“ |
I wanted to tell you for so long. |
” |
—Pearl |
"A Single Pale Rose" is the 18th episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe and the 146th episode overall.
Official Synopsis[]
Steven helps Pearl find her phone.[2]
Plot[]
Upon returning to Earth, Steven remembers the events and dreams of the past so he can get to the truth. He anxiously waits to ask Pearl about Pink Diamond while she and Amethyst try out her cellphone. Amethyst leaves to get Pearl a phone case and Steven uses the time to directly ask whether Pearl shattered Pink Diamond herself, instead of Rose Quartz. Pearl immediately covers her mouth and doesn't answer, seemingly shocked. Amethyst returns and she swiftly changes the subject, leaving Steven hurt.
After getting something to eat, Steven suddenly gets a text from Pearl. In it, she apologizes and says she can't tell him. Steven returns home and confronts her about it, to which Pearl responds she hasn't used her phone since that morning. Trying to retrieve her phone from inside her gemstone fails; eventually, Pearl tells Steven to go inside and get it himself, asking him "let me know when you find what you're looking for". With that, Steven is sent inside Pearl's gemstone.
He finds himself in a cleanly compartmentalized area featuring another Pearl who organizes all of Pearl's possessions. Steven asks about the whereabouts of the phone; after a search by Pearl fails to find it, she guesses that it may be with the "other Pearls", but advises him not to go to where they are because "it's a mess". Nevertheless, Steven insists, and Pearl takes him inside her gemstone yet again. The cycle continues several times as Steven is taken further into Pearl's gemstone, passing through her memories including Rose's pregnancy and the aftermath of the Gem War. Eventually, he reaches the moment where Rose Quartz has just shattered Pink Diamond. He steps closer, and she raises her head and opens her eyes, which resemble Pearl's.
"Rose" turns towards a scream, revealing her pearl gem. Steven realizes it's Pearl disguised as Rose. Steven sadly takes this as confirmation that Pearl was the one who shattered Pink Diamond until Pearl holds her hand out, revealing Pink Diamond's intact gemstone. Steven is confused, as he had just seen and picked up one of Pink Diamond’s shards. He tells “Rose-Pearl” that he doesn’t understand, before being taken into her gemstone once more.
Inside Pink Diamond's palanquin, Steven overhears a conversation between Rose and Pearl behind the throne. While Pearl is at first hesitant to do her assigned task, Rose is adamant, assuring her that this is the only way to end the war, their lives will be better and they'll be free afterward, saying that if this is really her world then she wants to give it to the Crystal Gems. Pearl agrees to Rose's plan but says she can't believe she is going to do it. Rose reassures, saying that "I can't exactly shatter myself". The two hug and Rose begins to shapeshift, her gem rotating and revealing itself to be a diamond. Rose Quartz reveals herself to be Pink Diamond, much to Steven's shock.
Once out in the open, Pink shows Pearl a handful of dirt with the head of a single pink hibiscus and gives her the latter. She then changes the dirt into fake diamond shards and swallows them. Before Pink leaves, she gives one last order as a Diamond to her Pearl: never speak of these events again. Pearl then turns to Steven, who has been watching speechlessly the whole time and offers her cellphone with an apology. Steven wordlessly takes the phone as Pearl shapeshifts into "Rose" to stage the fake "shattering".
Once Steven texts Pearl that he found her phone, she pulls him out of her gemstone. Back outside, Pearl says she wanted to tell Steven for a very long time. Somberly, he takes in the fact that his mother was Pink Diamond. Behind him, Amethyst and Garnet, who have just walked in, react with shock; Amethyst says, "Whhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!".
