nightmare Fuel, but the mouse that came out of Onion's mouth might have been the one he was going to feed to his snake; if so, he kept it alive for Steven!
- It's a quick moment, but it's shown here that Vidalia, Onion, and Sour Cream have a list of dates of when Yellowtail will come back.
- Sour Cream giving Steven the peace sign after the little guy greets him.
- Its very subtlety implied, but the whole episode could be seen as Onion getting Steven to chase him so he'd discover his mother's paintings of Amethyst and reconnect them. No matter how creepy or insidious he can act, he clearly loves his mother and wanted her to be happy.
- And for as... interesting as Onion is, Vidalia clearly adores her youngest child.
- When Steven learns about their relation, Onion clings to Vidalia like a completely normal, shy little boy, nothing like the Creepy Child we're used to.
- It's implied that Onion wanted to make a genuine connection with Steven.
- Vidalia being completely supportive of Sour Cream's dream of being a DJ, even when his equipment uses up all the electricity in the house.
- When Steven starts talking with Pearl about William Dewey's Her Codename Was Mary Sue depiction in the play, his talk about how Perfection Is Impossible (as well as the play itself) seems to help get Pearl out of her funk a bit and feel better about her mistakes, asking Steven when he became so smart.
Steven: Yeah, but nobody's like that. Everybody gets stuff wrong. And then you have to keep going, and it's hard, which is why it's great when you never stop trying!
Pearl: When did you get so smart?
- Pearl going into full on mom mode during the play, loudly calling out to Steven and gushing over how talented he is. Moreover, her encouragement visibly helps Steven get over his nervousness. Team Mom at her finest.
- Indeed, you'd expect this to be an Amazingly Embarrassing Parents moment, but instead of getting embarrassed or trying not to break character, Steven smiles cheerfully and even waves back to Pearl!
- Buck Dewey praises his dad for choosing to portray William Dewey as a troubled figure, rather than a perfect role model. The praise seems to be the final clincher for Mayor Dewey's decision to promote Jamie rather than destroy his career.
- This caps off a running theme of the Sardonyx arc of Steven being emotionally supportive of all the Gems equally. It would be so easy for him to take sides in the conflict, but he chooses to remain a neutral party and focuses all his energy on simply making them happy: he tries to play peacemaker between Ruby and Sapphire during their argument, he bears with Onion's creepy tendencies so Amethyst can receive emotional support from Vidalia, and he gives Pearl much-needed validation and encouragement with his Perfection Is Impossible speech and needing her assistance with fixing the play. Despite his emotions getting the better of him in the first third, he ultimately succeeds three-for-three in lifting their spirits independently of one another. It shows just how much he loves them all, and how much they love him to be that genuinely receptive to his efforts.
- After the events of last episodes, Garnet and Pearl finally have a talk, somewhat cooling down the tension between them.
- Not only somewhat cooling down the tension, either: Sardonyx makes a reappearance, which many thought would be impossible after what happened in ''Cry For Help''. With Sardonyx representing Garnet and Pearl's friendship and trust, and that being what made her [[HesBack reappearance possible again in this episode, reconciliation finally occurred between her components.]]
- Garnet is finally able to speak of her true feelings to someone rather than hiding them behind a stoic face [[TheChainsOfCommanding for the sake of leading the team. She also assures Pearl, who has cripplingly low self-esteem and implications that her kind are a Servant Race to the Gem species as a whole, that her actions have an impact and that she is her own Gem, whose fate is to be decided be herself and herself alone.]]
- Garnet admits that sometimes, she looks toward Pearl for strength, which visibly surprises her. Cue "The Answer" where Garnet first met Pearl as a strong assassin that might have made a strong impression on her as Pearl being someone worthy of praise and admiration.
- Between this episode and "Keystone Motel," it's become clear that Steven is very good at keeping highly personal information to himself. In "Keystone Motel", Greg was unaware of the infighting between the Gems, and even when Steven can't keep a lid on the fact that something's wrong (evident from the two very angry small Gems running around, with the one who dried out an entire pool and the other one who made their room a big meat locker), he doesn't tell his dad why they're fighting. Greg notes that something serious must have happened, but Steven doesn't provide details. Here, we learn that Amethyst and Pearl were completely unaware of what happened between Ruby and Sapphire: Garnet has to explain what happened to Pearl, and an eavesdropping Amethyst is clearly stunned, turning to Steven for confirmation. Given how open Steven usually is, and that anyone living under the horrible atmosphere he'd been stuck in would want to vent to someone, the fact that Steven kept his mouth shut says a lot about his respect and empathy for others: apparently, he decided that it wasn't his place to comment.
- He might not interfere directly because he knows that he can't solve their problems overnight just by talking sense to them and lashing at them (or to unfortunate ones) because it would just aggravate the problem even more but because he believes that his friends will do the right thing in the end. Because he respects them and tries to understand why his friends act and think that way. Counts as an Crowning Moment of Awesome too, since normally people will snap at the dysfunction they'd face. But Steven, being Steven, works hard to keep himself and Crystal Gems together.
- Even after everything she's pulled, Steven greets Peridot with a cheery "Good morning!"
- Amethyst, though she acts annoyed by the other Gems joking around at the end, is glad that Garnet and Pearl have finally made up.
- When Connie laments that she isn't able to practice her swordsmanship as much as she would like at home, Steven immediately takes out the Rose Quartz sword and offers it to her so she can. And with adorable exaggerated "eth"s.
- When they enter the hospital, Connie does her best to reasure Steven that the hospital isn't that scary, it's just how it looks when the lights are turned down. But the second they both are frightened by strange noises they instinctively start to hold hands for comfort.
- Steven protecting Connie from a Cluster Gem. Especially his statement when fighting.
Steven: Keep your hands off my Connie!
- As overprotective as she is, Connie's mother still shows she loves her daughter when she clears a path from the Cluster Gems.
- After one-and-a-half seasons of secrecy, Connie reaches an understanding with her mother about her magical adventures, which draws many parallels to anyone who's ever had to deal with keeping secrets from their parents out of fear of their reaction.
- Not only that, but the realization of just how bad their relationship had become. Connie's mother's behavior was either toeing the line of emotional abuse or well past it, and Connie had come to both resent and fear her. In real life, scenarios like that can't always be expected to end happily, nor should they — which makes it all the more heartening to know that in this particular instance, it's not too late.
- Steven hugs Rose's sword tightly and warmly after seeing Connie reconcile with her mother.
- Sadie adorably singing "I'm Too Famous" while Steven watches, eventually breaking out into applause.
- Barb apologizing for being a Stage Mom and reconciling with Sadie; and Steven also apologizes for pushing Sadie into performing.
- Steven taking Sadie's place complete with dress and makeup, and the town loving it, showing in turn how well they all know and love Steven.
- The ending with Sadie singing in the backroom of the Big Donut with Steven accompanying on his ukulele.
- Kiki and Nanefua doing a ventriloquist act together.
- Smiley giving some advice to Sadie on how to lose stage fright, telling her that a smile never hurt anyone.
- Despite being enemies and just being kidnapped, Steven is legitimately concerned when he sees just how scared Peridot is. His response is to ignore her past transgressions and try and talk with her about what she is afraid of. It seemed to be working until the other Gems arrived.
