Know Your Fusion

"You're a fusion. You're full of surprises! You just don't know it yet."

"Know Your Fusion" is the 2nd episode of the fourth season of Steven Universe and the 105th episode overall.

Official Synopsis
Steven and the Gems delve deep into what makes a fusion so special.

Plot
Inside the beach house, Steven and Amethyst are planning to perform some tricks. Amethyst suggests performing the "dog walker" next time, but Steven encourages otherwise and to perform before Pearl and Garnet get suspicious, the former already questioning their activity. Pearl asks if she and Garnet should tell them, but Garnet says "I can't." Pearl asks Steven and Amethyst if the two have something to say. Steven and Amethyst recall their showdown against Jasper in the Beta Kindergarten and how they and Peridot won the battle. However, they pop the question: who beat Jasper? Pearl guesses Steven and Amethyst, and Garnet guesses Peridot. It did not exactly land the way Steven and Amethyst intended, but they continue regardless and offer Garnet and Pearl the privilege to meet someone. Steven and Amethyst begin to fuse and form Smoky Quartz, the one who beat Jasper.

Pearl and Garnet are clearly shocked that Steven and Amethyst fused. Smoky Quartz begins to do some tricks with their yo-yo, ranging from "walk the dog" to "dog walking's just my day job till I finally get my callback". These tricks smash objects in the beach house like kitchen utensils and the TV. This stops after Pearl and Garnet fuse into Sardonyx, who catches the yo-yos and aborts the performance by Smoky Quartz. Sardonyx tells Smoky Quartz the rules with weapons in the house: mostly allowed with a few exceptions. Sardonyx is pleasured to meet Smoky Quartz, who has made quite the impression at various affected locations in the house. Smoky Quartz apologizes for getting carried away and makes a joke to ease things, saying they can "reel it in." Sardonyx states that while Smoky Quartz's act is tremendous, their stage is too small, so Sardonyx suggests moving to a more "infinite" room, which turns out to be Sardonyx's room.

Smoky Quartz is surprised that a room exists for Sardonyx, but Sardonyx clarifies that if only she exists, the room exists as well. They both enter the room, which is pitch black because, as Sardonyx says, the show has not started yet. At that moment, "Sardonyx Tonight" begins, a talk show hosted by Sardonyx herself. Sardonyx is excited to welcome the show's guest star, enough to "shatter" in her words. She welcomes Smoky Quartz and asks the crowd for their applause. Sardonyx starts the talk show by asking Smoky Quartz to tell everything there is to know about them. Smoky Quartz begins by saying they like long walks through the Kindergarten. It is also where Smoky Quartz came to be and is where they beat Jasper in a showdown. Sardonyx makes witty remarks regarding Jasper's demise. Smoky Quartz does so as well, claiming Jasper's insanity though a corrupted fusion is the cause of Jasper's "short fuse." Smoky Quartz notices the easy-going crowd and asks where Sardonyx got them, who actually made the audience herself.

Sardonyx busts out the question everyone wants an answer to: "who is Smoky Quartz?" Smoky Quartz has only existed for an estimate of 10 minutes, so they do not know themself. Smoky Quartz does present her tricks with the yo-yo, but Sardonyx has seen it, lived it, and loved it, and wants to know the rest of Smoky Quartz. Smoky Quartz says they are not exactly a deck of cards, but they can lick their three elbows. Sardonyx stops the show to let in a word from her sponsors and begins to talk to Smoky Quartz, "fusion to fusion." Sardonyx is persistent with her desire for Smoky Quartz's and what they are because they are a fusion, and a fusion is full of surprises that are outside the yo-yo. Sardonyx's plan is to help Smoky Quartz learn more about themself because a fusion is bound to acquire something new, whether it is a weapon, power, etc.

