Everything You Need to Know for 'Steven Universe: The Movie', Part 1!

If you're like me, you're counting down the moments until Monday night's premiere of Steven Universe: The Movie.

I have been waiting for this for months. I've rewatched the entire series a few times. I downloaded the soundtrack on iTunes and have been jamming it repeatedly. I've wondered about this mysterious new villain with the upside-down heart-shaped gem on her chest. I've watched a few fan theory videos on YouTube (and have adopted the one I found most convincing).

But if you're NOT like me, you may need a quick review of Seasons One through Five to get you ready.

Don't worry... no matter where you fall in the Steven Universe fandom, this three-part series will give you all the info you need to be ready for the movie. Here's how the three parts will be broken down:

This is Part One. In this section, we're going to focus on character reviews and basic plot points for the show between Season One and, like, the middle of Season Five. We'll talk briefly about Steven, his relationships with other characters, and his quest to find out more about his mom.

And you'll meet all the main players that you'll need to know... there are a LOT of them.

Part Two will tell the full story of Rose Quartz... from Pink Diamond all the way to Steven, in chronological order.

Part Three will set the tone for the movie. It will recap the end of Season Five, fill in any missing puzzle pieces, and leave you ready just in time for the movie, which airs at 6pm EST on Monday night!

*Note: As much as possible, I am going to avoid spoiling anything from the movie that isn't visible on the movie poster image. So if you're trying to avoid movie spoilers, don't worry... I'll keep those out of this article all together. I will, however, link to the Offical Trailer at the very end of Part Three, so that folks can watch it if they choose!*

So, let's get started!

First, you need to know a few things about our protagonist, Steven Universe:

Steven is half-human, half-gem; he has a human father, Greg Universe, and a gem mother, Rose Quartz (We'll talk more about them later.) He is mostly human in form, but has his mother's gem for a belly button.

He lives on Earth in a town called Beach City, in a fictional, coastal US state called Delmarva (Likely a shout out to the entirely NOT fictional Delmarva Peninsula, which holds sections of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and has long fought for statehood of its own in America! Fun fact.).

We will meet many of these cast members as we go.

When the show begins, Steven is roughly 13 years old... but his life isn't like most kids his age. He doesn't live with his dad. His mom is dead. And he doesn't go to school.

Instead he spends his time in his home, trying to figure out his magical gem destiny and begging the Crystal Gems to take him with them on missions to save Earth.

He practices using his powers: a bubble (which he can use to surround himself and his loved ones to keep them safe against an incoming attack), a shield (which is reflective and strong AF), and his healing powers (which allow him to use tears... or spit... to heal folks)!

Besides Steven, the Crystal Gems are the most important characters in the show. They have been protecting the Earth for thousands of years, and are the only three remaining allies of Steven's mother, Rose Quartz.

First we have Pearl. The most high-strung of the Crystal Gems, Pearl likes order and dislikes chaos. She is powerfully skilled in sword fighting, which she used for thousands of years to defend Rose Quartz, with whom she was deeply in love.

She spent most of Steven's childhood healing from the trauma of losing RosE and adjusting to a world where she has been left to raise her son. She has tense relationships with other characters, especially Steven's father Greg, because of her heartbreak. Eventually the pair are able to resolve some of their pain and come together as friends, but both continue to navigate life without Rose.

"I was fine with the men who would come into her life now and again. I was fine, 'cause I knew that they didn't really matter... until you."

In Gem Culture (which we'll talk more about later, too), Pearls are cultivated to be servants, usually assigned to act as a personal-assistant-of-sorts for a high-level or elite gem. Because she lives for herself, and not as a servant to anyone else, Pearl is considered defective by "Homeworld" (the origin planet of Gemkind).

Next we have Garnet. At the time the show starts, Garnet is the leader of the Crystal Gems, having taken over the role when Rose Quartz died. She uses Future Vision to stay one step ahead of their enemies, and sees herself as the glue that holds everyone else together.

She also has two gems... one red and one blue, located on each palm. That's because she's a fusion... a combination of two gems.

Fusion is a very important concept in the Steven Universe... universe. It is a constant plot device for the show and represents various kinds of relationships between gems. In the case of Garnet, fusion represents love.

