#Even Gerald showed that Maria died

[welcome-to-green-hills]

This is in response to the tags of one of your previous answered asks- I also am baffled as to why ppl keep complaining that Maria's death was "not violent enough" in the movie. It's kinda on the same level as ppl cheering her death in theaters for me. What is even the need? To show that "kids movies can deal with heavy themes" like death? As if there aren't a whole bunch of other kids movies that haven't had heavy issues?? (Lion King, HTTYD, any Miyazaki movie, etc) The constant salivating of ppl for seeing a kids death on full graphic detail on screen is both annoying and very much uncomfortable at this point 🤢

I agree, my dear. Some of the things that have been sent to me since September (yes I’m counting when I gave breadcrumbs) have left me very concerned. I shouldn’t have to see people complain about the death of a little girl “not being violent enough” in a PG movie.

It just… worries the hell outta me.

[sonknuxadow]

my honest reaction

[jazbell]

.

hm well i didnt really like sonic 3. but feminism did win in the end so.

[comicaurora]

hi red!! just listened to the newest episode of the ospod and i have one question: did you and magenta enjoy sonic three??

TREMENDOUSLY

(spoilers below)

Maria playing a soft acoustic cover of Live And Learn on the guitar was Incredible

We both lost it when Sonic looked directly at the camera and quoted "talk about a low-budget flight!" word for word

Almost every Sonic vs Shadow scene in the trailer was from the very first action scene in the movie, which was absolutely the way to do it. They didn't spoil anything important AND they didn't drag out the opener.

That first action scene was KILLER. They hit every single beat they needed to establish exactly who Shadow was.

The pacing overall was fantastic. When Blue and I watched sonic 1 and 2, we concluded that sonic 2 had More Fun Stuff, but sonic 1 was far more tightly paced. I think sonic 3 got back to the pacing of sonic 1 - not an ounce of fat on there.

CHAO GARDEN TOURIST TRAP

Magenta called the movie cowards for not letting the GUN soldier actually shoot Maria

Extremely elegant way to take Tom and the ancillary humans out of commission and motivate Sonic to have his obligatory "I must go alone and Take Vengeance" darkest hour, BUT I really respected how they let Knuckles choose to back off and trust him, even if narratively we know Sonic is making the wrong choice. My boy Knux got a shockingly good showing this movie, considering all he really had to do was get worf'd to prove how badass Shadow is. They do some careful work making sure he still feels like a powerhouse even though he's outclassed by both super hedgehogs.

Making Shadow's motivation in this movie raw, fresh, suicidal grief was absolutely the right call, because that makes this whole Destroy The Earth thing the equivalent of an extremely understandable but short-lived temper tantrum caused by "from my POV my best friend died in my arms like YESTERDAY" and that means it feels like he could conceivably be talked out of with a little empathy and compassion, which is exactly what Sonic gives him, after the COOLEST FUCKING FIGHT SCENE I'VE EVER SEEN

This Sonic is cleanly growing from a good-hearted kid into exactly the kind of relentlessly compassionate paragon hero they're portraying him as in the IDW comics and it is Rad As Hell

And on the flip side, making Gerald's villain motivation slow and calculated and locked in over the course of fifty deliberate years was a very clever way to convince us that Shadow just needed kindness and a good example, but Gerald had made his choice and could absolutely not be redeemed.

"You're no Maria" is cold as ice and I'm still thinking about it days later

everyone's acting like Robotnik's dead but my man was wearing a nanotech suit that could turn into anything like if they want him back he'll be back

excited for Shadow to just Turn Up at some point in the future during a risky fight scene and for literally only Sonic to be happy to see him, As Their Dynamic Should Be

Magenta really likes Metal Sonic as a character so hopefully he's not just relegated to Interchangeable Army Of Minions status forever

A M Y

I predict that in Sonic 4 we will get Silver as the main first-half-of-the-movie misled villain and Shadow WILL reintroduce himself into the plot by kicking Silver in the back of the head and I WILL lose my mind

[blackenedsnow]

IT'S ME AGAIN DON'T ASK WHY AM I HERE AGAIN?!?! I LOVED THE WAY YOU WRITE LIKE OMG?!?? I HAVE 3 IDEAS TODAY YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE OF THEM, OR YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE AND THEN WRITE IT DOWN, YOU CAN DO THE OTHER. IT'S ALL UP TO YOU!!

1-Do you remember the song Guess by Charli XCX and Billie Eillish in Collab? Yes, I have a request for it sooo reader we're so popular singer and shadow was her bodyguard he was her protection yk what I mean who hung out together all the time when they're alone anyway one day at a concert of hers when a group of guys tried to attack the people at the concert and tried to attack her and what was she going to do when shadow wasn't there, she couldn't run away because there were already a lot of people wounded, and suddenly a sword stabbed in behind her, and at that very moment shadow come to the shooting concert..but he was too late. (The man who stabbed reader was sonic and his team btw)

2-yk the comic the hungry hero which is sonic? Okay, I have an excellent second opinion because you can't convince me, that sonic was constantly eating human flesh, especially after Tails died, but after meeting the reader, his desire to eat human flesh increased his desire to eat meat for some reason..was he falling in love with her? but it couldn't have been possible! he couldn't have fallen in love with anyone! He changed his mind until the reader found herself eating human flesh in his house when he intived her and he fell even more in love.

