Change Your Mind (episode)

"Change Your Mind" is a 44-minute special episode. It takes up the production slots of the 29th through 32nd episodes of the fifth season of Steven Universe, and the 157th through 160th episodes overall. It is the final episode of the fifth season, as well as a sub-event of the Diamond Days event, called Battle of Heart and Mind.

Synopsis
Steven faces his biggest challenge yet.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven waking up in the Prison Tower and frantically searching for Connie. Blue Diamond comes in and is upset that Steven won't behave better before he turns into Pink Diamond. Steven wakes up from his nightmare to see that Connie is present. Blue Diamond comes into the Prison Tower once more, upset that he won't, once again, act like a Diamond should. Noticing the pattern, Steven tries to convince Blue that how she is treating himself and the rest of the Crystal Gems isn't right. Blue Diamond has an epiphany and realizes her and Yellow Diamond's behavior towards Pink in the past had caused her to feel miserable and misunderstood. With her change of heart, Blue helps Steven and Connie find the other Crystal Gems. They confront Yellow Diamond and Blue tries to convince Yellow to just let Steven and the Crystal Gems go back to Earth. Yellow Diamond refuses to help and the two begin fighting. Steven gets them to stop (right before Blue Diamond is poofed) and gets them to make up before the united Diamonds head for Pink Diamond's Ship. White Pearl appears to their dismay, stating that no one is leaving Homeworld. She takes control of White Diamond's Headship and docks it with Pink Diamond's Legship. Before the Diamond Mecha can attack, Blue and Yellow's Armships fly in and knock the Mecha over.

They land to reveal Bismuth, and a reformed Peridot and Lapis in new Crystal Gems Uniforms. Together, they manage to connect Yellow and Blue's ships to White and Pink's ships. They then all get on the arms to try and talk to White Diamond. However White instead decides to take control of Blue and Yellow, causing them to turn white. In the process the arms lose focus and Steven drops all the Crystal Gems.

Steven chases after them, he catches Amethyst and fuses with her gemstone, causing her to force out of her gem to create Smoky Quartz. Steven does the same with Pearl to create Rainbow Quartz 2.0. Eventually, all of the Gems land safely on the road of Homeworld's city. Steven has already begun to fuse with Ruby and Sapphire, with the rest of the Crystal Gems looking onward in surprise. Suddenly, Pink Diamond's Legship stomps down on the Crystal Gems before revealing that no one was injured and the new fusion Sunstone is holding the foot up. They're able to push it off before unfusing.

With the Crystal Gems ready to fight, Steven states the only way to win is for all of them to fuse and form Obsidian. Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven all dance and form Obsidian, before starting to climb up the Diamond Mech. They unfuse when they reach the head of the ship, and White slams into a wall. They make it safely inside, then White Diamond takes over Amethyst, Garnet's and Pearl's minds. Connie comes in and fights Pearl's mind controlled state, then White Diamond picks Steven up and proceeds to pull out Steven's Gem.

Steven's Gem floats into the air, creating pink sillouhetes for Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz before forming a pink Steven. White Diamond asks the pink Steven where Pink Diamond is, prompting it to shout "She's gone!" in return and nearly blowing White Diamond off of her feet. The Pink Steven begins walking towards the incapacitated Steven, too weak to even stand. White tries to interfere by blasting it with her mind control lasers, but the pink Steven uses a pink faceted shield to deflect it. White Diamond attempts to take over it but fails as Connie picks the human Steven up and gives him to pink Steven. The two begin to dance and laugh before combining into normal Steven.

As Steven and Connie unite, White Diamond grows furious and calls "Pink" a child. Steven laughs it off and responds that he is a child, and is curious to know White's excuse. This causes her to blush and the mind control effect on the Crystal Gems, Blue and Yellow Diamond, and White Pearl is lost. Steven reunites with the rest of the Crystal Gems (with a sudden appearance from Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth), Steven comforts the now Pink Pearl, confused about where she is. White Diamond goes through an existential crisis, wondering why beings with flaws should even exist. Steven comforts her as well, asking her to "leave her own head".

Back on Earth, Sadie Killer and the Suspects sing Greg's "Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart" to everyone in Beach City before the full Diamond Mech crashes down. The Crystal Gems along with the Diamonds exit the ship as the Sun Incinerator lands. Lars and the Off Colors depart and talk to everyone, including a very worried Sadie and Lion.

Steven and the Diamonds begin to heal the Corrupted Gems by bringing all the bubbled Gems from the Temple to Rose's Fountain. As the bubbles are thrown into the water, Steven and the other Diamonds sit soaking and healing them with their combined powers. The newly healed Gems begin to converse and play. A now healed Jasper attempts to attack Steven before Amethyst reminds her that the Diamonds are present and watching, causing her to sink sullingly into the water in shame.

The other Diamonds bid farewell to the Crystal Gems before the top half of the Diamond Mecha seperates and warps back to Homeworld. Steven sits on the beach playing a song on his ukulele when the other Crystal Gems ask if they can join him. They take a seat next to him (remniscent of their poses in the show's opening) and enjoy eachother's company as a shooting star streaks overhead in the night sky.

