The Gem Warship ("Hand Ship" in the model sheet[1]) is a giant hand-shaped spaceship which made its debut in "The Return" and is the primary setting in "Jail Break".
Appearance & Layout
The ship resembles a large green floating hand, similar to the ones that Peridot manipulated in "Marble Madness" in the Prime Kindergarten Control Room although more anatomically correct. Four fingers and a thumb, each of which is a separate division, make up the ship.
A large atrium located at the palm of the ship and what appears to be either a docking port or an exhaust port at the back of the ship connects these divisions. Three of these divisions are confirmed to be a prison block, weapons bay, and bridge.
The Prison Block contains rows of prison cells fortified with Gem destabilizing fields instead of typical metal bars. The Bridge is located at the tip of the index finger and contains a single seat with a console, screens and a cockpit window, where Peridot and Pearl piloted the ship at different times. The index finger is also used to launch Peridot's escape pod. If anyone attempted to invade the bridge, a Gem Destabilizer is able to be pulled out of the central console to defend against the invaders, as demonstrated by Peridot in "Jail Break".
The index finger houses the primary weapons bay and, when triggered, shoots an explosive blast. The blast is possibly an energy torpedo, with enough power to injure or kill Gems or destroy large structures. Laser pulses can also be shot out, which produce ablation explosions by vaporization of the target material.
The atrium has a skylight and a symbol with three interlocking triangles on the floor: one blue, one yellow, and one white. This pattern is similar to both the one in the Pyramid Temple save for the different colors and in the Ancient Sky Arena although missing the pink triangle. This symbol represents the Great Diamond Authority of the present day.
The reactor room is located in the palm beneath the central chamber and contains a wide open space with tubes running along the walls, accompanied by a large reactor core in one of the walls. All fingers connect to the palm, which serves as the command bridge, of which a diamond is present in the middle. Under the palm is the ship's engine room, where the main power core, a green sphere that is constantly discharging electricity, is located.
Dozens of small energy tubes protrude from it and branch off into all parts of the ship. These tubes can be seen clearly on any hallway ceilings. If the reactor core is destroyed, the ship loses all power and propulsion, rendering it inoperative.
In this event, Gems on board the ship can abandon ship by launching escape pods. Near the end of "Jail Break", the durability of the ship was exhibited when it crashed through Earth's atmosphere and remained almost entirely intact until its malfunctioning reactor core destroyed it.
History
"The Return"
The ship landed on the beach in front of the Temple, allowing Peridot and Jasper to capture the Crystal Gems and lock them in the prison cells aboard the ship to be taken to Homeworld.
"Jail Break"
The ship was utilized by Peridot and Jasper to head back to Homeworld with the imprisoned Crystal Gems and Lapis Lazuli, of whom they were potentially planning to destroy. Throughout the entire episode, the ship remains in orbit. However, once the Crystal Gems were freed by Steven and the ship's main core was destabilized by Garnet, the ship fell out of orbit and crashed.
Peridot managed to escape through an escape pod and abandoned ship before the crash, and Steven bubbled the Crystal Gems, leaving Jasper and Lapis on the ship. The ship then blew up once on the ground (possibly due to the main core becoming unstable), leaving wreckage all over the Beach House and in the surrounding area. The thumb detached itself before the remainder of the ship was destroyed.
"Full Disclosure"
With the episode beginning where the previous ended, debris from the warship is seen all over the beach and parts of Beach City. The ship is later seen again in Steven's flashback.
"Joy Ride"
Steven assists the Crystal Gems with the clean up of the warship's wreckage before being interrupted by Sour Cream, Buck Dewey, and Jenny Pizza.
"Rising Tides, Crashing Skies"
The ship makes a short appearance when Ronaldo is showing his footage of the warship. He later shows a crude simulation of what the explosion looked like.
"Message Received"
When Peridot uses the Diamond Communicator to contact Yellow Diamond, she questions her about Jasper's presence, and why she is not contacting on the ship.
Peridot explains that it was destroyed and resulted in her predicament, with Yellow Diamond then questioning her over who caused its destruction.
Instead of admitting the truth, Peridot lied and claimed an accident occurred instead of revealing the Crystal Gems causing the fault.
"Super Watermelon Island"
When Peridot learns about Malachite, she tells Steven that being on the ship with Jasper was annoying for her.
Trivia
- When the ship was falling into Earth's atmosphere, Peridot launched herself using an escape pod. This may be a feature of the ship or another robonoid. It is unknown if there are multiple escape pods around the warship or just one specifically for Peridot.
- As Peridot's pod is launched, the ship seemingly 'flicks' the pod, similar to the motion done to a booger. It is unknown whether this is a reference, pun, or simply a stylistic choice.
- The energy tubes of the Gem Warship are similar to the vessels (tubes) protruding from the Crystal Heart.
- The warship is shown to be unyielding.
- The warship withstood four Laser Light Cannons and therefore is much stronger than the Red Eye, which was destroyed with one.
- The warship's outer hull was strong enough to withstand the combined effort of a Laser Light Cannon and the Quartizine Trio (Quartizine Quartet) all at once as well as a barrage of Opal's arrows.
- The warship survived the forced re-entry and crash-landing and was destroyed only by an internal explosion.
- The ship requires only one pilot. The pilot operates from the bridge, a navigational cockpit where the pilot can consciously access spaceflight data and stellar cartography provided by the ship, setting both its course and destination.
- The programming process seems to induce a trance-like state that makes the driver's eyes go blue with white television-like static in them.
- The only Gems that were seen using this were Pearl and Peridot.
- The programming process seems to induce a trance-like state that makes the driver's eyes go blue with white television-like static in them.
- Inside the ship's prison block are halls of prison cells.
- Instead of being guarded by traditional doors or metal bars, these cells have a force field designed to destabilize a Gem's physical body upon contact, similar to the Gem Destabilizer.
- Strangely, there is no physical isolation of the prison block from the vital parts of the ships (i.e. doors), no internal observation system and no internal defenses.
- This is the only Gem Ship that has not been witnessed activating its gravity engine, unlike the Roaming Eye, Blue Diamond's Ship, and Aquamarine's Ship.
Cultural References
- The ship bears a small resemblance to "Master Hand", a character from the Super Smash Bros. video game franchise.
Giant Green Hand from Star Trek TOS
- It also resembles the Giant Green Hand that Apollo uses to clamp down the Starship Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Who Mourns for Adonais". Both "hands" have a distinct greenish hue.
- It even holds a resemblance to the d.M.p spaceship from the anime, Kinnikuman Nisei, better known as Ultimate Muscle. Like the Gem Warship, it housed the main antagonists and crashed into a mountain.
- It also resembles the Giant Green Hand that Apollo uses to clamp down the Starship Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Who Mourns for Adonais". Both "hands" have a distinct greenish hue.
Errors
- In "The Return", when the warship is seen through the telescope, it appears to resemble a left hand. However, while being hit by Opal's arrows, it resembles a right hand. Then, upon landing on the beach and following into "Jail Break", it is a left hand again.
Gallery