- Pearl goes straight to hugging Steven after she, Garnet, and Amethyst come to save him.
- Though Amethyst scares and teases Steven once he's back in bed, she also hugs him and says with genuine honesty that she's glad to have him back. Cool Big Sis indeed.
- Steven and Peridot's interactions in the Burning Room are quite Adorkable, especially when he sees her mini-form.
- Peridot making adorable faces in the mirror. It's the happiest we've seen her the entire episode.
- Her reaction to discovering the mirror would also indicate that this is the first time she's seen her reflection.
- Steven helpfully shouting to Peridot through the bathroom door about how to use the shower without burning herself.
- Steven giving Peridot her foot back. It's probably the first time since she got to Earth that someone did something nice for her. The way she clings to it afterwards shows it means a lot to her.
- Also, Peridot locks the door again after receiving her foot, but after a few seconds decides to open it again so Steven can come inside the bathroom.
- Even if she believes he can't do anything, Peridot expresses actual gratitude towards Steven for offering her help.
- The Gems don't get angry at Steven for releasing Peridot. Instead they are only shocked, but they let him explain why he did it and they calm down when he does.
- It's been made obvious before, but for the first time since "Jail Break", Garnet tells Steven that she loves him! The look on her face is absolutely precious.
- She's also holding her hands in a heart shape and doesn't stop until she disappears into the Warp Pad.
- Possibly even better, Peridot calls Steven by his name.
- Well, that is if she's realised it refers to him specifically and not his species. (As one might otherwise hear in "Come back human!" or "There is an infestation of Stevens")
- Steven running around in the rain, whooping and cheering. And the reason Peridot is calling Steven's name is because she's worried for him, and she's scared and wants him back inside so he will be close to her.
- While being a possibly Tear Jerker, seeing Peridot run to Steven when she hears the thunder, believing the world to end is very heartwarming. As much as she acted like she didn't like him, when she thought it was over, she instantly went to the one person that had been nice to her and seeks comfort in at least not dying alone.
- Peridot's first experience with rain. She slowly opens her hand to it before stepping out into it, bit by bit. For the first time, Peridot is experiencing something on Earth that not only is she not bothered by, but is implied to like. Or perhaps...the first time she has ever felt anything.
Steven: See Peridot, isn't this cool?
Peridot: (softly, with rainwater flowing down her face like tears) ... Cool.
- Also, when she trusts Steven and takes a step out in the rain, Steven instantly praises her proudly with a big grin.
- Peridot actually thanking Steven for helping to show her rain is nothing to be afraid of.
- Steven and Peridot holding hands while they explore the Kindergarten.
- Even after they both fall a long way, the first thing he does is to regain hand contact.
- Steven mentions that Greg taught him about how rain works.
- It's pretty sweet, if misguided, that Peridot would place enough trust in Steven's knowledge about the Earth to think they had a chance at stopping the Cluster because of him alone. Considering how freaked out she was by just about everything on Earth, Steven calming her down by explaining some of the basics must have given her a lot of faith in him.
- At the end of the episode, Peridot seems to finally put trust in the Crystal Gems, at least enough to tell them about the Cluster.
- Or, at the very least Peridot trusts ''Steven'' enough to share what she knows with the Crystal Gems.
- Also, Peridot standing up for Steven and taking the blame for them going to the Kindergarten.
- Plus, while it likely may have just been for Steven's sake, which is heartwarming in itself, she corrects herself when calling the Gems "Crystal Clods," backing up and properly calling them "Crystal Gems" for once.
- Pearl compliments Steven's lovely drawing, and gently lets him know that the drill likely won't look like his drawing.
- When Pearl and Peridot both show their robots, Pearl announces cheerily that her's is bigger. Seeing that Peridot had not only been a source of fear and anger for almost a entire season, but also hurt Pearls pride and selfworth, it is quite adorable that she seems to have fun.
- When the competition between Pearl and Peridot winds up as a tie, Pearl graciously accepts it and tries to cool things off with Peridot. Peridot, however, doesn't listen.
- The general support Pearl gets from the Crystal Gems, cheering her on during the competition, making sure she's alright after Peridot's eventually wins by way of direct combat and complimenting her on her efforts.
- Notably, it's Amethyst who is the first one to start cheering on Pearl when she fights Peridot. Afterwards, she gives Pearl a big hug and even asks to come wrestling with her. Despite usually being at odds with each other, it's nice to see Amethyst showing complete adoration towards Pearl and openly acknowledging her fighting skills.
- Garnet likewise shows Pearl nothing but support, and it appears she's more or less completely put the Sardonyx incident behind her. Pearl herself looks particularly bashful when Garnet comes to congratulate her.
- Steven defending Pearl from Peridot's attitude at the end.
- this◊ is Pearl's face as he does so.
- Also, Garnet and Amethyst have the broadest of grins as Steven speaks.
- Though not exactly apologizing for her earlier behavior, Peridot compliments Pearl's skills by the end of the episode, and Pearl has the good graces not to force an apology out.
- If one considers the short time frame and that Peridot is having to give up on a fairly ingrained world view, her finding it in herself to be conciliatory towards Pearl so quickly is actually quite amazing. Peridot's seeing that another Gem has the potential to become more than they were meant to be, and given the Fantastic Caste System that Homeworld seems to enforce, that idea might be completely foreign to her. More than that, given her shown bitterness about her own physical weakness and limited abilities, Peridot might actually like what Pearl represents.
- In fact, the short time period in which Peridot shows the development is most probably the reason why Pearl accepts the compliment at the end with a smile and doesn't force an apology.
- Garnet proudly telling Pearl that she (Garnet) was right. A callback to "Friendship" where she told Pearl to find her own strength and motivations.
- The Reveal about Pearl's origins gives us a whole new perspective on why she loved Rose so much. In particular, the line "Rose made me feel like I was everything" carries a lot more weight when you consider that Pearl likely spent a good portion of her life being told she was little more than a servant.
- It also brings up the possibility that Pearl actually was Rose's servant, and that Rose established a relationship with her as equals instead of a master-slave relationship. Despite the glaring evidence that Pearl latched onto this in an unhealthy way, it was still important to both of them from a development standpoint that this be established; for Rose, it would reinforce her All-Loving Hero status, and for Pearl, it would be the catalyst for her eventually developing into the competent warrior and engineer we've seen so far.
- Steven giving Peridot a tape recorder as an apology for breaking her limb enhancers.
- Just how much Peridot seemed to enjoy joking around with Amethyst, makes it almost seem as if she's rarely even had an opportunity to enjoy being 'funny' around someone else. While the implications aren't necessarily pleasant, the amount of happiness Peridot showed while hanging out with one of her enemies was strikingly sweet.
- Peridot's apology to Amethyst for certain.
Peridot: ... I have concluded that they are all defective. But I am no better. I failed my mission and I'm now working with the enemy. And I can't even get that right. I have apparently "hurt" Amethyst's "feelings", which was not my intent. If I damaged my standing with the best Gem here, then I've made a serious mistake. I'm still learning. I hope you understand. I want to understand. I'm sorry.
- Even more importantly, Amethyst accepting the apology with a smile.
Steven: Oh Peridot!
- Even more importantly, Amethyst accepting the apology with a smile.