Part 1

 * Steven Universe
 * Connie Maheswaran
 * Blue Diamond
 * Yellow Diamond
 * Pink Diamond (dream; mentioned)
 * White Diamond (dream; mentioned)
 * Pink Diamond's Pearl (mentioned)
 * Alien Worm Creature
 * Rose Quartz (dream)
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet
 * Ruby (gemstone)
 * Sapphire (gemstone)
 * Pebbles (non-speaking)
 * Topaz Guards
 * Greg Universe (mentioned)
 * White Pearl

Part 2

 * Bismuth
 * Peridot
 * Lapis Lazuli
 * Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran (mentioned)
 * Smoky Quartz
 * Rainbow Quartz 2.0 (debut)

Part 3

 * Sunstone (debut)
 * Obsidian (debut)
 * White Diamond

Part 4

 * Pink Pearl
 * Greg Universe
 * Lion
 * Lars Barriga
 * Rhodonite
 * Padparadscha
 * Rutile Twins (non-speaking)
 * Fluorite (non-speaking)
 * Sadie Killer and the Suspects
 * Sadie Miller
 * Sour Cream (non-speaking)
 * Jenny Pizza (non-speaking)
 * Buck Dewey (non-speaking)
 * Yellowtail (non-speaking)
 * Vidalia (non-speaking)
 * Onion (non-speaking)
 * Ronaldo Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Peedee Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Mr. Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Kofi Pizza (non-speaking)
 * Kiki Pizza (non-speaking)
 * Nanefua Pizza (non-speaking)
 * Harold Smiley (non-speaking)
 * Dante and Martha Barriga (non-speaking)
 * Bill Dewey (non-speaking)
 * Jamie (non-speaking)
 * Uncorrupted Corrupted Gems (non-speaking)
 * Nephrite
 * Nephrite's Crew
 * Jasper
 * Watermelon Tourmaline
 * Worm Monster
 * Crab Gem Monster
 * Biggs Jasper
 * Heaven Beetle
 * Earth Beetle
 * Water Bear
 * Snow Monster
 * Ice Monster

Objects

 * Diamond Ships
 * White Diamond's Ship
 * Yellow Diamond's Ship
 * Pink Diamond's Ship
 * Blue Diamond's Ship
 * Bubbles
 * Chaaaps
 * Thin Flake of Mica
 * Sun Incinerator

Locations

 * Gem Homeworld
 * Unknown City
 * Prison Tower
 * Diamond Palaces
 * Diamond Ship Docking Bay
 * Pink Diamond's Palace
 * Yellow Diamond's Bubble Chamber (debut)
 * Earth
 * Beach City
 * Beach City Stage
 * Kyanite Colony (mentioned)

Songs

 * "Change Your Mind"
 * "Let me Ska My Van Into Your Heart"
 * "We Are The Crystal Gems (new version)"

Instrumental Songs

 * "Yellow Diamond"
 * "Blue Diamond"
 * "White Diamond"

Trivia

 * This is the first 44-minute special episode in the series.
 * While the Wanted event consisted of four 11-minute episodes aired on the same day, the episodes in Wanted are considered four separate episodes.
 * This is the final episode of the Diamond Days arc, and Season 5 as a whole.
 * This episode shows that Steven is capable of fusing with inactive Gems, which results to them reforming quickly in the process.
 * This episode was referred to in official Cartoon Network marketing material as "Battle of Heart and Mind".
 * This is the first time bubbles created by Yellow Diamond are shown.
 * Greg's catchphrase "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs" is mentioned again by Steven.
 * This episode shows Peridot and Lapis's new forms, as well as Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet's.
 * Yellow Diamond says the phrase "We need to talk," the title of a Season 2 episode.
 * This episode revealed that White Diamond can possess Gems, changing their gemstones' color.
 * The Crystal Gems landing on the ground (with Steven landing gracefully) parallels the Crystal Gems landing on the ground (with Steven hitting the ground face-first) in "Serious Steven".
 * Steven saying "I am a child; what’s your excuse?!" is a reference to Steven saying "I can’t help it; what’s your excuse?!" in the Pilot.
 * Steven saying "Be whoever you are" to White Diamond is possibly a reference to the song "Be Wherever You Are" from "Island Adventure".
 * Although healed, some of the corrupted Gems still have features from their corrupted forms, such as the Quartz Gems still retaining their horns. Though, it is possible those features will vanish soon as Jasper's features of her corrupted form were shown to be disappearing gradually.
 * White Diamond calls Yellow Diamond "impure" because she absorbs all the blue, leaving yellow. This is similar to absorption of light in the real world. Similarly, Blue Diamond absorbs every color except blue. White Diamond is "perfect" because white is the combination of every color of the spectrum; Blue and Yellow are therefore "parts" of her. However, pink is not any particular frequency of light, but instead is a mixture of red and violet.

Cultural References

 * Peridot and Garnet both have star shaped visors in their new forms, similar to the ones worn by Kamina and Simon in the sci-fi mecha anime, Gurren Lagann.

Continuity

 * This episode continues from "Escapism".
 * Sadie's line "Lars? You're really here!" could be a reference to Peridot's line to Lapis in "Reunited".

Errors

 * Although Blue and Yellows ships were damaged in the fight with Obsidian, they appear later in the episode with no damage. This is likely just a continuity error.
 * When Jasper emerges from the water upon being healed, her arms are missing the teal spots that are later seen in the next few shots.
 * When Pink Steven forms, Blue Diamond is on White's right (left from Steven's perspective,) but in the next shot, Yellow Diamond is there instead.