"Sardonyx Tonight" comes back on the air. They make a meta-joke about how cartoon characters can make people want to buy toys of them, particularly Sardonyx's possible toys which help keep "Sardonyx Tonight" on the air. Sardonyx presents her next segment, "Hit That Bird", which is similar to "whack a mole". She explains Opal's adventure in the Sky Spire and how she took down a flock of birds with her bow. Sardonyx gives Smoky Quartz that same bow Opal used to see if Smoky Quartz has that "Opalescent aim." Smoky Quartz examines it, thinking it is like a yo-yo before Sardonyx starts the timer. Corrupted birds pop out of the mountain prop, and Smoky Quartz begins to shoot at said bird, to no success, even nearly hitting Sardonyx from the disproportionately aimed shots. This continues until the clock rings, signaling that Hit That Bird is over. Smoky Quartz scored zero, but Sardonyx is not discouraged to continue the show and moves onto the next.

The next segment is called "You like that, little man?", as Sardonyx loves callbacks, with this one being a callback to Sugilite. The game is a variation of "Ring the Bell". Sardonyx then starts to question if Sugilite's cameo appearance still forwards a paycheck to them. She asks someone to confirm this, and reluctantly, Sardonyx has to pay her. Sugilite is a symbolic fusion for a heavy-hitting powerhouse, but Sardonyx thinks that Smoky Quartz has something that can top Sugilite's mighty swing. Sardonyx gives Smoky Quartz a mallet that has the base as Sugilite's gauntlet. Smoky Quartz begins to swing, the first time almost reaching Pearl's record. Sardonyx suggests giving it an extra spin, which gets Smoky Quartz's record next to Stevonnie. The machine taunts Smoky Quartz, who responds by getting their record to Garnet's level. The machine continues to taunt Smoky Quartz, and Sardonyx wonders of Smoky Quartz is hitting it wrong, but ultimately concludes Smoky Quartz is strong in "a different way".

Sardonyx asks Jorge to place her and Smoky Quartz to the stage on the right. Sardonyx reassures it is just her and Smoky Quartz, which was evident to the former, but questions who Jorge is. Sardonyx shows concern that Smoky Quartz is holding out on her, and Sardonyx cannot wait for Smoky Quartz's main event. The next segment is called "Breath of Fire", which is the same as target practice. Sardonyx calls back to Alexandrite, who can breathe a fiery blaze, and asks Smoky Quartz to unleash the elemental chaos she might possess at the target. Rather than elemental chaos, they let out a burp instead, which was only able to briefly move the target and let it swing. Sardonyx claims there to be some magical difficulties but asks the audience not to change the channel.

Sardonyx tries to pinpoint the benefits of Smoky Quartz, while the latter shoots down every possible explanation with depressing wit. Sardonyx realizes that Steven and Amethyst were planning their main act all morning and didn't help them find their hidden power as a fusion, feeling very terrible for unintentionally "stealing the show" from Smoky Quartz. This causes Sardonyx to unfuse into Pearl and Garnet. However, because Sardonyx doesn't exist anymore, the room starts to collapse. Garnet and Pearl reach out to try and fuse again to stop the crumbling, but they are both too far away. Smoky Quartz saves Garnet and Pearl by utilizing their yo-yo. They grapple the doorway that was "glitching out" to exit the room and manage to pull themselves, Garnet, and Pearl outside.

Due to the rough landing Steven and Amethyst unfuse. Steven apologizes for the rough landing. Pearl and Garnet deny the apology and instead tell Amethyst and Steven that they are amazed at what Smoky Quartz was able to do with the yo-yo, and Pearl lets Amethyst know how much of a good influence she was to Steven, to which she thinks is the other way around. Garnet and Pearl say that Steven and Amethyst did not tell them the yo-yo could grapple, and Steven states it can do so many things. Pearl asks if they use it like a lasso or a flail, which Amethyst says it is better than that and is more of a toy, which is unexpected. Garnet requests a play-by-play of the showdown with Jasper, which Steven and Amethyst monologue to end the episode.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Smoky Quartz
 * Sardonyx
 * Opal (pictured, mentioned)
 * Sugilite (pictured, mentioned)
 * Alexandrite (pictured, mentioned)
 * Jasper (mentioned)
 * Snow Monster (mentioned)
 * Unknown Quartz Fusion (mentioned)
 * Peridot (mentioned)
 * Ruby (silhouette cameo)
 * Sapphire (silhouette cameo)
 * Stevonnie (pictured)
 * Malachite (pictured)
 * Big Bird (pictured, mentioned)
 * Steven Jr. (pictured)

