Change Your Mind (episode)

"I am a child. What's your excuse?"

"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.

Part 1
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; Steven "flickers" between himself, Rose Quartz and finally turns into Pink Diamond.

Steven wakes up from his nightmare to see that Connie is present. Blue Diamond comes into the Prison Tower, upset that "Pink" 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. Pink Pearl appears to their dismay, stating that no one is leaving Homeworld. She takes control of White Diamond's Ship and docks it with Pink Diamond's Ship.

Part 2
As the Diamond Mech attacks, Blue and Yellow's Ships fly in and knock the Mech 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 shoots white light from the eyes of her mech, striking Blue and Yellow Diamond's gems. The two lose their own color and turn white and motionless - as they are now controlled by White Diamond. In the process, the mech's arms grow slack and Steven drops all the Crystal Gems.

Steven chases after them, he catches Amethyst and fuses with her gemstone, jump-starting her regeneration as they create Smoky Quartz. Realizing that he can use fusion to wake them up, Steven fuses with Pearl's gem 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, the Diamond mecha stomps on the Crystal Gems.

Part 3
It is revealed that no one was injured and the new fusion between Steven and Garnet, 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, they block White Diamond's point of view, causing her to slam into a wall. They make it safely inside, but White Diamond refuses to listen to Steven. White argues that "Pink" brings out the worst, the defects in everyone and surrounds herself with flawed Gems so she can be "the best of the worst" and uses her light to take over first Amethyst, then Garnet's and Pearl's minds, arguing that she is making things perfect. White further argues that "Pink" isn't gone, that "Steven" is a new form just like "Rose", and that Pink Diamond merely got so good at lying, she managed to lie to herself. White theorizes that Steven couldn't have any of Pink's memories if he weren't Pink; Steven questions his identity and motivations just as Connie makes it into the mech and is forced to fight Pearl. Ultimately, Connie is restrained by the controlled gems, White Diamond picks up Steven and proceeds to pull out Steven's Gem.

Part 4
Steven regains consciousness as he hears Connie call out for him, but he is extremely weak — his gemstone has been ripped out of his body, leaving him human. Above White Diamond's hand, Steven's gemstone floats into the air. The gemstone radiating pink light which shapes itself into Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz, pauses, then forms a Pink Steven. White Diamond asks the Pink Steven where Pink Diamond is, prompting it to shout "She's gone!" with such force it blasts a crater into the floor and nearly blows White Diamond off of her feet. Pink Steven, its face devoid of any emotion, begins walking towards the incapacitated Human Steven to rejoin his other half. White tries to interfere by blasting Pink Steven with her mind control ray, but Pink Steven uses a shield - which is faceted and without the rose and thorn design that Steven usually shows - to block it. White Diamond attempts multiple times to control Pink Steven but each attempt fails. Even when White uses all the gems under her control to also blast the Pink Steven with her Light, it merely shields itself, then 'pops' the shield, throwing everyone off balance and causing Human Steven to cry out to stop, that it's hurting the gems. Connie picks up Human Steven and gives him to his Pink half. The two begin to dance and laugh before recombining and fusing into normal Steven.

Furious, White Diamond yells in anger and accuses "Pink" of acting like a child. Steven claims he already is a child and asks White Diamond what her excuse is. This causes White to blush along with all of the other mind-controlled Gems and even her ship, and the mind control on the Crystal Gems, Blue and Yellow Diamond, and White Pearl is lost as White realizes she's showing a flaw. Steven reunites with the rest of the Crystal Gems (with a sudden appearance from Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth coming in as Backup), and comforts the now Pink Pearl, who is confused about where she is. White Diamond goes through an existential crisis, wondering why beings with flaws should even exist. She turns to Yellow and Blue Diamond, who recoil from her, calling White "off-color" (out of character, unlike what she is 'supposed' to be) due to her pink blush. Steven comforts White as well, telling her she can fix things and live a better, happier life - if she will "leave her own head".

Back on Earth, Sadie Killer and the Suspects sing a Ska version of Greg's "Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart" to everyone in Beach City. As they're applauded, the full Diamond Mech lands directly in front of the stage, suprising many of the guests. The Crystal Gems, along with the Diamonds, exit the ship as well as the Sun Incinerator landing shortly after. Lars and the Off Colors depart to meet the Diamonds and reunite with Steven, Lion, and a very worried Sadie. The Off Colors are exciting to meet Sadie and she thinks that Lars is a Space Pirate and Lars thinks that Sadie is a rock star and it suits for them. Sadie heard the crowd cheer "One more song" and began to banter with Lars, saying that she's got to go back onstage. On the side, the Off Colors meet Lion and they like him. Sadie announced everyone for the last song to Steven and he sang "We Are the Crystal Gems" song. During the song, the Off Colors met the rest of the citizens of Beach City. Lion meets with White Diamond.

