A review in four parts
(These reviews contain
spoiler!)
There’s a lot to get through, so let’s
get started!
Stuck Together
I’ve been critical of a lot of things
on Steven Universe in the past, but
if you asked me the one thing I hated the most on the show, my answer would
always be how they shoved characters like Lars and Ronaldo down our throats for
multiple episodes without really trying to give us something to like about
them.
While I can’t say they’ve done the
same for Ronaldo, this episode did the imposible: it made Lars a relatable
character that didn’t make me want to tear my ears off after spending 11
minutes with him. Shocking, I know, but they pulled it off.
Steven and Lars, for the first time in
over four seasons, actually had a normal conversation about how they’re both
scared of what’s awaiting them. It’s a great scene between two characters who
for the most part share more of a SpongeBob/Squidward dynamic than an actual
relationship.
This episode also gave us a fun new
character in the form of Topaz. I’ve long joked that Steven Universe could make an axe murderer look sympathetic, and
while they didn’t quite go to that extent here, it was a little surprising to
see a character who was silent in her first episodes suddenly start crying
because of Steven and Lars’ little chat. On the other hand, I liked that she
only liked working for Homeworld and Aquamarine because it allowed them to stay
fused, and they worry they wouldn’t survive without the other.
Unfortunately this partnership didn’t
last long, as they arrived at Homeworld and Steven and Lars are separated.
This episode definitely feels like
more of an introduction to the bomb than an episode that can really stand on
its own, but it’s still a good episode. Topaz is fun, and I like that Lars is
finally starting to become a stronger character overall.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
The Trial
With a title like that, you know stuff
is about to get real.
The meat of discussion topics in the Steven Universe fanbase until the show
decides to crawl out from hiatus again will likely come from this episode,
because it was jam-packed with everything a fan could want, including the
Diamonds, new gems, and even a conspiracy about if Rose really shattered Pink
Diamond.
Before we can really get into the big
stuff, there’s a lot of neat little stuff in this episode. First off, the new
gem type: Zircons. A blue Zircon serves as Steven’s defense attorney, while a
green one serves as the prosecution pandering to the Diamonds. Blue Zircon
definitely spends most of the episodes as a fun and goofy bad lawyer
stereotype, but towards the end of the episode when she actually blows the lid
off of something huge it leads to a great scene.
It’s also always cool to see the
Diamonds again, and I also liked seeing Blue’s more intimidating side that we
barely even got a glimpse of in the Out of this World arc. Having her continue
the trial after seeing Steven just because she wants to make him suffer as much
as possible is really sinister and awesome.
The trial itself is fun, especially as
characters like Lars and even Eyeball Ruby are brought in as evidence and
witnesses against Steven’s case.
Of course, once the fun was over things
got really, really interesting. Remember the final scene from Bismuth, where Steven fought Bismuth
over the morality of using the Breaking Point? Early on in that scene Bismuth explained
that she invented the Point as a way to shatter Homeworld gems because, and I
quote, “Rose’s sword couldn’t”. It’s such a small detail that we completely
overlooked it. But think about it. If Rose’s sword is unable to shatter a gem,
how exactly did she manage to shatter Pink Diamond?
Even stranger, as Zircon points out,
how would Rose get so close to Pink without a Quartz soldier stopping her or a
Sapphire predicting it happening? The only logical solution is that whoever
truly did it was close enough to Pink to make it happen and then cover it up
afterwards, which only the Diamonds really have the authority to do.
Of course, Yellow is none too happy
about this. Rewatching the episode knowing the big reveal it’s fairly obvious
that she’s the primary suspect in the crime (she’s trying to hurry along the
proceedings and we know she wants to leave Earth and the war behind and move
on), so unless White Diamond has something to do with it (she’s still absent,
but there’s a big picture of her hovering over Homeworld) it’s fairly obvious
that Yellow shattered Pink for whatever reason and blamed it on the leader of
an upstart rebellion.
While a lot of the Wanted arc is
focused on building both Steven’s and Lars’ characters, this episode is
entirely dedicated to giving fans answers they want, while posing a million
more questions at the same time. Before this there was no doubt that Rose was
the one that shattered Pink, but now that this discord’s been thrown into the
mix I’m really excited to see how this season plays out.
