A Single Pale Rose

"I wanted to tell you for so long."

"A Single Pale Rose" is the 18th episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe and the 146th episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven helps Pearl find her cell phone.

Plot
Upon returning to Earth, Steven anxiously waits to ask Pearl about Pink Diamond while she and Amethyst try out her cellphone. Amethyst leaves to get Pearl a phone case and Steven uses the time to ask about his latest dream. Pearl immediately covers her mouth and doesn't answer, seemingly shocked. Amethyst returns and she swiftly changes the subject, leaving Steven hurt.

After getting something to eat, Steven suddenly gets a text from Pearl. In it, she apologizes and says she can't tell him. Steven returns home and confronts her about it, to which Pearl responds she hasn't used her phone since that morning. Trying to retrieve her phone from inside her gemstone fails, and eventually Pearl tells Steven to go inside and get it himself, saying to "let me know when you find what you're looking for". With that, Steven is sent inside of Pearl's gemstone.

He ends up in a cleanly compartmentalized area featuring another Pearl who organizes all of Pearl's possessions. Steven asks the whereabouts of the phone and she responds that it may be with the "other Pearls", but advises him not to go to where they are because it's a "mess". Nevertheless, Steven insists, and Pearl takes him inside her gemstone yet again. The cycle continues several times as Steven is taken further into Pearl's gemstone, passing through her memories including Rose's pregnancy and the aftermath of the Gem War. Eventually, he reaches the scene from his dream, only this time, it's Rose Quartz having shattered Pink Diamond. He steps closer, and once she raises her head and opens her eyes, Steven realizes it's Pearl disguised as Rose. Steven is confused until Pearl holds her hand out, revealing Pink Diamond's gemstone, before taking him into her gemstone once more.

Inside Pink Diamond's palanquin, Steven overhears a conversation between Rose and Pearl behind the throne. While Pearl is at first hesitant to do the assigned task, Rose is adamant, assuring her that their life will be better and they'll be free afterwards. Pearl agrees to Rose's plan and (to Steven's shock) "Rose" transforms into Pink Diamond. Once out in the open, Pink shows Pearl a handful of dirt with the head of a single pink hibiscus, and gives her the latter. She then changes the dirt into fake diamond shards and swallows them. Before Pink leaves, she gives one last order as a Diamond to her Pearl: Never speak of these events again. Pearl then turns to Steven, who has been watching speechlessly the whole time, and holds out her cellphone with apologetic words. Steven wordlessly takes the phone as Pearl shapeshifts into "Rose" to stage the fake "shattering". Once Steven texts Pearl that he found her phone, she pulls him out of her gemstone.

Back outside, Pearl says she wanted to tell Steven for a very long time. Somberly, he realizes that his mother wasn't a Quartz, but Pink Diamond. Behind him, Amethyst and Garnet, who just walked in, stare and gasp in shock.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet (non-speaking cameo)
 * Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond (flashback)
 * Jasper (flashback)
 * Ruby (Eyeball) (flashback)
 * Stevonnie (flashback)
 * Zircon (Defense) (flashback)
 * Blue Diamond (flashback)
 * Yellow Diamond (flashback)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Beach House
 * Beach Citywalk Fries
 * Pearl's Dimension (debut)
 * Gem Battlefield (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
 * Trial Room (flashback)
 * Korean Peninsula (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
 * Moon Base (flashback)

Objects

 * Pearl's cellphone
 * Steven's Phone
 * Rose's Sword
 * Rose's Scabbard
 * Pink Diamond's Palanquin

Instrumental Songs
TBA

Trivia

 * This episode reveals that Rose and Pink Diamond are one and the same, and thus Pink Diamond is Steven's mother and Pearl's role in Homeworld as Pink Diamond's Pearl is confirmed.
 * As of this episode, Steven has technically always been a Diamond. Therefore, by Homeworld's established laws, he rules the Earth, the Moon Base, and Pink Diamond's Zoo. It is also means that he owns Pearl.
 * The reason why Pearl never spoke about the Diamonds and is forced to cover her mouth every time she attempts to do so is revealed to be Pink Diamond's final order to never speak of her faking her death.
 * Crewniverse member Joe Johnston confirmed that this is part of a Pearl's functionality – they cannot disobey a clear order from their owner.
 * Garnet once stated that Rose shattered Pink Diamond so Pearl can be free. However, since the shattering of Pink was revealed to be a ruse the whole time, it can be indicated that Pearl was never truly free from her servitude role as she had been executing Pink's final order for centuries as well as fighting alongside her throughout the Rebellion.
 * This is the first time Pearl has been shown to shapeshift.
 * It is revealed that there are multiple Pearls inside Pearl's gem; each Pearl represents her specific memories and thought.
 * Pearl is shown to have had a handful of phone numbers aside from the one Mystery Girl gave her, which are all stored within her gem.
 * This is the first episode in which Pearl has addressed someone as "My Diamond".

Cultural References

 * The numbers 555 which can be seen in all of the cellphone numbers stored within Pearl's gem is a common trope used in fictional media whenever a phone number is presented. This area code is used in order to avoid prank calls to real-life people.
 * The episode is similar to the film Inception, as Steven travels through several levels of Pearl's mind to learn sensitive information.
 * The episode is also similar to the Teen Titans episode "Nevermore", as Steven enters Pearl's mind and meets different aspects of her personality.

Continuity
1.) She refers to Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond as "Blue" and "Yellow" respectively. Non-Diamond Gems never refer to the Diamonds in such an informal fashion. 2.) She calls Earth, Pink Diamond's colony, "my planet". 3.) She concludes by saying, "I can't shatter myself," which would make no sense if she weren't Pink Diamond.
 * Flashbacks from "Back to the Moon", "The Trial", "Jungle Moon" and "Your Mother and Mine" are shown.
 * This episode takes place right after "Can't Go Back".
 * Pearl covering her mouth once the Diamonds were brought up was first referenced in "Gemcation".
 * Mystery Girl's number is seen again in the episode, next to a handful of other cellphone numbers that Pearl had previously acquired, all stored within her gem.
 * Rose Quartz's conversation with Pearl offers three hints at her true identity:
 * Rose Quartz's identity as Pink Diamond was also hinted in the episode "It Could've Been Great", when Steven was able to activate the chair situated in the Moon Base, which, as Peridot stated, was the chair where only the Diamonds can sit on, further hinting Steven's heritage as a Diamond.
 * This was also indirectly hinted during the scene where the Gems climb up the stairs of the Moon Base, where Peridot states that they were literally "walking in the footsteps of the Diamonds", with Steven leading the way.

Errors

 * Pink Diamond's gem turning to look like that of a Rose Quartz gem doesn't make sense. If Pink Diamond's gem were to turn because of its angular design, it would be hexagonal, not circular.
 * The circular shape of Rose's gem could be explained by the separation ring we can see in some pictures of this episode, for example in the shot of Rose-Pearl's hand after she poofed her Diamond when Steven came back to the real world (the same kind of separation ring we can see through Amethyst's gem, which is featured in "Reformed" when Amethyst is poofed and both sides of her gem is revealed). However, this ring mysteriously disappears from Pink's gem when she turns back to her real self.
 * When Amethyst screams "What?" at the end of the episode, her tank top has the form it had in her previous regeneration.
 * When Garnet And Amethyst are seen comforting Pearl what appears to be after Rose's death, Amethyst is wearing her off shoulder mauve tank top instead of her off shoulder mauve sweater. Judging from Three Gems and a Baby and We Are the Crystal Gems, Amethyst did not wear the former top until sometime Steven was in his adolescence.

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