- Peridot snapping the child leash and intentionally putting herself in harm's way to save Amethyst from the runaway injector drill head is sweet. Especially how she cries Amethyst's name in concern when she sees the drill head going toward the unaware Gem.
- When Peridot ends up sitting on Amethyst after rescuing her from the drill she instantly apologizes. Steven misunderstands the reason and congratulates her on being polite. Peridot then apologizes for that as well.
- The final line of the episode, after Peridot makes up with Amethyst.
Steven: How do you feel?Peridot: Big.
- While Peridot might have chosen her words terribly, she clearly voiced she, even after such a short time, has respect for Amethyst and tells her that despite staying underground for too long, she still has all the qualities that make a Quartz, fitting to be a leader and warrior, and that Pearl and Garnet are supposed to be taking orders from her. Considering all the insecurity Amethyst has shown before, it really is a shame Peridot worded this the way she did, because phrased more carefully it might have been as much a balm on Amethyst's wounds as Garnet's "YOU decide your fate. Not me. Not Rose. Not Steven." speech was to Pearl.
- A subtle one, but the fact that while Steve was visibly uncomfortable with Peridot's assessment of him, he still set aside his own feelings in favor of Amethyst's, who was visibly seething at the implication of being defective. Steven spends the rest of the episode trying to get Peridot to understand what she did wrong, and at no point does he demand or even imply that he himself wants an apology.
- Amethyst also manages this in the same scene. The last time someone (Pearl) pissed her off in the Kindergarten by striking that particular nerve, she went into a Berserker Rage that damn near killed Pearl and extremely upset Steven. This time, she is far more calm and collected, not even raising her voice sans her battle cry when shearing the drill head off. Notably, she takes out her frustration on the drill head instead of physically attacking Peridot. She is also much more gentle with Steven this time around; the first time, she roughly shoves him aside or ties him up to get him out of the way, and runs away in shame after realizing that she made him cry. This time, she simply touches his shoulder to get him to stop intervening. At the end of Peridot's assessment, Steven timidly asks if Amethyst is okay. Amethyst morosely tells him not to worry about it. All in one go, she's displaying enough faith in Steven to not use Peridot's words to ostracize her, and she's showing more self-control by behaving in ways that won't upset Steven.
- The episode's premise is that we finally get to see how Ruby and Sapphire met.
- The circumstances of said meeting: Ruby, with 2 other Rubies, was supposed to act as a bodyguard to Sapphire, who was high-ranked because of her Future Vision. The two other Rubies fighting cause our Ruby to bump into Sapphire, who gracefully accepts the awkward apology. A while later, Sapphire is resigned to her fate at the hands of Pearl, but Ruby will have none of that and saves Sapphire, accidentally fusing with her in the process. When Blue Diamond threatens to smash Ruby's gem for that, Sapphire returns the favor by saving Ruby and running away with her, abandoning her place in the Homeworld hierarchy. Extra points for Ruby's rage at a blameless Gem like Sapphire just walking into her death seeping into Garnet's voice as she talked about Sapphire having accepted her fate but Ruby not being able to.
- Garnet wishing Steven a happy birthday as early as possible; at midnight.
- It makes "Jailbreak" more heartwarming as well: Garnet wanted to introduce Ruby and Sapphire to Steven on his birthday. In a certain way, she does.
- Steven squishing Garnet's face. Just, adorable.
- The adorably awkward little song Ruby and Sapphire sing just before they decide to Fuse for good.
Ruby: And now you're here [on Earth] forever!
- The way they start humming "Stronger Than You" while dancing/purposely fusing for the first time.
- The last sentences of the song mark the end of their "after-glow" into what's practically a Love Confession.
Sapphire: What about you?
Ruby: What about me?
Sapphire: Well, you're here too. We're here together. (Holds Ruby's hand)
- The connotation of Fusion being something very intimate similar to sex is made once more clear during their love song. Not only did Ruby instantly apologize once they had Unfused back in court, but during the love song, it shows just how intimate it is. And that while not consensual then, that both don't hold a grudge. It really feels like two teenagers that had their first time, possibly felt awkward, accidentally hurt each other and then try to reassure each other afterwards that they still appreciate the experience.
Ruby: And you haven't before...
Sapphire: Of course not! When would I have ever?
Ruby: I'm so sorry!
Sapphire: No no! Don't be!
- Baby pastel-coloured Garnet, so confused in herself and so dramatically different from the cool, collected Badass we know and love, but so adorable.
- The Title Drop, when the newly formed Garnet meets Rose and Pearl. Kind of sappy, but it's hard not to smile.
Rose: Don't ever question this. You ARE the answer.
(cut to the present)
Steven: So? What was it? The answer?
Garnet: (softly) Love.
Steven: (excitedly) Wooow! I knew it!
Garnet: So did I.
- A retroactive CMOH for "Jailbreak": Sapphire wasn't just singing the chorus line to what would eventually become "Stronger Than You" to alert Ruby to her whereabouts: she was singing their song to call to her partner and let her know she was okay!
- The episode ends with the usual star outro... followed by hearts.
- We get another glimpse of Rose's empathy and kindness, and her first conversation with Garnet:
Garnet: I don't... upset you?
Rose: Who cares about how I feel? How you feel is bound to be much more interesting.
Garnet: I feel... lost... and scared... and- and happy. W-why am I so sure I'd rather be this than everything I was supposed to be? And that I'd rather do this than everything I was supposed to do?Rose: [grins along with Pearl] Welcome to Earth!
- Garnet's answer, describing her feelings, is not just a perfect encapsulation of her situation, but the feelings of anyone who has ever been persecuted for being who they want to be. Rose's response is just as heartwarming.
- Sapphire worrying over Ruby and always considering her feelings despite being tons of her is heartwarming in "Jailbreak's" retrospective; who cares about Ruby? Sapphire does.
- In a sweet little moment, while hiding from the rain in a cave, Ruby turns to see Sapphire brushing the Blinding Bangs from in front of her eye. The sight was enough to get Ruby so hot under the collar she causes the twigs and branches under her feet to catch on fire.
- During this episode's montage, we see Ruby and Sapphire fascinated by a butterfly, until it's eaten by a frog... and then the pair proceed to find the frog equally fun. These two are aliens on a completely new planet, probably down there for the first time considering Sapphire's attitude at the beginning of the episode, and their first reaction is to be delighted by every part of it, together. No wonder Garnet makes for such a good Crystal Gem.
- If you pay attention closely to Sapphire you'll notice she's shedding Tears of Joy after Unfusing. Fusion must have really woke up strong emotions in Sapphire and Ruby.
- Garnet's speech when asked about how she feels encapsulates the feelings of anyone who has ever been persecuted being who they want to be.
- Steven worries about not looking his age for Connie, complaining that "When she's president, what will that make me? First boy?" Which is sweeter: him naturally assuming he's going to marry Connie, or him thinking it's equally obvious that she'll be president?
- Amethyst and Pearl dancing together. If one were to look closely, one can notice that both are incorporating each other's type of dance.
- Pearl complimenting Connie's skills during their game against Steven and Amethyst in racquetball.
- A small one, but the fact that Connie's parents are letting her stay over Steven's for the weekend. While they did send her every piece of medical equipment possible, they are making progress in letting their daughter have her independence.
- Greg showing Connie pictures of Steven's previous birthdays.
