It Could've Been Great

"What were you thinking shutting this operation down? It could've been great!"

"It Could've Been Great" is the 24th episode of the second season of Steven Universe and the 76th episode overall.

Synopsis
The Gems take a trip to the moon.

Plot
Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst are laying outside the barn, viewing Beach City under sunrise, as Steven lays with Lion making music with his ukulele. Peridot approaches him and expresses her confusion and frustration over the Gems' lack of productivity. Steven tries to explain that even though it's important to build the drill and stop the Cluster, it's also important that the team takes a break to feel good. He starts to teach her about music and starts to sing Peace and Love (On Planet Earth). He encourages Peridot to join the song and sing what's on her mind, as a montage of the Gems working on the drill plays and everyone sings. They eventually finish the drill, but Peridot realizes there is a missing crucial component: the Cluster's exact coordinates. Pearl knows that there is a Diamond base on the moon that may have that information. Despite having no connections via Warp Pad, Steven suggests that Lion may be able to warp them there.

After much persuasion, Lion brings the gems along and uses multiple warps within each warp to arrive at the moon. They arrive at the base, and Lion visibly tired. Amethyst opens an airlock and proves that they are on the moon. Steven starts having fun in the low gravity environment, and Amethyst tries to join but fails, as Peridot explains that the gems' bodies automatically adjust their physical forms to match optimal conditions on whichever planetoid they happen to be on. Steven notices a mural of Blue Diamond and Peridot explains that the diamonds are the supreme rulers of the Gem Empire, exerting control over all gems and colonies. She finds a control service that extends a floating staircase to the upper levels of the diamond base, and they ascend the tower. Peridot continues to explain that the upper levels are accessible only to the most elite of upper class gems.

They arrive at the top of the base, appearing to be a control room. Peridot is excited to see the old equipment even though she doesn't know how to operate it. Steven manages to activate the control panel by using a hand scanner on a large chair. Even though Peridot explains that only the most powerful Gems can sit on that chair, Steven convinces her to sit with him and operate the control panel. She accesses the files and finds the coordinates of the cluster - it was inserted in the Beta Kindergarten on Facet Nine, but is currently embedded into the Earth 2,500 units down.

As Gems announce their success and begin to leave, Steven asks Peridot whether or not the system has any games. She says that there are not, and that the system was used to plan the creation of the colony. She brings up a map of all original structures that were built on Earth, which end up accounting for only 5% of the final plans. The Gems stare in shock as the hologram simulates the creation of the colony, tearing massive holes into the crust and emptying the core. Peridot announces the end of the simulation, detailing that the result would have been 89 Kindergartens, 67 Spires, a Galaxy Warp in each Facet, and with efficient usage of all available resources.

Peridot exclaims that shutting down the colonization operation was a foolish mistake, and that it could've been great. This angers the Gems, as they explain that completing the colony would have caused the extinction of all life on Earth, and Pearl argues that Rose Quartz thought that all life is worth protecting at all costs. In response to Pearl's statements, Peridot blames Rose and her actions for dooming the planet, as there is no colony and instead the Earth will be destroyed by the Cluster. In anger, Garnet grabs Peridot and threatens her by summoning her gauntlet, but Steven convinces Garnet to let her go by saying that it's not worth it. She releases Peridot, and then destroys the system. Peridot is confused as to why the Gems are mad at her for stating facts, and Steven responds by expresses his disappointment in her for not learning the value of life. As Peridot exits the control room and the Gems are about to leave the moon, Steven notices Peridot hiding a diamond-shaped object behind her back.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Rose Quartz (mentioned)
 * Peridot
 * Lion
 * Blue Diamond (mentioned and pictured)
 * Yellow Diamond (mentioned and pictured)
 * The Cluster (mentioned)

Objects

 * Steven's Ukulele
 * Diamond-Shaped Object

Locations

 * Greg's Storage Shed
 * Kindergarten (mentioned)
 * Moon Base
 * Beta Kindergarten (mentioned)
 * Lunar Sea Spire (pictured)
 * Ancient Sky Arena (pictured)
 * Sky Spire (pictured)
 * Communication Hub (pictured)
 * Galaxy Warp (pictured)
 * Sea Shrine (Pictured)

