Stand Trial: Part 1

"Stand Trial: Part 1" is the series premiere of Network League. It originally aired on November 11th, 2023. Subsequent re-runs divided the episode into two parts.

Plot
On the planet Diamond World 5, a tribunal of Diamond judges, including Zircon orders the robotic Gems to apprehend Steven Universe.

On Earth, Steven is walking down the street in his old house. He runs into one of his old friend, Connie, but seems moody and withdrawn. In the Space Tower, Rex, Pearl, and Tarlock detect the incoming Gemhunters and fly to intercept them. Ben as Humungousaur joins them later after finishing dealing with an earthquake.

The Gemhunters and the League clash, but Steven steps forward and surrenders himself. The others are baffled as he allows himself to be handcuffed and transported away. They follow him to Diamond World 5, where a crowd of diamond vilifies and throws garbage at him.

Steven is put on trial for genocide. The prosecution's first witness, space pirate Rasper, testifies that he was delivering a shipment of smuggled weapons to the neighbouring planet, Diamond World 4, when Steven pursued him. A stray blast from his gems accidentally hit a vulnerable part of the planet's crust, and the entire planet exploded, taking three billion lives with it.

During a recess, the League confronts Steven, demanding to know why he hasn't spoken up in his own defense. Steven says there's nothing to defend: he's guilty.

Continuity

 * Steven has gain control after gaining a lot of anger when he left his friends
 * This takes place after Steven Universe: Future when Steven left his friends, as he is back as a adult
 * Rex's personal question to Pearl about having a "Her Species" will later be answered in "Oathbreaker".

Trivia

 * As Rex, Tarlock, and Pearl prepare to leave the Spacetower, Tarlock says that Gwen is on another assignment, and Hendrix "would only say that he's busy". This sets up the fact that in nearly all subsequent episodes, one or more of the seven members of the League do not appear. In fact, only nine episodes featured the entire League.
 * Diamond World 5 is next to the Gem Worlds
 * Steven meets Connie again, after Steven Universe: Future, as she still has a crush on him