Objects

 * Gem Weapons

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Beach House
 * Crystal Temple
 * Sardonyx's Room
 * Beta Kindergarten (mentioned)
 * Empire City (pictured)
 * Sky Spire (pictured)
 * Communication Hub (pictured)
 * Mask Island (pictured)

Songs

 * "Strong in the Real Way" (referenced)

Instrumental Songs

 * "Sardonyx"
 * "Smoky Quartz"
 * "Sardonyx Tonight"
 * "Hit That Bird!"
 * "You Like That, Little Man?"
 * "Jorge's Band/Breath Of Fire"
 * "One Big Super Right"

Trivia

 * Garnet was taken completely by surprise when she and Pearl found out Steven and Amethyst can fuse, in spite of her Future Vision. This could be that Steven and Amethyst fusing was not one of her probable outcomes. This may also be from her simply not choosing to use her vision in favor of being a part of the surprise, which could be why she told Pearl she was unable to ask Steven and Amethyst what was going on.
 * As Smoky Quartz tells Pearl not to bother putting her socks back on, one of Pearl's socks literally slides to her ankle.
 * On Sardonyx's desk there is a mug saying "I ❤️ E C" (I love Empire City).
 * In the episode, Sardonyx continuously breaks the fourth wall, referring to TV networks pulling shows for not selling well and how Sugilite's voice actress, Nicki Minaj, is being paid for her voice being featured in the segment, despite not actually being in the episode or recording new lines.
 * She is also the first character in canon to do so. And the second character, after Uncle Grandpa, in the series to do so.
 * In the strength tester, "You like that, Little Man?", small illustrations of other characters are displayed to compare Smoky Quartz's strength. In order from weakest to strongest are: Pearl, Stevonnie, Garnet, Opal, and Sugilite.
 * Pearl is the only non-fusion shown on the strength tester.
 * All fusions can have their own room. However, the room can only exist if the fusion is active.
 * This episode's name was first revealed in the episode listing on the Cartoon Network website.
 * This is the last episode of the "Summer of Steven" event.
 * This is the first time Sardonyx is seen destabilizing instead of intentionally de-fusing.
 * When Sardonyx was shown de-fusing, a very short glimpse of the silhouettes of Ruby and Sapphire can be seen along with Pearl.
 * This is the second time Ruby and Sapphire's silhouettes have been seen while de-fusing from a fusion consisting of 3 or more gems. The first being Alexandrite.

Cultural References

 * The Wilhelm scream is heard as Sardonyx throws her pencils away while talking to Smoky Quartz.
 * In some of Sardonyx's fourth wall breaks, she pulls down a TV monitor broadcasting footage of previous Steven Universe episodes. The footage on the monitor is captioned, "Footage courtesy of Cartoon Network", the TV network which Steven Universe is aired on.
 * The third fusion test For Smoky Quartz has the name, "Breath of Fire", which references the Super Nintendo RPG of the same name.
 * Sardonyx Tonight is a reference to late night talk shows.
 * The I ❤️ E C logo is a parody of the famous I ❤️ N Y logo; with E C representing Empire City.
 * Sardonyx is shown tapping pencils on the table, a trope commonly associated with late night talk show personality David Letterman.

Continuity

 * Sardonyx refers to the events of "Giant Woman" and "Super Watermelon Island".
 * She also indirectly refers to the song "Strong in the Real Way", from "Coach Steven".
 * Steven, Amethyst, and Smoky Quartz refer to the events of "Earthlings".
 * Sardonyx says, "Good evening, everybody!" as she said in "Cry for Help".
 * Garnet asking for the play-by-play contradicts how she said "We don't need the play-by-play" to Pearl in "Kindergarten Kid".

Errors

 * When Smoky Quartz say "This is a little trick I like to call "Walk The Dog", the star on their yo-yo didn't spin.
 * As Sardonyx is guiding Smoky Quartz towards her next segment, "You Like That, Little Man?" the tails on her coat are gone.

Videos
Know Your Fusion Know Your Fusion