Lunar Sea Spire

GC13 and David discuss Steven’s Dream, the start of Out of This World and our first present-day look at Blue Diamond. Check out Greg’s new watch! We know he didn’t lose it when he was alien-abducted, since he wasn’t wearing it in Korea (or in the van for that matter), so where did it go? Mr. Greg has a lot of important things to spend money on, so hopefully he doesn’t need a new watch already. Plus, this episode is your random reminder that we still haven’t had the mural from Serious Steven explained yet. Maybe a character will explain it for us, but can life be so perfect?

GC13 and Sophia discuss the best new late-night talk show on the air: Know Your Fusion. Play us in, Jorge! Sardonyx is a star of the episode (perhaps even the lead, much to her later dismay), so it’s only natural to talk about her. What kind of fusion did you expect out of Garnet and Pearl after seeing what Opal and Sugilite were like? Still, the fusion-to-fusion sitdown does characterize them both very well, with Smoky Quartz having plenty of time to feel insecure and Sardonyx providing the backdrop for the chat. Also, this episode reminds us that we are not just on Opal Watch, we are also still on Sugilite Watch.

GC13 and David discuss the spoilerific (we think) promotional footage shown at the Steven Universe panel at San Diego Comic Con 2017. So, Lars of the Stars? Are you hyped yet? Whether it feels real or not, it definitely feels awesome. We have a Gem going full Saturday morning cartoon villain in a fully Pirates of the Caribbean atmosphere. Oh, and Lars says “Bingo Bongo.” It’s transcendent. It’s not all fun and games though: a trailer was played showing much more sober times on Earth. Perhaps we could all enjoy a ripping adventure among the stars to lion the mood.

GC13, Sophia, and David discuss the Looney Tunes homage episode with a Yogi Bear reference in it: Kindergarten Kid. Peridot comes up with several flawlessed Peri-Plans. Which one was your favorite? Surely all that is needed to succeed is a reduction in variables (or perhaps in increase in pupil sizes?). It’s possible (probable even) that we’ll never learn much detail about how bubbles work, but it was quite remarkable for Peridot to learn to bubble (a less emotional version of when Steven learned to bubble back in Monster Buddies), but at least we know Peridot has started a bubble collection back at the barn.

GC13 and David talk about Bubbled, home of the Ruby Funny Face. It’s a more contained episode with some interesting interpretations of how outer space works, but it also has some gorgeous interpretations of how outer space looks so it gets a free pass from us. Steven adds to his list of mental traumas this episode, but he makes a serious attempt at healing Eyeball (even if nobody knows why he chose to lick her gem directly). Thankfully for us and for Steven’s mental well-being we later find out that she was recovered safe and sound, but Mindful Education comes after this and before that, so Steven had an awful lot of time to ponder how things went.

GC13 and Isabelle join the Jasper fan club in Back to the Moon. (Jasper is so funny and strong.) This was the first episode to say out loud what happened to Pink Diamond, and it seems like more than just Jasper is messed up about it (thankfully Amethyst didn’t go into full “Your Diamond! My Diamond!” mode). Of course knowing what we know now the story is even more interesting, but we won’t know the whole story until season five is over. Poor Eyeball. We’ll get to see more of her next week when we talk about Bubbled, but right now the real tragedy is her seeing someone else sit in Jasper’s lap. Good thing that was just another trick. Ruby jokes need to become a thing though.

GC13 and David discuss the exciting end of the Jasper Saga: Earthlings! So it finally happened: Jasper and Bismuth are locked up in the temple basement together. Amethyst can finally get over her (quite significant) physical inferiority to Jasper; as long as she has another Crystal Gem to hold hands with, nothing can stop her! Jasper had a line that did make us wonder before she was corrupted and bubbled, however: how does a Gem’s height indicate her rarity and importance? From what we’ve seen, Gem heights are all over the place, and Gems of the exact same height can have radically different statuses. Even if she makes us wonder though, Jasper still passes inspection.

