Steven Universe Recap - S03E05 - "Hit the Diamond"


In the full intro there’s a line that bugged a number of fans for a while – Pearl’s "If you could only know/What we really are”.

Those words don’t naturally lead into the rest of Pearl’s part of the song, and the animation seems to imply that she almost reveals something – but catches herself in time. Therefore the use of those words in the "In Too Deep” promo suggested a reveal of something the Crystal Gems were hiding this whole time.

Well, if there is any mystery behind those lines, we’ll have to wait for the revelation for a while yet. "Hit the Diamond” doesn't reveal anything earth shattering.




The Crystal Gems hide from the one-eyed Ruby, who turns out to be a part of Yellow Diamond’s five-Ruby squad. And man, they are dumb. When the Crystal Gem Ruby separates from Sapphire and sneaks in to find out what they are after, she manages with surprising ease. Even when the squad leader gets suspicious of the number of Rubies, she quickly calms down by doing a headcount... and forgets to count herself among the five Gems.

They’re looking for the leader of the Earth mission, and, having assumed they mean Peridot, Ruby tries to dissuade them from looking in the barn her friends are hiding in. But she ends up drawing their attention to it, because they didn’t notice the only nearby structure and potential hideout. Crystal Gem Ruby goes to check in and returns with Steven as proof that there are only humans in the barn. That still doesn’t work, as the squad leader seems to be too bullheaded to be tricked. Frantically looking for a way of stopping them, Steven ends up challenging them to play baseball to be allowed into the building.


Oddly enough, that insane plan seems to be working. With the Crystal Gem Ruby being a mole in the enemy team, our heroes seem to be doing okay for themselves, even with Lapis not really putting any effort into the game. She’s not the problem for the Crystal Gems – Ruby and Sapphire are. This is the first time in a while they’ve been separated, and the first time we see that isn’t forced by outside factors or an internal disagreement. And they simply can not stop flirting with each other, and thus remain distracted from the game.


In the end, there’s only one deciding game remains – and Steven puts his foot down, showing that he can be a tough leader when necessary. It works – while Sapphire is unable to keep her eye from Ruby, the latter suggest she might be able to see her when she’s doing the home run. It works, and it seems the team managed to save Peridot.


Until Ruby and Sapphire fuse back into Garnet. Whoops.


The Rubies realize they’ve been playing with Gems this whole time, and it seems a fight is unavoidable. That’s when Peridot decides to sacrifice herself to save her friends lives. It’s a sign of how much the initially self-interested and opportunistic Gem has grown.


But the Rubies aren’t looking for Peridot. They’re looking for Jasper.

Of course, they’re Rubies and end up easily tricked into believing that she’s on Neptune, and leave as soon as they learn of that destination. One suspects this is the effect of some Homeworld project that keeps them from expanding their intellect. It would certainly allow for easily controlled foot soldiers.

And as the new arrivals leave as quickly as the came, we end the "In Too Deep” season premiere event. The next episode, "Steven Floats”, will air sometime in June – not counting the French airing two weeks ago that ended up leaking on the Internet. I’ll see you then.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.