Steven Universe: That Will Be All Review

This Steven Universe review contains spoilers.

Steven Universe Season 4 Episode 15

Well, my prediction from last week didn’t come true. It seems this arc has more or less wrapped up, which is a shame. Just after it really started to get going and we finally started to get to get to the answers we’ve all been wanting, everyone returns back to Earth.  

In the lead up to this StevenBomb we were promised answers. That was more than a small exaggeration. We certainly got a lot of hints. Some set up for later plotlines, but these five episodes really weren’t the universe-shattering episodes they were teased as. Some of that may be on the marketing department for the series and not the creative team, but those kinds of expectations may color this episode especially for some fans. Personally, I’m going to take the episode as is, even if kind of throws out my idea from “Adventures in Light Distortion” of these episodes paralleling Rose’s backstory with Pink Diamond.

Right off the bat, seeing Amethyst with all her Prime and Beta sisters was a treat. In the past she’s really struggled with her own identity so it’s great to see her so happy around not only other Amethysts but Jaspers as well. Speaking of those Jaspers, it’s a great little detail that while the Jasper we knew was seen as all powerful, here they’re seen as lesser then the Amethysts.

Of course, the main event of the episode is the meeting of Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond. This scene has a great sense of scale, and not just because both of them are massive. It’s here we get the closest to the “answers” fans were promised. Both Blue and Yellow Diamond miss Pink Diamond but react to it in very different ways. Blue is somber and downtrodden. Yellow Diamond on the other hand wants to move on. She shoves her feelings down.

While my theory of Steven’s journey paralleling his Mom’s with Pink Diamond doesn’t look to have come true, there could be a parallel with Yellow Diamond. Yellow Diamond doesn’t want to deal with her feelings, preferring to remain strong and prideful. In the end, Much like Steven in “Adventures in Light Distortion”, ignoring your emotions could lead to Yellow Diamond’s eventual downfall. 

Yellow Diamonds advice to Blue Diamond to “start looking forward and stop looking back” is not easily dismissed. While Yellow Diamond might be the antagonist, this advice isn’t totally off base. On the surface it actually sounds pretty nice. Even in “Mindful Education” it’s stressed how important it is to move on. So what makes this advice wrong? 

Because Yellow Diamond is lacking a key component of what Steven learned in that episode, to feel bad about it. You cannot shove your feelings aside. You can’t just act like everything is all right. You have to be mindful. You certainly can’t be consumed in your grief like Blue Diamond, but you do need to work through it. Blue Diamond, I’d guess, has been grieving for thousands of years. She needs to move on at some point and who better to help then Steven at some point in the future?

After all, the Diamonds are coming back to Earth and soon for more “specimens”. Steven may have been distracted from his quest for answers by his dad being kidnapped, but he’s still going to seek them out.

Special note must be given to Patti LuPone for her extraordinary turn as Yellow Diamond. When LuPone was cast, fans knew she’d get to sing at some point and her song in this episode does not disappoint. Let’s hope this isn’t the only song for this fabulous Diamond.

While the Diamonds took center stage, the best moment of the episode occurs right at the end when the Gems are caught by Holly. We get a brief but high-energy battle where Garnet hilariously uses her ungloved hand to punch Holly. The crowning jewel of this fight is Pearl turning up the sass on Holly, throwing her own words back at her from “Gem Heist.”

“That will be all.”

It was one thing to see Pearl come so far in “Last One Out Of Beach City” but to see her throw those words in the face of a high-ranking Gem? Pearl proves you don’t need to drink a juice, wear pants, or serve the Diamonds to be a badass.

While our team heads back to Earth at the end of this episode, we don’t know if they’ll end up there at the start of the next one. Maybe they’ll end up on another alien world or perhaps, as I’ve suggested previously, something will have gone wrong on Earth. We’ll have to wait for the next batch of episodes, where the team should be picking up the team of Rubies.

Overall this little arc, while overhyped, was a great addition to the Steven Universe mythos. Let’s just hope Steven doesn’t let his questions about Pink Diamond linger for too long.

Shamus Kelley can’t help it if he makes a scene, stepping out in his hot pink limousine. Follow him on Twitter!