The Answer

"Welcome to Earth."

"The Answer" is the 22nd episode of the second season of Steven Universe, the 74th episode overall and the first episode in the fourth StevenBomb.

Synopsis
Garnet finally tells Steven the story of how she came to be a Crystal Gem.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven sleeping on the back of a pickup truck in the family barn. Garnet appears and wakes Steven up at midnight, celebrating his birthday. Even though Garnet's plan of telling Steven that she is a fusion is ruined by the events of "Jail Break", she instead begins to tell the tale of how Ruby and Sapphire met and became a Crystal Gem, which excites Steven.

Garnet introduces the setting as Earth, 5750 years ago; Homeworld was in the process of colonizing the planet, but a group of rebels were halting progress. As a result, a team of diplomats was sent to Earth to investigate, among them being Sapphire and her team of three Ruby bodyguards. Sapphire was summoned by Blue Diamond to give her a report of the outcomes surrounding the rebellion in the future, and along the way, the Rubies discuss how they will fight the rebels. One Ruby shoves the other into Sapphire and apologizes, but Sapphire excuses her, referring to her future vision and knowing that this would happen. Sapphire approaches Blue Diamond and informs her of the future - the rebels will attack the Cloud Arena, poofing seven Gems in the process, three of which are Sapphire herself and two of her Ruby bodyguards. Despite this, the rebels will be captured, ending the rebellion. The rebels appear immediately afterward, revealing themselves to be Rose Quartz and Pearl, the original two Crystal Gems. They urge Blue Diamond to abandon Earth and begin attacking the Homeworld Gems. The attack proceeds exactly as how Sapphire had foreseen, and Pearl approaches Sapphire after defeating two of her guards. She thanks the remaining Ruby for her efforts, making her realize that Sapphire knew the future all along and had accepted her fate. Ruby refuses to accept this outcome and then jumps towards Sapphire, saving her and unintentionally fusing into Garnet. She is utterly confused as to what happened, as the crowd of Homeworld Gems stare in anger. Rose stops Pearl from attacking Garnet and they flee the arena.

Garnet immediately unfuses and the crowd surrounds Ruby and Sapphire. Blue Diamond is disappointed that what happened was not exactly what Sapphire had foreseen, and Ruby intervenes by taking the blame. She is sentenced to be broken, but Sapphire grabs Ruby and escapes, jumping down to land. Ruby is furious that she failed to protect her, and Ruby's impulsive nature had stopped her from seeing the future. Ruby accompanies Sapphire to shelter and they hold out during the rain. Ruby expresses her frustration of failing her mission of saving Sapphire, but she tells her that Ruby already saved her. They discuss their feelings of when they were fused as Garnet, along with the strange new properties they inherited from each other. They sing together, exchanging thoughts of love and caring for each other, and end with a fusion dance, bringing back Garnet once more.

Garnet was beginning to get used to her new form as she continued sustaining her fusion. She stumbles into Pearl, and Rose arrives. Against Garnet's plea for mercy, Rose urges her to stay fused. Garnet is concerned that she may be upsetting Rose, but she insists that the most important thing of all is how Garnet herself feels as a fusion. She admits to feeling lost and scared, but also happy. Rose welcomes her to Earth, presumably titling her as a new Crystal Gem. Garnet asks Rose many questions about Ruby, Sapphire, and their fusion, but she stops Garnet and tells her that she already is the answer she seeks to all her questions. Steven asks Garnet what the answer was, to which she replies with "Love." Steven says he knew it all along, and Garnet agrees.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Garnet
 * Ruby (flashback)
 * Other Ruby Gems (flashback)
 * Sapphire (flashback)
 * Blue Diamond (flashback) (debut)
 * Blue Diamond's Pearl (flashback) (debut) (cameo)
 * Various Other Gems (flashback) (cameo)
 * Rose Quartz (flashback)
 * Pearl (flashback)

Objects

 * Blue Diamond's Palanquin (flashback) (debut)

Locations

 * Greg's Storage Shed
 * Gem Homeworld (mentioned)
 * Earth (flashback)
 * Cloud Arena (flashback) (mentioned)

Songs

 * Something Entirely New

Instrumental Songs

 * Happy Birthday Steven / 5750 Years Ago
 * Blue Diamond (soundtrack)
 * The Rebels / Garnet's First Fusion
 * Escaping the Colony / Feelings of Love
 * The Answer (soundtrack)

