Now We're Only Falling Apart

"Everything we were running from, she was right there all along... using us for her little war... smiling at us with those knowing eyes... making me believe in a better future that I couldn't see, because it wasn't real, and now here we are, our friends, shattered, and corrupted... of course she was a Diamond. What a long road she took to torture us like this..."

"Now We're Only Falling Apart" is the 19th episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe, the 147th episode overall, and the first episode in the seventh StevenBomb.

Synopsis
Pearl tells a story.

Plot
Following the "A Single Pale Rose" revelation, Amethyst is shocked, while Garnet remains stoically silent. After asking, Garnet destabilizes and unfuses, with Ruby sad and attempting to comfort the furious, betrayed Sapphire. Sapphire yells at Ruby, taking out her stress on her, and questions their relationship. Sapphire warps to Rose's fountain, leaving Ruby in tears as Pearl and Steven go after her.

At Rose's fountain, Pearl tells Sapphire and Steven the story of Pink Diamond's and Pearl's past: she reveals why Pink decided to become Rose Quartz (it was Pearl's idea – albeit a rhetorical one) and why Pearl is there with her. In this, Pearl describes Rose's amazement towards the Amethyst soldiers emergence and the life on Earth, her realization of the Diamonds taking all life from the planet just to create more Gems, her failed attempts to convince the other Diamonds to cease colonization on Earth and how they inspired her decision to start the Rebellion as Rose.

Pearl also details how she decided to add having Gems as part of her plan to save Earth after seeing Garnet's accidental first fusion, and how it also inspired their attempted fusion of Rainbow Quartz; Pearl picked up Rose in an adorable attempt at "traditional" fusion, but after failing, they shared a heartfelt moment and nearly fused for real. It is then that they officially met Garnet after she fell to Earth. In the end, Sapphire returns to the house with Pearl and Steven, understanding that they didn't follow Rose; Rose followed them. However, once they warp back, Sapphire becomes shocked to find nobody in the now dark, vacant house, and a letter from Ruby.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Pearl
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Ruby
 * Sapphire
 * Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond (flashback)
 * Yellow Diamond (non-speaking/flashback)
 * Yellow Pearl (non-speaking/flashback)
 * Blue Diamond (non-speaking/flashback)
 * Blue Pearl (non-speaking/flashback)
 * Amethyst Guards (flashback)
 * Two Topazes (non-speaking/flashback)
 * Prehistoric Humans (flashback)
 * Rainbow Quartz (flashback; silhouette while forming)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Beach House
 * Prime Kindergarten (flashback)
 * Rose's Fountain
 * Cloud Arena (flashback)
 * Moon Base (flashback)
 * Pink Diamond's Zoo (mentioned)
 * Parts of Earth (shown in flashback)

Objects

 * Warp Pad
 * Injectors (flashback)
 * Observation Orb (flashback)
 * Diamond Communicator (flashback)
 * Blue Diamond's Palanquin (flashback)
 * Pearl's Sword (flashback)

Songs
None

Instrumental Songs
TBA

Trivia

 * This is the first time a Gem is seen emerging from a Kindergarten.
 * The cross-hairs on Pearl's projected map suggests the Prime Kindergarten is somewhere in the Great Lakes region of the USA, probably in Ohio or Indiana.
 * It is revealed that Rainbow Quartz also first formed during "The Answer"
 * Pearl is the factor that leads to Pink Diamond's love for Earth and the latter rebellion.
 * The creation of the Human Zoo was actually Blue Diamond's idea not Pink.
 * It is shown that Pink Diamond is lowest-ranked Diamond in the Great Diamond Authority as she cannot make her own decision about the Earth and has to obey Blue and Yellow Diamond.
 * The Amethyst that the Amethyst guards were waiting for, "8XM", is our Crystal Gem Amethyst

Cultural References

 * The episode's title is a reference to a lyric from the 1983 hit song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler.

Continuity

 * The episode begins immediately after "A Single Pale Rose".
 * It is revealed that it was Pearl's idea for Pink Diamond to disguise herself as a soldier.
 * The flashbacks from "The Answer" are seen from Pearl's point of view.
 * The audio track with Garnet’s lines from when she met Pearl and “Rose” in the episode “The Answer” were reused in this episode.
 * In "Message Received", Pearl claimed that not all Pearls know each other when asked about Yellow Pearl, but this episode reveals that she has met both Yellow and Blue Pearl.

Errors

 * The Cartoon Network screenbug did not display the "new episode" text when this episode first premiered.
 * An Amethyst soldier, when shown saying, "That is the first and nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.", has her gem on her right shoulder. She is supposed to have it on the outside of her right thigh. However, in the shot where she emerges, her gem is in the correct spot.