- The Crystal Gems deciding to take a break from working on the drill in order to celebrate Steven's birthday.
- Garnet and Pearl telling Steven how much he has grown over the past year.
- Steven's and Connie's Convenient Slow Dance is absolutely precious.
- Greg holding a small piñata for Amethyst to try and hit. It seems they've made great strides in repairing their friendship.
- In general the Gems getting in on the birthday fun by actually participating, even when Steven isn't watching. Seeing that they were not really interested in "Too many birthdays", it shows they at least slightly understand the traditions and that they're just meant for fun now.
- Likewise, despite Peridot not being interested in the proceedings, Amethyst still made a point of trying to invite her to join the party.
- Connie crying Tears of Joy and hugging Steven (who gives out a Crush Blush) when he returns to normal.
- In a subtle bit, Connie gives Steven a new pink shirt, which he wears even though it's more like a vest on his larger body. When he returns to normal, he puts on the shirt properly.
- The Crystal Gems baking a Cookie Cat cake for Steven's birthday.
- Garnet making goofy faces and sticking out her tongue to placate baby Steven is absolutely adorable, not only because it's Garnet, but also because she uses her third eye as part of her repertoire.
- Amethyst transforming into a baby seat for Steven was a sweet gesture on her part.
- Amethyst is really chill and on top of things about taking care of Baby Steven, considering she's the wild one. She's even the first one to reach for Baby Stevie.
- Hell, Amethyst proves to be a better mother than Pearl, who immediately freaks out at the thought of taking care of baby Steven.
- Same with Garnet who asks for Steven the moment Pearl backs away, just to try and humour him in an attempt to stop him from crying. She even looks disappointed when it doesn't work. Seeing that she is the one that actually bothers to continously tell him that she loves him and is always very affectionate to him, it is lovely to see her extend this even to Baby!Steven (though making it a Tear Jerker that it doesn't work out).
- Greg confirms that he was the one who looked after Steven as a baby, because the Gems really had no idea what to do with a human infant. That's how awesome Greg is, even after losing his wife in a very painful way, he still took care of their son from the getgo.
- The one thing that manages to finally calm down a crying Baby Steven is Connie's reassurance that she'll be there to watch over him whenever the Crystal Gems do "Gem stuff" and his dad is busy with his job.
- A small one, but the next day when Connie wakes to find only Steven's shirt and mistakenly thinks he's gotten even smaller. Why is this sweet? Because it implies that Connie and Steven slept in the same tent together.
- Peridot begins to open up to Steven and the Gems, even joining in SINGING with them around a campfire as well as clearly enjoying herself during a Hard Work Montage. It makes the latter part of the episode more of a Shocking Swerve.
- The contents of the song are made of heartwarming too, as they talk about the planet Earth and how it's precious and worthy of protection. Keep in mind, the song was made up by Steven on the fly, proving yet again that Steven takes after his mother.
- Peridot's song that Steven urges her to write is full of subtle sweetness. Just the fact she's performing it in front of a campfire with everyone sitting down to listen shows they've all come very far together. No one is offended when she calls them 'insane' in the lyrics, she adds that she is too, and that "anyone would be if stuck on the earth with you," basically admitting the Gems have rubbed off on her. Steven's reaction to the song is to laugh and cheer her on, just happy she made a thing for the sheer enjoyment of making it. It's really quite amazing.
- Garnet giving Peridot an appreciative pat on the back for creating the drill and adding "nice work".
- Steven thanking Lion for his hard work of getting them to the moon, combined with snuggles.
- The Crystal Gems' anger at Peridot's flippant disregard for all the lives that would have been lost if Earth had been colonized. Even if they are somewhat prejudiced against humans, they still see them as valuable and worth protecting.
- As much of a Tear Jerker as it was, Steven's disappointment in Peridot after it seemed that she was coming around on Earth is pretty heartwarming; even after she denigrated his planet and his mother's life mission that she ultimately gave her life for, he can't muster up the hatred to be truly angry with her like the Crystal Gems are.
- Added to this, the fact that Steven begged a visibly incensed Garnet not to beat Peridot's face in for what she said is this and a CMOA. He's seen what Garnet can do with those fists and he had every reason to be just as pissed at Peridot as Garnet and the others were, but he didn't want to see her get hurt.
- Steven's faith in Peridot being rewarded by her HeelFace Turn.
Peridot: I won't do it! I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!
- And her reason for the HeelFace Turn? She wanted the Earth to be spared. Though her reasoning is more logical than emotional, the fact she wishes NOT to destroy the Earth is still a big change. And that she threw away a chance to get off the planet to do so.
- When Steven locks her into the car, she is instantly terrified, starts begging and crying and even calls Steven her friend. She may have difficulty in understanding herself and even more problems with telling others what she actually thinks, but in that moment it was clear that she really likes Steven.
- Even though her reason for this does seem mostly out of losing respect for Yellow Diamond, the way she intentionally takes the blame for her ship crashing over the Gems after seeing Steven's desperate expression and some of the crushed faces she has when talking to Yellow Diamond, along with the delivery of some of her lines, make the fact she truly does care about the Gems and Earth abundantly clear.
- Just the fact that Peridot was never going to betray the Crystal Gems. She only wanted to do what they were doing: Protect Earth. And she thought she could reason with Yellow Diamond on how to do it. It may have not worked, but kudos for her for trying. If it weren't for her Poor Communication Kills, she may even have gotten the approval and trust of at least Steven to do it.
- Heck, she even took the blame for them destroying the ship back in "Jailbreak". She really has come to think of them as friends.
- In a way, Peridot's faith in Yellow Diamond is this. She wasn't planning to sell Earth out behind the Gems' backs; she just thought their way of going about things—armed rebellion, destroying the Cluster—was stupid and fueled by "emotion over reason," hating the Authority too much to negotiate with them. In her own words, they're just delaying the inevitable. Clearly, the best way to save Earth for real is to make the Diamonds not want to destroy it. She tried to explain her plan to Steven; she just did so very badly.
- Peridot genuinely believed, up to the very end, that her Diamond was OBVIOUSLY a wise, objective, reasonable person who would of course want a mutually-beneficial solution, and that a simple conversation would be enough.
- Despite their previous disputes all of the Crystal Gems are visibly happy to have been proven wrong about Peridot and are quite willing to welcome her into their ranks.
Steven: Do you know what this means?Peridot: I'm a traitor to my Homeworld.Steven: You're a Crystal Gem!Garnet: Whether you like it or not.
- Seeing Steven smile after he hears Peridot say there are things on Earth worth protecting. Hearing Peridot's words really restored his faith in her.
- In a way, Amethyst's reactions to Peridot's supposed betrayal. She was just as upset as Steven. The point? It shows that she really treasured her friendship with Peridot.
- This comment from a reviewer makes it even more heartwarming.
Smalley:...Amethyst seemed to be the Crystal Gem most personally hurt and outraged by Peridot's betrayal at the beginning of the episode. I think that because of her parallels to Amethyst, Peridot's become Amethyst's friend and counterpart in a way that the older Gems and Steven and the humans can't quite equal. It's definitely of interest to me to see what their relationship looks like in the future.
- This comment from a reviewer makes it even more heartwarming.
