Steven Universe 4×20 Review: Room for Ruby

I’ll say this much about “Room for Ruby” – it wasn’t at all what I expected when I first saw the episode title and description…and in the end that was for the best.

“Room for Ruby” began with one of the Rubies crashing down to Earth, something that was never actually explained in the episode and therefore might remain up in the air for good. I don’t know if it will drive anyone else crazy that it wasn’t revealed how Navy was able to return from floating around in space, but I certainly want to know!

Other than that, though, “Room for Ruby” was pretty self-explanatory…and yet I’m sure its ending will surprise some (if not many!) viewers. After all, Steven Universe is generally such a feel-good, positive show, so even though I was on Lapis’ side throughout the episode (as in, I agreed with Lapis that no one – including Navy – could be as well-adjusted as she claimed she was) I still had moments where I thought “hmm, maybe Navy really is legit”…I mean, she did say that she couldn’t get mad even if she tried, and there is some evidence that this may actually be true, according to fellow SU fan and writer K-K.

Of course when it was all said and done I was glad that I’d sided with Lapis, even if it seemed like she might be wrong about Navy, wrong about others’ ability to adapt to being different (and in this case, much better) than hers. Granted, Lapis is doing so well lately (thanks to Steven and more recently to Peridot), but she still struggles, and “Room for Ruby” is more proof of that fact. However, we also see her admitting to her inner struggles, even apologizing for her actions, which is yet another sign of how much she has grown since we first met her.

That said, when Navy turned on them – meaning Lapis was right all along – Lapis’ reaction was sheer perfection. She didn’t say I told you so, she didn’t even seem to be upset with herself for “giving in” and trying to accept Navy. She just *laughed*. And to be honest, I laughed too – because as I said, I was on Lapis’ side all along, although when she seemed to give in to the idea of Navy truly wanting to be one of them, I did so as well. Because you know, it’s Steven Universe! All the good things [usually] happen in this show, right?

Well, not in “Room for Ruby”, anyway. Navy was faking it all along – she stole back the Rubies’ ship, dumped Steven, Lapis, Peridot, and Pumpkin into the ocean, and took off. While that wasn’t very surprising to me, Garnet’s reaction to it was. Yes, it was amusing that Garnet had two balloons ready to go, and even more so that she destroyed the happy balloon…but the fact that none of them are making a big deal about HOW Navy got back to Earth in the first place, or about her getting the ship back, is interesting to say the least. Does it really not matter, or will the events in this episode come back to haunt them later? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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