An item from the Gems’ past is discovered inside of Lion’s mane.
SPOILER ALERT
After all the build up in the advertisements for this episode, it finally arrives and brings a lost Crystal Gem with it. Yes, Bismuth, the blacksmith and weapon maker of the team returns. Where she has been and why she was gone are addressed throughout the course of the episode. Without too many spoilers it becomes incredibly obvious it wasn’t for a petty or insignificant reason.
The appearance of a lost character from the past really helps to paint a picture of the way things used to be and what it was like for the Gems before Rose Quartz came into the picture. It also helps to show just how much a war can change someone, even a person who was supposed to be one of the good guys. There is a really good moment where Bismuth helps Steven to see he isn’t completely like his mother. He really needs to this more often as it seems like everyone is expecting him to be the same as leader and champion she was. Pearl even called him Rose in a past episode.
This episode also features somes changes as Bismuth outfits the Crystal Gems with new modifications to their weapons. They are subtle but at the same time will be worth looking for in the future. The fake bumpers (those things which can come before and after the commercial breaks) were kinda lame though, especially with the way the episode ended.
This episode was filled with plenty of action, emotion, and easily makes it one of the best episodes of the season if not the whole series. Of course, technically being two episodes in one does allow more story to be told. Hopefully in the future there will be more stories which use the full show run time instead of the usual 12 minute episodes.
