Friend Ship

"Friend Ship" is an episode of season 2 in Steven Universe, and was aired as the final episode for the 3rd StevenBomb event.

Synopsis
While trying to locate and capture Peridot, the Crystal Gems enter an ancient Gem spaceship, only to be trapped inside and are attacked by the ship's weapons.

Plot
The episode begins with Peridot trying to fix the Homeworld warp at the Galaxy Warp. The Crystal Gems warp to Peridot's location, and Pearl is enthusiastic that her plan worked perfectly. Upon Peridot questioning how they found her, Steven says that they are able to track her movement. Peridot shoots an energy blast at the Crystal Gems. They all duck, and the blast hits a rock instead, causing it to fall on the gems. Steven summons a shield and stops the rock's fall. Pearl charges at Peridot against Garnet's order, however Peridot traps her in a bubble and launches her back, hitting Steven and disabling his shield. While Garnet holds the giant rock, Amethyst rolls to Peridot quickly, but misses and hits the broken galaxy warp. Peridot goes to a warp pad only to find it to be broken. Steven throws his shield at Peridot, which stuns her long enough to allow Garnet to throw her boulder at Amethyst for her to whip at Peridot. Peridot is launched by the impact, and Garnet and Pearl try to catch her. Pearl stumbles into Garnet, making them both fall. Peridot flies away to one of the warp pads, taunts the gems, and warps away.

The gems warp back to the Crystal Temple, all feeling down except for Pearl, who explains that they now at least know they can track Peridot accurately. She explains that she has wired up Peridot's escape pod to the warp pad and will light up every time Peridot uses the warp system, revealing her destination. Pearl is confident that with this, they will be able to catch Peridot eventually and end the problem, while addressing Garnet, who walks to her but ignores her. This prompts Amethyst to ask if there is something they should talk about. The escape pod lights up and Pearl projects a globe with Peridot's location. Pearl and Garnet walk over to the warp pad, while Steven mentions that at least Pearl is optimistic. Amethyst disagrees, saying that even if Pearl catches Peridot, Garnet will not forgive her for using her to fuse into Sardonyx.

The Crystal Gems warp to a derelict ancient gem warship. Pearl asserts that Peridot is running out of options and has cornered herself inside the ship. Steven is about to ask something, but Pearl interrupts him, assuming he wanted to know about the warship. She explains that long ago, gems used ancient gem vessels to fly to Earth before the warp system was built. The ships have not been used in a very long time, however, and using them to fly away is absolutely impossible. Garnet tells Pearl that they must move along, to which Pearl interrupts her and exclaims that there is a task at hand to catch Peridot and leads on, which prompts Steven and Amethyst to nervously look at each other.

They all enter the ancient ship, which is completely overgrown by wildlife. A small object lights up and projects a holographic screen on Peridot. She insults the gems' intelligence, and Pearl retorts by saying that she must be "dull as dirt" if she thinks she can use the vessel to fly away. After cleaning a vocal transmitter, Steven relays the messages to Peridot, which makes her laugh maniacally. She reveals that she is using the vessel in order to trap the gems rather than fly away, and the front door of the ship closes. Pearl realizes her mistake, and after an unsuccessful attempt, Peridot activates the vessel's internal defense systems. The system begins to fire lasers at the gems while Peridot repeatedly says "die!", but Steven summons a shield that is able to deflect all the lasers and covers all the gems. They run towards a tunnel to safety. Amethyst compliments a tired Steven, and he mentions that he summoned his shield three times today already. Suddenly, spikes appear out of the walls and floor, and the gems take haste. The gems run into Peridot at the end of the hallway and, against Garnet's command, Pearl charges and attacks Peridot, only to reveal that it is actually a hologram. Pearl becomes enraged and repeatedly cuts through the hologram. Garnet tells Pearl to stop, but she says that she must do something to make up for leading the gems into Peridot's trap.