3- Reader and shadow were created for Maria, but Professor Gerald had never paid attention to the reader,maria couldn't convince her grandfather to make reader spend time with her, but the reader was kept in the big glass all the time, and shadow cast doubt on that, After Maria's death, the reader had finally been freed by GUN, she had attack the city which is sonics team and shadow. She had begun to attack the city where the rain and thunder did not stop in the sky...But the color of the sky was mixed with purple and black. Finally, the reader showed herself on top of a large building.. pale skin, purple eyes with light blue pupils, and long, dark violet hair that becomes lighter at the ends,she also has a beauty mark below her right eye.. (The reader a game character named raiden shogun by genshin impact) she said "Inactivity serves no purpose whatsoever." sonics team tried to talk to her but not q moment later they found themselves a dark domain and she was the owner of that domain, she Said "we meet again,shadow." Would he be able to convince her?

project Raiden Ei,her purpose was make people feel safe and loved, after marias death..project failed to save the people and her beloved sister.

forgotten project

WARNING: Violence, emotional conflict, hurt/comfort

PAIRING: Shadow the Hedgehog x Raiden Shogun!Reader

NOTE: You again!! I absolutely love your ideas—thank you so much for trusting me with them again! As for your requests, I’m not super familiar with the first two (though they sound amazing!), but since I’m somewhat familiar with Genshin, I’ll go with the third idea. I know this isn't what you asked for, but instead of "Raiden" I made the reader Y/N. That way if anyone wants to self insert they can. But all of reader describes Raiden!!

SUMMARY: After Maria’s death, you, a forgotten project created alongside Shadow, are freed and seek revenge on the world that failed you. As you lay waste to the city, Shadow steps in, hoping to remind you of your true purpose before it’s too late.

The sky above the city churned violently, dark clouds swirling as rain lashed against the streets below. Thunder boomed in the distance, shaking the windows of the few standing buildings, while purple lightning split the heavens with terrifying force. Chaos reigned in every corner of the city, and in the center of it all stood a figure—cold, unmoved by the destruction that unfolded around her.

You stood on top of the tallest building, the storm your perfect companion as you watched the streets below. Your hair billowed in the wind, the tips glowing faintly as they lightened in color. Your eyes scanned the city as if searching for something—or someone.

“Inactivity serves no purpose whatsoever,” you muttered to yourself, your voice calm despite the chaos. You weren’t here to cause destruction for its own sake, after all. Your purpose was clear: make the people feel safe and loved. But after Maria’s death, that purpose had become twisted, lost in the storm of grief and confusion that overtook you. Your project—your existence—had failed.

And now, you were ready to make them all pay.

Far below, Sonic’s team had gathered, the weight of your presence pressing down on them like a physical force. They’d been trying to contain the damage for hours, but it was clear that this wasn’t just an ordinary disaster.

“What do we do?” Knuckles muttered, scanning the sky as another bolt of lightning flashed overhead. “Who is she?”

Tails shook his head, his eyes wide with worry. “I don’t know, but she’s powerful. We’ve got to find a way to stop her before the entire city gets leveled.”

Shadow stood a little apart from the others, his expression unreadable as he stared up at the building where you stood. Unlike the others, he recognized you immediately, even after all these years. His heart clenched in his chest as memories flooded his mind—memories of you trapped in that glass, forgotten and left behind while he was free to roam the ARK with Maria.

You were a project, just like him. Created for Maria, meant to serve the same purpose: protecting her, keeping those on the ARK safe, loved. But Professor Gerald had never given you the same attention, never let you experience the world outside of that containment. Maria had begged her grandfather to let you out, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

After her death, everything had fallen apart. Shadow had been freed by GUN, but you—had remained trapped, your potential left to fester in the dark.

Until now.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were still trying to reason with you. Sonic stepped forward, holding up a hand, his usual cocky grin tempered with caution. “Hey, look, we get it. You’re upset, but wrecking the city isn’t going to bring anyone back. We can help—”

He didn’t get to finish. The moment Sonic spoke, the entire world around them shifted. The bright city streets, the wreckage, even the rain—all of it was swallowed in darkness. The sky above became a swirling void of black and purple, and the ground beneath their feet felt unreal, like they were standing on the edge of an abyss.

They were in your domain now.

You stood before them, your form as solid as the storm, yet otherworldly in the way you seemed to command the very space around her. You raised a hand, and the air itself trembled with power. “We meet again, Shadow.”

Your voice was colder now, distant, as though you were speaking not just to him, but to the shadow of a past you had long left behind. Shadow stepped forward from the group, his crimson eyes locked on hers. Memories of the ARK flashed through his mind—of Maria, of the years spent protecting her. But you had been kept from all of that, trapped in isolation, your purpose unfulfilled.

And now, here you stood, the embodiment of a failed dream.

“Y/N…” Shadow’s voice was steady, though tension rippled through him. He could feel the power you held, and it was vast—far more than anything he had imagined. “What are you doing? You weren't created to destroy.”

