“And where was her pearl?”

There have been inconsistencies with the idea that Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond since the first time we heard it. The reveal comes just three episodes after Bismuth, which hinges on Rose’s refusal to shatter her enemies. On the episode after Eyeball tells the story, she makes a point of remembering Rose’s sword more than her shield, implying that Rose used the same blade that Bismuth just said could never harm a Gem’s gem. Steven’s reaction to the story is emotional rather than inquisitive, which makes plenty of sense. But as The Trial finally points out, the story itself does not.

The episode thrives by bringing the fishy elements of Pink’s shattering to the forefront in a way that doesn’t make Steven look dumb for not thinking of it before. As with other mysteries on this show, it’s so important to remember that he isn’t watching his own life, but living it, and is way less invested in the greater lore than we are. He’s a fourteen-year-old kid who was told a story that’s been verified by everyone who knows enough to tell it, including parental figures who were withholding it; why would he assume they’d withhold a lie? How in the world would he figure out that Pearl is the only Gem who knows the truth when she’s physically incapable of telling anyone? Why would he spend his time questioning specifics when his world’s on fire?

The only way we could ever move forward with this mystery would be an external source, and as a result, Blue Zircon ends up being the most influential one-off character in the original series. Granted, there aren’t many one-off characters to choose from (even players as minor as Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt and Dashing Danny Doober have repeat appearances), but she packs a wallop in her limited screentime that puts her leagues ahead of the Zoomans or Mr. Frowney.



Which is why I’m so glad that she’s voiced by Amy Sedaris, A veteran comic actress known for broad yet hyper-specific characters, Sedaris fits right in as a frazzled, underprepared lawyer with an uncooperative client working in an unjust system. Blue Zircon is a mess, especially compared to the efficient confidence of Yellow Zircon (also Sedaris, of course), and I love that this lines up with their corresponding Diamonds: there’s a similar dynamic of lost blue Gem/haughty yellow Gem, but without going too far by making Blue Zircon defined by sadness or Yellow Zircon by rage. Aquamarine and Topaz invert these roles, but an episode that actually features the Diamonds does well to define them in part by their counterparts.



Yellow Zircon’s case is a home run, allowing a wonderful Eyeball cameo and emphasizing how the facts speak for themselves as long as we trust that the stories people keep repeating are factual. “Rose Quartz did it and that’s Rose Quartz” is the nail in Steven’s coffin, but only if both statements are true. We know the latter isn’t, subtly inviting us to question the former, but Steven is still too deep in his rut to raise that question, instead opting to shout about how guilty he is even when he can’t give details of the crime he didn’t commit. We’re simultaneously told that the case is flimsy and that Steven doesn’t care because he’s too focused on his guilt, proving the need for that external push. And it leads to the episode’s greatest trick.

Blue Zircon, like Pearl, gets flustered when things aren’t going her way. Blue Zircon, like Pearl, is heavily invested in both Pink Diamond’s fate and Steven Universe’s future. And Blue Zircon, like Pearl, has depths that are hidden by low expectations. The difference is that Pearl is underestimated by her society, but not by us, as we’re introduced to her as a competent Gem. Zircon is valued by her society, but underestimated by us, as we’re introduced to her as an incompetent Gem. And both we and Homeworld are deceived by these impressions, because Blue Zircon, like Pearl, is dangerously good at her job.

A sort of horrible wonder fills the room as Blue Zircon lays out her case, enthralling the Diamonds and Steven alike as all three realize the story’s huge holes at the same time. And she’s such a great lawyer that she solves the entire mystery by accident: she lumps Pink Diamond’s agates and sapphires together, but gives special attention to her pearl, both in the header quote itself and the ensuing impersonation of a wailing servant. If not for the prejudices of Homeworld, Blue Zircon would have been able to connect the final dots in no time.

But the whole point of The Trial is that undervaluing peoples’ worth leads to incomplete truths. Steven doesn’t value himself, so he sinks into a lie. We don’t value Blue Zircon’s early behavior as an indicator of skill, so we’re surprised when she’s brilliant. And our humble Pearl is replaced as the obvious suspect by the mightiest Gems in society. I don’t think we’re meant to actually think Yellow or especially Blue engineered their sister’s shattering, but the accusation is still compelling for what it says about the limits of Homeworld Gems’ imaginations. Blue Zircon can get everything else right, but she can’t fathom a world where such a plot was committed by anyone less powerful than a Diamond (and to be fair, she’s half-right). The reason Pearl and Rose got away with it is a simple matter of expectations. It isn’t just a Steven problem, nobody thought to ask follow-up questions.

