Mirror Gem

"The asymmetry of this pile is really starting to bother me."

"Mirror Gem" is the 25th episode of the first season in Steven Universe, and the 25th episode overall.

Official Synopsis
Steven befriends a magical mirror that can mysteriously communicate with him.

Plot
Steven is talking to Connie on the phone and she tells him that they can hang out since school's out for summer vacation. Steven is confused about school so he gets Pearl to set it up. When Pearl finds out that school is about learning, she summons the Gem Mirror to try to teach him. She says that they found this at the Galaxy Warp, and it can show him any event in Gem history. They then try it out, but it doesn't work, so Pearl leaves Steven with it.

Steven takes this mirror out to the beach and bumps into Lars and Sadie, and talks with them about summer vacation. Then Steven almost gets hit by Mayor Bill Dewey who is driving on the boardwalk. Steven finds out that the mirror is like a person and can communicate by using bits of sentences witnessed or said by Steven and combining them. Amazed, Steven plays with it all day, then comes back home to inform the Gems of his discovery. They are in awe and curiosity that it can do that, and Garnet orders Steven to give it to her. The mirror then replays a scene of Steven screaming "no," which frightens and confuses him, and he refuses saying it doesn't want to go with her. Garnet tells Steven that it is a Mirror and cannot want anything. As she reaches closer to the mirror, he accidentally slaps Garnet when she tries to take the mirror away from him, and her visor falls off, which shocks everyone, including Amethyst and Pearl. A terrified Steven then runs out the door, screaming while running down the beach. Pearl insists to Garnet that it was only an accident and he didn't mean to slap her, all three proceed out the door after him. Steven pleads with the mirror to tell him what he can do to help it. The mirror shows him that he needs to take the gem out with a visual appearing on the mirror. When he does, the water around him forms a pattern and the mirror breaks. In front of him, a girl appears from the gem, who subsequently introduces herself as Lapis Lazuli, a Gem with the apparent ability to manipulate water. She thanks him for setting her free and questions whether he really is a Crystal Gem himself, with obvious confusion as to why he talked to her and helped her leave the mirror and when she was about to leave and tried to convince Steven to come with her. Soon enough she left.

The rest of the Crystal Gems find them and pull out their weapons. Lapis seems to remember Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and attacks them in anger, stating that they knew she was trapped in the mirror but did nothing in efforts to help her. She tells Steven to come 'home' with her, whose hesitance prompts her to tell him not to trust the Gems while Garnet charges at her. Lapis walks into the ocean, escaping and blocking out Garnet's attack with a wave. A concerned Pearl embraces Steven, who seems bewildered but otherwise unharmed, and Garnet tells him that he is grounded.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Connie
 * Lars
 * Sadie
 * Lapis Lazuli (debut)
 * Mayor Bill Dewey
 * Peedee Fryman
 * Fryman
 * Mr. Smiley
 * Jamie

Songs

 * Mirror Gem (Piano Version)
 * Let Me Out
 * I Am Lapis Lazuli

Trivia

 * Lapis Lazuli makes her debut in this episode.
 * The Galaxy Warp is mentioned for the first time.
 * It's revealed that Steven doesn't know what a school is.
 * This is because he is homeschooled by the Crystal Gems.
 * Garnet becomes angry at Steven for the first time.
 * Steven seems to fear her, since after he panicked and slapped her by accident, he ran away saying "I'm sorry!".
 * This is the first time Steven has been grounded and is punished.
 * He is "grounded" again in "Space Race", but by Greg Universe.
 * He is punished again in "Fusion Cuisine".
 * Connie's parents are pictured.
 * They make their first appearance in "Fusion Cuisine"
 * The word 'RE-FLECT' is very similar to the sign on Mayor Bill Dewey's car, 'RE-ELECT.
 * The word 'RE-FLECT' has connection with this episode, But the fact above could be just a coincidence.

Continuity

 * This episode is part one of a mid-season finale, the second being "Ocean Gem."
 * Pearl's dance from "Lars and the Cool Kids" reappears while summoning the mirror.
 * Steven knocks Garnet's glasses off, marking the second time her eyes are shown. The first being "Arcade Mania," and the third being "Future Vision."
 * When Steven starts to walk backwards, to the background are posters of Beach-A-Palooza.
 * Connie is wearing lens-less glasses, due to being healed by Steven's saliva in "An Indirect Kiss."

Errors

 * When Garnet's right hand is reaching out to grab the mirror from Steven, the gem on her left hand is shown instead of her right one.
 * The arm of water that creates Lapis is right, but the shade of this is a left arm.
 * When Steven is on the boardwalk about to get ran over you can see the writing on Mayor Dewey's car the writing is not backwards like it should be in a mirror.
 * The mirror disappears after Steven releases Lapis from it.
 * At the end of the episode, Steven is mounted on Mayor Dewey's shoulders, but when the scene changes to Garnet and Pearl, when the scene change to Steven, he is mounted on Lars's shoulders.
 * When the mirror flashbacks to when Sadie says "new friend," the donut logo on her shirt should be backwards, like when the mirror flashbacks to when Lars scolds "Steven."

Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.