GC13, David, and Hunter talk about Beta (and the rest of the show too). Beta can be considered two episodes: one lighthearted morp show in the barn, and one tour of the beta kindergarten (even getting dark at the end). This makes Beta the first episode where we’re cheated out of a big chunk of time hanging out with Peridot and Lapis. Was Jasper’s post-Malachite arc something you enjoyed? Will the way the Crystal Gems treated Lapis back when she was in the mirror ever actually be dealt with? What should be next after the series ends? We don’t have answers for you: those are yours to provide.

GC13, Sophia, and David talk about Bismuth (and a fair bit about Bismuth as well). Bismuth is a key episode for understanding the timeline, but it indicates that a lot of action was packed into the final three hundred years of the war: most crucially, Pink Diamond’s shattering and therefore the entire Cluster project. So we have Bismuth: a rebel among rebels. She was in it for the revolution, it seems. It’s just a shame that, as yet, we haven’t got any more of her. Hopefully we’ll get more of her before the series is finished. Plus: the series has to end with Cookie Cats going back into production. Search your feelings, you know it to be true!

Oh boy, were we waiting for this. GC13, Sophia, Isabelle, and David deliver a lengthy discussion of the Wanted event, covering Stuck Together, The Trial, Off Colors, and Lars’ Head. From the surprise reveal of Topaz’s voice to Steven’s triumphant return to Earth, we obviously had plenty to talk about. Do you like your TV shows happy or sad? Was the death of Lars brutal enough? Do you think he’ll ever drink that juice box? Don’t forget the real hero of the event though: Zircon. Without her, Steven and Lars wouldn’t have been able to make their escape. Plus, whether she had the right suspects or not, she gave us a lot to think about…

GC13, Isabelle, and David give us a bit of calm before Wanted airs, discussing the track list of the first volume of the soundtrack (and other soundtrack-related stuff). It has almost everything. The only big absences are the Little Butler theme and the donut training video song, which are at least partially made up for by the inclusion of Still Not Giving Up from the minisodes. So of course everyone wants to know if/when we’ll get a volume two. It must certainly contain the show’s instrumental tracks, so everyone’s hoping that happens. Now all we must do is wait for Wanted. It won’t be long now…

GC13, Isabelle, and David have the podcast’s second discussion of the sixth Steven Bomb. How melodramatic did you think the bomb was? Even if you think it was, you can’t deny that Jamie can bring the real drama just as well as he can bring the melodrama. Characters (and giant fusions) not being animated, the Crystal Heart, and Aquamarine’s voice actress all come up. And why hasn’t anyone said Doug’s name yet? He’s in the credits, he’s had an episode named after him, but so far he’s just “Dad” or “Mr. Maheswaran”.

GC13 and Sophia get hyped for the Wanted event, coming up on Monday, May 29 (you won’t want to miss it). Since Stuck Together is part of the Wanted event, and has been posted on the Cartoon Network app to build hype, there will be some spoilers for the episode here. So the Wanted promo has it all: Diamonds, Homeworld, new Gems, and what can only be described as the perfect demonstration of the word “Sadie” being used as a verb. It’s going to be great. The wait will be difficult, but oh so worth it when it’s over. Also, thank you to everyone who auditioned for the podcast. We have selected David and Isabelle as our winners.

GC13 and Sophia have a big discussion about the episodes in Steven Bomb 6 (and try to avoid speculating until next week, hard as that can be). Oh boy, for those of you who have watched on the Cartoon Network app already, it was a big bomb, wasn’t it? Don’t worry, we’ll be covering it again next week, where we put on our speculation hats and wonder both about the future and about what we’ve seen. This bomb is just too big to cover in a single episode. Plus, the podcast is searching for new members! If you’re interested, check out our audition information and get to applying!

GC13 and Sophia are here to talk about Steven vs Amethyst. Yes, the episode turned out to be far more innocuous than the title sounded back when we first learned about it, but Amethyst was still being hit with the feels. This episode is a top contender on some favorite lists, and with moments like the realization of Amethyst’s reformation or the first mention of the Pearl Prize Pouch (!) there’s a lot to love. Never mind the titular fight between Steven and Amethyst. Steven is one tough boy, but Amethyst is a natural fighter and is no slouch. Even if they were fighting for the title of Worst Crystal Gem, it’s not something either of them really deserve. (Neither of them has ever tried to kill their leader, for instance.) Besides, they’re both great at being bad.