| “ |
We're all different, but we love and accept each other. That's what Crystal Gems do. |
” |
| —Steven | ||
"Rocknaldo" is the 18th episode of the fourth season of Steven Universe and the 121st episode overall.
Official Synopsis[]
Ronaldo sets out to find all the rock people living in Beach City![3]
Plot[]
The episode begins with Steven walking around Beach City. He sees Ronaldo handing out fliers that will help people protect themselves against "the menace that threatens Beach City". It is not very successful until Steven accepts a flier and has a read, only to be skeptical when reading how the Rock people, who are actually the Crystal Gems, are somehow a menace against humans.
Steven walks up to Ronaldo and criticizes the defamation. Ronaldo rebuttals saying that they are different from the Crystal Gems, only for Steven to prove he shares every characteristic, convincing and shocking Ronaldo. Ronaldo is made a fool but is glad Steven was the only one to take a flier from him. Steven says it is okay as everyone makes mistakes. Ronaldo then begins to "think about some things".
Back at the Beach House, the Crystal Gems read Ronaldo's blog which says how Ronaldo might be leaving his platform. A new video post pops up, however, of Ronaldo announcing his mistakes and compensating by joining the Crystal Gems. Ronaldo immediately enters the house with the Crystal Gems pre-emptively guessing Ronaldo's purpose. The Crystal Gems express disapproval until Steven convinces them that the differences between them and how they accept each other regardless are what makes the group so special, along with the fact that someone is actually interested in being a Crystal Gem member without prior motivation from existing members. They then agree to accept him into the team.
Ronaldo organizes the luggage that he brought for the tasks awaiting him. He asks when he is going to get issued his gemstone, but Steven is unsure what to say because of Ronaldo's humanity. He asks instead what Gem Ronaldo would like to be, which Ronaldo says would be bloodstone. Ronaldo pulls out his "Gem weapon", which is a green sword he had gotten from DelmarvaCon a year prior. He shows it off by hitting a juice box. Steven tapes a star symbol to Ronaldo's shirt as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl warp in to call Steven for a mission. Ronaldo attempts to get his katana, only getting tired very quickly as a result. The Gems deny his approach to the mission since it is dangerous. Ronaldo argues Steven getting to go, only to be told Steven has been training for years prior. Steven lets Ronaldo know that he did not get to come along at first, either, and plans to start his training soon.
On the next day, Ronaldo is watching Steven in the house through binoculars fixating his flip-flops. Ronaldo asks how the mission went without him holding him back, to which Steven says, "the usual". Tension rises with Ronaldo's increasing jealousy. As Steven heads out, Ronaldo asks why he is going without showing off his Gem, since Ronaldo would never do such a thing. Steven ties up his shirt to reveal it.
Steven sleeps peacefully until Ronaldo whacks a milk carton as part of his training. Steven complains since it is bedtime, but Ronaldo asks why when Gems do not need sleep. Steven says he is half-human, but Ronaldo says he is two-halves human and is not tired at all. He proves this by spinning his katana but fumbles and lets it fall a level below upstairs. Steven gets frustrated at such lectures and goes back to bed with Ronaldo falling asleep inadvertently as well.
On the next day, Steven says his farewells to Connie, who finished training for the day. Steven bumps into Ronaldo, who points out that Connie's sword as a Gem weapon is a blatant copy of his own. Steven says that the sword was his mom's, and Ronaldo asks why he does not get Rose's stuff. Steven explains that Connie has been a part of the Crystal Gems for a long time, so the privilege was granted. Ronaldo thinks differently, convinced Connie had the privilege because she is Steven's girlfriend. He says he has been at the Beach House 24/7, a piece of evidence being used to criticize Connie's dedication. Steven is furious by the statement, asking Ronaldo what gives him the right to boss Steven around and what makes him so knowledgeable on the motto of the Crystal Gems, eventually saying Ronaldo is just "a guy with a blog". Ronaldo rebuttals since the Crystal Gems are meant to accept those who are different as equals. Ronaldo then tells Steven to think about stuff.
