#Shadow is 100% justified in beating up Sonic.

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Prime (My Thoughts)

So, I had just a marathon of the first 8 episodes of Sonic Prime and here are my initial thoughts before I start thinking rationally. Since my thoughts are too much of a mess to create any sort of proper cohesion, there will be spoilers.

First of all, Sonic Prime is awesome! I had so much fun watching it and every time one episode ended, I found myself craving for the next one. You know that something is good when you come to the end and find yourself wanting more. The animation, the voice acting, the action, the comedy, even the angst... it all hits right. Now, I might be biased, but honestly, I don’t care. I know that some people might not have the same opinion as I do, and that’s okay. I am proud to say I fully enjoyed every second of this show.

Next, the episodes themselves. Unless I have missed something, I don’t believe there was any filler episode. Instead, we have non-stop action, lore drop and even quiet moments. I did hear from someone that, at least in the beggining, the pacing is a bit off, but I guess this show needs a bit of a warm-up, but once it gains momentum, it just keeps going. I genuinely felt my heart racing at times (and it still is). Also, another thing to note is that episodes have flashbacks to show us more about Sonic’s life before the whole Shatterverse happened, including how we came to that moment. I can imagine that some people might find them tiring, but I didn’t.

The plot is also very simple. Sonic has to find the Paradox Prism Shards and save his friends and his world. Most episodes are centered around New Yoke City, which is the main world Sonic returns too whenever he leaves another world, with the Chaos Council (consisting of five Eggman at various ages) trying to track him down after learning what the Shard can do (also, Mr. Dr. Eggman wears a toupee).

Following next are the characters, and I gotta say I really enjoyed how they were all written. Although, I can imagine that some people will find Sonic obnoxious due to being very impulsive and not focusing (and Shadow constantly reminding him of that). However, he has his heart in he right place and genuinely reflects on his mistakes and wants to fix them. As for the other characters, I adore them all, especially Tails Nine (he’s definitely my favorite Shatterverse character). By the end, I just wanted to give him a hug.

Now, I’m pretty sure you’re wondering what the deal is with Shadow. After all, he was the character people were worried the most about when it came to writing, fearing he’ll be reduced to a Vegeta-esque behavior.

Well...

In all honesty... I absolutely love Prime!Shadow!

Now, I gotta give more context regarding his character in Sonic Prime, so be warned, this is spoiler territory you’re entering.

Shadow was basically introduced in the first episode watching Sonic’s fight with Dr. Eggman and him unleashing a blast of energy that led Eggman to the Paradox Prism. Then he appears again, telling Sonic how everything’s broken, before finally reappearing in the flashback and clocking Sonic in the face.

So, what gives?

Well, we learn in the second episode that the reason why Shadow was in Green Hill was because he was searching for a Chaos Emerald and eventually finding the green one.

Why was he searching for it, I have no clue, but I guess it would be a good idea to have one Chaos Emerald at hand just in case. We then see him reacting to the blue blast of energy and foreseeing what will happen next.

“Sonic!”

Not gonna lie, I legit laughed at his reaction. Out of context, it feels as if Shadow has a sixth sense for whenever Sonic messes things up. So, he quickly races to where Sonic is and punches him straight in the face, questioning him about what he had done, which leads to them fighting each other.

So, to put the debate to end, yes Sonic was just minding his own business when Shadow attacked him, but Shadow was also minding his own business when Sonic caused that energy blast.

In any case, Sonic engages in some banter, with Shadow telling him to listen for once. What he doesn’t do is tell Sonic what he saw (admittedly, Shadow was never the best at communicating) and the two continue their fight, with Sonic noting how he’s on a mission, only to not tell Shadow what this mission is about.

Let’s just say that this wouldn’t have happened if both Sonic and Shadow failed at communicating. In any case, Sonic manages to to get the drop on Shadow (in the most hilarious way possible; idk if that beats Boom!Eggman’s attempt to trick Boom!Shadow in Sonic Boom, but it was funny to me) and get back to his friends, with Shadow following him.

He manages to get to the entrance of the cave, just in time to see Sonic shattering the Paradox Prism and use Chaos Control to save himself.

However, that leads to him getting trapped inside the Void, which is basically a space between the worlds of the Shatterverse. He cannot escape it, but whenever Sonic kicks with his super speed into overdrive, he can somewhat communicate with the latter, trying to tell him what is going on. His exact advice was for Sonic to keep on running, as this is how they can maintain communication and it also appears to be a way for Sonic to go between worlds, since he is juiced up on Paradox Prism energy.

In the (currently) last episode, Sonic manages to enter the Void again, coming face-to-face with Shadow.

Sonic is surprised to see him, thinking this is another Shatterverse!Counterpart and tells him he just wants to go home. 

“Home? Home doesn’t exist anymore because of you!”

Furious, Shadow punches Sonic again and before we can see the end result, the episode’s over. Episode 1 ends with Shadow punching Sonic and now Episode 8 ends the same, and I’m all for it.

