Keeping It Together

"They were forced together...they were forced to fuse...! This is wrong...!"

"Keeping it Together" is the 8th episode of season 2 of Steven Universe, and the 60th episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven and the Crystal Gems revisit the Kindergarten and discover a dark secret.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven and the Crystal Gems folding his laundry, discussing Peridot's presence on Earth and the possibility of Peridot most likely reactivating the Kindergarten despite crash landing on Earth. During this discussion, the gems note that they also gathered to fold Steven's laundry. Pearl then admits that she enjoys doing housework. Steven hints that Garnet should unfuse so Ruby and Sapphire could help fold his shirts faster. Garnet says that Ruby and Sapphire would love to see them, but she still refuses to unfuse for laundry. The gems continue discussing the Peridot problem. Garnet says that Peridot isn't interested in the Crystal Gems, but rather Kindergarten to reactivate the injectors. Steven asks what the injectors are, and Pearl explains that the injectors are machines that plant gems in the crust of the Earth for them to incubate and suck the life out of the ground.

Steven and the Crystal Gems warp to Kindergarten to investigate any differences and search for Peridot. Nothing seems to be activated or even moved in Kindergarten at the moment. Peridot is not found anywhere yet, so the gems split up and patrol the perimeter to find her. Steven goes about his way and accidentally stumbles into Peridot, who just used the elevator from the Prime Kindergarten Control Room. Peridot is recording a log about her experiments, mentioning that some have developed early. Peridot is frightened after noticing Steven staring at her. She asks whether or not the Crystal Gems are with Steven, and he hesitantly nods yes. The gems find Peridot with Steven and they all give chase. Peridot is apparently able to escape by running up a wall, but Pearl throws her spear over Peridot that strikes an overhead injector, falling and hitting her. Peridot survives the fall and runs away again, but Amethyst wraps her up with her whip. Amethyst is forced to release Peridot after her whip is electrocuted. Peridot then uses her fingers as helicopter blades and flies away with Amethyst and Pearl chasing her.

Steven stays with Garnet. Garnet notes that if Peridot came to Kindergarten to reactivate it, then the injectors would have started working by now, but they haven't. Steven and Garnet begin to investigate to find out what Peridot's job actually was. They find the elevator shaft to Facet Five and slide into it. While they are descending, Garnet explains more about gem fusion to Steven. When they reach the control room, Steven shudders and mentions that the room somehow seems creepier than before and that the power is still cut off, and Garnet senses that something is wrong there. She says that something is strange after seeing that Peridot apparently pulled some pillars out of the walls. Garnet touches one of the pillars, and they begin to move. Strange creatures resembling the combination of hands and feet begin falling from the ceiling. Garnet punches one of them and it poofs into a gem. It is apparently two different gems stuck together, which disgusts Garnet, leaving Steven confused and worried. A much larger and grotesque version of these fusions rise from one of the pillars as though it is still fusing with difficulty.

As The Cluster approaches Garnet, she becomes terrified and stands still. Ruby, as Garnet, begins to cry out of her right eye, and understands what these fusions really are: they were previous Crystal Gems that were shattered, buried, and forced to fuse together. Garnet begins to unfuse slowly while Steven defends her. After Steven says that this isn't like Garnet, she regains composure and knocks out the Cluster, poofing the gem, which is a combination of multiple different gems. Garnet bubbles the gem, realizing that this is what Gem Homeworld thinks of gem fusion. As Garnet was talking, it goes back and forth from Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby on the left with temperament and anger with the red eye, and Sapphire, the right side of Garnet showing tenderness and compassion with the blue eye. The conversation between them was about the crystal gem shards, and they both come to one conclusion: That these gem shards were the gems that the Crystal Gems couldn't find after the war, and that they were forced to become a fusion. The forced fusions were the Crystal Gems' punishment for rebelling against Homeworld. Amethyst and Pearl return to Garnet and Steven, and notice the smaller gems' fusion mutants. Garnet orders the gems to put them down and bubble them all.

