“ |
Would anyone remember my name? Or will it be washed away by the ocean of time? |
” |
—Buddy Buddwick |
"Buddy's Book" is the 3rd episode of the fourth season in Steven Universe and the 106th episode overall.
Official Synopsis[]
Steven and Connie take a trip to the library and discover a long-forgotten book.[2]
Plot[]
Steven and Connie warp to the Buddwick Public Library on Lion. Before heading inside, Connie compliments Lion's parking, which is a little crooked according to Steven. This is the first time Steven has ever been to a library, which is full of his favorite thing: books. Connie picks up three educational books, intending to get a head start in 7th grade. Steven asks her why she does not look up information on her phone. Connie replies that she wrote an "erroneous paper about raccoons having heat vision" the last time she did that. Connie suggests to Steven to have a look around the library since there is stuff she is sure Steven will love. Steven walks around the library, looking through its selection of books until he trips on a wheeled ottoman and begins riding it. He sees a book underneath one of the shelves and picks it up. Steven blows away its coat of dust, noticing the cover is blank. Steven takes a look inside and sees sketches of various Gem structures. He runs back to Connie to show her the book, exclaiming that it is Buddy Buddwick's journal. Steven recalls Jamie recreating a scenario about Buddy Buddwick helping Mayor Dewey discover Beach City, and Steven and Connie imagine Buddy as Jamie as they read through the book.
Buddy had helped found Beach City after he and Captain William Dewey had escaped certain doom. After Captain Dewey's legacy was cemented or "bronzed," Buddy wonders how he would be remembered, or if his name would simply be washed away by the "ocean of time." Refusing to be forgotten, Buddy decides to become an explorer and "comb the world in search of greatness." During his voyage, he travels to the Gem Battlefield. He sketches the ruins and its architectural remains in his journal, such as the hammers and swords. Here he meets Garnet and Pearl for the second time after they had saved him and his captain from a sea beast. Buddy explains to the two Crystal Gems his quest to make a name for himself by exploring the unexplored. After making several marks on his map, Pearl recommends traveling away from the designated locations if Buddy wants to "keep his short life" as only the most seasoned explorers would dare to explore those places. Disregarding her advice, Buddy begins to explore the marked areas, visiting places such as the Sky Spire, the Lunar Sea Spire, the Communication Hub, and then the Kindergarten.
As he wanders through the Kindergarten, beginning to feel that something was a bit "off" about his journey, he is suddenly approached from behind by Amethyst. After reuniting briefly with her "fam", Amethyst shouts at Buddy why he was here. He proceeds to show Amethyst his accomplishments on the map, journeying to places unseen. He concludes, however, that many people have been in the Kindergarten. Amethyst eventually helps him come to realize that because Amethyst's compatriots drew his map, he is merely a tourist rather than an explorer. As Buddy weeps over this revelation, Amethyst suggests discovering the "Sand Castle" located in the arid environment known as the Desert. She explains to him that the Sand Castle is constantly rebuilding itself and is never in the same place twice. This brings back Buddy's enthusiasm and begins his travel to the Sand Castle.
Buddy wanders around the desert for ten days, unable to find the Sand Castle. He considers taking off his explorer's coat for some relief. However, he believes that if he does, people will see him as a normal, unimportant person. He keels over from the heat, fading into unconsciousness. As he begins to come to, Buddy becomes aware of a large figure resembling a giant woman standing in front of him. He also notices the seven lions surrounding him. He pleads not to be eaten, but Rose assures they mean no harm. Rose asks why a human would venture into the desert. Buddy rambles an explanation until he hands Rose his journal with his entries. He questions how he cannot find the Sand Castle. Rose notices this and points to the Sand Castle, which resembles a temple in the distance. Buddy is excited but immediately realizes that Rose had seen it first. Believing himself to be a terrible explorer, he puts his head inside one of the lion's mouths, asking it to eat him.
Rose reassures Buddy and lets him know that while these places have been explored before, he has recorded them so intimately that it makes these explored areas look new and special again. Rose asks if Buddy has ever considered becoming an author, which he became afterward. He wrote so many books that he thought he could fill a library with them, which is how Buddwick Public Library exists today. Steven and Connie realize how he left his mark on Beach City and they notice Buddy Buddwick's picture frame and how he actually looked. They realize they had imagined him way off by imagining Jamie starring as Buddy. They prefer Jamie regardless and laugh it off. The picture changes to Jamie as Buddy, and he winks at the camera as the iris closes in on his face.