- Garnet's response to Peridot's attempting to convince Yellow Diamond of Earth's worth is quite sweet. She sounds somewhat amused, but also impressed at Peridot's genuine willingness to go out on a limb and argue the case.
- While it's brief and subtle, Yellow Diamond's treatment of her Pearl has some heartwarming aspects of it. Instead of being made to "stand around and look pretty", she is Yellow Diamond's secretary. And when Yellow Diamond asks her Pearl who is using the private diamond communication line, she doesn't ask it in a rude manner and gently takes it from her Pearl to handle it. Despite her being a jerkass, these are some real Pet the Dog moments.
- Although YMMV on that, as Yellow Diamond's Pearl starts flinching and placing the blame on Peridot as soon as Yellow Diamond starts getting annoyed, suggesting her diamond may not be all that kind to her.
- While it is somewhat disturbing to see Peridot go almost insane from having insulted Yellow Diamond, it is also quite adorable to see that one of her emotions is great pleasure in having had the courage to do it.
- Upon once more realizing that she is now a Crystal Gem, apparently one of her biggest issues is to decide where on her body she should put the star. Seeing that she was wailing during the ending of the last episode when being told she now joined the team, this shows just how much she has already accepted being a CG now.
- Garnet places a comforting hand on Peridot's shoulder while she's going through her emotional breakdown and suggests she calms down, which immediately works.
- The flashbacks show that Garnet, whose very existence has been repeatedly insulted by Peridot, has started to act friendly and encouraging towards her and even offered to Fuse with her to help her understand it better. Equally nice is that Peridot admits she has a better understanding of Garnet now.
- Not only does Garnet offer to Fuse with Peridot, the latter takes her up on the offer. However, despite it all, they begin, but Peridot isn't ready for such a big change so quickly. The fact that she at least tried shows tremendous growth on Peridot's part, and the aftermath of the failed Fusion, where she and Garnet both accept each other for who they are, is one of the series' most heartwarming moments.
- The handling of Garnet's offer and Peridot ultimately declining is a meta-example. Most shows don't go the extra mile in, even in a roundabout way, discussing consent and visibly showing how it should work between people, regardless of what the consent is for. Steven Universe: teaching kids that saying no is okay, and that it's not unreasonable to expect people to respect that - even if you change your mind.
- Especially because it isn't even discussed or argued by Garnet at all. The moment Peridot says "No", Garnet lets her go and allows Peridot to back off and gain some distance until she feels comfortable again. If we take the situation as two people about to have sex, most media have the dominant person show displeasure at having to stop, complain or try to change the other's mind gently. Garnet does no such thing, she instantly breaks body contact and acts supportive of Peridot at least having tried to go along, making clear that she will wait for however long Peridot needs and has not taken personal offense in Peridot quitting in the middle.
- It actually goes even deeper than that. Garnet makes the offer which visibly freaks Peridot out and Garnet says that she can understand, if Peridot is not ready for it yet. Peridot gives it a try after feeling ashamed of having freaked out, just to quit last minute. Most shows, no matter if for kids or adults, only show someone saying no to the offer, but once they agree to it, they go through with it, even if they get doubts. Peridot and Garnet show that it doesn't matter, if it is when casually sitting around or already being more or less in the middle of it, the moment you feel uncomfortable, it is ok to quit and the other should respect this. For this being a kids show, it is really impressive.
- In general, Garnet's interactions with Peridot in this episode feel just as motherly/big sisterly as a lot of her interactions with Steven, and it really is heartwarming to see.
- The way Garnet is able to explain her status as a "Permafusion" to Peridot in terms she can understand, is pretty nice. It really drives it home that Garnet was actively working on trying to gain an understanding of Peridot, rather than expecting Peridot to do everything from her end. Especially noteable is that - once again - Garnet proves that she actually listens to those around her. It first seems as a Funny Background Event that Garnet suddenly sits with Steven and Peridot in front of the TV. But when Peridot voices confusion about why she is a Permafusion, Garnet quotes the very thing that Peridot loved about the TV show and Peridot understands it instantly.
- Peridot reading a book on jokes, because, as the subtitle of the book says, she is trying to learn 'How to make people laugh around you instead of feel bad'.
- We get to see Pearl and Amethyst Fuse with no problems at all.
- Pearl struggling to contain her laughter at Amethyst's joke, showing that's grown fond of Amethyst's sense of humor.
- Followed not long after by Peridot faking a laugh for Pearl's similar joke, privately noting "Pearl tries really hard for some reason and I appreciate that." Judging from Pearl's prideful grin, she appreciates the compliment.
- The fact alone that Pearl is making a joke is heartwarming. She is usually the more serious one, often only laughing when nervous or victorious after a battle. She has probably noticed that Peridot gets along very well with Amethyst and in an attempt to befriend Peridot, she copied her. She is awkward, but the very thing that she tries to approach Peridot in a way that Peridot seems comfortable with is really great, especially since Peridot had spend a lot of time insulting Pearl.
- Garnet showing approval for all of Peridot's attempts at learning more about Earth/The Gems (minus pushing Greg off the roof of the barn to see if he can fly), whether it's trying on Goofy Print Underwear, getting enthusiastic about an Earth TV show, or laughing and enjoying time with Pearl and Amethyst. And she doesn't do it loudly to draw attention to Peridot's attempts and potentially embarrass her, she just gives her a small smile and a thumbs up.
- And with Garnet always showing up at the right place at the right time, it is very likely she had been using Future Vision to keep track of Peridot and prevent her from doing too much damage and acknowledging her development.
- At the end, Peridot even mimics the thumbs up Garnet has been giving with a small blush.
- And with Garnet always showing up at the right place at the right time, it is very likely she had been using Future Vision to keep track of Peridot and prevent her from doing too much damage and acknowledging her development.
- Peridot is very visibly pleased when Amethyst pays her a compliment, blushing and smiling awkwardly shortly afterwards.
- Greg shows his sweet side once more by immediately forgiving Peridot for almost killing him by shoving him off the roof to see if he could fly. And even before that: Peridot was sitting quietly in front of him glaring which made him visibly uncomfortable, but he simply greets her and awkwardly waits for a reaction instead of being rude or leaving the threatening Gem.
- Points also to Garnet for saving him.
- Garnet's small smile when Peridot shouts she does understand Earth, with Garnet responding with an accurate, "No, you don't". It's almost reminiscent of a mother gently scolding her child.
- Points also to Garnet for saving him.
- Amethyst transforming into a chicken. Why? Because Peridot asked her to.
- Even better: Amethyst specifically asked Peridot if she had a request.
- But wait! There's more! Peridot wanted to know what a chicken was so she could understand a joke. This was one of her attempts at learning about Earth.
- Also Amethyst having turned into Peridot before this, complete with mimicking her. Peridot is first weirded out by it, but when Amethyst shows that she has observed Peridot (proving that she is interested), but still acknowledges that only Peridot can truly be her (which is a compliment for Gems that are assigned a number and otherwise have no feeling of individuality in Homeworld), Peridot is visibly flattered by it.
- Peridot including Garnet in one of her tape recordings.
- Garnet telling Peridot of how proud she is of her because Peridot made an effort to try and understand why Garnet chooses to stay as a Fusion.
- Despite becoming somewhat annoyed and even falling asleep, Steven (at some point joined by Garnet) listens to Peridot's entire rant on why she thinks Pierre and Percy make the best couple. At the end of the rant, Garnet again gives Peridot a thumbs up.