Features[]
Characters[]
- Steven Universe
- Pearl
- Amethyst
- Garnet (non-speaking)
- Rose Quartz
- Pink Diamond (official debut)
- Ruby (Eyeball) (flashback)
- Stevonnie (flashback)
- Zircon (Defense) (flashback)
- Blue Diamond (flashback)
- Yellow Diamond (flashback)
- Unknown Homeworld Gems (flashback)
Locations[]
- Solar System
- Earth
- North America
- Europe (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Norway (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Gem Battlefield (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Norway (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Asia (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Korean Peninsula (flashback, in Pearl's Dimension)
- Earth's Moon (flashback)
- Moon Base (flashback)
- Earth
- Pearl's Dimension
- Gem Homeworld (flashback)
- Unknown City (flashback)
- Trial Room (flashback)
- Unknown City (flashback)
- Jungle Moon (flashback)
- Jungle Moon Base (flashback)
Objects[]
- Pearl's cellphone
- Steven's Phone
- Rose's Sword
- Rose's Scabbard
- Diamond Palanquins
Music[]
Instrumental Songs[]
Trivia[]
- This episode reveals that Steven has technically always had Pink Diamond's gem. Therefore, by Homeworld's established laws, he rules the Earth, the Moon Base, and Pink Diamond's Zoo. It also means that he owns Pearl, is Jasper's superior, and has his personal court and royal title.
- Though in continuity, Pink Diamond as Rose Quartz has had already "freed" Pearl of her Diamond-level servile duties when they executed Pink's death ruse.
- The reason why Pearl never spoke about the Diamonds and is forced to cover her mouth every time she attempts to do so is revealed to be due to Pink Diamond's final order to never speak of her faking her death.
- Crewniverse member Joe Johnston confirmed that this is part of a Pearl's functionality – they cannot disobey a clear order from their owner.[3]
- Specifically, Pearl could not disobey Pink Diamond's orders because Pearl was made for Pink Diamond.[4]
- This episode marks the first time we hear Pink Diamond speak, excluding Stevonnie's dream in "Jungle Moon" in which Stevonnie plays her role. It's also the first episode in which we clearly see her entire body.
- This is the first time Pearl has been shown to shapeshift.
- This is the first time (and only time) a Diamond's physical form is broken on-screen.
- It is revealed that there are multiple Pearls (persona-like entities) inside Pearl's gem; each Pearl represents her specific memories and thought.
- While the first Pearl tries to file Steven in alphabetical order, some items around also appear alphabetically, which include:
- Candelabra, cannon, candy, card (ace of clubs), carp, carafe, cassette, cauldron, cellophane, cleaver, clock, comb, compass, controller, cream, crepe, and Cheeto; the place for "cellular phone" is vacant (which was supposed to appear between "cellophane" and "cleaver").
- Scissors, screwdriver, Sea Pals, seashell, shotgun, sloop, stapler, stethoscope, sticker, sugar, suitcase, sunscreen, tinfoil, tissue paper, and TV set; Pearl initially attempts to place Steven between "stethoscope" and "sticker".
- A potted plant, photos, phone books (yellow pages and private), multiple phone numbers, and a portable telephone.
- Some of the telephone numbers have area code 240, and others have area code 301. In the real world, these two area codes are overlaid in western Maryland.
- While the first Pearl tries to file Steven in alphabetical order, some items around also appear alphabetically, which include:
- It is revealed that the defending Zircon's accusation against the Diamonds is not completely inaccurate since Pink Diamond's shattering was indeed ordered and covered up by "someone of supreme authority," the someone being Pink Diamond herself.
- A packet of sugar with the brand "Rea Sugar" can be seen alongside the large variety of items stored within Pearl's gem, which is most likely a reference to Rebecca Sugar.
- Zach Callison, the voice actor for Steven, revealed at the Swedish convention Närcon that Rose being Pink Diamond was planned from the start of the series and that he recorded his lines for this episode a year before it aired.
- A live performance of Rebecca Sugar singing Love Like You shows Surasshu wearing a shirt with the Crystal Gems' gemstones, with Rose's gemstone being a Diamond.
Cultural References[]
- The numbers 555[5] which can be seen in all of the cellphone numbers stored within Pearl's gem is a common trope used in fictional media whenever a phone number is presented. This prefix, which is not generally used for real phone numbers, appears in order to avoid prank calls to real-life people.
- Steven's descent through nested levels of another person's mind, culminating in a highly emotional moment, mirrors the plot of the movie Inception.
- [04:37] The white controller on the left bottom resembles the Xbox 360 controller.
- During the aforementioned scene showcasing Pearl's cellphone numbers, one of the notes also includes an email address consisting of a scribble and "@gmail". The latter is the domain address for Gmail, Google's email service.
- A bottle of Lon Lon Milk from The Legend of Zelda series can be see on top of a cabinet in the kitchen when Amethyst shows Pearl how to use her cellphone.