As the show unfolds we learn that Garnet is a fusion between Sapphire (an elite gem) and a member of her Ruby guard. Sapphire and Ruby fuse accidentally, but fall in love in the process and decide to live together as Garnet permanently.

"I am made of love, and I'm stronger than you!"

In Gem Culture, fusion is only used for military purposes by Homeworld. Five Rubies, for instance, fuse together to become one Giant Ruby, used to defeat Homeworld's enemies. Unfortunately, the fusion of two different gem types (like Garnet), and specifically fusion for the purpose of love or romance, is considered vile and therefore defective by Homeworld.

But Garnet doesn't care about all that. She lives her life on Earth with pride, refusing to hide in the shadows or be forced to unfuse. And she spends her time loving everyone around her fiercely.

Last, but definitely not least, is Amethyst. Unlike the other Crystal Gems, Amethyst is not from Homeworld. She was grown on Earth in a "Kindergarten," which is kinda like a nursery where gems were grown and harvested. Unfortunately, Amethyst didn't come out like the other Quartz gems in her Kindergarten... she stayed in the ground too long. By the time she emerged, all her sisters were gone and she was alone.

She was discovered by the Crystal Gems and added to their team, but she always struggles to fit in. Unlike Pearl, she's messy and disorganized, and she likes it that way. Unlike Garnet, she's small and insecure. To ease the tension and to feel like a fully autonomous gem, Amethyst likes to be a jokester, playing pranks and poking fun at her peers. Because of this, she often provides comedic relief.

"Oh, wait, Steven! I just remembered... Garnet has a special mission for you! Yeah, she says, um, you have to slam your face into that bowl of cereal!"

In the past, Amethyst has considered running away to find the Quartz soldiers she was supposed to be with. But because of her extra time in the ground, she is smaller than the other Amethyst gems and is considered defective by Homeworld.

Part Two of this series is going to go through the whole journey of Rose Quartz, so if you're wondering "Wait, why did Steven's mom need allies?", don't worry! We're going to get there, I promise!

(Hint, hint: it has a lot to do with how many folks Homeworld likes to call "defective".)

But first, there are some more characters that you need to meet, if you haven't already.

Connie Maheswaran is Steven's best friend. She is a strong, passionate, and extremely intelligent kiddo... who grows up to become a powerful, loyal sword fighter and protector to Steven.

Like most eleven-year-old kids, Connie lives with her parents. Her mother, Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran, works long hours at the local hospital and is very demanding of Connie. Their relationship is often strained. Connie's father, Doug Maheswaran, works as a security guard and generally aims to be a kind, loving, funny dad. In this way, he helps balance out the sharp edges of Mom Maheswaran.

From the very beginning of their friendship, Connie was always there to protect Steven. When she realized her human weakness, she trained under Pearl to become an incredible sword fighter. When her mother wouldn't bend the rules and risked all their lives, Connie took control and saved them all.

As their relationship developed, Steven and Connie definitely became more than friends. At one point, worried about his lack of formal education, Steven laments about his future:

"Whan Connie grows up and becomes President, what is that going to make me? FIRST BOY!?!?!"

Nowadays this duo is nearly inseparable. As a matter of fact, to literally everyone's surprise, Steven and Connie can fuse! For them, fusion is an act of deep friendship and romantic love. And I ship this relationship hard because it gives us Stevonnie, the single most ground-breaking character in a children's show, maybe ever. <3 Stevonnie.

Lion is... Steven's pet lion. He came around one day, so Steven kept him. But his story is a lot more complex than that.

Ya see, Lion lived hundreds and hundreds of years ago. We don't know most of the details, except that he was beloved by Rose Quartz. And we know that he died, only to be revived by Rose's healing tears!

Once revived, Lion was pink... and he stayed that way forever. But that wasn't even the coolest thing about him.

Lion also holds an inter-dimensional gateway in his mane! Steven can climb directly into Lion's mane to be transported to a secret dimension. This world is only accessible to Rose Quartz, so she uses it to store some of her most prized possessions, which all belong to Steven now. It seems that Lion's arrival wasn't by happenstance at all... Steven inherited him from Rose!

For reasons that might already be obvious to you, if you're a solid fan of the show already, our next character is Lars Barriga. Lars has, without question, one of the coolest character arcs in the whole show.

When we first meet Lars, he's an aimless young adult working at the local donut shop. He fancies his coworker, Sadie, even though he won't admit it. And he really wants to be friends with The Cool Kids, but he won't admit that either.

