After a three-month Steven Universe hiatus, 2016 has graced Steven Universe fans with a new Stevenbomb: Steven’s Birthday Bomb. Monday’s Steven Universe episode “The Answer” starts fans off with some major Crystal Gem backstory. Did you want some more Steven Universe world building? Because you got it, bub.
The subsequent episode of Steven Universe, “ Steven’s Birthday,” is summarized as follows: “Steven has a birthday party out at the barn, and decides he has some growing up to do.” (Fear not: we will have a recap up shortly.) As for the rest of this Stevenbomb, we’ve got “It Could’ve Been Great” on Jan. 6, followed by “Message Received” (gulp) on Jan. 7 and “Log Date 7 15 2” on Jan. 8. And after that, who knows how long the next Steven Universe hiatus will last? So let’s dive in.
“The Answer” starts off with Steven being gently shaken awake at midnight by Garnet. It’s his birthday! And as we know from previous episodes, Garnet always planned to tell him that he was a fusion on his birthday, but her secret was revealed before she had the chance. However, she still has a story to tell him: the story of how Ruby and Garnet first met.
5,750 years ago, Garnet explains, the Earth was a promising colonial site for Homeworld. (This is not a drill: we have a timeline now!) However, rebels were causing problems, so a team of Homeworld diplomats was dispatched. Among them was Sapphire, an aristocrat. She was guarded by three Rubies, “common soldiers with a mission to protect her” who were sent in a group so they could fuse in case of threat. As we know from my past recaps, I am all over this lore.
The power on Earth at the time is Blue Diamond, who had sent for Sapphire so she could share her vision of the future. Sapphire foresees a battle at the Cloud Arena where the physical forms of seven Gems will be destroyed, including two Rubies and herself. After the destruction, Sapphire predicts the capture of the rebels.
Blue Diamond sits in a huge enclosure, with a silent blue Pearl waiting attendance. The contrast with the spitfire Pearl we know is striking (and saddening), providing wordless context for some of Peridot’s comments.
Right on cue, the Crystal Gem rebels appear. Pearl and Rose cut through the combatants, destabilizing the fused Ruby and leaving just one still formed: our Ruby, who refuses to accept the death Sapphire has already foreseen and accepted. She launches herself into Sapphire’s arms and they fuse at once into a beautiful soft pastel Garnet. Gasps of shock and horror abound, not least of which come from Garnet.
Pearl and Rose teleport away, and Garnet unfuses into Ruby and Sapphire. The furious crowd closes in: Ruby and Sapphire’s fusion, an aristocrat with a common soldier, is unprecedented. Blue Diamond orders Sapphire to explain herself, but Sapphire is at a total loss. Ruby leaps in front of Sapphire to take both the blame and Blue Diamond’s rage. Blue Diamond decrees that Ruby will be broken for this affront to a member of her court, but Sapphire grabs Ruby and runs as the Homeworld Gems begin to close in on them, launching both of them off of the Cloud Arena.
Because of Ruby’s impulsive action, Sapphire can no longer see what the future holds. Frightened, she literally freezes, which breaks Ruby out of her panic. Ruby frees Sapphire from the ice and carries her out of the rain and into a cave. From here on in, it’s all blushes, sparkles and romance as the two of them struggle to understand what happened when they fused and why it all felt so right. They both agree that the experience was “nice”... and then a sweet, delicate little love song starts playing over a montage of them exploring the planet.
Eventually they fuse in a touching, romantic scene straight out of Disney’s playbook. Pastel Garnet is back again…. and trips straight into rebel territory, with terrifying renegade Pearl holding a sword to her neck.
In a panic, Garnet haltingly explains that she didn’t mean to fuse, but she did, but they’ll unfuse, but -- and then Rose steps forward to say that it’s okay and they don’t have to. Rose’s famous curiosity is immediately piqued by the strange fusion, and she is gentle and encouraging in the face of Garnet’s fear. Ultimately, Rose takes Garnet’s hands in welcome and tells her never to question herself, for she is her own answer.
For the last few seconds, we’re back to Steven, who asks, “What was the answer?” Garnet answers “Love,” to which Steven exclaims, “I knew it!” Garnet answers, “So did I.” End of episode.
I can’t express how delightful and groundbreaking this episode feels: Garnet isn’t simply tacked on at the end or proclaimed through Word of God after the fact or kept as subtext to bait an audience starved to see themselves. Profound, surpassing love is the core of Garnet’s being, and her entire, explicitly romantic backstory has a whole episode devoted to it now, even its own pretty little love song. Garnet’s same-sex love as her literal raison d'être is tied into Homeworld and the Crystal Gems in an essential, irreplaceable way. Out of all the fun lore and flashbacks in this episode, the affirmation of Garnet’s queer importance is probably my favorite part.
If you've missed an episode, you can watch HD quality episodes of Steven Universe on Cartoon Network ’s web site, where all six episodes from before the hiatus are already up for viewing. To check out past Steven Universe episode recaps, just click here for all of our previous Steven Universe coverage. Make sure to follow us on Twitter to keep posted on more Steven Universe coverage.
