“ |
I want to know what she thinks we're going to do with her. Because I want to do something worse. |
” |
—Blue Diamond |
"The Trial" is the 2nd episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe and the 130th episode overall.
Synopsis
Plot
Steven is standing in a vacant room on the Gem Homeworld awaiting his punishment for "shattering Pink Diamond". A fraught blue Zircon enters, rushing to come up with a defense as Steven's defending attorney for the upcoming court case, to no avail. The trial begins shortly thereafter.
Steven waits for the trial to begin in the trial room with Zircon. A yellow Zircon teleports in as the prosecutor. Yellow and Blue Pearl introduce Yellow and Blue Diamond.
The Zircons do the pleasantries and then proceed to the case. Yellow Diamond appears very tedious and Blue Diamond looks attentive and melancholic. As Blue Pearl illustrates the scene, the yellow Zircon makes her case and brings in Lars as evidence of human incompetence. She then impetuously bubbles his head to quiet him. She then brings in an "eyewitness", Eyeball. She testifies against Steven and angrily calls him a "war criminal", saying that he is Rose Quartz, bringing up his healing and shield, just before she was thrown into space, much to the blue Zircon's dismay. She ends her case, and the blue Zircon begins.
She gets off to a bumpy start, until Steven interrupts, declaring himself guilty. Blue Diamond elevates his platform to her eye level, and then asks Steven how she did "it" (shattering Pink Diamond); Steven stumbles, clearly not knowing what happened, since he isn't Rose Quartz. After mentioning the Breaking Point, Blue loses her cool, exclaiming that Rose used a sword. After releasing an energy wave causing everyone to tear up (except the partially bubbled Lars), Yellow Diamond comforts Blue Diamond, and the court takes a recess.
The blue Zircon confronts Steven, but then after Steven admits he had no idea what really happened, she realizes that Steven's inconsistencies aren't the only ones in the official record.
Steven and his lawyer return to the court. Starting off shaky, the blue Zircon gradually picks up speed, eventually impressing Blue Diamond. After asking for Blue Diamond's palanquin as physical evidence, she questions why none of Pink's Agates, Sapphires or even her Pearl saw Rose coming. Pink was shattered from the front, and Rose at this point was a known threat, so there were no other Rose Quartzes in her entourage. The blue Zircon then declares that the murderer had to have been someone who was close to Pink, whose presence wouldn't have alarmed her entourage, and that someone had the authority to cover up the crime.
On a roll, the blue Zircon concludes by accusing one of the Diamonds of shattering Pink Diamond, shocking Blue Diamond and infuriating Yellow. In the face of Yellow's displeasure, Zircon hurriedly verbally backtreads, but Yellow poofs both Zircons before being stopped by Blue Diamond. Steven and Lars manage to slink aside as Yellow and Blue Diamond begin to quarrel while their Pearls remain silent. Both enter Blue Diamond's Palanquin and attempt to escape, but due to Steven's limited knowledge of using Homeworld Gem technology, accidentally steers the palanquin out of the building. Yellow Diamond blasts a diamond-shaped hole in the wall near them, declaring she will find them, as Steven and Lars plummet into a seemingly endless abyss into the depths of Homeworld. The episode ends with the screen turning black, leaving their whereabouts unknown.
Features
Characters
- Steven
- Lars Barriga
- Yellow Diamond
- Blue Diamond
- Yellow Pearl
- Blue Pearl
- Zircon (Defense) (debut)
- Zircon (Prosecuting) (debut)
- Ruby (Eyeball)
- Pink Diamond (mentioned)
- Rose Quartz (mentioned)
- Pink Diamond's Pearl (mentioned)
- Sapphires (mentioned)
- Agates (mentioned)
Objects
- Blue Diamond's Palanquin
- Pink Diamond's Palanquin (mentioned)
- Breaking Point (mentioned)
- Rose's Sword (mentioned)
Locations
Music
Instrumental Songs
Trivia
- It is likely Navy brought Eyeball back after she reclaimed their squad's ship.
- This episode implies that Rose Quartz wasn't the one who shattered Pink Diamond, but rather someone else, specifically another Diamond, as according to the defending Zircon's theory it was impossible for Rose Quartz to have been able to get close enough to Pink Diamond to shatter her given the fact that at that time Rose was a recognized war criminal and Pink Diamond was in the company of several Agates, Sapphires and her Pearl. According to this theory it must have been someone whom Pink Diamond held considerable trust in and/or someone who she didn't believe was a threat to her, implying that whoever did it lied in the official records about what happended and cover it up by framing Rose Quartz because of her status as a criminal in Homeworld.
- Adding on, Blue Diamond seems to have been informed that Pink Diamond was shattered with Rose Quartz's sword, but as learned in "Bismuth," Rose's sword was designed specifically to poof a Gem without shattering it.
- According to the defending Zircon in the official records state that part of Pink Diamond's entourage was made by Sapphires who are known to have future vision, this would make Rose's attack on Pink Diamond impossible because that it would have been predicted.
- This episode marks the first time anyone has seen a Gem be poofed by a Diamond onscreen. It is also the first time a Diamond is shown to have combat abilities.
- This episode marks the first time that a Gem on Homeworld is seen producing a bubble, in this case it was the yellow prosecuting Zircon bubbling Lars' head.
Cultural References
- Steven being on trial is very similar to Green Lantern being on trial from the Justice League episode, In Blackest Night.
Continuity
- This episode marks the very first appearance of Homeworld.
- This episode takes place shortly after "Stuck Together".
- Eyeball mentions Steven healing her and throwing her into space from "Bubbled".
- Steven assumes that the Breaking Point, an invention of Bismuth, was used to shatter Pink Diamond, but according to Blue Diamond he is apparently wrong.
- When the prosecuting Zircon addresses the diamonds with plenty of positive adjectives before saying "My Diamond". Something that Holly Blue Agate did in "That Will Be All".
- In addition, Yellow Diamond said "My Diamond will suffice", implying that she is tired of people saying "My Diamond" with positive adjectives attached.
Errors
- When Blue Diamond's palanquin is falling, a spark from the trial room's wall appears for a split second then disappears right before the spark makes a diamond shape to make a hole in the wall.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.