Your gaze narrowed slightly, the storm above rumbling in response. “You speak of purpose as though you understand it, Shadow. But you—just like me—were created to serve. To be a tool. And like me, you were cast aside when you no longer served a purpose.”

Shadow clenched his fists. “That’s not true. Maria—”

“Maria is dead!” Yourr voice cut through the air like a blade, and the entire domain around them shuddered. “I was meant to keep the ARK safe, just as you were. But Professor Gerald never allowed it. I was left to watch from behind glass as you, the favored creation, failed everybody.”

The weight of your words hung in the air, heavy with grief and fury. For so long, you had been nothing but a failed experiment, a project abandoned after the one you were meant to protect was taken from you. And now, in your eyes, the world had to pay for that failure.

Shadow stepped forward, undeterred by the crackling energy that surrounded her. “I didn't fail her. I understand your anger. I understand the loss. But this… this isn’t what Maria would have wanted.”

Your eyes flashed, your hand raising as a bolt of lightning struck the ground between them. The force sent the others reeling, but Shadow stood firm. “I didn't even know Maria as well as you did.,” you hissed, your voice low and dangerous. “You were given the chance to be with her. I was left to rot in that glass prison.”

“I’m not the one you’re angry at,” Shadow said, his voice softening. “It’s not me. It’s not this world. It’s the people who kept us apart. You’re lashing out because you’ve been hurt, but you don’t have to keep doing this.”

Your expression faltered, just for a moment, before the steel returned to your eyes. “It’s too late for that. There’s nothing left for me now. Nothing except this… this power, and the destruction it brings.”

But as you spoke, there was a flicker of doubt in your gaze. Shadow knew that beneath the fury, the pain still lingered. He took a step closer, his voice low. “You don’t have to be alone anymore. I couldn’t save Maria. But maybe I can save you.”

For a long moment, you stood still, your eyes locked on his. The storm above raged on, the dark domain around them swirling with tension, but there was a shift in the air. The anger that had fueled your destruction began to waver, and for the first time, Shadow saw something other than fury in your eyes.

He saw fear. Fear of being alone. Fear of failing again.

And in that moment, something broke.

You lowered you hand, the power that had been crackling around you slowly dissipating. The storm above began to calm, and the purple and black sky started to fade into a dull gray. The domain, you domain, began to unravel, and the familiar cityscape of rain-soaked streets around them.

But you didn’t move. You stood there, your eyes staring at Shadow, as if searching for something—something you hadn’t found in years. “What am I supposed to do now?” you whispered, your voice barely audible over the sound of the rain.

Shadow stepped forward, closing the distance between you. “We can figure that out together. You don’t have to carry this alone anymore.”

The others—Sonic, Tails, Knuckles—watched in silence as the tension in the air finally broke. You, the weapon once created to protect, stood before Shadow, your power still immense but no longer driven by rage. And as the storm slowly died, there was a sense of quiet between you, as though the two of you had finally found some measure of understanding.

For the first time since the fall of the ARK, You weren't alone.

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Sorry but this image and all it represents is still driving me crazy like a full three hours later and I just wanna talk about it real briefly

First off, the obvious. This is about as direct an image of Maria being shot and bleeding out as we can get while still keeping the franchise appropriate for kids, so while it is stylized not only do we basically get confirmation of Maria being shot either directly in her heart or close to it, but I believe the cracks running down her body are meant to represent blood.

Second off, the less obvious (and mostly just headcanon). Unless they're changing up the sequence of how Maria dies, this isn't the last time Shadow saw Maria, because she would have been hunched over a console and about to pull a lever right before he gets sent to Earth. Instead, I think this is the moment that she gets shot. No matter how brave Maria canonically was, facing down GUN soldiers and refusing to give them any information about Shadow in some depictions, I think Shadow himself would have seen her as a terrified, hurt young girl, who seems to be trying to reach out to him and falling backwards at the same time. Whether or not she did literally do this as she was shot is up for debate unless we straight up get a cinematic of everything that happened on the ARK with no cutaways, which I think is highly unlikely even for this franchise, but what matters is Shadow's recollection of the event. Maria here looks scared, hurt, traumatized, reaching out to the person who was supposed to protect her and save her life. Either this is Shadow's genuine perception of how Maria felt at the moment she was fatally injured, or this is a cruel knife twist from Black Doom- either way, it's fucking horrific, and speaks to how Shadow must blame himself for her death, even if he ends up ultimately hating humanity for it.

On the other hand, the words "Maria" says when this shows ("Shadow! Remember!") could mean two wildly different things. Either it's Black Doom trying to twist Shadow's memory of her (either just to bring him pain or to lure him to the ARK for whatever reason), or this is Shadow's subconscious trying to make him remember what actually happened on the ARK. We might get further revelations about wtf happened (beyond the stuff we already know, of course) either later in Dark Beginnings or in the game itself, but I'm not sure if her line is going to be fully explained or not. I don't think it has to be, it could just be referencing the consistent memory fuckery Shadow has been subject to (thanks, Gerald/Black Doom), but it would be neat if it tied in with something later in the game.

[edgy-ella]

The Sonic 3 trailer finally dropped!

