#AN IMPROVEMENT ON LAST YEAR! I RELEASED STH BEFORE YEAR'S END!

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[mobius-prime]

230. Sonic the Hedgehog #162

The Darkest Storm (Part One): Gathering the Tempest

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: James Fry Colors: Jason Jensen

This three-part arc is a great example of how Ian is using his early time with the comic to sort of clean up and consolidate a lot of loose ends into something a little more coherent. For example, it's about time we learned a little more about Anonymous. Apparently, whoever it is has decided that the time has come to eliminate several key players in Mobius' eternal struggle for power, in pursuit of some unknown ultimate goal. Strangely enough, whoever it is seems to be interested in destroying Sonic as well - perhaps due to Sonic's tendency to stop any attempts to take over the world - but doesn't seem to want to undermine Eggman. After all, remember that the very first thing Anonymous ever did was send Eggman a "gift" of re-roboticized Mobians. Anonymous has decided to use Knothole as a staging ground for whatever they're planning next, and begins the process of setting their plan in motion…

In Knothole, King Elias attempts to restore Sonic's knighthood as thanks for everything he's done for the kingdom. However, Sonic refuses, saying he's not too concerned with titles and that there's already a knight in the family, in the form of Uncle Chuck. However, Elias says that as a new king, he's trying to restore the Court of Acorn to advise him, including calling on some old members… two of which have just showed up to visit Tails.

Oh man, remember Sir Connery from StH#45? The incredibly forgettable and random horse knight guy who works for the Ancient Walkers and hates "dark magicks" and whatnot? Yeah, I guess nowadays he just follows Merlin around to protect him from anything bad that comes at him. In New Megaopolis, Eggman is thrilled that the "biofield deletion" has nearly completed on all his Mobian captives in the Egg Grapes. Apparently, once they're drained of all their life energy, he can use the husks of their bodies to kind of "filter" the energy from the Zone of Silence into something stable and usable, which just once again reminds us of how utterly terrifying this iteration of Eggman is compared to his counterpart in the games and anime. Like, Jesus Christ, dude, at least games Eggman doesn't casually torture thousands of people just because he can! He even admits to M that there's probably a more efficient way to accomplish his goals, but it just wouldn't be as fun. He asks A.D.A.M. if there's been any luck identifying Anonymous yet, but A.D.A.M. replies that he still hasn't found anything, which frustrates Eggman even more. Weirdly enough, he seems to think that Anonymous is the one who released his nanites several issues ago, even though we know that it was just A.D.A.M. interpreting his orders a little too liberally.

Also, it's time to resurrect a dropped plot thread from some time ago. Remember how the Ancient Walkers were supposed to be dying and all? Well despite the fact that we haven't heard anything on that in some time, apparently they are totally still dying, and despite Athair and Aurora in the afterlife trying to reassure them that they'll find a way to save them with Merlin's help, they seem to have accepted their impending death, naming Aurora, Athair, and Merlin as their successors who must keep the world in balance once they're gone. Wow, Aurora may already be a deity in her own right, but the other two are about to get an exciting upgrade on life! And they're gonna need to start using it too, because back in Knothole, right as Merlin, Sir Connery, and Tails are heading to the castle to meet with the king, they're set upon by some familiar faces.

Ah, so these guys have picked a new name, huh? It's just as well, the "Fearsome Foursome" would hardly work anymore with there being six of… wait… hang on a second. Weren't these guys supposed to be roboticized by Anonymous? Not only that, but Sonic and the fake Tommy destroyed those roboticized forms a while back… so how are they still here, alive and well? Sonic doesn't even appear to notice the discrepancy once he rushes in to help along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters (including Sally!), merely mocking their new name before he and his friends knock them all out. Knuckles and his team stay behind to make sure they don't get away, while the Freedom Fighters lead the guests to the castle. Sir Connery explains that his sword is the Sword of Light, given to him by the Ancient Walkers, which has the power to purge evil magic, and he's been guarding Merlin for the express purpose of making sure that Mammoth Mogul, stuck in his Chaos Emerald, can't ever escape again. Interestingly enough, thousands of years ago the Ancient Walkers actually saw what Mogul would become in the future, and decided that while they weren't gonna bother actually stopping him, they would at least put a curse on his emerald so that his plans would always eventually fail. Of course, however, things can't just be that easy.

Oh lord, not the Sword of Acorns again. Sally recaps how she got rid of the thing because it was getting entirely too possessive of her (literally), giving it to Uma Arachnis' children for safekeeping. However, this turns out to have been a terrifically bad idea, as while Sonic confidently assures everyone that they can get it back and save the Ancient Walkers, said children of Arachnis are all busy swarming into Eggman's base. Just as the biofield deletion completes on the captured Mobians, killing them all for good, the ninjas strike, at the same time that the Egg Grapes suddenly and mysteriously power back on. M carries her father to safety, and the ninjas hold up the sword, which tears a hole between dimensions, causing a number of effects. For one, the void fuses permanently with the Zone of Silence, stabilizing it and increasing its raw power. For another, all Eggman's soulless Mobian husks are sucked into the void to facilitate this process, meaning he just lost all his precious work. And finally…

Welp! Goodbye, Ancient Walkers! I honestly can't say I'll miss you, you weird plot devices you. Back in Knothole, in the middle of a short speech about working together to create a better future, the emerald in Merlin's hand suddenly shatters, and when the light fades everyone is horrified to see Mogul standing in front of them, ready to go about conquering the world once more…

Ties That Bind

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: J&A Ray

This story actually isn't separate from the one above, but takes place concurrently - presumably either right before what we saw above, or directly during, after M evacuated Eggman from the Egg Grape Chamber. Snively is working in one of Knothole's labs, but it's with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, feeling like he doesn't really know why he's here, as he's always been aligned with villains, never heroes. He finds himself comparing himself to his half-sister Hope, who has easily settled into life amongst Mobians despite her species. However, his ruminations don't last long, as someone has decided to come and visit him personally.

Man, Eggman, when did you gain the ability to just teleport into Knothole whenever you want? Seems like you'd be using that a lot more to sabotage stuff behind everyone's backs. Snively asks for a moment to himself before going back, which Eggman surprisingly grants him, and he rushes outside to find Hope. He tries making some awkward small talk with her, complimenting her on the plane she's building and casually mentioning that it could take her very far away from here, which only makes her wonder what the heck he's getting at.

I really love this. Snively was already an interesting character, and under Ian's writing he's quickly becoming a truly complex and fascinating one. Despite hating his uncle, he's always held some amount of loyalty to him, and now we see that he seems to truly care about Hope's wellbeing, recognizing that she's an innocent in all this and not wanting her to die in Eggman's planned attack on the village. That said, he's still selfish, and ultimately betrays the Mobians once again to go back to his uncle's side, even thinking to himself, standing inside one of Eggman's Egg Fleet ships, how ironic it is given how much betraying he's already done of both sides, in both wars. He asks Eggman why he's even bothering to trust him, knowing of his traitorous nature, and Eggman says that he fully knows Snively intends to try to betray him again in the future, and will be happily awaiting his attempt so he can thwart it, prompting Snively to remark it's "just like old times." What an interesting and strange relationship these two have. And what an interesting outlook Eggman has, not being particularly concerned with his minions wishing to betray him and even seeing it as all some kind of twisted game. Honestly, if there's any character that I think was universally improved by Ian with no drawbacks whatsoever, it's Snively, and we'll get to see even more of that improvement and depth in the future.