"Bingo, bongo!"

Over the course of the seasons, we see Lars take what seems to be a normal arc for his character. He kinda grows up a little and learns from his mistakes. He finally comes clean about how much he loves Sadie. He is just on the brink of befriending The Cool Kids when his whole life changes and he gets abducted.

Lars then goes on an adventure in space that changes him completely.

It starts out cowardly... all the other humans manage to escape captivity by jumping out of a spacecraft, but Lars freezes and hides on board the ship. Soon, he's found by an enemy gem.

With Steven by his side, Lars ends up stranded on Homeworld. They meet and befriend a group of Off-Colors, a group of defective gems who are being hunted and shattered by Homeworld (You'll meet them next!). In this group of misfits, Lars sees a reflection of himself and he really bonds with them almost instantly.

Soon we learn that Lars cannot be seen by the Homeworld spybots that are hunting the Off-Colors. The spybots scan for gems, and since Lars is human, he can't be scanned.

In a moment of inspiration, Lars rises up and defeats a whole fleet of spybots, saving the lives of every Off-Color there. He dies in the process, but is revived by Steven's healing tears. Just like Lion, revived Lars is pink and his hair provides another entry point for Steven into Rose's Secret Dimension.

When Lars and Steven get stranded on Homeworld, we're introduced for the first time to the Off-Colors. These gems are in hiding, all considered defective. Constantly on the run from the spybots that hunt them, these gems truly believe that they are wrong for being themselves.

Let's meet our group of renegades:

1. Rodonite—All that we know about Rodonite is that she is a fusion of a Ruby and a Pearl, but that's all we need to know to be interested! Rubies are generally combat soldiers, and Pearls exist as an aide/slave to Elite Gems only... so the story that brings us to Rodonite is bound to be a good one, and we hope we find out more soon!
2. The Rutile Twins—The gem equivalent of conjoined twins, these two gems share one physical gemstone. When Garnet says that she's never seen anything like them, they respond by saying "We were made this way," which is so intriguing. What do they mean? Did they form that way in the ground? Or were they made by someone... like a man-made gem? Or a... diamond-made gem, perhaps? (This is an interesting theory if you're following the speculation surrounding the upcoming Steven Universe movie plot... but I don't want to say too much about that and spoil any surprises!)
3. Flourite—Finally, a gem to represent polyamory! Flourite may look like a giant, elderly caterpillar, but she's actually a fusion of SIX different gems! And she's not opposed to adding more, she was sure to mention. With six different gems making up this one amazing character, it's no wonder she's regarded as wise and matriarchal... she certainly must be very very very wise with all those minds combined.
4. Padparadscha—An orange Sapphire (just like the real gem) who is always just a few seconds too late in her predictions, Padparadscha was discarded by Homeworld even though Sapphires are generally very high-ranking. Her predictions aren't the only thing that seems out of time... her behaviors are mostly tied to her visions, not to the events actually happening around her. Rodonite has taken on the role of protecting Padparadscha when danger comes, because she won't respond to the danger until after her vision has seen it. That suggests that both her physical vision and her cognitive abilities may be out of time as well.

We're going to talk more about Lars' adventure with the Off-Colors in Part Three of this series. For now, let's travel back home to Earth and meet a few of the *new* Crystal Gems, who have joined along the way!

We learn a lot about the Crystal Gems as the seasons progress. Before it was just Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Rose, there was a whole army of Crystal Gems. Thousands upon thousands of gems who fought alongside Rose in an intergalactic war (That's what Part Two will cover.).

Over the course of the series, we welcome three new(ish) members to the team! Let's take a look!

Lapis Lazuli's arrival is the key point in Season One when the series shifts from a cute story about a little boy into... something more serious. Something darker. When we meet her, she's a gem stuck in a mirror, unable to form. We learn that she was trapped in the mirror by Homeworld as a punishment for a crime she didn't commit. After thousands of years, she finally is freed when she convinces Steven to remove her gem from the mirror.

Lapis has, easily, one of the most complex character arcs in the show. Her life is basically a never-ending loop of being trapped and forced to do the bidding of others on Earth. Whenever she seeks freedom or tries to return to Homeworld, she ends up back on Earth. There's no way for me to go over all the layers of her captivity... it's just too much, so we're going to just say... oof.