You better believe I was ready

Here are my thoughts from watching the trailer:

First thing that jumped out at me is the GUN commander hiring Sonic to take down Shadow. Looks like they’re not doing the mistaken identity/framing Sonic subplot. Sonic saying ACAB (his win quote against the first boss in SA2 is literally him sarcastically saying “Hey GUN! Take care!”) was probably too edgy for a family friendly Paramount movie. Sadly, this means we’re probably not going to get a proper City Escape scene. Best I can see happening is Shadow driving The Truck™, which, to the movie’s credit, he does do in IDW.

Shadow looks like he breaks himself out of Prison Island rather than being freed by Eggman. More on that in a bit.

There’s this shot here, where Shadow and Gerald(?) sit crouched over something in a burning hellscape with military/GUN soldiers approaching them. If this is a flashback, my guess this is where Maria dies. She takes a bomb instead of a bullet.

Shadow just starts blowing up shit in Tokyo? Okay. His original motive in SA2 was to collect the Chaos Emeralds and “fire” the Eclipse Cannon (actually send it hurtling towards the earth), but with the new lore the movies gave the emeralds, I have a feeling that won’t be the case here. I’m curious to see what Shadow’s goals here actually are—I remember hearing someone on Twitter say something about “finding Maria,” but Shadow buddy you’re not going to find her by blowing up Shinjuku!

Admittedly Shadow’s skating animation looks really cool. Keanu sounds fine as him, even if we only get to hear him say one line (this was the same case for Knuckles in Sonic 2’s trailer).

Eggman. What the hell’s going on with Eggman. It looks like Sonic and co. actively seek him out for help taking down Shadow rather than Shadow and Eggman staying on the same team for most of the story. My guess is that this won’t happen after like, Shadow beats them up so badly they need to ask him for help—I assume they come to him wanting to learn more about Gerald and Maria. Still, I can’t deny this is a weird direction to take him for this story.

Even weirder than that: Gerald! Turns out Gerald is still alive, flesh and blood. He’s also played by Jim Carrey. He also gives Eggman a hug, proving he’s not a hologram or ghost.

Shadow gets to ride his bike!!!! Yay!!!! I’ve said it before but bike shadow is way cooler than gun Shadow. He even gets to do the Akira bike slide

I’m sorry but this orchestral cover of Live and Learn does NOT do it for me. Put some rock in your movie, cowards.

Notable omissions: Rouge, Amy, Biolizard. Black Doom can’t show up because Paramount legally can’t pull from Shadow 05 for the movies as per their contract.

That’s all I got for now, but I’m sure I’ll be posting extensively about this in the near future.

[official-sonic-team]

sonic movie 3 review

okay let’s discuss the major changes they made in this movie

gerald is alive and well: instead of execution, gerald was simply imprisoned for the past 50 years. he’s 110 and they don’t explain why he’s still alive. assumingly it’s because of shadow’s quill but they don’t actually explain it. he manages to vie for freedom by completeing the eclipse canon schematics for GUN to build. but gerald is very much alive and a very large, active player in this movie

Maria’s death: a GUN soldier does not shoot her. an accident during the shut down of the project shadow causes chaos energy to explode. maria is killed in the explosion. gerald, who was in the blast and roughly the same distance as maria, inexplicably lives. they don’t explain that. but the takeaway is 1) maria dies from an accident 2) she doesn’t even die trying to save shadow. worth noting there’s also no “sayonara shadow the hedgehog”

shadows backstory: shadow was NOT created by Gerald robotnik. a meteor crashed into earth and he was inside. the scientists were researching him as a power source. he is again 1) not created by Gerald 2) NOT a cure for maria. maria probably isn’t even sick they make no reference to it gerald just likes having her around apparently

the final story: ok where to start. 1) there is no space colony ark. shadow and maria and gerald are in some sort of underground military base and that’s where every thing happened- no ark. 2) there is NO biolizard/final hazard. he’s referenced one time as a Godzilla rip off and that’s it since gerald don’t make shadow. 3) the big final issue is that gerald set the eclipse cannon to destroy earth. Sonic and shadow manage to divert the cannon fire. however, the eclipse cannon’s power core becomes destabilized and if it blows, it’ll decimate the atmosphere of earth. Sonic fell from space during them pushing the laser away from the earth so shadow is the one who pushes the eclipse cannon far away from earth while eggman stabilized it long enough for shadow to do that. the cannon blows up and eggman and shadow are presumed dead.

there is no chaos control: shadow uses it like a handful of times during the initial team sonic fight and then it’s not really used ever again. they don’t chaos control the eclipse cannon they just push it around. no fake emerald either.

the moon being destroyed: is an accident. while they’re trying to divert the laser from hitting the earth they accidentally hit the moon. it is not an intentional show of power from eggman, it’s just an accident.

i think those are maybe the BIGGEST changes. obviously no rouge either. they also treat the GUN commander as a good guy who dies Heroically.

one of the other big differences is that there’s a super sonic & shadow fight. shadow critically injured tom by accident and sonic uses the chaos emeralds to turn super to fight shadow over it. sonic eventually decides to not get his revenge, and his resolve in his own character inspires shadow to help him stop Gerald’s plan of destroying the earth.

