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What an episode today. First we get more of Greg's back story. This episode, how he got his car wash. The second thing we get is, baby Sourcream! And he's so adorable! Thirdly we get is working Vadalia. And finally we learn Rose's fascination of human babies.

It's no secret that there's been a lot of speculation floating on the "flash" shown both in Lapis and Centipeetle's flashback/memory scene.

And we also have noticed that, at some point during or before the rebellion, there was a fourth pink diamond that was a member of the gem matriarchy. It's looking more like the fourth was taken out during the rebellion, since Centipeetle only drew three diamonds.

And, there is the theory that Rose Quartz was at one point the subordinate of Pink Diamond, because of the positioning of her gem in relations to Pink Diamond on the matriarchal tree.

Which would imply some sort of connection between Pink Diamond and healing, or life as a whole. Which also connects to the kindergartens, since those things were being used to create new gems, and new life.

You'll also recall that there's a certain 'song' used for the diamonds, and this is also used during the flash in centipeetle and Lapis's flashback. Below is Yellow Diamond's version of the 'song'.

Starting to make a bit of sense? Now with the info I have here, I can safely theorize that there is a connection between Pink Diamond and the gem corruption.

However, getting into the big theory. Pink Diamond lashed out against the other diamonds because of the Kindergartens, and because of humans. If Pink Diamond is actually a life based gem, she would feel outraged at the way that humans were being treated(like organic dirt). Yellow Diamond(or the big white) lashed out in response, causing the rebellion.

At some point, pink diamond was poofed, and her gem was utilized to power a massive device to corrupt gems on a wide scale, essentially twisting her 'song' from a song of life into a song of corruption.

Marty is still a douchebag, and that was an episode I actually didn't like much. But it led to Greg becoming rich, which led to Mr. Greg, and that one was fucking beautiful. Great songs, finally some closure to the Pearl/Greg conflict, and Pearl looking amazing in a suit.

Also, the commercial which used Greg's song is for "Pepe's Burgers".

Next, the cute angry slice of pie strikes back. I (re)watched Super Watermelon Island – Too Short to Ride back-to-back, so Peridot was only gone for no longer than an hour, but I still missed her a lot. A very fun episode, and I'm loving Peridot's new powers.

The Lars episode was a bit awkward, but the Pizza ones were a great joy. Overall it's been fun, but I find it interesting that there is so much focus on Steven's dream/mind-swapping powers going on. I wonder what's all this leading to…

Need for Speed: Beach City. It was really weird to see Steven hold a grudge against someone who didn't even try to shatter him or destroy his planet. Although, to be fair, the guy is such a dick that it's entirely understandable. An episode with a good lesson in the end, but I'd like to know where the hell did Steven and/or Connie learn to drive at their age!

Monster Reunion, unsurprisingly, was the most tear-inducing episode. Shame that Steven wasn't able to fully restore Centi, so still hoping that it will happen some day. Also, more lore development – Pink Diamond stopped being a part of the Diamond Authority actually before the war even ended, and the bright flash from Lapis' flashback confirmed to be the cause of Gem corruption.

Next, FINALLY an episode with Lapis. I was ready to print out "Missing" posters with her photo already. So very happy to see Lapis smile again, it's a shame that it doesn't happen very often… "S.S. Misery" indeed.

Interesting how they explore the nature of the Malachite relationship. The abused turned abuser. Glad that Lapis doesn't want any more of it. In other news, R.I.P. Jasper's chances for redemption. Oh well, at least she's flying now, like she wanted as Malachite. Hope she is enjoying it!

Finally, another 80's flashback episode. Not as crucial for the overall story as the previous two, but nevertheless good. Rose's way of watching over Sour Cream just reinforces Greg's "you think Gems know the first thing about raising a baby?" from the previous season. Baby Sour Cream is so weird though, so impassive, it's like he was already born a cool teenager inside, skipping babyhood.

I don't even have a logical analysis of this, so here was me the whole time:

But yeah, it was nice to see Jasper survive the depths of the ocean. It's kind of odd/interesting that she's starting to hunt corrupted gems based on her personal vendetta against Rose.