- Garnet's recording on Peridot's diary tells us something really quite amazing: she knew all along that Peridot would become a Crystal Gem. This log entry occurred before the trip to the moon, and Garnet already knew that Peridot would give Steven back the recorder and why, but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to interfere. Garnet saw a future in which Peridot joined their ranks and chose to take the steps to ensure its fruition. If there was any doubt that Peridot was wanted on the team, it was erased right there.
- The way Garnet picks Peridot up near the beginning of the episode is heartwarming in retrospect— note that the first time she touched Peridot's back it was to squeeze her to death to protect Pearl, in Catch and Release, and the second time, patting her on the back in congratulations in It Could've Been Great, Peridot panicked. This time? She picks her up by the arms first so she isn't startled, and then wraps her arms gently around her. Not only is Garnet being careful to respect Peridot's boundaries, Peridot trusts her enough that it works.
Season 3
"Super Watermelon Island"
- The Gems were a complete mess as Alexandrite in "Fusion Cuisine". Here, they again come close to splitting apart, but manage to keep it together, and are united enough to hold their own against one of the most powerful characters in the show. Driving the point home, Alexandrite's arrow turns into a projection of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl holding hands, echoing how the Laser Light Cannon turns into a projection of Rose. It shows how far they've come as a team since the beginning of the series, which is saying a lot since they'd already been a team for thousands of years at that point.
- Granted, Guide to the Crystal Gems had Garnet state that Alexandrite was a deadly force in battle when the three of them shared the resolve to fight, which means this isn't all THAT significant, but it still feels heartwarming.
- The Gems are starting to take pages from Stevens book. Alexandrite offers Malachite a chance to not fight. It shows how much they came since their usual response to trouble is violence. And she only seems to fight Malachite out of concern for her component Gems, telling them they "should spend some time apart" and forcing them to Unfuse rather than destroying them.
- At the end of the fight, Alexandrite gently catches the unconscious Lapis Lazuli and Jasper in two of her hands.
- Steven rousing the Stevenmelons to the aid of the Crystal Gems.
- The Stevenmelons blushing as the Gems thank them and Steven for helping.
- The Gems telling Steven they love him and he can do this before he returns to his body to save the world. You can just tell they have faith in him being able to. Which shows just how far Steven and his relationship with them has come. Believe in Steven...
- Amethyst: You got this, dude! You know the drill.
Pearl: Be careful, Steven. Watch each others' backs.
Garnet: And Steven... we love you.
- And before that, Steven runs up to hug Pearl and she instantly recognizes him.
- The Stevenmelons have made a functioning society, complete with baby melons. It's adorable.
- After everything that's happened, when the Cluster's earthquake creates massive crevices, Amethyst is quick to reach for Lapis' hand and keeps her from falling in, and Pearl makes an attempt to reach for Jasper before she slides too far away, and Steven being worried when Jasper falls.
- Two of the melons adopting a baby melon at the start.
- Baby Melon is memorialized in a statue at the center of the melon town, with other baby melons being taught by the melon elder.
- Malachite's reaction to the Watermelon Stevens attacking her. A genuine smile and an amused giggle. True, it might be because of how seemingly futile the Watermelon Stevens attack might be, or another reason that might belong more in Nightmare Fuel than Heartwarming, but either way it's probably the happiest moment in the life of a being made of hatred.
- Peridot saying that even though she still misses Homeworld, she appreciates the friendship of Steven and the Gems.
- Steven's last words as he thinks he and Peridot are about to be killed by the Cluster (or at least the Earth being destroyed)?
Steven: I love you, Peridot!
- Peridot's response? A direct Call Back to Steven's explanation on how to express gratitude in "Log Date 7-15-2".
Peridot: (Teary-eyed) Wow, thanks.
- Before that, Peridot apologizes to Steven for failing to save him and "the billions of other lifeforms who matter far, far less to me!"
- Peridot's response? A direct Call Back to Steven's explanation on how to express gratitude in "Log Date 7-15-2".
- Peridot straight up abandons the drill's controls to help Steven when his empathetic connection with the Cluster starts seriously hurting him, despite the possibility that dropping their offence could have gotten them killed.
- Steven convinces the Cluster shards to bubble each other so they won't have to destroy the Earth.
- Let's put this in perspective: Steven defeats a planet destroying Eldritch Abomination by talking to it until it decides to stay in the planet and become friends with itself!
- The entire scene with Steven convincing the Cluster shards to talk to one another. They begin greeting one another with hellos and his and some of them sound enthusiastic.
- The Cluster itself has a pretty heartwarming moment when Steven tells it that forming would destroy the Earth. All the Gems in the Cluster just start saying "no" in a quiet, saddened tone. Added to later with how desperately they say "can't stop, going to form" when they start forming anyway. As Garnet said in Keeping it Together, most of the Cluster experiments were made from fallen Crystal Gems. They already died once to protect the Earth, and when faced with the knowledge that they're about to do something that would hurt it, they desperately don't want to.
- Peridot hugging Steven after returning to the surface, exclaiming "You did it!" in preventing the Cluster from forming. Steven is quick to remind her that they did it together.
- Even with all the risks involved and the impossibility of predicting what will happen, the Gems bring the unconscious Lapis back home with them, willing to give her the same chance that turned out so well with Peridot. And as their reactions from the previous episode detailed earlier show, they were willing to even try with Jasper, before she fell into that crevice.
- It's brief, but when Peridot explains molten peridotite (the substance that earth-made peridots are made of) to Steven, there is something about her voice and expression that seems almost nostalgic, as though she were reminiscing about an old friend. It's quite a sweet little moment.
- This sneak peek shows us Lapis laughing, twice! Happy Lappy!
- Remember that fart joke in "Mirror Gem?" While flying over Jersey, some guy yelled and threw a boot at Lapis and Steven. The boot missed them, and what was Lapis' reaction? Doing that same fart joke to the guy as a response! She remembered~! After seeing Lapis so depressed for such a long time, it's nice to see this playful (if somewhat immature) side of her and it goes to show how close she is to Steven.
- After millennia of being imprisoned and abused, Lapis finally has her freedom. Whilst she has trouble adjusting at first, she's finally ready to give the Earth a chance at being a new home.
- The way Steven gets Lapis to realize that is the case: do the one thing no one has done for Lapis for eons: give her a choice. He gives HER the choice to stay or go. To come to love the Earth or leave.
- Steven offering to let Peridot come back to the Temple with them. Even if she didn't, it was still a nice thought.
- Peridot gushing about how cool the trip to stop the Cluster was, while also not getting so wrapped up that she forgets to give Steven the proper credit and letting him tell his part.
- And the Gems all sit there and listen with full intention, even smiling amused at Peridot.
- Peridot, with the help of Steven, giving Lapis an apology card. And by the way, there's a crayon picture (Steven drew the pictures) of Lapis and Peridot smiling on the front◊! Somewhat undermined by the contents, though...
- Funnily enough, considering how much Peridot seems to appreciates finding out new things, she might have thought what she wrote was genuinely complimentary.
- For the first time, we see Lapis content and comfortable with her surroundings. She's not angsting or brooding anymore, she's clearly relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere on Earth for the first time ever. Too bad her moments of peace don't last long.