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to air in 2016.
 * This episode's name was first revealed in an interview with Rebecca Sugar by The Mary Sue.
 * The period that Ruby and Sapphire's story is told is in 3750 B.C.E., according to Garnet.
 * Garnet states that Ruby and Sapphire met 5750 years ago, which is also the tested half-life of the radioactive isotope Carbon-14.
 * Garnet does not wear her shades once throughout the entire episode.
 * Steven turns 14 in this episode, as seen here.
 * A silhouette bearing a striking resemblance to Lapis Lazuli appears, however it is not confirmed if it is really her.
 * Ruby and Sapphire hums to the chorus tune of "Stronger Than You" when they dance, implying that Sapphire might have foresaw Garnet singing the song in the future, and might have planned on singing the song since 5,750 years ago.
 * Garnet's first generation outfit is similar to original concept sketches for Stevonnie.
 * Fusion among the same Gems are revealed to create simply a larger version of that Gem.
 * Due to Pearl's abnormal behavior, she was given the nickname, "Rose's terrifying renegade Pearl", to reflect her infamy.
 * This is the first episode since "Catch and Release" to not feature Peridot.

Cultural References

 * Various elements in the episode resemble scenes from Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty":
 * The scene where Ruby and Sapphire dance nearby a river to later form Garnet resembles Aurora's and Prince Philip's "Once Upon a Dream" scene.
 * Garnet's appearance in this episode resembles Aurora's dress during the "Pink and Blue" scene.
 * The art style of Lotte Reiniger, foremost pioneer of silhouette animation, is referenced in this episode.
 * The way Homeworld Gems viewed the fusion of two different types of gems as disgusting is similar to how society used to view people of different races being together instead of separate, as well as people of different castes in Hindu culture intermingling (i.e. Intercaste marriage).
 * The way Blue Diamond asks for Sapphire's council to see the outcome of the battle is very similar to the Oracle of Delphi of ancient Greece which had, both in real life and in myth, kings and generals seeking their council before going to war and battle to see if the gods favored their side.

Continuity

 * Steven recalls quite humorously how Garnet was going to tell him about Ruby and Sapphire previously mentioned in "Jail Break".
 * As Ruby and Sapphire start to dance, they hum the tune to "Stronger Than You" from "Jail Break".
 * It is also mixed with other fusion songs, Giant Woman and Strong in the Real Way. Trivia.png
 * In an earlier episode, Garnet tells Jamie that she does "not believe in love at first sight, and that love takes time and effort", implying that her fusion also took time and effort getting used to.
 * When Garnet tells Rose Quartz of her conflicting emotions, Rose tells her "Welcome to Earth", the same welcome Garnet would give to Peridot in "Back to the Barn".
 * Blue Diamond is seen with another Gem standing beside her as she speaks with Sapphire. This Gem is a Pearl, further referencing the social position of Pearls in the Homeworld, as discussed in "Back to the Barn".
 * Three Gems depicted in Garnet's story are similar in appearance to three Gems found in Pearl's hologram of the Lunar Sea Spire in "Cheeseburger Backpack".
 * The story of how Rose met Garnet was first hinted at back in the episode "We Need To Talk".

Errors

 * Garnet said that she was going to tell the story of how Ruby and Sapphire first met, but this is incorrect due to the synopsis of the episode saying that Garnet tells the story of how she became a Crystal Gem.The_Answer_00117.png
 * In both shots where Garnet is sitting over Steven, the black section on her neckline is missing.
 * After Ruby accidentally hit Sapphire, all the background gems are gone.


 * When the three Rubies fuse into a giant Ruby, the right shoulder gemstone goes to left palm and the left-palm gemstone goes to the right shoulder.
 * They also unfuse in the same way.GarnetAnswer.png
 * While Sapphire and Ruby are both sitting by the fire there are small scenes of their time as Garnet. In between these scenes you can see that Sapphire's gem is on the wrong hand for a moment. Right after Garnet's feet are shown.
 * When Rose settles down Garnet's fears of being a fusion, Sapphire's gemstone on Garnet is upside down.
 * When Garnet tells Steven the answer is love, the back of her pants is all orchid-colored, missing the blue on the back.
 * Once Rose and Pearl land on the arena, Rose is behind Pearl, but in the split shot of Pearl and Rose, Rose can't be seen behind Pearl.
 * When the Rubies form a pyramid, the Ruby whose gem is on the back of her right hand's gem is missing.

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