I really have nothing to say, but happy to see Connie's first mission and her wellness on calling help when needed. I also like how she stated real world problems. Makes me think, maybe they have a hint on this bomb arc thing. Also I wonder what she thinks of Jasper. Shame there wasn't really more interactive time, I would love to see the dialogue between those two.The thing that stomped me the most was that beast a corrupted gem? And if it is, what is Jasper going to do with those gems she took from those two beast?

When I saw the footprints, I did thought that maybe it was Jasper, but it still surprised me to see her appearing, and, considering how strong she is, the prospect of Connie and Steven facing her without help was very scary. Now the question is, what the hell does she plan to do with those corrupted gems? I have the bad feeling that the answer will appear during "gem harvest".

One thing I found interesting is how corrupted gems are being shown more fleshed out now. Most of the time they are shown as not very thinking and highly aggressive, but this time they were shown "communicating" with each other (like the Centipeetles), and the green one refrained from attacking Connie and Steven until it felt threatened by the sword (wether it merely realized it was a weapon or specifically recognized it was Rose's sword is another matter, but in the second case, it would indicate a higher level of memory than previously thought, and that this was a homeworld gem.)

The gems of these monsters really called my attention though. I know very little about gems, but they had very specific telltale patterns so I guess it would be easy to find out what gems these are. Anyone here happens to know?

And finally, Pearl, Jasper just ran away with two corrupted gems to do who knows what. I don't think this mission was such a success.

There is a giant wailing stone at the warp. Could Jasper have contacted Homeworld with it, and harvesting Gem monsters is a part of her newest mission?

It was great that Steven and Connie(and Lion) knew how to defeat Jasper, but poor Amethyst. She was humiliated and stomped on. Guess that's how she got that judging by the promos of the Bismuth.

So let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. Amethyst got a new form first. Garnet might get a new form second, and Pearl might get one last, as opposed to how it was originally. Jasper is also raising an army out of literal monsters. I never expected that. It's like she's becoming the show's version of Dio, always showing up and always sending hell towards the protagonists. Because of her and the immense strength that was used, Amethyst now feels like a pile of garbage, which might be resolved in the rest of the week's episodes. Overall, this one was a fun ride and pretty surprising, especially with the third appearance of Stevonnie. Which I might've spelled wrong.

Guys make sure your message is not on the same line as your spoiler code, so your message will be regular size and not annoying to read.

So I guess we know the motivation for tomorrow's episode now, and we get an idea of just how powerful fusion is. Although, Steven has been unlocking powers such as super strength, but wow, did not expect Stevonnie to hand Jasper her ass like that.

I hope this will probably motivate Amethyst to train and become stronger, because it is pretty much established she's the weakest of the three CGs at this point. Pearl might be a servant class, but she has the training and skill to make up for and surpass Amethyst's natural talent.

It's nice to see a "both sides have a point" thing going on too, with Stevonie showing training is important but also that Amethyst's advice about not overthinking battle was right too, just that Amethyst takes it too far. It's not often you see an argument presented where both sides have a point.

Also, anyone waiting for Jasper and Peridot to meet and Japsers reaction to Peri going traitor?

I really loved this episode, I mean, Stevonnie fighting Jasper (and Winning!)? Maybe not exactly like this, but, we have been waiting for a moment like this all the way since season 1!

The only thing I disliked about the episode is that it felt rather off-model. Yeah, I know that every storyboarder has their own style, but Amethyst has been drawn with a neck from a long while ago, and when she isn't, they make sure to draw her head clearly divided from her body. That was the most noticeable part, but there were other details.

Anyway… Discussing more in-universe matters, I guess we know now what Jasper wanted those gems for. I guess she got over Lapis and decided to do what she originally wanted all this time: Defeat Rose Quartz.

Also, while Amethyst does have a point when it comes to fighting, her lack of proper technique is what always gets her. Using real life as an example, In kung-fu and other martial arts, the key is usually to learn proper technique and then repeat it until it comes naturally and is used without thinking when the moment is proper. While Pearl is kind of too strict and that can backfire, her approach by itself is better than Amethyst's approach by itself (though combining both angles is the better way), as shown during "On the run", where Pearl easily evades and counters Amethyst's sloppy attacks.