Songs

 * "Peace and Love (On Planet Earth)"

Instrumental Songs

 * "Lion's Ocean"

Trivia

 * It is revealed that Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond are Gem "matriarchs".
 * Peridot confirms that the Diamonds are at the absolute top of the Gem caste system.
 * Gems automatically adjust to the gravity of whatever planetary body they are on.
 * The global map of Earth observed in the moon base doesn't quite match our real-life Earth, including a conspicuously large crater/indentation of the coastline in Siberia, the African continent being smaller, Australia being nearly split in two, and the horn of South America being larger. Sugar has previously mentioned that the Earth seen in the cartoon has a slightly alternate timeline from real life, to greater and lesser degrees, due to the presence of the Gems affecting history.
 * Peridot assesses that only about 5% of the Gem facilities which were planned to be constructed on Earth were actually constructed before the Rebellion put a halt to it. These included 89 planned Kindergartens and 67 spires, among other structures. This episode establishes that at least two Kindergartens were completed: the "Prime" Kindergarten where high-ranking Quartz-type Gems were made (which Amethyst was made, the one we've seen so far), and another "Beta" Kindergarten, where the Cluster was inserted.
 * According to the lunar panel, along with the the two Kindergartens there were built 12 more facilities on Earth. This means that originally it was planned to build about 280 structures on it. (However, as seen in the projection, many of those structures were intended to be large enough to reach into space.)
 * When Peridot flips through the diagrams of completed structures, the following structures are seen, in order:
 * The Lunar Sea Spire.
 * The Ancient Sky Arena.
 * The Sea Shrine.
 * The Sky Spire.
 * The Communication Hub.
 * A tower surrounded by mountains
 * A structure resembling a Mesopotamian zigguraut or a Mesoamerican step pyramid.
 * Possibly the pyramid in the desert as seen in "Steven's Lion".
 * The Galaxy Warp.
 * The design for the completed Earth colony (a sphere with craters and spikes) resembles the structure of some viral capsids and viral envelopes.
 * Peridot explains that the Cluster wouldn't have been made on Earth at all if Rose hadn't started her rebellion.
 * This episode reveals where the Cluster is located.
 * This episode marks the first time Peridot has sang.
 * This is also the first episode of which all the Crystal Gems sang together in one song.
 * It is revealed that both Garnet and Peridot can illuminate lights from their gemstones similar to Pearl.
 * This ability may be a shared trait within the Gem race, but only rarely used.
 * Lion is shown able to house beings other than Steven in his mane dimension, this one being Peridot.

Cultural References

 * Steven sings the "Do re mi fa so la ti do" solfege method used in teaching music and pitch.
 * Steven sings a song on the Moon to the tune of "Fountain in the Park", similar to how Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt did so during an EVA on Apollo 17 in 1972.

Continuity

 * The Great Diamond Authority, first mentioned by Ronaldo in "Keep Beach City Weird", was confirmed to be the ruling group of the Gem race.
 * The Earth was also to be hollowed out, another piece of information that Ronaldo was correct about.

Errors

 * During "Peace and Love (On Planet Earth)", Pearl's mouth overlaps her finger when she moves it down.
 * In the 2nd scene that the Crystal Gems are visible during "Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)", Amethyst is located farther away from Pearl and Garnet than the other scenes.
 * When Amethyst accidentally opens the Moon Base's airlock, the straps on the back of her shirt are missing.
 * In the first scene where the Gems and Steven are walking up the steps, Garnet was behind Peridot. However in the next shot, she is ahead of Peridot.
 * In the shot right after Steven turns on the information interface with an activation panel, it randomly shuts off, even though Peridot has shown that continuous contact with the activation panel is not needed.

Videos
It Could've Been Great pt-br:It Could've Been Great It Could’ve Been Great