Back at the Crystal Temple's hand, Steven warps to do his laundry and finds Garnet. They discuss what they saw in Kindergarten, and Garnet expresses disgust over the forced fusions. Garnet states that fusion is a choice between gems, and that fusion is a right, and the forced fusions they saw in Kindergarten were not true fusions. Steven asks Garnet what it feels like to be a fusion all the time, like Garnet herself. She explains that the gems forget that they were ever alone in the first place. When gems fuse, they do not feel like two people, but rather one, and the gems' old names might as well be names for the left arm and the right arm. When Steven asks if Garnet disappears when Ruby and Sapphire unfuse, she says that Garnet is the embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire's love. Even if they split apart, Garnet will always exist in them. The strength of the two gems' love keeps the fusion alive for a very long time, explaining Garnet's long existence. After one of Steven's socks flies away with the wind, Garnet catches it and gives it to him, saying that "You don't want to break up a pair."

Characters

 * Pearl
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Steven
 * Peridot (semi-antagonist)
 * Ruby (mentioned, talking as Garnet)
 * Sapphire (mentioned, talking as Garnet)
 * Hand Cluster (debut)
 * Rose Quartz (mentioned)

Objects

 * Warp Pad
 * Injectors
 * Book Amethyst was reading
 * Steven's T-shirts
 * Steven's socks
 * Chore Wheel

Locations

 * Kindergarten
 * Prime Kindergarten Control Room
 * Beach City
 * Beach House

Music

 * Peridot
 * Gem Shards
 * Reunion

Trivia

 * This is the third episode to air in the second StevenBomb.
 * It was hinted in the promotional artwork with Garnet's head.
 * This is Peridot's 5th appearance.
 * It is revealed that Peridot can walk on walls, as well as use her fingers to fly like a helicopter. She is also seen using electrical discharges via her fingers.
 * It is revealed that Pearl can use her gem to illuminate areas like a flashlight.
 * It is revealed that shattered gem shards from the rebellion were forced to fuse together by Gem Homeworld.
 * In Prime Kindergarten Control Room, Ruby and Sapphire seem to be talking to each other through Garnet. This is made clear by the contrasting point of view angles for each character.
 * This also marks the fourth time multiple gems have a conversation while fused. The first time being in "Fusion Cuisine", the second in "Alone Together" with Steven and Connie as Stevonnie, and the third time in "Jail Break" with Jasper and Lapis as Malachite.
 * If you look closely it is the Ruby side of Garnet that cries at the sight of the forced fusion, this could hint that Ruby takes fusion more seriously than Sapphire.
 * It could also mean that Ruby knew the gems that were forced into fusion while Sapphire did not.
 * There is also the possibility that Ruby is prone to be more emotional than Sapphire under distress.
 * This is the second episode revolved around fusion with "together" in the title after "Alone Together". This is the sixth episode, in general, revolved around the topic.
 * The shards used in Homeworld's forced fusion experiments are similar to those in the episode "Secret Team" which appear as limbs as well.
 * This could mean that in Secret Team when Pearl had taken the gem shards from the bubble that she was reminiscing of the gems lost in the Gem War.
 * And when Garnet/Ruby stated "This is where they've been! All the ones we couldn't find, they've been here the whole time!" meaning that the gems in the bubble were the shards they could find were and these were the ones they couldn't.
 * After "Jail Break", this is the 2nd episode that Peridot addresses the Crystal Gems as Crystal "Clods"
 * The first was in the episode "Jail Break", and the third was in "Friend Ship".
 * "Clod" can mean a lump of earth or clay as well as an idiot.
 * This is the 6th time Steven summoned his shield.
 * This is the 2nd time Steven uses his shield to protect a Crystal Gem.SOCKS.PNG and Sapphire.]]
 * The two socks seen at the very end were red and blue, which is a reference to Ruby and Sapphire.
 * Keep Beach City Weird was updated with a post referencing Sneeple, the unrelated "Snail People" meme and the confusion between the two memes.
 * This marks the fourth time Garnet broke out of her usual stoic and calm character, shown with her clear emotions of utter disbelief when discovering the forced-fused gem shards.
 * The first being in "Alone Together" and second in "Jail Break", where in both she was obviously overjoyed. Then in "So Many Birthdays", when she overreacted.
 * This is the second time the washing machines on top of the temple's hand are shown outside of the ending credits.
 * The first was in "Sworn to the Sword".
 * At times during the scene with the Cluster, the music resembles a corrupted version of Stronger Than You.
 * It also resembles "Stronger Than You's" instrumental, when played-backwards.