And finally, Jasper has become what this fandom has wanted since a long time ago: A serious, strong villain that constitutes a big and close threat. Peridot was never that; during her time as main antagonist, she was always compared with villains like Jack Spicer and Skeletor who are, let's be honest, far from threatening.

Anyway, I give this episode a 9/10, with the lacking point being due to off-model.

Test

So this episode was great, started off as a nice hang out episode, finished as a great fight episode. Really enjoyed the banter in this one as well, felt really top notch and made the fight all the more enjoyable.

Psychologically, Jasper isn't in the best state, and this probably affects her fighting abilities in a significant way. Aboard the space ship she was at her prime, knew her purpose, had a job to do, and felt in control. Now she's confused and trying to make sense of things, has no leader or direction, and pretty strongly believes (as we saw in this episode and the Lapis boat episode) that fusion is actually superior to being alone. I don't think she truly believes that she could win against a fusion like Stevonnie, not anymore, and morale is half of the battle. After all, Stevonnie didn't even poof Jasper; Jasper just sorta gave up and ran away once she realized that Stevonnie could actually hurt her.

INB4 she trains for 4 Months and gets a shiny Golden form to show for it :P

On a serious note, I feel like in most cases the Stevenbombs were in part of wholly dedicated to a specific character. The first one was about Lapis, 2nd one was just the season finale (thought i might say its focus was the Invasion in general), 3rd one (i think) revolved around Sardonyx and the previous one has focused on Peridot.

Though we got more episodes than usual I feel that this one is no different. This time the focus shifts to Jasper.

On a different note. I'm starting to wonder if Amethyst seeing Stevonnie as Rose is foreshadowing something?

Jasper, for a change, is depicted like a competent villain. Defeated and almost shattered Amethyst, if it wasn't for Stevonnie, who turned out to be an excellent fighter. Now Amethyst is feeling like shit, and the title of the next episode doesn't bode anything good coming out of it. Feelings will sustain critical damage by the end of the week.

So something interesting is that Jasper brought up a lot of points about gem purpose and predestination, and about how gems are made for their purposes and have to follow them. This is coming off the heels of her attempt to fuse with lapis against to form malachite, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

Jasper, most likely, does not have the will or strength to go against her mental notion that gems can't go against their intended purpose. She was built for fighting, and as long as she is a jasper, fighting is all she can do. But, her desperation to fuse to become malachite might be an insight into her current psyche.

"I was wrong about fusion. You made me understand! Malachite was bigger and stronger than both of us! We could fly! "

Now it sounds pretty standard, until you account for that last line. Why would it matter to her if she could fly? It's not inherently an advantage for combat, and if combat was the case, controlling water is a much better thing to note. So why flying? Because flying represents something a quartz could never do. It's not a combat ability, it's not anything to do with combat. It's something else, something new, and something that wasn't designed for her to have.

I think Jasper was shown, via malachite, that gem's don't need to follow orders or follow their destinies. That they are capable of making choices that they weren't made to make, that they have agency in their own beings and what they are. Malachite was bigger and stronger then jasper ever was, because malachite didn't need to follow orders and do their duty.

In my opinion, this will probably be explored in the future. There's too much hinting at her belief in gem functionality versus her desire to fuse, to not explore the conflict inherent in that.

First off, guess it wasn't as what fans thought the title was actually. Poor Amethyst, still feeling down after getting a beat down from Jasper. Moreover, she even thinks that Steven is better. But like he said, he even thinks he's not that good and needs more training. Poor Steven though, I know he was trying to make Amethyst feel better. At least they were good at the end.(and the ending was lol)

So Amethyst has self-image issues, and one of her close friends tries to cheer her up, which causes a misunderstanding and unrestricted emotions. I feel like I've seen this before. It was interesting to see Amethyst and Steven duke it out, and the spiked bubble was a surprise, but this plot has been done three times. I want to see some other form of Amethyst development.

