Onion Trade

"Try and act like a rich duck."

"Onion Trade" is the 15th episode of the first season of Steven Universe, and the 15th episode overall.

Synopsis
A toy trade between Steven and Onion escalates to epic proportions.

Plot
Steven finds Amethyst outside and tells her that he lost his "G.U.Y.S." toy. Pearl, overhearing this, tells him that he cannot find his stuff due to his room being so messy. She then opens his window allowing a seagull to fly out. Amethyst stands up for Steven by stating her room is just as messy and she is able to find everything, she is looking for. This statement sparks an argument between Amethyst and Pearl, as Steven walks quietly away. He walks solemnly to the car wash and when he gets there, his father sprays him with the hose ready to play with him. However, Steven, who is not in the mood to play, tells his dad that he lost his toy, his father got him last summer. His father, who unable to remember this toy, decides to give Steven, a bag of quarters so he can win himself a new "Ranger Guy" from Funland Arcade.

After his numerous attempts to obtain "Dave Guy" fail, he realizes that Onion has this particular "G.U.Y." He follows him with the hopes of trading all the toys he has for the particular "Ranger Guy". After Onion refuses to trade, he goes back to the Temple and talks with Amethyst who gives him Pearl's Replicator Wand.

The wand is to Onion's liking and he accepts the trade. As time passes, Onion begins to replicate countless numbers of G.U.Y toy balls. Steven reveals he traded the wand for Ranger G.U.Y, and Pearl asks why he did not just use it to replicate the toy. The Gems, bombarded by Onion's attacks, fail to coerce Onion to relinquish the Replicator Wand. As the Gems have Onion's attention, Steven is able to jump on Onion and cause him to drop the wand. He realizes that Onion had stolen his Ranger Guy and in the end, lets him keep it because he realizes all Onion does is "sit around and wait for his dad". Garnet then destroys the Replicator Wand, which results in the disintegration of every replicated toy and item.

Amethyst then asks if all the stuff she copied disappeared as well, to which Pearl responds "Yes," leaving Amethyst disappointed. As the gems walk off home, Greg approaches his son and complements him on his actions. Greg then asks him why he went through all that trouble for a toy. Steven responds that he wanted it for the memories but states that he now has "new memories — horrible, horrible memories".

Characters

 * Steven
 * Onion (antagonist)
 * Greg Universe
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet
 * Yellowtail (debut)

Objects

 * G.U.Y.S. (debut)
 * Dave Guy
 * Ranger Guy
 * Replicator Wand (debut)
 * Potato Chips
 * Onion's Moped
 * Hynes Ketchup (debut)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Crystal Temple
 * Beach House
 * Pearl's Room (mentioned)
 * Suitcase Sam's (debut)
 * Funland Arcade
 * Beach City Pier

Trivia

 * This is the first time Onion talks. This reveals that Onion does in fact speak, however, he doesn't speak English, but speaks gibberish.
 * This is the first time Yellowtail appears in the series.
 * This is the last episode to air on a Monday before Adult Swim moved its start time up to 8:00 PM.
 * This was also the overall last episode to air on a Monday until "Rose's Scabbard" aired on March 9, 2015, which was a Monday.
 * This is Onion's first and thus far only major role.
 * This is the first episode where a human is portrayed as the primary antagonist.

Cultural References

 * The ketchup packets Onion threw had "Hynes" written on them. This is a reference to the popular condiment manufacturer, Heinz, and the last name of character designer, Danny Hynes.
 * It's possible that the GUYS (Guys Under Your Supervision) toy line of rubber figures is a parody of MUSCLE (Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere), a similar toy line based on the Kinnikuman manga.
 * Steven's advice for surviving Onion's Dave Guy pool is "try to act like a rich duck," referring to Scrooge McDuck and his tendency to swim through the money in his massive vault, like in theme to the show "DuckTales".
 * While Steven is telling Amethyst about "G.U.Y.S." and it shows his face surrounded by their portraits, the visual is referencing the Mega Man stage select.
 * It could also be a reference to the Brady Bunch theme song.
 * Steven mentions a G.U.Y.S toy called Eye Guy, which shares its name with one of the alien forms of Ben Tennyson from the Ben 10 franchise.

Continuity

 * Onion is shown riding and later wrecking the same scooter that he won in "Arcade Mania".

Errors

 * In the first scene, after Steven opens the front door, the door is suddenly closed in cuts to close-up shots, then it re-opens itself in overhead shots.Garnet's gem placement error Onion Trade.jpg
 * In one scene, Garnet's left gem was on the placement of the right gem.
 * Garnet's gem was on her gauntlet, while it should be on the palm of her hand.

Transcript
Click here to see the transcript.