Giant Woman (episode)

"♫ All you wanna do, is see me turn into... ♫"

"Giant Woman" is the 12th episode in the first season of Steven Universe, and the 12th overall.

Synopsis
During a mission to the Sky Spire, Steven tries to convince Amethyst and Pearl to fuse together and become a giant woman to fight a giant bird.

Plot
The episode begins with Pearl and Amethyst playing checkers. Steven uses water balloons in an attempt to motivate the two, and Pearl wins easily. Amethyst and Pearl then start an argument over why they "don't form Opal anymore". An excited Steven asks who Opal is and bombards them with questions, so Pearl manipulates sand to form an image of Opal to explain what happens when the two (Amethyst and Pearl) perform a dance-like ritual to combine into a single, more formidable Crystal Gem named Opal. Amethyst interrupts, saying that she doesn't dance in the manner Pearl showed, and continues to describe what Opal is like, which makes Steven want Pearl and Amethyst to fuse together. However, he is interrupted as he notices that Garnet has returned from her mission. At the house, Garnet tells the other Gems and Steven to go to the Sky Spire and retrieve the Heaven Beetle while she goes and retrieves the Earth Beetle, telling Steven to keep the harmony between Pearl and Amethyst. At the Sky Spire, Steven keeps pestering his friends with trivial questions about how the fusion works as he sings about his desire to see them combine into a "giant woman", to which Pearl explains that they only fuse together when there is an emergency. During the trip, Steven intentionally dramatizes various circumstances to get Amethyst and Pearl to fuse. He also finds a mountain goat and names him Steven Jr. Eventually, the trio (and Steven Jr.) come across an area of small platform-like islands. Amethyst throws Steven onto one of the platforms, and as the two begin messing around on it, until Steven suddenly falls. Pearl and Amethyst are quickly forced to work together to save Steven. They successfully save him, but when they reach the top of the Spire, the Heaven Beetle is discovered to be missing from its home. Pearl and Amethyst start to argue again, when suddenly the trio is attacked by a giant bird. The bird eats Steven Jr., much to Steven's terror. Pearl then attempts to throw her spear at the bird, but it too is eaten. The trio then flees into the nearby dome, where Steven encourages Pearl and Amethyst to fuse into Opal. Pearl and Amethyst then attempt to fuse together, with Pearl dancing gracefully and Amethyst dancing in a funky, unique style. Because of this lack of synchronization, the fusion fails. Suddenly, the giant bird's beak breaks in through the roof, and it eats Steven. When inside the bird, Steven finds Steven Jr. chewing on the Heaven Beetle. Steven manages to get the Heaven Beetle out of Steven Jr.'s mouth and puts the artifact in his pocket. Suddenly, several arms punch into the bird's stomach and drag Steven out, and he finds that his savior is a tall, blue-skinned woman with four arms: Opal, the fusion of Amethyst and Pearl. She then fuses Amethyst and Pearl's weapons together into a bow, and uses it to defeat all of the smaller birds. Steven was astonished, and did not realize Opal retained Pearl and Amethyst's memories, until she said the lyrics "All you wanna do, is see me turn into..." (a part of the song Steven had been singing earlier), recognizing that this was the giant woman he was looking for. Opal and Steven then warp back to the house. When Garnet asks about the Heaven Beetle, Opal realizes with horror that she doesn't have it, and the sudden surge of emotion causes the two Gems to separate again. They then start arguing about why they forgot the Heaven Beetle, before Steven stops the argument by taking the Heaven Beetle out of his pocket and giving it to Garnet. She places the Beetle into a bug cage with the Earth Beetle, and she then bubbles it. As the episode closes, Garnet tells Steven that he will be great at fusing one day. The star-shaped iris closes in on Steven, but zooms out when Steven has an excited outburst at the implication that he can fuse with the others as well.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Steven Jr. (debut)
 * Garnet
 * Opal (debut)
 * Big Bird (antagonist/debut)
 * Heaven Beetle (debut)
 * Earth Beetle (debut)

Objects

 * Warp Pad
 * Garnet's Goggles (first appearance)
 * Checkers Table

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Crystal Temple
 * Beach House
 * Sky Spire Mountains (first appearance)
 * Sky Spire (first appearance)

Songs

 * "Giant Woman"

Instrumental Songs

 * "Opal"
 * "Amalgam"
 * "The Heaven Beetle"

Trivia

 * This episode introduces the concept of Gem fusion.
 * It is shown that Pearl has the ability to manipulate sand.
 * It is stated that Garnet is the only Crystal Gem that has the ability to swim in lava.

Continuity

 * Garnet's Lava Goggles appear again in "Love Letters".
 * Garnet says in this episode that she can swim in lava. In "Keystone Motel", Ruby, who makes one half of Garnet, is seen to have heat based powers.

Cultural References

 * Opal's design is very similar to Nabooru of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * Amethyst's dance includes the stanky leg.

Errors

 * The rock that Garnet gave Steven disappeared on the floor when Steven said "Today's gonna be all about HAR-MO-NY!".
 * When Pearl and Amethyst were arguing, a shot of their legs appeared in which Pearl's leg color was tan instead of white.
 * When Pearl and Amethyst were playing checkers, Amethyst had 6 pieces, but when Pearl said she won, Amethyst only had 5, and when it shifted to both of them, there were 7.
 * When Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl walk to the Warp Pad, only one of Pearl's fingers are drawn separated.
 * When Pearl and Amethyst are fusing, once they both turn into light, Amethyst's entire gem becomes hexagonal.
 * When the Gems look at Steven when he begins to sing, Amethyst's gem disappears.
 * The color and placement of the water balloons Steven is holding completely changes between shots.
 * In one scene where Opal is jumping; her mouth is colored green, her teeth are red, and her tongue is yellow.
 * Just after Opal summons her bow, in the scene where she is adjusting her grip on the bow, both of her left arms are lifted off of the bow and a third arm seems to hold it in place.

Videos
Giant Woman