The floor below them suddenly opens up into a deep pit. Steven falls more quickly than the others, but Amethyst saves him by whipping onto him on one end and onto a branch on another end using different whips, safely suspending them. Steven asks Garnet and Pearl if they are fine, who landed at the bottom of the pit. A horizontal door closes, trapping Garnet and Pearl in a small room. Amethyst and Steven descend to the bottom to reveal a floor level above the trap room. There is a screen that displays everything inside the trap room, and shows that Garnet and Pearl are trying to break out by trying to damage the walls. Pearl apologizes to Garnet, saying that things shouldn't have turned out the way they are. Garnet reassures Pearl that they will escape somehow, but Pearl clarifies that she wanted to catch Peridot in order to regain Garnet's trust and show that everything can go back to normal. Garnet tells her that this is not about Peridot, and catching her won't restore their relationship. Steven and Amethyst are happy that they are now both consulting with each other.

A floating gear system begins to turn, which make the walls of the trap room close in on each other. Pearl asks Garnet what she can do to be forgiven, but Garnet asserts that she can't forgive Pearl. She lied to Garnet, and she must learn that there are consequences to her actions. Pearl explains that she couldn't help herself. She tried to be strong like Garnet, but she couldn't, and she believes she is useless on her own and needs someone to tell her what to do. Amethyst jams the gear system using her whip, which stops the walls from moving. Pearl goes on to explain to Garnet than when she fuses with Garnet, she is able to feel like Garnet. She inherits Garnet's confidence, security and completeness. In Pearl's eyes, Garnet is perfect, since Ruby and Sapphire are in a perfect relationship and Pearl simply wanted to be a part of that. Garnet denies Pearl's statement and says she is not as strong as Pearl thinks she is. Garnet fell apart because Ruby and Sapphire had conflicting thoughts on Pearl's act of deception. Garnet explains that she has weaknesses too, but she chooses not to let them consume her, and she knows she must stay composed because of her effect on the team. There are times that Garnet looks up to Pearl's strength, and asserts that Pearl is her own gem. She is unique in her own way, and she must choose to be strong in her own way in order to move on in order to regain Garnet's trust. Pearl understands and says that she cannot give up anymore. Amethyst's whip snaps and the gear system continues to work, closing Garnet and Pearl in the room very closely. Garnet tells Pearl that there is only one way to get out of the room, and Pearl asks for her confirmation in agreeing to Garnet's plan, to which she agrees. Amethyst and Steven panic around the trap door, but Sardonyx jumps up, apparently having drilled her way out of the room. Sardonyx quickly unfuses.

The gems corner Peridot in the ship's control room and demand that she surrenders. Peridot simply says that this is only the beginning of her escape, and blasts a hole in the ceiling of the ship. Peridot starts to slowly fly away from the ship while taunting the gems once more. Her ascension is halted by Steven, who jumps up and grabs on to Peridot's leg. She tries to drop Steven, but Amethyst and Pearl grab on to Steven, and Garnet grabs on to Pearl, preparing to pull the group to her. After failing to force Steven to release his grip, Peridot ejects her foot and flies away. Pearl and Steven sadly look into the sky where Peridot had flew off, but Pearl regains her optimism and says that next time, they will get the rest of her. Garnet says that they went a step forward. Amethyst lays down in relief, saying, "Finally," as the star iris closes over her face.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Peridot (antagonist)
 * Sardonyx (non-speaking Cameo)
 * Ruby (mentioned)
 * Sapphire (mentioned)
 * Rose Quartz (mentioned)

Objects

 * Ancient Gem Colony Ship
 * Escape Pod
 * Warp Pad
 * Pearl's Tool Kit

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Crystal Temple
 * Beach House
 * Galaxy Warp
 * Ancient Gem Colony Ship

