Plot summary
Imprisoned in a tower on the Gem Homeworld, Steven (Zach Callison) dreams a memory of his mother, Pink Diamond, being scolded by Blue Diamond (Lisa Hannigan) millennia ago. When he wakes up, Blue, thinking he is Pink Diamond, arrives to scold him again. However, he helps her understand that Pink abandoned the Diamonds because of their dysfunctional family dynamic, and she decides to help the Crystal Gems escape. Yellow Diamond (Patti LuPone) tries to stop them, but Steven helps her realize that deferring to White Diamond's perfectionism has made her miserable. Steven and Connie (Grace Rolek) prepare to escape with the dormant gems of Garnet (Estelle), Amethyst (Michaela Dietz), and Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall), but are intercepted by White Diamond's spaceship.
Shortly thereafter, Bismuth (Uzo Aduba), Lapis Lazuli (Jennifer Paz), and Peridot (Shelby Rabara) arrive from Earth in Yellow and Blue's repaired spaceships, and attack White's ship. After a brief battle, Yellow and Blue finally tell White about how they feel, but she responds by turning them into colorless drones acting as extensions of herself. Steven accidentally drops Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet's gems, but dives after them and helps them regenerate their bodies by briefly fusing with each. Ultimately, all four fuse into Obsidian to reach White's chamber.
White Diamond (Christine Ebersole) turns Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl into drones, and tries to convince Steven that he really is Pink Diamond, wrongly convincing herself that she is someone else. Attempting to restore Pink to her true self, White pulls Steven's gem from his body. It regenerates a body in Steven's form, which rebukes White by yelling "She's GONE!" and blocks White's attempts to control it. Connie carries Steven's weakened human body over to his Gem counterpart, and the two fuse back into Steven. White refuses to acknowledge that Pink is gone, saying that Pink is just "acting like a child"; Steven responds, "I am a child—what's your excuse?" White blushes in embarrassment, releasing the others from her control. As White, realizing for the first time she is fallible, suffers an existential crisis, Steven suggests that she should let everyone, including herself, "be whoever they are".
The Crystal Gems and Diamonds travel back to Earth. Shortly after they arrive, Steven's friend Lars (Matthew Moy) arrives as well, in his starship crewed by Off-Color rebel Gems. The Diamonds help Steven heal the corrupted Gems that the Crystal Gems have spent centuries capturing, including Jasper. The episode ends with Steven spending a peaceful evening with his friends and family; he sings the song "Change Your Mind", celebrating his newfound emotional security.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Change Your Mind (Steven Universe). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.