- Peridot giving her recorder, her most precious earthly possession, as a gift to Lapis in an attempt at a peace offering.
- When Lapis tells Peridot that she doesn't want to be near her, Peridot leaves immediately, without complaining. It doesn't last, because of the Roaming Eye, but it's nice that her final decision was to do what Lapis needed, rather than telling her to leave or anything.
- After saving them from the Roaming Eye, Lapis asks if Peridot is o.k., Peridot responds with a huge grin and a giggle, making Lapis blush.
- Even better. That may be Peridot's first completely happy smile in the series. Not a smug smile, not a Cat Smile, not a Slasher Smile, not a Laughing Mad smile, but one of pure joy. It's goofy and Adorkable, but hey, that's Peridot in a nutshell. Compare that face to her first appearance back in "Warp Tour", and marvel at how far she's come.
- After saving them from the Roaming Eye, Lapis asks if Peridot is o.k., Peridot responds with a huge grin and a giggle, making Lapis blush.
- It's not that obvious, but when Lapis protects Steven and Peridot, Peridot says "Holy Smokes", only for the Gems to arrive and Amethyst to say the same thing. The two are apparently still very close, even though we haven't seen anything of that lately.
- As irritated as Lapis gets with Peridot, she never lets that seep onto Steven. She instantly comes when he calls for her, humors him by using her wings as blindfolds, and gently lets him know that he isn't at fault for her temper.
- Lapis' anger itself, ironically, has some sweetness to it. She never resorts to physically assaulting Peridot (Lapis could have easily poofed her, if so), even after she takes out her anger on Peridot's tape recorder first.
- WARNING: Fans have called this "the gayest episode yet", beating "The Answer" in terms of warm gay fuzzies.
- A large portion of Ruby and Sapphire's scenes during the baseball game is them openly and shamelessly flirting with one another.
- The Gems all reacting happily when they see Ruby and Sapphire. Steven even rushes up and hugs them!
- When Peridot wonders why the Gems are bothering to help her even though she's done nothing but cause problems, Garnet replies "We help out anyone who calls the planet home. Even clods like you."
Peridot: That's my word.
- Even better is that Peridot appears incredibly touched by Garnet saying "clod"
- What about the fact Garnet actually Unfused to protect Peridot? Given how much she doesn't want to do that under most situations, it says a lot about how she feels about Peridot now.
- Lapis gives her human alias as "Bob". It's impressive that she still remembers Steven's "No prob, Bob" line way back in "Ocean Gem".
- Just the fact that Lapis is even playing baseball is pretty heartwarming. She thinks it's a dumb plan, and she doesn't really have to play, considering she hates both Peridot and the Crystal Gems. But if it's for Steven? No problem.
- Very small moment; Lapis returns Ruby's hi-five. Her hatred of the Crystal Gems is ebbing!
- Another small moment; Lapis gives a small smile to the Ruby with gem located at her knee.
- The fact that when the ruse gets revealed, Lapis just files in with the rest of the Crystal Gems without argument or hesitation. While it might be to protect Steven, the fact she doesn't complain or show any annoyance with it does say a lot about how she's changed.
- Peridot attempts to sacrifice herself to save the others. It turned out to not really be necessary, but points for trying.
- It even seemed to get Lapis' attention, with her sour mood giving away to apparent surprise as Peridot was offering herself up. Another step forward to Lapis realizing how much Peridot has changed perhaps?
- A small one. Pearl gleefully says "Nice" upon Amethyst getting a home run, even though she does so in a way that had a chance of blowing their cover. The Pearl at the very start of the show would've freaked out over that. She's come a long way.
- The third Ruby to step out of the ship, the one with her gem located on her stomach. She's much more soft-spoken and outgoing than her teammates, gets entranced by the sight of the planet (which she immediately describes as "lovely"), and just looks so adorably blissful looking around.
- The Gems spending all night keeping Steven company.
- Sadie is genuinely happy to see Steven again and instantly tells him to be early to get a freshly baked donut.
- It's even sweeter: when Steven gets his donut at the end, he mentions that it's his favorite kind. Sadie didn't make just any donut, she made Steven's donut.
- While yes, she's in a bit of a panic, it's nice to see Pearl back in doting mother figure mode. Recent episodes have spent a lot of time on her issues (specifically the Rose-related ones that muddy her relationship with Steven), often meaning that we see her resentment and insecurity issues before we see her genuine devotion to Steven. It's good to see her fully concerned and affectionate again, no strings attached.
- When Steven asks to be weighed down with items in order to fall faster, Pearl drapes a jacket over him with a tender expression. It didn't help Steven's purpose, but its sweet to see what her priorities were.
- She gets disappointed when Steven, in his rush to get to the Big Donut, forgets to hug her on the way out. Hopefully she did eventually get that hug she wanted (and knowing what a Cuddle Bug Steven is, she did with interest).
- Steven helping Sour Cream with his show.
- Steven's response when he sees his dad's old jerk manager is back in town? Declare he'll protect his dad!
- Yellowtail's Papa Wolf reaction to seeing the jerk who knocked up his wife and abandoned his stepson.
- Yellowtail proving he cares more about Sour Cream than Marty does by getting his DJ gear at the last minute to salvage the show.
- Before that Yellowtail left the show to get the gear and Greg called out to him to stay, thinking he was leaving in a huff:
Greg: Yellowtail, come back! Your son needs you!
- Before that Yellowtail left the show to get the gear and Greg called out to him to stay, thinking he was leaving in a huff:
- Sour Cream not just Calling the Old Man Out, but speaking the same gibberish as Onion and Yellowtail while doing so.
- Yellowtail, Vidalia, and Onion attending Sour Cream's rave. The moment can be seen here.
- Earlier in the episode, Yellowtail can be seen sheepishly waiting for the show to start in the crowd near Greg.
- Greg receiving $10,000,000 at the end of the episode. Given the implications of his financial situation, it's well deserved.
- Despite his flaws (his many, many, many flaws), even Marty seems to like Steven, and is never rude or cruel to him. It's not much, but it's the best we can hope for from him.
- When Steven heads out on stage to do a mic check, somebody in the audience cheers "Woo! Steven Universe!" The whole town loves this kid.
- The fact that Greg is so completely content with his life with Steven that there's next to nothing he can think of to use the money he's come into for. He's got everything he could ever want as it is.
- His only idea? Putting Steven through college. Steven's first idea? A house and car for Greg.
- Steven drags Pearl along to Empire City with him and his dad even though they don't get along all the time. Turns out, he actually did it on purpose because he wants to get them to talk about their feelings and make up.
- One of Pearl's lines is about how she's just happy to spend time with Steven.
- Pearl is utterly confused about what is going on when they arrive at the hotel, leading to the point where Steven and Greg stare at her mischievously from the pool... but instead of throwing her into the pool, they dress her into a suit as well.
- The Universe's giving large tips to the hotel staff.
- Pearl and Greg bonding over their memories and shared love of Rose and realizing they're Not So Different. The episode ends with them happily chatting away in the van on the drive home.
- Pearl and Greg dancing. Let us repeat that: Pearl, and Greg, dancing. The ultimate symbol of love and trust in this series, and Pearl and Greg are doing it with each other. They are half a step away from fusing.