Songs

 * TBA

Soundtracks

 * TBA

Trivia

 * This episode is symbolized in the promo art for the 3rd StevenBomb by a question mark.
 * It is revealed that Homeworld Gems used to use ships to get to Earth before the Warp Pads were built.
 * Steven has become more active in battle. He even summoned his shield 3 times this day, with 2 of them being large shields.
 * Pearl is also more active than usual in order to catch Peridot and earn Garnet's trust back.
 * However, Steven can only summon his shield 3 times until he feels the effects of fatigue.
 * Pearl refers to herself as "A Pearl" implying that there is more than one, like Jasper did in "The Return".
 * Between Garnet and Pearl's interaction in the crusher where Pearl states, "I'm just a pearl. I'm useless on my own. I need someone to tell me what to do." and Garnet says, "You are your own Gem. You control your destiny. Not me, not Rose, not Steven." and the fact that pearls are easy to make, Pearls may be, or at least were, assistants on Homeworld.
 * This is the second episode in which Pearl and Garnet fuse, the first being "Cry for Help".
 * Peridot is revealed to be able to shoot energy blasts from her fingers, by shaping her fingers around her arm into a cannon and firing.
 * Apparently Steven never told Amethyst or Pearl about Garnet unfusing in "Keystone Motel".
 * Peridot states Earth has an "expiration date", hinting that Homeworld will invade in the near-future.
 * Peridot clearly stated that the Gems have not seen the last of her.
 * This desire for revenge could be from the upcoming Homeworld invasion, the fact that she lost one of her legs to the Crystal Gems, or both.
 * In Friend Ship, the gloves on Sardonyx's upper arms are the same style as Garnet's gloves. In Cry For Help, each has a separate piece covering the middle finger with nothing connecting the fingers to the wrest of the glove. It's not yet know which style of gloves is correct and which is an animation error.
 * Even though peridot's body was badly damaged she didn't regenerate this could mean that gems regenerate when they're damaged and when they feel like it's necessary. If they feel like they can continue they're pain then they won't feel the need to regenerate

Cultural References

 * Steven yelling, "I caught a Peridot!" could be a reference to catching Pokemon.
 * Peridot's laser pistol could be a reference to Mega Man's "Mega Buster".
 * The ships that Homeworld used to come to Earth are clearly based on flying saucers in alien mythology.
 * Based on the Earth hologram, the ancient warship is located in South America, presumably at the edge of the Amazon rainforest.
 * Steven said "Good Morning" to Peridot when they located her; this could be a reference to Uncle Grandpa since Uncle Grandpa's catchphrase is, "Good Morning", and Steven's way of saying it was similar to how Uncle Grandpa says it. And also, that was a reference because Uncle Grandpa was in Say Uncle and with Steven.
 * Steven and Peridot both make an akanbe face, a taunting expression commonly seen in anime.
 * The way Steven threw his shield at Peridot resembled Captain America.
 * The way Peridot escapes and taunts the Crystal Gems after blowing off her robotic foot may be a reference to Doctor Claw from Inspector Gadget, who is often handcuffed, only to escape and fly off, taunting the heroes and leaving behind an empty glove (sometimes rigged with explosives, as seen in the opening sequence).
 * The way that Peridot escaped and lost her left foot might also be a reference to "Gamera vs. Gyaos", were Gyaos also lost his left foot in order to escape Gamera.
 * The way that Peridot escaped and lost her left foot might also be a reference to "Gamera vs. Gyaos", were Gyaos also lost his left foot in order to escape Gamera.

Continuity

 * Peridot still thinks Steven isn't a human, but rather a species named "Steven".
 * Both the final episodes of the 2nd and 3rd StevenBombs were symbolized by a question mark.
 * Garnet is still upset at Pearl from "Cry for Help", but not as much as she was at the end of that episode.
 * Garnet refers to the events of Keystone Motel, when she split up into Ruby and Sapphire.
 * Most of the warps at the Galaxy Warp are still inactive, and the Homeworld warp is still destroyed.
 * The Homeworld warp is still destroyed and unusable after Garnet smashed it in "Warp Tour".
 * The Crystal Gems seem to have decided against using the Shooting Star they almost used to destroy the Galaxy Warp in "Winter Forecast".
 * Again Pearl refers to herself as "a pearl," suggesting Gems are all sorted into types.
 * Amethyst used the same attack in "Marble Madness" when she says "DESTROY"

Errors

 * When Garnet gets mad at Pearl for attacking Peridot's hologram, Sapphire's gem is on the wrong hand.
 * When Sardonyx appears, her upper arms are gloved the same way as Garnet's instead of being back-less as seen on "Cry For Help".