The Answer

"The Answer" is a season 2 episode. It will be the 22nd episode of the second season of Steven Universe and the 74th episode overall.

Synopsis
Garnet finally tells Steven the story of how she came to be a Crystal Gem.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven sleeping on the back of a pickup truck in the family barn. Garnet appears and wakes Steven up at midnight, celebrating his birthday. Even though Garnet's plan of telling Steven that she is a fusion is ruined by the events of Jailbreak, she instead begins to tell the tale of how Ruby and Sapphire met and became a Crystal Gem, which excites Steven.

Garnet introduces the setting as Earth, 5750 years ago, when Homeworld was colonizing the planet but a group of rebels were halting progress. A team of diplomats were sent to Earth to investigate, among them being Sapphire and her team of three Ruby bodyguards. Sapphire was summoned by Blue Diamond to give her a report of the outcomes surrounding the rebellion in the future, and along the way the Rubies discuss how they will fight the rebels. One Ruby shoves the other into Sapphire and apologizes, but Sapphire excuses her, inferring to her future vision and knowing that this would happen. Sapphire approaches Blue Diamond and informs her of the future - the rebels will attack the Cloud Arena, poofing seven gems in the process, three of which are Sapphire herself and two of her Ruby bodyguards, after which the rebels will be captured, ending the rebellion.

The rebels appear immediately afterwards, revealing themselves to be Rose Quartz and Pearl, the original two Crystal Gems. They urge Blue Diamond to abandon Earth and begin attacking the homeworld gems. The attack proceeds exactly as how Sapphire had foreseen, and Pearl approaches Sapphire. She thanks Ruby for her efforts, making her realize that Sapphire knew the future all along and had accepted her fate. Ruby refused to accept this outcome and jumps towards Sapphire, saving her and unintentionally fusing into Garnet. She is utterly confused as to what happened, as the crowd of Homeworld gems stare in anger. Rose stoped Pearl from attacking Garnet and they flee the arena.

Garnet immediately unfuses and the crowd surrounds Ruby and Sapphire. Blue Diamond is disappointed that what happened was not exactly what Sapphire had foreseen, and Ruby intervenes by taking the blame. She is sentenced to be broken, but Sapphire grabs Ruby and escapes, jumping down to land. Ruby is furious that she failed to protect her, and Ruby's impulsive nature had stopped her from seeing the future. Ruby accompanies Sapphire to shelter and they hold out during the rain. Ruby expresses her frustration of failing her mission of saving Sapphire, but she tells her that Ruby already saved her. They discuss their feelings of when they were fused as Garnet, along with the strange new properties they inherited from each other. They sing together, exchanging thoughts of love and caring for each other, and end with a fusion dance, bringing back Garnet once more.

Garnet was beginning to get used to her new form as she continued sustaining her fusion. She stumbles into Pearl, and Rose arrives. Against Garnet's plea for mercy, Rose urges her to stay fused. Garnet is concerned that she may be upsetting Rose, but she insists that the most important thing of all is how Garnet herself feels as a fusion. She admits to feeling lost and scared, but also happy.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Garnet
 * Ruby (flashback)
 * Sapphire (flashback)
 * Blue Diamond (flashback) (debut)
 * Blue Diamond's Pearl (flashback) (debut) (cameo)
 * Greg's Uncle (pictured)
 * Greg's Aunt (pictured)
 * Rose Quartz (flashback)
 * Pearl (flashback)
 * Lapis Lazuli (flashback) (cameo)
 * Various Other Gems (flashback) (cameo)

Objects

 * TBA

Locations

 * Greg's Storage Shed
 * Gem Homeworld (mentioned)
 * Earth (flashback)
 * The Cloud Arena (flashback) (mentioned)

Songs

 * Someone New

Instrumental Songs

 * TBA

Trivia

 * This episode's name was first revealed in an interview with Rebecca Sugar by The Mary Sue.
 * The title card for this episode has the same background location as the ending sequence in "Too Far".
 * The period that Ruby and Sapphire's story is told is in 3750 B.C.E., according to Garnet.
 * This is the first episode in the fourth StevenBomb.
 * Steven turns 14 in this episode, as seen here.
 * This means he was 12 when the show started.
 * Steven's 13th birthday happened off-screen and was not mentioned in the show.
 * However based on the fact that the show makes multiple references to progressing in real time, it can be assumed that Steven's birthday occurred between the events of "Bubble Buddies" and "Serious Steven".
 * This episode marks as Blue Diamond's debut in the series.

Cultural References

 * The art style of Lotte Reiniger, foremost pioneer of silhouette animation, is referenced in this episode.

Continuity

 * Steven remembers Garnet was going to tell him about her being a fusion on his birthday, previously mentioned in "Jail Break".
 * Ruby and Sapphire sing the tune that Sapphire sung from "Jail Break".

Errors
TBA

Videos
The Answer