FINAL SCORE
10/10
Legendary
Off Colors
If the first episode of the arc was
meant to make us finally enjoy a Lars episode, this episode is meant for us to
forget all the garbage he’s done over the course of the show’s run. Seriously,
in just one episode the guy jumped from being tied with Ronaldo for my least
favourite character to being one of my favourite townie characters overall.
Why didn’t we get development on him
sooner?
After escaping the Diamonds, Steven
and Lars find themselves pursued by robots deep underground Homeworld. Thankfully,
they find a group of “Off Color” gems, who hide in an abandoned Kindergarten
out of fear of being shattered by the other gems.
The Off Color gems are awesome. They
all have some sort of weird defect from the normal ones, and they all are super
creatively designed and fun. There are conjoined twin gems called Rutlites, a
fusion of a Ruby and a Pearl called Rhodonite, a giant caterpillar-like fusion
of six gems called Fluorite, and, what might be the funniest new character Steven Universe has ever seen,
Padparadscha Sapphire, who can only predict things that already happened. Every
line she says is absolute comedy gold, and I really wanted to see more of her.
It doesn’t take long for the robots to
find them, but as they’re only looking for gems, Lars is able to take them on
himself. But defeating them comes as a cost, as they explode and Lars dies.
I’m not kidding. He’s dead.
It’s actually kind of funny that a
character I was complaining about being stuck with for one of the most
anticipated arcs of the series made me feel upset when they died. If you told
me a month ago that Lars was going to die in the next few episodes of Steven and I’d feel sad about it, I
would’ve called you crazy. But his development in the last few episodes leading
up to this one plus a fantastically directed scene really sold it for me, even
though it was inevitable he’d be coming back. This is a show aimed at kids
after all, regardless of how dark it gets at times.
While this episode is significantly
quieter than the rest of the arc, I loved the new gems that they introduced,
which were some of the most creative we’ve seen from the entire series. Lars
also had more great episodes, really cementing him for me as a character that
deserved a lot more development earlier on than they gave him. His death scene
especially hit a lot harder than it should’ve considering how much I disliked
his character before this arc.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
Lars’ Head
I’ll admit it: when I saw the last
episode of the bomb had Lars’ name in the title I groaned. He really was going
to be a major player in this. But honestly, having watched the bomb all the way
through, I feel that having the last episode being focused on Lars was the way
to go (even though Steven was the true main character).
Lars is back to life, and now he’s
turned pink. He also doesn’t have a heartbeat anymore, so I guess he’s an
immortal zombie pink teenager forever now. Oh well, it happens.
While examining his new features,
Steven discovers that he can enters Lars’ hair the same way he can jump into
Lion’s mane. Sure enough, inside Lars is the same infinite pink savannah that’s
inside Lion, and Steven can even use it to literally walk between home and
Homeworld.
This episode also serves to answer one
of Steven Universe’s first big
questions: what the heck is up with Lion? While many have speculated that Lion
was the remnants of Pink Diamond or even Rose herself, I kind of like having
the actual answer be something as simple as “he was a lion Rose used her tears
to bring back to life”. While it’s nowhere near as complex as people were
hoping, it’s nice to have a quick and simple answer in the tidal wave of
questions this bomb posed.
Of course, this means Lars can’t come
home. While I’m glad that this means less episodes with annoying Lars, I think
I’ll genuinely miss having this cool Lars around. Granted, I’m sure we’ll be
seeing Homeworld much more now that the Crystal Gems have a secret path there,
so I don’t think he’s exactly been written off. Plus he still needs to finish
up his subplot of his relationship with Sadie, so I don’t think he’ll be
trapped for too long.
So Steven’s back home, he’s reunited
with the gems and Greg, and we have no idea when the next episode is airing.
Everything’s back to normal.
While this episode certainly wasn’t
the best one of the bomb, it was still spectacular. I loved that after The Trial posed so many new questions we
finally got the answer to Lion’s true nature. I also liked that Lars and Steven
finally truly cemented the friendship that began way back in Season 1, as
instead of doing that chestpat thing they do Lars hugged Steven goodbye.
There’s still plenty more questions
waiting to be answered, including the identity of White Diamond, the chest in
Lion’s mane, that weird room in the moon base Garnet hurried Steven past, Pearl’s
full backstory, and of course who’s the true culprit in Pink Diamond’s
shattering. With Season 5 promising to destroy the status quo, I sure hope it
won’t be long before we return to Steven’s universe.
FINAL SCORE
9/10
Amazing
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