| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for soundtrack or the titular character. |
| “ |
I'm Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore! |
” |
| —Lapis Lazuli | ||
"Mirror Gem" is the 25th episode of the first season of Steven Universe, and the 25th episode overall.
Official Synopsis
Steven befriends a magical mirror that can mysteriously communicate with him through recordings of what it has seen.[2]
Plot
Steven is talking to Connie on the phone, and she informs him that they can now hang out more often, since school is out for summer vacation. Steven is confused about the concept of school since he has never been to one, so he gets Pearl to set one up, although it is unsuccessful. When Pearl finds out that school is about learning, she summons a Gem Mirror to try to teach him. She says that they found it at the Galaxy Warp, and it can show him any event in Gem history. They then try it out, but when it doesn't work, Pearl assumes it's broken, and allows Steven to keep it.
Steven takes the mirror out to the beach and bumps into Lars and Sadie, and talks with them about their plans for summer vacation. Lars suggests he's looking forward to the summer, making a mature implication, and Sadie says she hopes to find a new friend. Steven agrees with Sadie, saying he hopes to make a new "beach summer fun buddy," and walks off down the boardwalk. As he wanders around town, he walks onto the road without seeing Mayor Dewey's van. The mirror suddenly warns him of the danger by playing back a memory it has seen, and Steven yells out in panic, stopping the vehicle. After Mayor Dewey drives away, Steven concludes that the mirror is like a person and can communicate by using bits of sentences it hears and combining them to speak. Amazed, Steven plays with it all day, then comes back home to inform the Gems of his discovery, despite the mirror's discomfort with this idea, playing a clip of Steven screaming in protest from earlier.
When he arrives home and shows the Gems his new "friend", they are stunned and fearful that the mirror has a personality. Pearl and Amethyst both seem apprehensive, Pearl saying that it should "only be following orders" and Amethyst asking Garnet to "do something." Garnet then walks over to Steven, and the mirror again shows it's fear with the clip of Steven screaming in protest. Garnet then orders Steven to give it to her, saying that it'll be safer with her. The mirror keeps playing the screaming clip in a loop, frightening and confusing Steven. He pleads with Garnet to not take the mirror, saying that it doesn't want to go with her, but she attempts to assure him that it's just an object that can't want anything. As she reaches closer to the mirror, Steven swipes his hand at her, saying that it wants to be with him, but accidentally slaps Garnet, and her visor falls to the ground, shocking everyone. Garnet stares furiously at a terrified Steven, who then runs out the door, screaming and apologizing while running down the beach. She then says Steven is in big trouble, while Pearl insists to Garnet that it was only an accident and he didn't mean to slap her. All three Gems proceed out the door after him.
Hiding behind a rock on the beach, Steven pleads with the mirror to tell him what he can do to help it. The mirror shows him that he needs to take the gemstone out the back of the mirror with a visual demonstration appearing on the mirror face. When he begins to pull at the gemstone, the water around him forms a pattern, and when he finally tugs it out, the mirror breaks. In front of him, the Gem he removed reforms into a humanoid form, unmoving. Steven walks up to the mysterious Gem who gets up and subsequently introduces herself as Lapis Lazuli, a Gem with the ability to manipulate water. She thanks him for setting her free and questions whether he really is a Crystal Gem, with obvious confusion as to why he talked to and helped her.
Garnet yells for Steven; the Crystal Gems find them and pull out their weapons. To stop them from fighting Lapis, Steven runs in front of the Gems. Lapis recognizes Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl as Crystal Gems however, and attacks them in a rage, stating that they knew she was trapped in the mirror but did nothing to help her. She tells Steven to come "home" with her, whose hesitance prompts her to tell him not to trust the Gems while Garnet charges at her. Lapis walks into the ocean, escaping and blocking out Garnet's attack with a wave. Pearl, concerned, embraces Steven, who seems bewildered but otherwise unharmed. The episode ends with Garnet informing Steven that he is grounded.
Features
Characters
- Steven
- Garnet
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Connie Maheswaran
- Lapis Lazuli (debut, semi-antagonist)
- Lars
- Sadie Miller
- Bill Dewey
- Peedee Fryman
- Mr. Fryman
- Harold Smiley
- Jamie
Objects
Locations
Music
Trivia
- It's revealed that Steven doesn't know what a school is. This is because he is homeschooled by the Crystal Gems and Greg.
- Connie's parents are pictured.
- They make their first appearance in person in "Fusion Cuisine".
Cultural References
- Steven does the moonwalk.
- The Chrono Panic 4 arcade game may be a reference to Chrono Trigger and the Time Crisis series.
- The way Steven called himself "Little Stevie" is a possible reference to former Liverpool FC player Steven Gerrard, whose nickname is also Stevie.
- When Lapis parts the ocean in order to get Steven to come with her, it could possibly be a reference to the Book of Exodus story of Moses, who parted the Red Sea to get the Hebrews to the other side.
Continuity
- This episode is part one of a mid-season finale, the second being "Ocean Gem".
- Pearl's dance from "Lars and the Cool Kids" is done again, while summoning the mirror.
- Steven knocks Garnet's glasses off, marking the second time her eyes are shown, the first time being in "Arcade Mania".
- However, this time Steven did it for a defiant reason.
- When Steven starts to walk backwards, there are posters of Beach-A-Palooza in the background.
- Connie is wearing her glasses without the lenses, due to her eyes being healed by Steven's saliva in "An Indirect Kiss".
Errors
- When Pearl fails to activate the mirror, she pulls it from Steven. While she did, Steven's gem is shown and featured a hexagonal facet instead of a pentagon facet.
- When Steven is making raspberry noises with his palm, at first, he bends his hand backwards to make the noise, when the mirror reflects it, Steven is not shown bending his hand as he does it.
- When Garnet's right hand is reaching out to grab the mirror from Steven, Ruby's gemstone is shown instead of Sapphire's.
- When Garnet holds her left hand out, Sapphire's gemstone is shown instead of Ruby's.
- When Lapis creates the arm out of water, it is a right arm, but the shadow of this arm is a left arm.
- When Steven is on the boardwalk about to get run over, the writing on Mayor Dewey's van is not backwards, even though it is shown from a mirror.
- The mirror disappears after Steven releases Lapis from it.
- After Lapis gets released, her gem is upside down.
- When the mirror flashbacks to when Sadie says "New friend", the donut logo on her shirt should be backwards, like when the mirror flashbacks to when Lars scolds Steven.
- The refrigerator's handles are in the opposite direction, it is supposed to be on the right side of the refrigerator's doors, so it opens to the left, but instead, they are on the left side of the refrigerator's doors.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
Videos