Man, that was a roller-coaster. I definitely love what they did with Shadow and considering the information we’ve been given, Sonic and Shadow will have to learn to work together to figure things out (and hopefully get better at communicating). I read that there will be a whole episode centered around the two and I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Also, Sonic? Introducing your rival with “It’s complicated” makes me really raise an eyebrow.

Oh, and this gem...

‘‘...and by the way, he roller-skates!”

“They’re air shoes.”

Shadow just casually interrupting Sonic’s narration and breaking the 4th wall is everything.

In any case, I absolutely love Sonic Prime and I want more from it! Also, I’m probably gonna be insufferable about it.

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

Shadow is 100% justified in being angry and frustrated at Sonic, but then again he's not really helping his own case by repeatedly trying to beat him up, so they both equally suck at properly communicating

something something intricate rituals

[hishighnesstheprincess]

The sheer amount of bad Shadow takes I saw after Prime are so funny. "Shadow has the braincell" lol no he doesn't he just saw a vision of the future which involved Sonic and then correctly deduced that Sonic had something to do with it. "Shadow was trying to reason with Sonic" he started that conversation off by punching Sonic in the face, saying he shook the world (not threatened, not was about to destroy), and then didn't elaborate. "Shadow was 100% justified in his anger" after Sonic hit the Paradox Prism sure, before that he was just beating Sonic's ass because he believed Sonic would screw up at some point in the future instead of taking literally any other course of action.

[sovereign-of-shipping]

I need more early stage infinadow do. Rks

Hoooo, buckle in, y’all. Like, ok, in the early stages of Zero’s reformation, there’s a bit of tension between Shadow and Zero since it’s just after Zero did.... All That. So, here’s a general overview of what I imagine things were like during that time.

- Let me start off by saying I refuse to believe Shadow killed the Jackal Squad. Seriously. I refuse to acknowledge it as canon. Eggman just simply misled Zero into thinking that they were so he could use Zero. When Zero learns the Squad is OK, naturally, he’s pretty emotional, but part of him still harbors anger for all the months he spent in mourning and was tricked so easily. He’s also still a bit pissed that Shadow beat him, but that’s more to do with pride than anything else.

- Zero’s still somewhat in physical and mental recovery from everything that happened in Sonic Forces, so he’s kinda dependent on other people at the beginning. He doesn’t like having to depend on Shadow to be safe since he’s “not weak,” but he doesn’t have much of a choice.

- On Shadow’s end of the spectrum, he’s still angry at Zero because while he is the reason Zero did... That, it was Zero’s choice to do what he did.

- Shadow and his team get assigned to Zero and the squad as supervisors since Commander Tower thinks that Zero is a bit of an asset (as he still has the Ruby and knows things not just about Eggman, but other criminals from his time as a mercenary). Shadow and Zero are not happy about this arrangement, but push forward for the sake of their teams.

- Zero and Shadow don’t really converse that much in the beginning unless they have to, and when they do, they’re not exactly polite. Zero is still in recovery, so his squad goes through training without him in the beginning. Shadow and the squad form a bit of a bond during Zero’s rehabilitation, which causes Zero to get jealous. He already feels like a failure for not being able to protect his squad and for what he did under Eggman, so that just adds insult to injury.

- When Zero is finally cleared for training, he gets frustrated pretty easily since he’s not back to 100% and isn’t doing as well. It doesn’t help that Shadow is practically nailing everything and making it all look so easy, so Zero only gets more and more insecure, but deflects with anger and bitterness.

- It eventually comes to the point where Rouge, Omega, and the squad are tired of their nonsense, so they force the two of them into a room that Shadow can’t Chaos Control out of and refuses to let them out until they “make nice.”

- Zero makes a couple of snide comments to Shadow at the beginning, but after a bit, it becomes clear he’s just deflecting and avoiding what’s really bothering him. Shadow presses and Zero finally breaks.

Zero: “I did a lot of bad things with Eggman. I’ve realized that my intentions don’t justify what I did, and I really do want to fix what I did... But it’s hard. There’s not much I can do now, and nothing I ever do will ever be enough. I’m not strong like you. I can’t do anything like you can. I’m trying so hard, but you make it look so easy. What’s worse is that you’re helping me when I... really don’t deserve it. Just... being around you makes me realize what a bad person I am.”

- Shadow realizes that everything stems from Zero’s insecurity and feelings of unworthiness. He immediately puts his foot down. “I get what you’re going through. It’s rough knowing that you did something bad and that there’s nothing you can do to fix it. But you don’t do it so people will forgive you; you do it because it’s the right thing. And if it makes you feel better... You aren’t a bad person. Bad people don’t think they have to change. You may not be where you oughtta be, but... thank God you’re not who you used to be.”

- After this, they start to open up about their experiences and Zero learns of Shadow’s own past (not about Maria, though, that’s not until later ;) ). They’re not besties, but they’re at least on nicer terms with each other. They get through training and exercises with minimal conflict and when Zero’s gets huffy and frustrated, they talk it out like grown ups. 

This is the basic gist of the early stages of their relationship before they start to really become friends and form a closer bond which ends up becoming something... more. ; )