Features[]
Characters[]
- Steven
- Connie
- Lion
- Buddy Buddwick (flashback, pictured)
- Jamie (mentioned, imagined as Buddy)
- Garnet (flashback)
- Amethyst (flashback)
- Pearl (flashback)
- Rose Quartz (flashback)
- William Dewey (mentioned)
- Nanefua Pizza (non-speaking)
- Crystal Shrimp (flashback, pictured)
- Unknown Giant Gem Monster (indirectly mentioned)
- Desert Glass (indirectly mentioned)
- Bill Dewey (pictured)
- Buck Dewey (pictured)
Objects[]
- Buddy Buddwick's Journal
- Diamond Palanquins (drawn)
- Pink Diamond's Palanquin (drawn)
- Injectors
- Moon Goddess Statue (drawn)
Locations[]
- Delmarva
- Scandinavian Peninsula
- Norway
- Gem Battlefield
- Pyramid Temple (drawn)
- Norway
- Sky Spire
- Between Newfoundland and tip of South Greenland
- Communication Hub
- Prime Kindergarten
- Africa
- Sahara desert
- Galaxy Warp (drawn)
Music[]
Instrumental Songs[]
Trivia[]
- This is the second of two episodes in the series where Steven's name goes unsaid (The other being "Greg the Babysitter").
- The Crystal Temple in Buddy Buddwick's journal is a reused concept art drawing of the same location.[3]
- The Gem Battlefield and the Pyramid Temple are revealed to be located on the real-world Scandinavian peninsula.
- Rose pokes at the fourth wall by looking into the camera while telling Buddy about how he wrote his journal.
- One of Rose's lions had a heart-shaped nose, while the rest had soft triangles, hinting this could possibly have been Lion prior to being revived by Rose.
- Buddy claims to have been combing the desert for ten days, but when talking to Rose Quartz he says he has been combing the desert for weeks, which would be a minimum of two weeks or fourteen days.
Cultural References[]
- Amethyst is seen at the Kindergarten wearing an 1890s Imperial Japanese Cavalry Uniform.
- The two cars beside Lion resemble a 2006 Honda CR-V (left) and a 1997 Mazda MPV. (right)
Continuity[]
- The Crystal Gems' forms during the 19th century, first seen in a painting in "So Many Birthdays", reappear.
- However, Rose is not wearing the top seen in the painting.
- The story presented in the journal is the post-voyage of the play in "Historical Friction".
- In the episode "Rose's Scabbard", Pearl states that Rose never had a lion, but in this episode, it shows that she did have many lions, but never told Pearl about them.
- The librarian at the beginning of the episode is seen reading Passions of Xanxor, a book seen in "Maximum Capacity" and "Greg the Babysitter".
- Connie recalls Jamie's "drama zone" from "Love Letters".
- Jamie (as Buddy) is also imagined in the same study as in "Love Letters", this time with the candles that his quill caught fire on put out.
Errors[]
- Note: Time is displayed in [mm:ss]; [00:00] refers to the point after the title card is displayed and before the episode's start.
Plot[]
- [02:11] Buddy spells his last name as "Budwick" instead of the officially used "Buddwick" spelling.
- [02:14] Although previously seen being spelled "William Dewey", Buddy spells his captain's name "William Duey" in his journal.
- It is possible that Buddy simply didn’t know how to spell William’s name.
- [02:15] The journal says, "Captain William Dewey and I, his first mate, founded the land of Beach City." However, the narrator, Jamie, includes "Buddy", the name of the first mate in his sentence, to make, "his first mate Buddy."
- [05:10] Buddy includes a drawing of the inside of the Pyramid Temple despite not having the key that Garnet used to unlock the entrance. However, it is possible that he was able to see the mural through the empty keyhole.
- [07:17] When Amethyst tells Buddy to visit the desert she points to somewhere in Germany, but when the screen zooms in she is pointing at another location.
Design[]
- [03:45] When Garnet and Pearl appear, Garnet's third eye is never shown until a close up look of her (This may be because her eye was closed).
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.