Well, I see we are back to some proper animation, that's good.
Yeah, It was obvious all this time, but now Amethyst has outright admitted the source of her insecurity being in a good part that she feels she isn't what she ought to be. Though Amethyst insecurity has been addressed plenty, it would be nice for her to learn a way to move past it. Now, I like some reality with my lessons, so it would be kind of lame if she "just had it inside her all along" or can just plainly become stronger or something like that, because the whole point of her insecurity is that she can't. It would be more interesting and a better lesson to see Amethyst try something new; It's obvious she can't go further with her current approach, so she should try a new approach, find something that works for her, a new way of becoming stronger. She will never be Jasper, but she could find another way of dealing with opponents as strong as her.

After two days of rather intense episodes, this felt like a fun romp. I didn't notice how quickly the 11 minutes flew by. Steven and Amethyst have a great sibling-like relationship, and I'm loving Steven's new spiked bubble variant and holographic Pearl v.2.0.0.0.0.0.1.

Anyway, Bismuth is an amazing episode. Hopefully it won't be the only double-length episode, and won't be the only episode with a cold opening.

It's always interesting to see a dark side of the good guys. Throughout the show we've seen how the Crystal Gems like the "shoot fast, don't ask" approach when facing an enemy, in contrast to Steven trying to understand and befriend them instead, and how they prefer the Gems monsters and Homeworld Gems bubbled away without Steven asking any questions (Lapis and Peridot say hello). But this is a whole new level. And I'm not just talking about Bismuth and her enthusiasm for crushing the enemies' gemstones, but also the skeletons in Rose's cupboard. Rose is usually presented as a pure cinnamon roll, but sometimes there are hints of her having dark secrets, like how she had Lion as a pet with a bunch of stuff stored inside, and nobody from the Crystal Gems knew about it. And now we learn that she kept the truth about what happened to an ally she disagreed with from their friends!

Bismuth herself was pretty awesome. She's clearly a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. I have a feeling that Steven and Co. will unbubble her sometime soon, have a nice long talk about how you really shouldn't shatter enemy Gems, and use her help in stopping Jasper. I do hope she doesn't run into Lapis though, for her own sake. Seeing how she was the Gem that got Lapis stranded on Earth in the first place, Lapis would probably unleash the entire fucking ocean on her.

This is was a serious episode. How Bismuth was introduced, and the reunion between her and the Pearl and Garnet. The backstory and what really happened in her view, I feel bad for her. Hopefully the second part of this special will give us more about probably her and the Rebellion. Also the eyecatcher between commercial was cute. Reminded me of Sailor Moon

It goes by quick, but this episode pretty much josses the "Rose is Pink Diamond" theory. You go back to when Bismuth is talking about her backstory, and she mentions that Rose was a quartz made on Earth – which is quite a detail to bury in a quick line of dialogue.

Before the analysis, let's just start with the small things. I actually love the unconventional intro, as well as the smaller intros after the commercial breaks. It made the episode feel like it flowed more smoothly.

Now onto the episode itself. Bismuth is a powerhouse that can basically turn her hands into anything, mostly hammers, and can smash anything like the Hulk. That scared me shitless. Thankfully, she never met Lapis or Peridot in the episode. All hell would break loose if she did. I mean she almost killed a child. Admittedly, she doesn't know what a child is, and kind of had some sort of excuse, but the blood lust is still present. This just makes me hyped for what episode 200 will be like, if there even is one.

That Bismuth meant problem was foreshadowed by how uncomfortable Steven felt at her violence, but… It just occurred to me, was the way he felt just a direct result of Bismuth being violent, or was it also because he felt a bit the dread from the memories of Rose Quartz?
Another thing is… I see Jasper as a hell of a blood knight, but Bismuth is at least just as much of a blood knight too.

So… what did I see? Bismuth, I like her. Hopes and dreams expand as far as the eye could see, paving the way for a brighter future. And to add to it: big unveilings, exploding like nukes (the Rebel War just keeps getting more interesting). And what happens? Ideals of life and death, mostly death, and a weapon of definitive mass destruction happen.

In the end, it's just different concepts of justice: killing for a greater good, tear Homeworld apart and be triumphant. The path that Rose took came into conflict with Bismuth's way of thinking and, well, it happened what it happened. Even then, both have dirty little secrets anyway, with that, the morality takes a brand new form of view. Black and white, you say? No, just tons of grey.