Episode Followup: Buddy's Book

A book to tell you how to be a buddy? That's not what this episode is about! It's actually about world-building, and lots of it! Turn to page one and let's begin.

 Steven, Connie, and Lion in the first second. I'm sold already. Good episode. 10/10. 100/100.

"Great job parking, Lion!" "Eh, it's a little crooked." "(Scoffs)" "Never mind! It's perfect!"

 Lion knows how to properly deal with critics.

"Libraries are full of your favorite thing..."

 Cookie Cat? Well shoot, I should go to the library! Also, what is the librarian reading?

Nanefua! Libraries are full of Nanefua! I really should go to the library! Also, what is she reading?

Libraries are full of old Read posters! Well that one's true. Lil' Buck is pleased.

"Last time I relied on the internet for info, I ended up writing a very uh... erroneous paper about raccoons having heat vision."

It's all in the source you choose, Connie. Maybe next time don't use the Marvel Fan Wiki.

"Hey Brenda, where should we put the original copy of the first thing our library's founder ever wrote?" "Oh, just shove it under a shelf in the non-fiction section. It'll be safe there."

Oh, wow! The temple's statue was already falling apart back then! Maybe it's been like that since the war? Wait, is that a house in its hands?

"Forget homework!"

Oh Steven, you're such a good influence on her!

"Captain William Duey"? I thought it was spelled "Dewey"! Either Buddy can't spell, or Mayor Dewey is perpetuating a massive cover-up! He isn't a descendent of the founder of Beach City at all! He's a big fat phony!
Oh wait, Buddy spelled his own last name differently too. Conspiracy theory discarded.

Aww yes! Buddy Jamie is back! 

And he's stylin'.

So the Strawberry Battlefield is in Norway, huh? Makes sense, Norway does have some pretty amazing strawberries.

I've wondered a lot about these weapons. Did Bismuth make them all? Are all the weapons lying around this field from Crystal Gem warriors?

Hey wait, Pearl and Garnet didn't look like that back then! They-

"Hmm.. would the Gems have looked different back then?" "Yes. Definitely."

Thank you Connie. Let's keep this imagined history as accurate as possible, shall we?

Ok, while these outfits are wonderful, and props to Steven for remembering them correctly from a single picture he only saw once, was anyone else a little disappointed that the Crystal Gems weren't again played by Jamie?

"Only the bravest, most courageous, most memorable explorers would dare to visit these fascinating places."

Third eye's open! Future vision's on! And Garnet sees a glorious future for our buddy Buddy right here! Besides, she knew exactly what he was going to do.

Off they go, adorably riding their tandem penny-farthing bicycle through the strawberry field that you totally had seen before you brought Steven there, Pearl! You were playing it up just for him, weren't you.

Yup, that matches up pretty well with the map from the Moon. Hopefully someday we'll get those dots labeled! And maybe also find out why Russia is a crater.

Now I know what some of you are saying. "There's modern items in Heaven Beetle's room! This is supposed to be like 300-400 years ago!" Remember, that's not what Buddy looks like either. This whole flashback is taking place in Steven's imagination. And that means that the crew doesn't have to invent a 1700s version of Heaven Beetle's home! Convenient, eh?

Are those... are those lions carved into the center column of the Lunar Sea Spire? Have they been there the whole time? Also how did Buddy get into the Lunar Sea Spire? How is Buddy traveling to all of these places in the 1700s?! He may be the most well-traveled human on Earth for his era!
Also I thought it was kinda neat seeing "Jamie" in the Lunar Sea Spire, since both he and it were introduced in the same episode.

That is a much better name for it than Communication Hub. Especially considering Sugilite was the one that destroyed it.

Buddy, how did you see that? Did you take it from the Lunar Sea Spire? Are you the reason the gems had to fight a giant bird?

Buddy, how did you see that?! Doesn't a gem have to let you in? Maybe he could see it through the keyhole...

Uh ohhh. Looks like Blue Diamond might not have made it off Earth after all!

Military Amethyst is adorable, with her peaked cap and epaulettes... the Crystal Gems were trendsetters!

"Come back anytime! But not too much!"

Ahh, the cry of the non-social homeowner. I know the feeling!

"I realized I was surrounded by her pack of..."

SEVEN LIONS!? And here we thought she only had one! I mean ok, these are normal looking lions, not the pink variety. Unless, wait... this is imagination vision after all! Maybe Buddy just didn't mention that they were pink! Where are the other six?!

"It makes them new and special all over again... for any reader to experience."

Who are you looking at? You talkin 'to me? Sheesh. R.I.P. fourth wall. Pink Diamond ain't the only thing Rose Quartz shattered, am I right? I'm not entirely sure I catch Rose's meaning, either. Is she just trying to encourage us to read?

"Have you ever considered becoming an author?"

Rose Quartz is pretty mysterious, and she's definitely done some shady things in the past. Scenes like this though really show off how good a person she was. She seemed to always manage to find the positive in a person. She made people feel like they have worth. She gave hope to those who had none. Steven does it too, and isn't that what we love the most about him?

Let's hear it for Buddy Buddwick! He may not look like Jamie, but he gave us insight into the history of the Crystal Gems we would've never had! He may not have been the first to discover all these old gem buildings, but he's the one we remember.

Also I guess there is nothing keeping humans from wandering into gem buildings. Maybe the Crystal Gems just show up and kick them out before they cause trouble? That sounds like a full time job all by itself though. They should just build a fence!