Steven Universe - S3 E20/21: Bismuth

Plot
Steven unbubbles a Gem whom has been kept a secret for over 5000 years, and it turns out there is a reason for this...

Characters

"Rose is a boy now? And small?"

Bismuth is an extremely complex character. She was also one of the few characters whom listened to Steven's worries, and the first Gem, really. Yes, Bismuth had a dark side, but Rose caused it by hiding her away, and sadly that caught up with Steven and found him close to being shattered. Powerful voice acting was used in the final scenes of the episode and Bismuth genuinely teeters on the line of good and bad and she was a welcome addition, she has a nice, bubbly personality outside of her anger issues. But is she actually a good gem? I think she is, even though she lashed out at Steven she had her reasons and she made the "Breaking Point" because she wanted Homeworld to pay, a mass of Gems were killed in the war, her friends, people she considered family, I mean she just wants justice and I can see her point, she horribly explained it and lashed out which led to her bubbling, but I can still see her point. Plus, Bismuth was a blacksmith, she constantly assisted people with weapons in the war, but it wasn't enough because Homeworld won, she failed, over and over, and her anger probably built up because she felt a degree of guilt and anger. Her morals and her hesitancy were dashed away and maybe, maybe, that was Bismuth's breaking point.

Steven realises how this episode ends.

Steven is very interesting this episode. He opens Bismuth with welcome arms, and has a nice talk with her. He's peppy and upbeat but notices that Bismuth's slightly violent approach is too intense for him and we learn that Bismuth has some anger towards Rose, Steven is in legitimate danger, a Crystal Gem is attacking him and he cannot do much but take it. He has some degree of care with Bismuth, clearly, he tells her to "watch out" but is fighting back. After the whole talk with Bismuth, I think Steven was quite shocked that Bismuth would say things that she did and call him "Rose". Steven was pushed to his breaking point in this episode, forced to fight an ally because of their short fuse, Steven could've been shattered. His mothers mistakes caught up to him for once, and he defended himself which I found good and a welcome change, I am glad he didn't accidentally shatter Bismuth because Steven wouldn't do that and it would've gone against so many things. Steven has truly grown in this half and hour special, he is able to build from Rose's mistakes and even though he ended up bubbling Bismuth, he needed to defend himself and he didn't resort to shattering and you could certainly tell it wasn't easy for him. I bet for him, it was seriously of left field because no Gem (an ally) has ever been that angry at him that they've tried to attack him, he handled the entire situation as well as he could. Remember that he is 14 and possesses an amazing amount of majority. The entire scene with him and Bismuth was poignant.

A weapon upgrade! Jasper will pay...

Amythest is a very prominent character in this episode, and less comic relief because she doesn't know Bismuth and isn't blinded by having not seen her for over 5000 years. Amythest is suspicious of Bismuth and brings up a very good point, just before she completely changes her opinion and becomes useless to the story at that point. Amythest was the smart one during this episode, which is something we rarely see, and she had a decent amount of confidence, considering the events of the last few episodes.
Good Moments

• Pearl's Comic Relief - Pearl provides a nice element of hilarity to the episode. Hey, it's a dramatic episode, and any scene with Pearl in was gold, even the crying scene.  
• Weapon Upgrades - The Gems have long needed some sort of power up, Steven's got a few now, so he didn't need any, but Garnet, Amythest and Pearl did, plus it tied in well with Bismuth being a blacksmith. 
• The Conclusion -  Dramatic. Tension filled. The score and the voice acting was stellar. The storyboarding, everything was handled with poise.

Comedy
Any Pearl quote was quite funny, the episode was more focused on the dramatic side of things rather than the comedy, but Pearl provided some comedy, Bismuth's confusion of Steven while they talked in his room was funny. Amythest got me a few times with her, "Oh my god, it's a total stranger" and "Bismuth's the BEST!"

Soundtrack + Animation
Absolutely superb. The soundtrack was brilliant from Bismuth's regeneration music with metal instruments because Bismuth is a more of a metal, to the new ending song adding to a new chapter of "Love Like You". The animation and the storyboarding was superb as well! The scene where it went black and then it panned out to an eventual reveal of Bismuth being stabbed by Steven was jaw dropping, the music really helped as well. Lovely episode of television, honestly.

Additional Notes

Now, the eye catchers during this episodes really were a very welcome thing. Personally, I'd want more of these and more 22 minute episodes actually produced as such because these are extremely good. Everybody's personality is captured very well, like Pearl's ballet leap towards the Warp Pad is something subtle but you can still see it.


MVP
Bismuth deserves the MVP. She carried this episode, rightly so, this is her debut and it is named after her, if she doesn't appear again, then at least she has got the MVP of this episode, it's her by a mile. Steven is a 2nd, though.

Rating
I'm awarding this episode a solid 10/10. The only thing is that I wish Bismuth hadn't been bubbled, but it packed more of an emotional punch towards the end and now I have come around to it, plus we will presumably be seeing her again. I doubt this is the last we shall be seeing her. This episode was an absolute treat to watch and a pleasure to review.

* Apologies for the freaky format in advance.