i think I’ll just break this into pros and cons

pros:

this was definitely better paced than the previous two movies. it felt a lot more like a sonic adventure

tails and knuckles have a meaningful role to play and aren’t completely shoved aside

i think they handled shadow vs sonic fights relatively well? im still not impressed by them not entirely being seen as equals but he’s not ridiculously overpowered, sonic manages to do a good job against him.

cons:

WAY TOO DIVERGENT FROM THE GAMES. they made so many unnecessary changes. shadow’s backstory is just an entirely different character

the gerald/eggman b-plot was actually unbearable. firstly i despise jim carrey as eggman so he was also never going to be good as gerald. it’s just slapstick everytime they’re on screen together and it’s SO dissonant to the shadow & sonic storyline it’s actually unbearable to watch.

incredibly stupid how they tied eggman to the major plot they very easily could have kept him releasing shadow

they just made no effort to explain anything about gerald. why is he still alive. how did he survive when maria didn’t. like if you’re going to change up your adapation you need to explain WHY and HOW this happened.

honestly im not super impressed with sonic’s revenge plot because shadow and sonic could have easily been tied together by the fact they both lost someone (maria and longclaw). i think it probably doesn’t help that i don’t like tom. also im not usually interested in revenge when the person isn’t even killed? tom still lives and isn’t even like…. permanently injured or something from shadow. so it looses its value to me in that way. i think sonic’s inability to work with a team also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given sonic 2 and him working with maddie and Tom before. like i understand he has isolation issues but it’s been expressed that these movies have taken place over YEARS so this doesn’t feel like an entirely reasonable arc

all in all i think this is a 5/10. if i didn’t have any knowledge of sonic it could maybe be passable. but the gerald and eggman routine is genuinely unbearable when the movies tried to hit on some deeper levels and themes.

[hyrules-warrior]

Shadow's loss of Maria is still fresh for him

People seem to forget that he was in stasis for 50 years. That means he was not conscious, he wasn't aware, he didn't age, didn't process anything. He was frozen in time, I mean his vitals showed a flatline since in stasis your heart does not beat since you are in suspended animation.

So while Maria died 50 years ago to everyone else, including Gerald, Maria's death was like maximum 24 hours ago as far as Shadow is concerned. He has had no time to process her death let alone grieve. She died, suddenly and violently under horrible circumstances that were out of Shadow's control and he was forced away from her body and shoved into stasis immediately.

No wonder he is still in the anger stage of grief, he has barely started dealing with her loss. And to suddenly learn it's been 50 years for everyone else is just the icing on the shit cake.

Was there a funeral? Is she buried somewhere? Would he ever be able to find and visit it if she was? Who would even be around to know after 50 years?

[cloudofash]

Alright it's been a week, I'm gonna start writing my 1 million Sonic Movie 3 theories.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, DO NOT CLICK "CONTINUE READING" IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE FILM YET

Maria Was Actually Shot Theory:

I believe Maria actually does get shot and Shadow blocks out the memory with an explosion.

Here me out:

While Shadow is charging the Eclipse Cannon he flashbacks to the memory of GUN invading the military base and chasing himself, Maria and Gerald down. They run to the room with the explosive tanks, Commander Walters tries to stop the GUN soldiers from firing but they fire anyway, miss, and the shattered tank explodes and Maria dies.

We're left thinking this is what actually happened. Afterall, the next scene shows Gerald in handcuffs clutching Shadow's quill which leads you to believe Gerald was there beside them when it all happens.

But this scene is full of holes:

How did the explosion only kill Maria and not Gerald, as old as he was? Shadow is the Ultimate Lifeform and can withstand such explosions, but Gerald surviving it makes absolutely no sense. They were all standing side by side. In fact Gerald was actually standing a few steps ahead of Shadow and Maria and he was the one closest to the tanks. If anyone, he should have been the one to die first. Given his age and position it makes little sense for him to have survived the explosion.

Unless, of course, he was never there.

In the very beginning of the film when Shadow is still in stasis in the capsule his memory of the event is a little different. Shadow and Maria are the ones holding hands and running down the very long and very familiar hallway together. Gerald is absent altogether, and we know because the camera pans behind Shadow and Maria and in front of them and Gerald is not visible in either angle. Compare this to the other memory, when Shadow and Maria are running together Gerald is directly behind them. In this first memory we should have seen him behind them as we did the second, but he's simply not there. Even if the argument is that he was kept hidden until his reveal later in the movie they still should have shown enough of him so the viewer knows he's present. That doesn't happen, he's completely absent.

The scene continues showing a glimpse of the GUN soldiers chasing behind the two, guns raised. Maria accidentally lets go of Shadow's hand and falls slightly behind. The memory fades to black but we see Shadow visibly relive the trauma in his sleep as he furrows his brows and his heart beats rapidly until he temporarily flatlines.

We don't get to see the end of his memory, but we can see that the beginning of it doesn't match up well with the Eclipse Cannon memory. What it does match up well with is the flashback Shadow had back in very beginning of Shadow 05.

Aside from the The Ark being replaced by a military base in the movie, this chase sequence is 1:1 even down to Maria letting go of Shadow's hand.