Continuity[]
- Flashbacks from "Back to the Moon", "The Trial", "Jungle Moon", and "Your Mother and Mine" are shown.
- This episode takes place right after "Can't Go Back".
- Pearl covering her mouth when details surrounding Pink Diamond's shattering are brought up was first shown in "Back to the Moon".
- However, the first time this was shown as an unpreventable physical reaction was in "Gemcation".
- Some items that appeared previously can be found in Pearl's gemstone.
- Mystery Girl's number is seen again in the episode, next to a handful of other cellphone numbers that Pearl had previously acquired.
- "Pearl Points", which appeared in "Steven vs. Amethyst", can be found in the "S" category (as "sticker").
- Sea Pals (from "Love Letters") and Gem Sloop (from "Cat Fingers") are also present.
- Pearl's phone makes its second appearance.
- Its first appearance was in "Letters to Lars".
- Amethyst says Pearl has had her phone for a month.
- This implies that the events Steven described in "Letters to Lars" take place around a month before the events of this episode, assuming that Pearl first got the phone around the time of the episode.
- Pearl's aversion to shapeshifting is revealed to stem from her role as Rose Quartz in the staged shattering of Pink Diamond and the trauma from the loss of nearly all of her comrades in the ensuing retaliation.
- The contradiction of Rose's sword shattering Pink Diamond seemed to be foreshadowing leading up to the revelation of Rose's true identity.
Errors[]
- The exact shape of Pink Diamond's gem cannot be directly translated into a 3-dimensional object, because it is impossible to transition from a straight edge to a curved edge in a series of facets. The circular shape of Rose's gem could be explained by the separation ring we can see in some pictures of this episode, for example in the shot of Rose-Pearl's hand after she poofed her Diamond when Steven came back to the real world (the same kind of separation ring we can see through Amethyst's gem, which is featured in "Reformed" when Amethyst is poofed and both sides of her gem are revealed). However, this ring mysteriously disappears from Pink's gem when she turns back to her real self.
- Just before Rose/Pink flips her gemstone, the pentagonal facet can be seen pointing down instead of up like usual.
- When Garnet and Amethyst are seen comforting Pearl after what appears to be Rose's death, Amethyst's bare arm is seen. Judging from "Three Gems and a Baby" and We Are the Crystal Gems, Amethyst did not wear her off-shoulder mauve tank top until sometime when Steven was in his adolescence, instead wearing an off-shoulder mauve sweater.
- Also in the same shot, Garnet's shoulder pads appear to be oval-shaped like her current regeneration instead of cube-shaped.
- When Amethyst screams "What?" at the end of the episode, her tank top is rounded at the bottom instead of ripped.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
References
- ↑ http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-monday-cable-originals-network-finals-5-7-2018.html
- ↑ "A Single Pale Rose" on CartoonNetwork.com
- ↑ Joe Johnston's Tumblr
"Q: Sir, but how do we know everything Pearl did for Rose wasn't just that Pearl-caste-programming kicking in because in truth, Pearl knew Rose was infact her Diamond. Sure Pearl had feelings for her, but how do we know whether or not the servant mentality still didnt play a role in Pearl's allegiance with Rose.
A: I’ll put it this way, if Pink Diamond we’re to say “Pearl, I ORDER you to do such and such…” because she’s her Pearl, she would have to do it. Of course her servant mentality played a role in her allegiance to Rose, how could it not. BUT, that relationship clearly grew and changed as naturally as any relationship will, and it wasn’t due to Pink Diamonds powers or influence..." - ↑ Joe Johnston's Tumblr
"Q: So we know that Rose is able to order Pearl around if Rose so chooses to (and that Pearl only has to obey her IF Rose orders her to). I just want to know if Pearl is the only one Rose is capable of ordering around in that way (forcing someone to do something). Is it part of her being a Diamond, or does it only apply to Pearl?
A: It only applies to Pearl. BECAUSE our Pearl was made for Pink Diamond, she must follow her orders. Rose did not have this power or control over anyone else, and its ONLY because Pearl was made for her that Pink/Rose had this power over her. Pink is a Diamond, she could order around lots of gems, but they follow because of hierarchy, not because the Diamonds are mind controlling them. Is this making sense? I’m try to clear this up for everybody, but people still seem confused." - ↑ [1]