Over time, Lapis warms to Earth. We actually get to see much of her character's healing journey... she grows from being highly distrustful and traumatized from her experiences, and eventually begins the process of healing and forgiving.

I love Lapis' story, because it depicts trauma recovery in such an honest way. Her progress is not linear... up until the last handful of episodes in Season Five, we aren't sure whether or not Lapis is going to end up on the Crystal Gems' team or not. Just like in real life, Lapis finds herself doing well until she's faced with a trigger, and then she struggles to backslide.

"I couldn't stay away. If they're going to punish me like a Crystal Gem, I might as well be one, right?"

In the end, Lapis knows that her family is the Crystal Gems. And in the process of finding that family, she also developed a best friend.

You may call her Peridot, Facet-2F5L, Cut-5XG... thank you, very much. She started her journey as a loyal foot soldier for Yellow Diamond, on a mission to Earth, dedicated to accomplishing her goals. She was cold, calculated, and emotionless.

When she ended up stranded and unable to return home, she devised plans to trick the Crystal Gems and sought ways to communicate with Homeworld. Eventually, however, she finds home and family on Earth with the Crystal Gems.

Peridot's character arc is another really fun one to watch. She evolves from a stubborn, immature, self-absorbed gem who gets mistaken for a child in public... into a strong, passionate, and equally compassionate fighter for the humanity of Earth's organic life.

"It's not a shell. There's so much life... living here. That's what I'm doing! I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time... like how I can make metal do my bidding! The point being: Earth can set you free."

Her personality does a complete 180 from the Peridot we knew in the beginning. She learns to create art, she develops strong relationships with other characters, and ends up being a loyal, happy Crystal Gem.

It's interesting to note that Peridot is, technically, an Off-Color. We learn that Peridot was created on Homeworld during Era 2, after most of the planet's resources were already depleted. Because of this, Peridot is smaller than normal and unable to shapeshift. So why wasn't she discarded? It's most likely because she was still useful to Homeworld. As a certified Kindergartener, Peridot was extremely knowledgeable about soil, rock formations, gem habitats, and colony-building. Instead of getting rid of her, she was equipped with technological and physical enhancements to mask her flaws.

Bismuth isn't a new Crystal Gem as much as a returning one. But we don't realize that at first. All we know when we meet her is that she was suddenly and mysteriously walking around in Rose's hidden dimension inside Lion's Mane. Steven, confused but never unwavering in his compassion, helps get her out.

"Rose Quartz changed my life. I came to Earth thinking this was just another colony. Build another arena for important fighters to fight in, build another spire for important thinkers to think in, and then, I met her. Just another Quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt, but she was different. And she was different because she decided to be. And she asked me what I wanted to build, and I'd never heard that before. And Gems never hear they can be anything other than what they are, but Rose opened our eyes."

It turns out, Bismuth was an OG member of the Crystal Gems... back during the war. She's a blacksmith by trade, tasked as a builder for Homeworld, and she designed and crafted every single weapon used by the Crystal Gems during the war.

We quickly learn that she and Rose had a sort of disagreement about how the war should be fought. Ultimately, Bismuth was poofed by Rose, bubbled for safety, and put inside Rose's secret dimension for safe-keeping.

Rose also chose to hide this information from the rest of the Crystal Gems, telling them instead that Bismuth was missing in battle. She had been poofed for over five thousand years.

It's unsurprising that Bismuth was a little hostile about what had happened to her. But at the end of the day, she was a rebel through and through and nothing mattered to her more than defeating Homeworld. She tried pitching her ideas to Steven, who rejected them just like Rose had before... and she got poofed again.

But this time, the two found peace and forgiveness for one another. And Bismuth regained her place in the Crystal Gems.

Ok, ok, that's a lot of characters. That's everyone, right?

Oof... of course not! There are DOZENS of amazing characters that I haven't even MENTIONED yet.

There's Sadie Miller, a.k.a. Sadie Killer, who transforms from this shy young woman into a badass rock and roll idol!

There's the WHOLE Diamond Authority, who I haven't even mentioned yet!

And tons more! We've got caboodles of more information coming your way in Part Two, when I'll walk you through the life of Rose Quartz from beginning to... now! Get the link as soon as it becomes available by following me on Twitter: @CylestNichole!