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Steven’s
Dream
The simpler character-building cartoons were nice, but Season
4 becomes more interesting with this one that begins a story arc. Not only that, but it’s an arc that serves
the underlying plot of the entire series well.
It shows that even with all the fun he’s been having lately, Steven
still has heavy emotions about the mysteries of his mother in mind.
It all starts when he gets a strange dream of
a pink palanquin in a field which brings back being told that Rose Quartz
settled the Gem War by shattering Pink Diamond.
Plus, the dream gives Steven a strange ability to cry even when he’s not
sad. He tells Greg about it and he
responds with refreshing advice. For all
the mistakes she made in life, Rose was reminded to not dwell on the past for
what matted is who she was at the time. As
fitting for her and anyone watching as this advice is, Steven still can’t stop
thinking of that one area of his mom’s life and feels he has to find out what
his dream means.
Giving relevance to the
journal from “Buddy’s Book,” Steven learns that the palanquin is a Gem-related
location, except the Crystal Gems refuse to tell him anything about it. In fact, Garnet is particularly adamant of not
going there. Out of this is a huge break
from Steven’s typical optimism. He now
has a great opportunity to explore his mother’s past and learn more about
someone he never met, and he’s being denied progress. The tense confrontation with the Gems is
practically appropriate. At the end
though, there’s a more civil tone as Steven flat out says he’s not going to
listen to Garnet’s suggestion to not go, and Garnet reluctantly accepts
this.
Steven does find support for his
desire for efforts in the form of Greg, who believes he should get answers
about his mother if it’s a big concern for him.
So, through bringing Uncle Andy and his plane into the spotlight, Steven
and Greg are transported to the palanquin’s location in Korea. In the process, there’s a fun montage of
sightseeing there, including an inside reference to the show actually being
animated in Korea.
Then comes the big
highlight of the cartoon featuring the first onscreen present appearance of Blue
Diamond. Before, she was only seen in a
flashback as a tyrannical dictator which all the Diamonds typically are, and the very
reason why Garnet fears her. Here, she
gives the first sign of showing that for all their horrible actions, the
Diamonds are capable of feeling real deep human emotions.
Blue is on Earth mourning the shattering of Pink Diamond, as Steven’s
tears once again indicate before he and Greg spot her. Speaking of Greg, he’s discovered and brought
over to Blue Diamond, unaware of who he’s dealing with. He shares her feelings of loss and grief by
alluding to his own deceased wife, and while it’s not known yet, it’s kind of
ironic when you find out how alike both lost ones are. This gets Blue to see genuine value in
organic humans the Diamonds have been known to look down on, so much so that
she straight-up abducts Greg to parts unknown.
The abduction is a dramatically staged scene as Steven tries and fails
to catch up with Blue Diamond and her hand ship as she takes off to space with
him. However, the potential for
adventure at the end comes as Garnet suddenly shows up, apologizes for not
accompanying Steven, and promises they’ll get Greg back from space.
There are many more great moments to come in
this arc, and this cartoon starts it off nicely. It starts off simple and then smoothly
transitions to legit drama, huge character reveals, and big promise for events
to come.
A+
Season 4 Ranking
1. Mindful Education
2. Steven’s Dream
3. Last One Out of Beach City
4. Gem Harvest
5. Three Gems and a Baby
6. Buddy’s Book
7. Know Your Fusion
8. Kindergarten Kid
9. Future Boy Zoltron
10. Onion Gang
The next Steven Universe review shows Steven and the Crystal Gems head to space to save Greg and warp light and reality in the process.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Fandom Pains" and "Rita Her Rights" from The Loud House.
If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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