- This gets even more emphasis by the pose that Pearl and Greg have at the end since it reflects the pose of Pearl and Rose during fusion, only with Pearl now holding on instead of being dipped.
- Steven probably realized that Rose loved both of them as well and would have wanted them to get along.
- The pink glow that encompasses them both when Steven sings "you both love me and I love both of you." It almost seems like Rose is singing through Steven — and given the mysterious nature of the whole thing, it's not entirely implausible that she isn't.
- Even though they were romantic rivals, it seems like Pearl and Greg never really hated each other.
- The fact that the show never punishes Greg for his extravagance. The bill is long enough for him to cringe at, but there's absolutely nothing to indicate he blew through all of it, or even most of it. Because let's face it... if anyone deserves one night of throwing money around, it's Greg Universe.
- Steven giving Peridot her tablet, which she very much enjoys.
- Amethyst and Steven spend the better part of a day trying to help Peridot learn how to use shapeshifting after finding out she's incapable of doing so.
- Amethyst, after Peridot snaps at Steven and her by claiming that shapeshifting is an insult to their natural form, doesn't get mad. She simply looks at Peridot and asks what's really bothering her. This proves Amethyst really does care about Peridot and understands that Peridot tends to lash out when mad or upset, much like herself, so doesn't hold it against the little green Gem.
- Amethyst reassures Peridot after the other gem is shown to be insecure about herself and her abilities, saying that they like Peridot for who she is. It's nice because Amethyst's had to deal with the same sort of self-esteem issues herself, and now she's helping others with them.
Amethyst: (to Peridot) This whole time weve been here youve just been focusing on what you cant do, of course youre not having any fun. You think that all you are is what you could be. But we dont hang out with you because of who you COULD be! We like YOU.
- Peridot's discovery of her power to move things at a distance once more demonstrates that there is more to a gem than what Homeworld designs them to do.
- Peridot's adorable reaction to the stuffed alien and Amethyst and Steven's determination to help her win it.
- This episode was just a good day for Peridot. She gets a tablet from Steven, discovers she has ferrokinesis, and then uses said ability to win the stuffed alien that she adored.
- Peridot and Amethyst's final lines in the episode:
Amethyst: (After Peridot uses her newly found ferrokinesis to win the stuffed alien she wanted) Give it up for Pei-Pod!Peridot: No, give it up for the Shorty Squad.
- Peridot's Twitter account is mostly hilarious, but she does have a sweet moment at the end of the (both in and out of universe) day:
- Sadie and Lars actually getting closer as the episode ends.
- Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream rushing to Steven's defense after Lars regains his body.
- Greg still has a big chunk of his royalties left, so he doesn't care about Kevin's jerkiness. Nice to see him doing OK.
- Steven and Connie deciding to continue the race for themselves as opposed to trying to get back at Kevin.
- Stevonnie being the bigger person when they lost the race, even congratulating Kevin and showing an overall positive attitude despite it frustrating Kevin to no end.
- Even though they lost Ronaldo and Jenny still rooted for Stevonnie when they got back. In addition, Jenny was just about to go up the mountain to check on Stevonnie after they had stopped unexpectedly until they had began driving again.
- Steven's Berserk Button getting mashed hard where Kevin is concerned, to the point where he freely declares he hates him. The thing that triggers it? Kevin being a jerk to Greg.
- Steven and Connie refusing to let their hatred for Kevin control them, and thus enjoying themselves.
- Throughout the episode Connie (and later Stevonnie) wears a jacket that is identical to (and probably is) the one her father wears.
- It's nice to see Ronaldo at the race and possibly accepted by the Cool Kids since it's been implied that he isn't really accepted around town.
- Jenny Pizza calling her sister Kiki "the cutest girl in Beach City".
- She then gives her sister a raspberry kiss on the cheek. As seen here.
- Ronaldo having a girlfriend... until he loses her.
- A small note — Ronaldo calls Jane (his girlfriend), "ohime". What does that mean? Princess.
- Considering how the rest of the Crystal Gems tend to stay out of matters that aren't directly Gem related, and generally treat most human matters with a degree of apathy, seeing them step up and help Steven create a restaurant in order to end the restaurant war is pretty sweet. Even if they most likely only did it for Steven's sake.
- Steven immediately apologizes for going into Kiki's dream when he realizes it, clearly feeling guilty about going into her mind. She isn't mad, but he shows how mature the little guy is about using his powers.
- Kiki being so grateful for Steven's help.
- Both the real and dream!Jenny quickly understand when Kiki puts her foot down, agreeing she deserves a break.
- Centipeetle's crayon drawing of her and Steven together.
- The ending. Even though Steven couldn't uncorrupt Centipeetle in the end, he was able to take her back to her crew, who had been waiting for her this whole time. And the other Crystal Gems let her stay there, unbubbled, with her friends.
- Greg renting a boat to help Lapis overcome her fear of water despite having previously having been attacked by her, written a "The Villain Sucks" Song about her, and her not remembering who he was.
Steven Universe: Attack The Light
- One of the beginning of mission quips Garnet sometimes says is to request that Steven "Keep the Harmony", which is this game's health bar stand in, and boy does he! One of his support moves is basically encouraging the other three Gems, and they regain health every time he does!
- Steven's sheer child-like glee at going on an adventure with the Crystal Gems that is so much like his video games is sure to bring a smile to your face, especially those who have felt a deep connection to a video game and wished that they could live it.
- At the end of the game, Steven realizes that the light army was acting on what it thought he wanted the whole time, and tells it that it can be whatever it wants and not a weapon. It then proceeds to transform into copies of Steven and peacefully fade away.
Steven Universe's Guide to the Crystal Gems
- The "Guide" book in general is pretty adorable, from the introduction by Rebecca Sugar, to Steven telling the readers what he finds cool about the Crystal Gems, Garnet talking about Fusions, particularly her own, and an adorable picture of Rose and the other Gems in a car together.
- Garnet's thoughts on Stevonnie:
Garnet: Perfect. A spontaneous Fusion of love, as impossible as it was inevitable. Even I could not have guessed it. Steven is capable of fusing with human beings. I could not be prouder of Steven and Connie.
- The full Crystal Gem manifesto, as written by Rose Quartz and revealed in the "Guide to the Crystal Gems" book: "Fight for life on the planet Earth, Defend all human beings, even the ones that you don't understand, Believe in love that is out of anyone's control, And then risk everything for it!"
"Unboxing (Novelty Backpack)"
- In a way, Pearl yelling at Steven to stop filming and help at the end if this. It shows that she values Steven's input in the team, as opposed to before where she wanted Steven as far away from danger as possible.
- At the end of the short, Steven says "I love you! Bye!" That boy is a ray of goddamn sunshine.
Side/Promotional Materials
- This 2016 SDCC poster.
- Some moments in Peridot's official Character Blog:
- When Peridot is investigating the noises she hears during the events of "Beach City Drift", she gets onto the roof of the barn to get a better vantage point but decides to admires the view from there and takes a photo of the sky that shows Lapis is up on the roof with her. The fact that Lapis is on the roof with her shows that she may be starting to get comfortable being around Peridot.
- It's implied that Steven had a pizza delivered to Peridot and Lapis during the events of "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service", and because none of them had any money, the pizza deliverer said it's on the house.