Steven goes for a walk across the beach but immediately sees through the manipulation. He goes back to the beach house and confronts Ronaldo about his "love and acceptance" excuse. Steven says he is right, but his mean attitude is not something Steven wants to accept and to make only Ronaldo happy is not the way. Steven says he wanted Ronaldo to join the Crystal Gems as Bloodstone, but the minute Ronaldo did not get what he wanted, he stopped caring about it. Ronaldo then passes out from exhaustion by staying awake for too long. The Crystal Gems put him down outside Beach Citywalk Fries and let his dad know his location.
One day, at a later date, Steven is walking on the beach when he sees Ronaldo standing on a chair. Steven walks up to him and asks if he is all right, seeing how he had not seen him in three weeks. Ronaldo says he is fine as he took a long nap and had done some hard thinking. He realized he was not acting like Bloodstone, but more like Jerknaldo. Steven accepted him, but Ronaldo still felt like an outsider. He then decides he is the "ultimate outsider" and decides to work alone as a lone wolf. Steven is disappointed, but Ronaldo still wants to help the Crystal Gems' cause. With the magic of photo-editing software, he made a new pamphlet that paints the Crystal Gems in a positive light. Ronaldo then asks why Steven does not use his Gem name. Steven says the name has a history of being used in a negative connotation, usually when the Gems want to beat him up or kidnap him. Ronaldo asks if he should add that to the pamphlet. Steven says no, and it is acknowledged.
Features[]
Characters[]
- Steven
- Ronaldo Fryman
- Garnet
- Pearl
- Amethyst
- Connie Maheswaran (non-speaking cameo)
- Onion (cameo)
- Jenny Pizza (non-speaking cameo)
- Harold Smiley (mentioned)
- Rose Quartz (mentioned)
- Peedee Fryman (mentioned)
- Mr. Fryman (indirectly mentioned)
- Greg Universe (indirectly mentioned)
Objects[]
- Steven's Phone
- Rose's Sword
- Ronaldo's Sword
- Warp Pad
- I Can't Believe My Stepdad's My Sword
Locations[]
Music[]
Instrumental Songs[]
- TBA
Trivia[]
- Ronaldo choosing to play the role of a Gem named Bloodstone is a reference to Steven Universe fans who create "Gemsonas", or original Gem characters who have their own personality and abilities.
- This is the only episode in Season 4 to have only a single word as its title, albeit a made-up one.
- In the pamphlet, it mentions that “Rock People” hate men. This could reference the fact that most Gems are shown to be feminine, with the only exception being Steven.
Cultural References[]
- Ronaldo's "Rock People" pamphlet mentions "mind-controlling minerals" in the water supply, a reference to the controversy surrounding water fluoridation, in which it was widely speculated in the United States during the 1950s to be a long-term communist plot to impose a Socialist state.
- These conspiracy theories were later revived during the 1990s and 2000s, where water fluoridation was speculated to contain narcotics used to repress individual thought, as part of a series of government brainwash tactics.
- When Ronaldo was speaking to Steven after leaving, he quotes a famous line from Avatar: The Last Airbender, "That's rough, buddy".
- Ronaldo mentions the anime his sword is based on to be "I Can't Believe My Stepdad's My Sword. This is a reference to the excessive titles of various animes like Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, roughly translated to "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute" and Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!, translated to "No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!".
- The font used on Ronaldo's "Crystal Gems" pamphlet is Papyrus, a popular (though notorious in formal documentation) and widely available typeface.
- The image of Pearl photoshopped on the cover is the common Delta Pose used by the internet community for recoloring and as a base for PNG creations of said character.
Continuity[]
- At the beginning of the episode, Steven reminisces his adventures from space in "Adventures in Light Distortion", "Gem Heist", "The Zoo", and "That Will Be All".
- Ronaldo mentions his blog entry "Rising Tides/Crashing Skies" from the episode under the same name.
- Ronaldo mentions DelmarvaCon, a convention previously mentioned on his blog.
- Steven reveals the main reason he doesn't go by his Gem name "Rose Quartz" is because of the negative association with his mother that other Gems have attached to him.
- Steven's cat fingers make their third appearance at the beginning of the episode, having appeared previously in "Cat Fingers" and "Too Short to Ride".
Errors[]
- When Steven goes to show Ronaldo his gem, it appears hexagonal instead of pentagonal.
- Pearl calls Ronaldo blood fry even though she wasn't there when Steven had thought of his name.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
Videos[]