 * It is now revealed what Peridot was really trying to do from this room since the events of "Marble Madness": recover cylinders containing forced-fused gem shards.
 * The Cluster mentioned in "Jail Break" appears in this episode.
 * Peridot states that the log date is 652. Since the log date in "Warp Tour" is 312. This means she has made 340 logs since Warp Tour.
 * This episode marks the sixth time Garnet's eyes are shown.
 * The first five were "Arcade Mania", "Mirror Gem", "Future Vision", "The Return", and "Jail Break".
 * Since the Cluster wasn't actually attacking Garnet, it's possible that it recognized her and was grabbing onto her as a cry for help.
 * This is the third time that we see the Kindergarten.
 * The first time was in "On the Run", the second time was in "Marble Madnnes" and the fourth time was in "When it Rains".

Cultural references

 * The eyes of the large fusion monster resemble Sahaquiel from Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Antibody Coralians from Eureka Seven.
 * There is a bottle of Lon Lon Milk (a reference to the Legend of Zelda) on the shelf behind Pearl when everyone is folding clothes.
 * The artistic style of Garnet's horrified reaction shot resembles the style of dramatic reaction shots from 1970s and 1980s anime.
 * The positions of the trapped Crystal Gems resemble the style of superhero team poses from the super sentai and magical girl genres.

Continuity

 * The cylindrical incubators that held The Cluster were shown in "Marble Madness" right before Peridot noticed Steven.Marble madness cluster facet five kindergarten.png
 * This is the second time Prime Kindergarten Control Room seen and the third time the Kindergarten is visited.
 * Garnet used the term "poofed" when she told the Crystal Gems to bubble all of the Gems, which was first used in "Reformed" by Steven.
 * While going off on his own to look for Peridot, Steven mimicked the sound that the Plug Robonoid from "Marble Madness" created when walking.
 * There is a note to buy engine oil which Amethyst likes to put on her food in "Reformed".Engine.png

Errors

 * When going to use the Warp Pad to find Peridot, Amethyst was holding her whip in her right hand, in the next scene, it was in her left.
 * When Peridot asks Steven if the other Crystal Gems are with him, her right sleeve is the same color as her skin.
 * When the injector was going to fall in the ground, Steven is standing on the ground, But then in the next screen Garnet is holding Steven.
 * When fleeing from the Crystal Gems, Peridot uses fingers on her left hand as a helicopter to fly away. However, in the next scene she flies using the fingers on her right hand.
 * Also, as Peridot was on the ground and just starting to fly she had five fingers spinning in a copter formation, in the next scene where she was flying higher, she is using six fingers instead of five.
 * However, this might be a way to show the effect that appears when helicopter rotor blades are spinning fast enough, where it appears that there are more blades than there really are. This is a common animation technique, referred to as "smear animation" or "smearing", with the individual drawings referred to as "smear frames".
 * When Steven is trying to run after Peridot, Garnet's hands aren't visible on his torso. But when it zooms out, her hands become visible.
 * When Garnet was holding Steven trying to run after Peridot, one frame has his thumb uncolored.
 * Garnet is shown summoning her other gauntlet after entering the Prime Kindergarten Control Room and lowering Steven, however she already had both of them summoned right before that scene.
 * In the scene where the Cluster broke out of the pillar, the two shards that form two connected arms seem to be colored blue and green, when they were originally blue and magenta.
 * When Garnet Bubbles the "Cluster Gem" the gem turns into the Centipeedle gem.
 * When Steven poofs one of the smaller Clusters, it doesn't leave a Gem behind.
 * While the Shattered Gem Fusion seems to be pulling Garnet apart, in one scene, Steven seems to be smiling instead of a confused face.
 * In one scene, Garnet's triangular facet on her right hand seems to be bigger than usual, touching the edges.
 * When Garnet refused, her third eye seems to be a magenta color instead of a purple color.
 * Garnet's bubble looked like Steven's and when she warped it, the Centipeetle Mother's Gem can be seen. This is confirmed to be an error.
 * When Garnet snatched the blue sock at the middle, but when she gave it to Steven she held it at the end.
 * When Steven tried grabbing the blue sock, his hand overlapped the hands he had before the frame.