The Hourglass

"The Hourglass" is a magical item introduced in the Pilot; it appears again in Steven and the Stevens. The Crystal Gems have protected it for a thousand years.

Abilities
The Hourglass allows time travel. From the moment it activates, only the individual who initially uses it is able to use its power. It takes the owner back in time to change a specific part of the past, but only for the same purpose the owner used it. In the pilot episode Steven's purpose is to improve his comeback in an argument; in "Steven and the Stevens" his purpose is to warn his dad about a disaster that will prevent them from performing a song together in the "Beach-a-Palooza." After discovering the disaster can't be prevented, he uses it to form a band of Stevens.

Pilot
Steven uses the Hourglass two times in the Pilot. It is activated following Steven's conversation with Lars after leaving the Big Donut; he is offended by Lars' comment on Steven "not being a hot girl." With the Hourglass in his pocket, Steven thinks of a good comeback and wishes he would have said that. The magical item takes him back to that moment, but he is embarrassed again after Lars calls him a joke. Steven repeats the process and leaves. The activation of the Hourglass attracts a huge Electric Skull. Garnet, knowing they might not win, calls Steven a "buttface." He is at first confused by the unforeseen insult, but during the fight realizes that Garnet made the comment so Steven would be able to use the Hourglass and travel back in time in order to make a comeback. Steven knows the attack patterns of the Electric Skull when he returns to the beginning of the fight. They are able to defeat the skull by pinning its multiple arms with the giant metal donut from the roof of Big Donut.

After the fight Steven wishes he told Pearl he will save all of their lives after she called him a clown, but immediately regrets it as the Hourglass takes him back in time yet again. The angered Steven breaks the Hourglass; however, it still exists in that timeline as Amethyst hasn't given it to him yet.

Steven and the Stevens
The Hourglass makes a second appearance in the episode "Steven and the Stevens." It is kept inside the Underwater Temple which only appears once every 100 years after an hourglass is taken. Despite Amethyst taking the wrong hourglass and triggering a flood intended to empty the spire, Steven manages to collect the real Hourglass and is safely warped back to the Crystal Temple with the Gems. After unintentionally wishing he stopped his dad from putting the boat in the car wash, Steven discovers that the Hourglass is capable of warping him back in time. However, he soon wishes that he was able to prevent himself from stopping his dad after the car crashes into an electric pole, lighting the car wash on fire, which results in his dad losing his job. Now realizing that he can make a band for Beach-a-Palooza, Steven recruits two other past Stevens, and together they manage to create a band and perform the song Steven and the Stevens. However, when the present Steven tries to set up personality roles for each Steven (making himself the handsome one), things go wrong as they reject his authority. The three past Stevens begin singing some wild rock music, kick the original Steven out of the band, and hire Amethyst as the drummer much to Steven's annoyance.

After realizing that he needs to prevent himself from ever creating a band of his past selves, he goes back in time to before he made his first wish, managing to stop himself. However, the three other Stevens are able to track him down. After this, present Steven and the other three Stevens go through time, battling each other during the events of "Gem Glow," "Rose's Room," and "Ocean Gem." However, by the time present Steven goes back to the moment he first takes the hourglass, there are many Steven clones already fighting. Present Steven convinces the clones to stop fighting, before destroying the hourglass. He tells the Steven of this timeline that he will have to do something else for Beach-a-Palooza before vanishing from existence, erasing most of the events of the episode.

Gallery
The Hourglass