If Shadow is reliving this very scene, then it explains the different trauma response he has with the Stasis Memory versus the Eclipse Cannon Memory. When Shadow recalls the memory in Stasis, he quite literally flatlines. When Shadow recalls the Eclipse Cannon Memory it outrages him and causes him clear pain. Both are bad responses but his heart temporarily stopping is significantly worse. The trauma from the Stasis memory is worse because it is the true memory: the memory of Maria getting shot down in the long hallway. The memory of the explosion is just what Shadow conjured up to mentally cope with watching his friend get violently shot down.

To understand why this conflation would even happen you need to understand two things about Shadow: he suffers from amnesia and has a habit of misremembering things, and he suffers from PTSD.

Shadow has had PTSD for a long while in this series, the earliest examples coming from Shadow the Hedgehog 05 up until Dark Beginnings and even Sonic Movie 3. His heart racing uncontrollably, his pained grunts as his chest heaves, his eyes dilating, he closes his eyes just from flashing back to the memory. Shadow has PTSD and the pain sometimes causes him to avoid memories of the past.

Naturally both memories are extremely traumatic, but which is worse? Watching a bullet pierce through your best friend and adoptive sibling's chest with your own eyes? Or a blinding explosion that knocks everyone out and when you wake up it's already over? It's clear to see which memory would be a tiny bit more bearable for Shadow to relive.

Also note in both SA2 and Shadow 05, when Shadow relives the memory of Maria getting shot directly in front of him the memory always cuts off. As if he can't view any more. He has never been able to bear reliving the memory of her getting shot. He always blocks the memory out.

Now couple that in with Shadow's bouts of amnesia and memory issues. In the games, Shadow only gets amnesia after he crashes back to Earth in SA2's ending however in SA2 Shadow misremembered Maria's wish of making people on Earth happy as a wish for revenge. Therefore, it's not just a matter of him crashing and getting amnesia- Shadow has a habit of misremembering things.

Even with Sonic 3 Shadow tells Maria that he doesn't remember or know anything about where he came from, pre-crash to Earth. So we have already established in-movie universe that Shadow has memory issues.

Also, consider the fact that in the explosion memory Shadow is clutching his head which would indicate a head injury and also potentially imply memory issues.

Ah, but I'm arguing that the explosion never happened, right?

No, I'm arguing that the explosion didn't kill Maria. In fact I argue that the explosion did happen and more than likely caused the head injury that led to Shadow misremembering everything in the first place. That on top of his trauma.

Either the injury to Shadow's head caused him to misremember Maria's real death, or the trauma he experiences reliving her death caused him to replace the bullet shooting through her with a blinding explosion that was easier to handle mentally.

Regardless of which memory is true or if both are true but have been conjoined together through misrememberance, the truth remains that Movie Shadow has 2 very different memories living inside his mind. And I'd like to think the writers didn't mess up these scenes, and included the first memory as a homage to us older fans to give us the possibility of them retaining the game canon in any way they can, through any workaround they can make as they work around the PG rating. And what more clever way would they get around not having Maria get shot by having Shadow mentally block out the trauma of that memory as he always has?

NOTE: I wrote this SO much better and more concisely in an earlier version but Tumblr didn't save it and all my work was erased. Sigh...sorry if worded poorly.

[saria88]

Sonic 3 Impressions (Spoilers)

*Shadow was great in this movie and he really felt like a threat. He was earnest however and I like that really he just wanted to be left alone and in peace before GUN and Gerald got involved. Shadow not being created by Gerald and having arrived on Earth via meteor definitely hints at him being a full creation of Black Doom. It’s an interesting change, though it does alter the dynamic between Shadow, Gerald, and Maria a lot, especially considering Maria doesn’t seem to have her illness.

Maria and Shadow’s relationship remains as cute and endearing as ever however. Maria had a really fun personality and I loved the montage between her and Shadow. It warmed my heart but also had me tearing up knowing how it ends.

*Commander Walter’s apparent death was a bit of a surprise for me. I wonder if he really died, as it was never really confirmed. I feel like there’s a chance he survived and will show up again in the future. Director Rockwell didn’t stand out to me too much, but I did find her and Robotnik’s race to the key card pretty funny.

*Stone taking out the drones on a motorcycle was pretty badass. He is definitely a highlight and I really felt for him throughout the movie, especially at the end. I was feeling like him knowing that Robotnik likely wasn’t going to make it out of the Eclipse Cannon. I was sad but also in awe, seeing Dr. Robotnik fully realized in that moment. I’m so pleased we were blessed with his portrayal. I’m selfish of course and hope that we haven’t seen the last of him, but if we have I will always remember this portrayal of Dr. Robotnik fondly.

*I wish I could say I liked Gerald’s portrayal as much, but he was the only real weak part of the movie for me. I felt he was too silly. Some silliness was fine, given he is a Robotnik, but after the reveal I would have preferred he drop the act and show the true menace I expect from Gerald Robotnik. This was a guy who intended to wipe out humanity along with himself, but even his death was treated like a joke. I really didn’t like that.

*Super Sonic and Super Shadow’s fight was everything I wanted for the finale and thank Tyson Hesse that Live and Learn played. I was smiling throughout the entire thing, well except for the part where that scene came to a screeching halt to show Gerald spanking Robotnik. Could have done without that. The Moon accidentally getting damaged and Robotnik immediately passing the blame was funny to me.