There’s an elegance to The Trial that makes it worth so much more than the information it provides, and I’m not just talking about the elegant theming. Everything from the snazzy title card transition to the lighting and framing of the courtroom to the introductory shot of Blue and Yellow Diamond to the haunting glimpse of the unnamed final Diamond’s titanic throne room as Steven and Lars escape oozes style, allowing an episode that’s a lot of talk and not much action to still stand out for its visuals. Blue Zircon’s exaggerated animation is typical Steven Universe visual comedy, but otherwise there’s a focus on dramatic visual storytelling that I just love.

The portrayal of Steven’s boredom through quick cuts makes us feel how long he’s been waiting without actually making us wait, to the point where his aside about how the waiting is as torturous as his inevitable punishment is almost redundant. Yellow and Blue Pearl have their own unspoken stories about how they fill their time when the bosses are at work, establishing Blue Pearl’s love of drawing and reinforcing Yellow Pearl’s brattiness. This is an episode about an investigation of an ancient crime, but it’s enriched by little details that speak volumes about its characters in the present. And while Blue Zircon is amazing in it, and Steven finally gets to start putting the pieces together, the headliners for me are the Diamonds.

We know Blue and Yellow pretty well at this point, meeting them individually before putting them together for a song and scene that showcases their similarities and differences, but Steven is our viewpoint character, and this is the first time either has ever spoken with him. We start with the basics (Yellow is impatient and loud, not even seeing the need for a trial, while Blue is deliberate and quiet, dragging the process out), but we gain crucial insight into both.

Yellow Diamond is the more consistent of the two: so far she’s written off every situation we’ve seen her in as a waste of time, and doesn’t even have patience for her zircon’s praise. She belittles Blue’s sentimentality, and when disrespected she doesn’t hesitate to poof Blue Zircon with one finger, then use her destabilizing powers on Yellow Zircon out of spite. She fits right in as a member of the group that corrupted a planet’s worth of Gems, ally and rebel alike, during a retreat. But far more than in That Will Be All, we can see that she loves her sister in her own alien dictator way; every complaint about the trail is a reminder that she’s willing to do things she hates for the sake of Blue, and she provides fleeting moments of comfort between the snipes. It isn’t a healthy relationship, but from everything else we’ve seen from Yellow Diamond, it could be a lot worse.

Blue Diamond already showed a hint of the imperious shatterer of Garnet’s nightmares in her treatment of Sapphire in That Will Be All, but now that cold violence fuels an entire episode. She’s the impetus for the trial itself (as Yellow Diamond makes very clear), but her need to understand is overpowered by her lust for revenge. Her anger only erupts once, but the explosion of emotion reveals how easily she weaponizes her grief in the same way we’ll learn she did for Pink Diamond. It’s the same sadness that made her sympathetic in Steven’s Dream, but focusing more on the selfishness that made her take Greg against his protests in that same episode.

We once again see that for all the praise of Yellow as a paragon of logic, she’s quick to lose her cool. And while Blue might seem more reasonable as she begs Yellow to control herself, she’s the one who staged a loaded trial in hopes of finding the perfect way to torture her enemy. We’re bound to feel for the one who’s vulnerable enough to express her sadness, but it’s made clearer than ever that neither Diamond is worthy of much admiration. An entire society idolizing these people is bound to have serious problems, and for a show that loves to explore relationships, it’s telling that Steven only escapes because the Diamonds can’t get along. He’d be done for if either Yellow or Blue had met him alone, but unlike the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds are weakened when together.

Yet another bit of elegance is that escape. Lars appears twice as the stand-in for all of humanity, and it’s a good enough bit that it doesn’t feel convoluted for him to be in the room. And the palanquin is a key part of Blue Zircon’s case, explaining its presence as well. All the pieces are naturally in place for Steven and Lars to skedaddle, and in first viewing, we might not make much of Steven’s hand starting up the machine. Perhaps any Gem could operate the palanquin (after all, it would make sense that the Diamonds would be too good for such labor), but it’s interesting that this device meant for Diamonds works for this kid.

For all the strengths of its showmanship, we don’t get much as far as meaningful conclusions go, instead letting Blue Zircon’s accusation linger as we face an almost literal cliffhanger, diving away from danger and into the unknown. This lack of a real ending, combined with the single-minded focus on the trial, makes The Trial feel a lot quicker than your average Steven Universe episode. But it’s a hell of a thing that a story this focused on one unfinished case, a case that won’t even be picked up again for quite a while thanks to imminent distractions, still manages to feel this complete.

Future Vision!

Sedaris may not return, but the Zircons end up running for higher office, so I guess they weren’t shattered for impertinence. My vote is obviously for Zircon.



We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!



It doesn’t have quite enough of the things I love about Steven Universe to be a favorite (friendly interactions being the biggest of them) but it’s up there, for sure.

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