Steven, Yellow and Blue Diamond took White to the old colony ship where the corrupted Nephrites are. Rose's Fountain started to flow and Steven, Yellow, Blue and White Diamond show excitement. While the water is flowing, Steven, the Crystal Gems, and the Diamonds bring all the bubbled Corrupted Gems from the Temple in the Burning Room to Rose's Fountain. As the bubbles are thrown into the water, Steven and the other Diamonds sit together and heal them with their combined powers. The newly healed Gems begin to converse and play, all showing some remnant of their corrupted forms, but otherwise unharmed. Biggs has been healed, Bismuth reunited with her. A healed Jasper attempts to attack Steven before being glared at by Yellow Diamond who manages to stare her out of attacking, Amethyst then swims over to greet Jasper by putting her hand on her shoulder and saying "Hey Sis" to her, causing Jasper to sink partially back into the water in embarrassment and realization.

The other Diamonds bid farewell to the Crystal Gems before the top half of the Diamond Mech separates 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 (reminiscent of their poses in the show's second opening) and enjoy each other'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 Pearl (mentioned)
 * Thing (debut; dream)
 * Rose Quartz (dream)
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet
 * Ruby (gemstone)
 * Sapphire (gemstone)
 * Pebbles (non-speaking)
 * Topaz Guards
 * Mica (mentioned)
 * Kyanite (mentioned)
 * Stone (mentioned)
 * Homeworld Pearls
 * Blue Pearl (mentioned)
 * Yellow Pearl (mentioned)
 * White Pearl
 * Greg Universe (mentioned)

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
 * Pink Diamond (cameo)
 * Rose Quartz (cameo)
 * Lion
 * Lars Barriga
 * Rhodonite
 * Padparadscha
 * Rutile Twins (non-speaking)
 * Fluorite (non-speaking)
 * Sadie Killer and the Suspects
 * Sadie Miller
 * The Cool Kids (non-speaking)
 * Sour Cream
 * Jenny Pizza
 * Buck Dewey
 * Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran (non-speaking)
 * Doug Maheswaran (non-speaking)
 * Yellowtail (non-speaking)
 * Vidalia (non-speaking)
 * Onion (non-speaking)
 * Ronaldo Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Peedee Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Mr. Fryman (non-speaking)
 * Barbara Miller (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)
 * Pumpkin
 * Cat Steven
 * Uncorrupted Gems (non-speaking)
 * Nephrite
 * Nephrite's Crew
 * Jasper
 * Watermelon Tourmaline
 * Biggs Jasper
 * Worm Monster
 * Crab Gem Monster
 * Heaven Beetle
 * Earth Beetle
 * Water Bear
 * Snow Monster
 * Ice Monster
 * Invisible Gem Monster
 * Unknown Uncorrupted Gems
 * Obelisk (debut)
 * Rainbow Cloud Monster (debut)
 * Snowbeast (debut)
 * Slug Monster (debut)
 * Plant Monster (debut)
 * Old Book Gem (debut)
 * Invisible Manta Ray (debut)
 * Clock Tower Gem (debut)
 * Unknown Giant Bird (debut)
 * The Perils of Pweepwee (debut)
 * Unknown Bird Gem Monster (debut)
 * Slime Gem Monster (debut)
 * Unknown Lizard Gem Monster (debut)
 * Red Eel Monster (debut)
 * Monster Lizard Gem (debut)
 * Mole Gem Monster (debut)
 * Frozen Fragment (debut)
 * Scorching Shard (debut)
 * Glass Ghost (debut)
 * Unknown Ant Gem Monster (debut)

Objects

 * Diamond Ships
 * White Diamond's Ship
 * Yellow Diamond's Ship
 * Pink Diamond's Ship
 * Blue Diamond's Ship
 * Bubbles
 * Chaaaps
 * Sun Incinerator
 * Hand Ship
 * Roaming Eye Ships
 * Warp Pad

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
 * Beach House
 * Rose's Fountain
 * Kyanite Colony (mentioned)

Songs

 * "Change Your Mind"
 * "Let Me Drive My Van (into Your Heart) (Sadie Killer and the Suspects Version)"
 * "We Are The Crystal Gems (Change Your Mind Version)"

Instrumental Songs

 * "Yellow Diamond"
 * "Blue Diamond"
 * "White Diamond"
 * "Consolation"
 * "Smoky Quartz"