After the credits I waited with bated breath to see where the movies would head next. Once the army of Metal Sonics appeared I was only slightly worried we would be left hanging at that point, so I was delighted when Amy showed up. She looks so good and I am happy she is finally in this universe. I can’t wait to see what she does in the next movie. Overall I was very satisfied. The fact we have a great movie trilogy for Sonic the Hedgehog truly is a miracle and I couldn’t be happier. I can’t wait to see more of this universe.

[sparkylilacs]

I LOVED Sonic 3, buuut

I wish they had explained more of Maria’s story in the film. Like I cried pretty much every time they showed her and Shadow bonding. That was beautiful. But they never explained why Gerald and G.U.N. were having the custody battle over Shadow. That even if she hadn’t died by the accident taking Shadow from them would have at least in Gerald’s mind sealed Maria to death since Shadow was their hope for curing her. It’s a little odd cause without the context Gerald running away with them is strange since aren’t they already all in a G.U.N. facilities? So instead of G.U.N. taking possession of Shadow it’s a different sect of G.U.N. trying to do so? It would also explain why Gerald was so attached to Maria, even to the point of forsaking the rest of his family. Spending so much time teaching her, trying to heal her, and living with her, she really became Gerald’s whole world.

And the movie makes her death an accidental casualty instead of her sacrifice to keep Shadow from becoming just a weapon, again even if she hadn’t been shot he was her hope for a cure, and she was letting him go. Choosing his life over her’s, or maybe that’s why it was so easy for her to do so, having lived so long with death just at the corners of her vision she wasn’t scared of it anymore, and found strength knowing Shadow could live on freely. So it also takes the extra sting of Shadow loosing his whole purpose for existing like the quote from My Sister’s Keeper “See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you.” Making it much easier for Shadow to want to watch the world burn.

I swear this painting looks better in person, but photographing it was really hard and I gave up.

[sonknuxadow]

potential sonic 3 spoilers incoming if anyone cares. anyway . apparently there was an official survey about the knuckles show/scu in general and one of the questions was about what name you would use for an eggman/shadow/gerald teamup. which is a weirdly specific question. and also one of the name options was team dark …….. ?? even though rouge isnt mentioned in the question and theres no sign of her being in the next movie in general ? i was willing to accept amy being introduced a little after knuckles and tails but between there still being no sign of her being in the next movie and now this if they actually have gerald time travel or something and have him be the third member of the dark story trio instead of rouge then i will be fully convinced that theyre going out of their way to exclude as many already existing girl characters as possible. like i get cgi is expensive which could be part of the reason rouge might not have made the cut. but damn . assuming this is real anyway it could just be another fake leak but idk

[plague-karm]

Sonic 3 Spoiler Post Wheyyyyy

I’m gonna talk about literally everything so if you still haven’t seen the movie then scroll away, I will be adding images a week after this post goes up as well so yeah. This is NOT going to be well thought out at all it’s just going to be a ramble fest because why not shejsjjejejs

The fact that they made Live And Learn a song Maria wrote gives it SO much more meaning and a reason for the song to be included in the movie (besides fanservice lmao), a story line centred around the process of grief culminating with a grandiose reprise of a song made by the person one of the characters is grieving? CINEMA

The third act was incredible of course but god I wish they stopped going back and forth with the Robotnik stuff, the switch ups between the immaculate fight choreography and the slapstick bullshit really began to run its course and I was just waiting for peak to start again

Speaking of those fight scenes OH MY GOD THE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY IS SOME OF THE BEST THIS SERIES HAS EVER HAD IT WAS ON SOME DRAGON BALL TYPE SHIT. When Super Sonic and Super Shadow were beating the everloving fuck out of each other in different countries I was stimming like crazy

Knuckles is the unsung MVP of this movie and I’m so happy they got to show his character development in a really natural way, he’s really become a big brother figure for the other two and the way he tried to talk Sonic down after Tom almost died really got to me he’s come so far 🥹

When the trailer fakeout shot came up I was LOSING IT 😭

Also I want to know what the cinematographer was smoking because some of the shots in this thing are BEAUTIFUL, especially the ones in space (when Sonic and Shadow enter their super forms and go around like blazing comets I was going crazy)

The colour grading is a huge step up from the last two movies as well, you can tell the budget went up because the models here are stunning (especially Shadow’s)

I wish Live And Learn got to play a little longer but I’m just happy they included it either way (when the vocals came in so did I)

Agent Stone continues to be one of my favourite human characters in the entire series, I honestly wouldn’t mind them adding him to the games because his dynamic with Eggman is way better than whatever Orbot and Cubot have going on

They definitely listened to the critiques for the second movie as well because the human stuff has been very toned down and I honestly think it’s for the better (and this is coming from someone who actually really likes Rachel idk man she’s just fun)

I’m pretty satisfied with how they handled Gerald outside of the usual Jim Carrey shenanigans, portraying him as a madman so consumed by grief that he’s completely willing to let Earth and himself die out of pure spite was crazy, I saw someone say that this is how he’d act if he didn’t get executed 50 years ago and I can see that pretty clearly. I loved the glimpses of humanity we get of him as well (the way he referred to both Maria AND Shadow as “kids” in the flashback made me feel like he genuinely did care for him at that point and the death of Maria just threw him off the deep end)