Trivia

 * This is the first 44-minute 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 was referred to in official Cartoon Network marketing material as "Battle of Heart and Mind".
 * Yellow Diamond says the phrase "We need to talk", referencing the title of a Season 2 episode.
 * 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 a repetition of the themes from "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.
 * 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, Yellow and Pink are therefore "parts" of her. However, Pink is not any particular frequency of light, but instead is a mixture of red and violet.
 * The 30-second shot of Steven reuniting with his gem from Connie backing away to right after Steven has been made whole again was guest-animated by James Baxter, an independent animator who has worked on films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado, hence the lively animation of the heartwarming shot. To Cartoon Network viewers, Baxter is perhaps best known for his guest animation/voice role of the fluidly animated James Baxter the Horse on Adventure Time.
 * Baxter later posted his original pencil test of the sequence (prior to completed animation by Kendra Baxter) on YouTube after the episode aired.
 * The final line and color of the scene were applied on the animation studio of the series, Sunmin Image Pictures.
 * It was revealed in a Steven Universe Podcast, that Baxter wanted to owe a favor for Rebecca. In return, Baxter created this 30-second shot.
 * This episode seems to mark the end of all hostilities between the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds.
 * The concept of Steven being separated from his gem, and the reunifying fusion of his physical body and gem was originally going to happen in Giant Woman, before the Crewniverse came to the conclusion that it would be too soon for that to happen.
 * In the beginning of the episode, Blue Diamond mentions the kyanite colony, the place where some of Pink Diamond's pets originated from. Kyanite itself is a blue mineral found in, among other things, quartz veins.

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.
 * These visors also reference the sunglasses worn by Teddy from Mother (known in the United States as EarthBound Beginnings).
 * The way Rainbow Quartz 2.0 uses their umbrella, coupled with their British accent and attitude, are a clear reference to the Disney movie Mary Poppins.
 * Sunstone is a reference to PSA cartoons from the early 90s.

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".
 * White Diamond's understanding of Steven's nature is similar to Pearl's in "Three Gems and a Baby". Wherein thy both believe that removing his gem will allow Pink Diamond to reform.
 * Pearl's new jacket is a reference to her outfit from "Last One Out of Beach City".
 * Connie brings up the conversation she had with her mom in "Nightmare Hospital".
 * Pearl's line "Room for three more?" and Steven's reply "Always", are a reference to a closely similar exchange they had in "Gemcation".
 * This episode reveals what would happen to Steven if his gem were removed from his body, a question he briefly ponders while being chased by Eyeball in "Bubbled".
 * Pearl also tried removing Steven's gem in Three Gems and a Baby, but could not bring herself to. This is similar to White's actions, except White actually did remove Steven's gem.

Errors

 * When Steven sees the Gems poofed in his dream, Garnet's gems both stay red rather than one of them (Sapphire) becoming blue.
 * During the scene where White's ship is flying over to Pink's ship, Yellow's sclera are colored yellow.
 * When Yellow is talking to White about her feelings and when White blasts Blue and Yellow, White's ship has diamond-shaped pupils when they are round throughout most of the episode.
 * When Smoky Quartz is about to unfuse, Amethyst's gem on Smoky Quartz's chest is colored as its normal purple.
 * Ruby and Sapphire's gems on Sunstone are missing in a few shots.
 * The scene immediately after Obsidian slices Blue Diamond's armship in half shows it cut off at the wrist like Yellow Diamond's armship was instead of being slit along the arm all the way to the elbow.
 * During the scene where White was talking about Blue and Yellow's imperfections, Blue's gem is triangle-shaped.
 * 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.
 * When Pink Steven is walking towards Human Steven, just before the scene transitions, Pink Steven's arm is colored-in incorrectly.
 * During the scene where Human Steven and Pink Steven fuse, the white glow of White Diamond's nails are missing.
 * When the Diamond Ships land on Earth, one duplicate of Barbara Miller, one duplicate of Dante Barriga, and two duplicates of Connie can be seen in the crowd.
 * When the Diamond Ships land on Earth, Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot aren't seen with the rest of the Crystal Gems.
 * When the Sun Incinerator lands on Earth, the foot of the leg ship goes on the back instead of the front.
 * As the Diamonds approach Rose's Fountain, Blue is carrying Steven with both hands. In the next shot, her left hand is yellow.
 * Biggs Jasper is shown to have a round polished gemstone rather than the hexagonal cut she is supposed to have.
 * When Jasper emerges from the water upon being healed, her left hand is missing the teal spots that are later seen in the next few shots.
 * The credits of this episode misspell "Pink Pearl" as "Pink Peral".
 * The episode was not featured in the credits after its television premiere, instead the credits of "We Need to Talk" was displayed.
 * It can be assumed that the original credits were deleted. Therefore, the credits of another episode was used to replace it instead.