The scene of Shadow and Gerald finding Maria’s body was DEVASTATING, the way Shadow didn’t know if she was dead at first and all it took was to see how heartbroken Gerald was to figure it out killed me 😔

Speaking of which they actually did a rewrite for Shadow’s backstory while keeping a lot of the same elements and I’m pretty happy with it for the most part, him coming to earth in a comet is black arms foreshadowing 100% and the flashbacks of him and Maria just hanging out and having fun like normal kids was really nice (the inclusion of the biolizard being the monster in the movie they were watching was really cool too I didn’t even notice that at first until someone pointed it out)

Despite these changes he was handled SO well, Keanu did a great job voicing him and to hear that he actually wanted to play the character made me so happy, it’s almost like getting people who give a shit about the source material is a really important factor of making adaptations succeed idk

The reason why Maria’s around though is kind of weak? She isn’t ill in this version and the only reason she’s in the lab is because Gerald takes her everywhere? That’s it? Why couldn’t they have said that he adopted her or something? (Or maybe her parents had an incurable illness that Gerald tried and failed to help with so he took her in after the fact idk)

Ben Schwartz popped OFF in the third act god I love it watching whimsical characters completely losing their shit after they’ve been pushed too far

The fact that the iconic “announcement” was changed to a tragic yaoi send off is beautiful, I hope Agent Stone comes back in future movies his dynamic with Tails was really cute

Pansexual Eggman is now canon we are so back

Loved the brief snippet of E.G.G.M.A.N, it played for five seconds but I was stimming anyway

The soundtrack is also a huge step up from the first two movies as well (also Throw It All Away is one of the song titles holy shit)

The post credits scene was PEAK I love Metal Sonic and Amy’s designs so much, Im really interested to see if it’ll be a loose adaptation of Sonic CD or it’ll be its own thing (maybe Amy and Metal are originally from the games’ bad timeline and that’s how Silver shows up later? I’m not sure, I just want Silver fans to get SOMETHING they’ve been fucking starving bro I feel bad for them 😭)

[richiesnotaloserguyscmon]

My favourite parts of…

WORKIN BOYS GIRLS A NEW MUSICAL

As I watch it a second time…

Football-But-For-Girls

Hidgens’ six boyfriends

Jeff looking like Colonel Sanders if he was a stressed movie critic

A shameless gender swap

“Alright boys-“ “Girls.” “Right right right, ALRIGHT BOYS!”

Hailey just being Angela in the Hatchetfield Universe

Cameos of my faves: Ted, Richie, Grace and Linda

Ruth being adorable but also a perverted creep

“Do you… want to direct… my show?…”

Ruth finally getting her acting debut… and fucking it up entirely

The fact that there was a whole song about balls

The entire rehearsal montage

“I think all the actresses are dead.” “Good.”

Richie and Grace going to watch the show for their friend… but no sign of Pete? :( not even Nick’s Abstinence Camp Pete??? :((

Hidgens’ trauma dumping and then saying it’s lesser than his failed show

“Those tight little college boys with their long legs and those hourglass figures.” *Enter Ted absolutely dying of laughter.*

LINDA LINDA LINDA and her little look to Gerald made me cry

Ted seeing a show he thinks are about hookers is so Ted even after all the character development he’s had in every show

Richie definitely went for a more natural look

Curt’s Cop and Miss Mulberry at the theatre together

MARIA’S VOCALS

“Fuck me with a goal post.” I will be saying that every day now

BRYCE MY WIFE

Jon as Greg

To be honest any of Jon’s characters just send me into a spiral

Fucking transcendent

How can you play a corpse and still look good

DYLAN AS LEIGHTON?! WHAT?!

Grace reciting a verse from the bible before shooting the shit out of Henry

“I’ve decided to make some last minute… cuts.” 🤝 “I shot a Charlotte-ton!”

I love Hidge’s shitty puns

I love the idea that the whole audience thought it was an ironic statement on gender norms and then everyone is murdered

“ITS DISTRACTING!”

The wow after Grace shot him

I didn’t know whether to cry or be happy when Hidgens died… “A standing ovation” LIKE YOU CANT DO THAT TO ME?!

Linda clapping as everyone screams

The whole film was magnificent really

I think I did list the whole film 😭

[scifriskyxy]

I've seen a couple of headcannons about Maria surviving somehow and seemingly ending up being a good person. I don't think that would be the case, tho hear me out

I don't think Maria would have ended up being a good person, but Maria would have grown up to be as bad or even worse than eggman in...different ways to the point it makes,gerald with the new information given is obviously has alot of darkness alot...he wasn't a good person that's what I am saying,like who takes their grandchildren pet experiments on it and leaves it to rot because it ended up being a failure? Guess what bio lizard that's some fuck up shit

Everyone talks as if...he was a good man he was likely never a good person. People always talk good about the dead, always forgetting whatever evil stuff they've done in the past conveniently , he most likely never was one to begin with and he hid more horrible secrets somewhere deep within the ark,the ark is a massive place we only had a glimpse of a certain section on it where shadow was created. A likely sealed off section due to its history,the place is the size of a moon/small by what I can tell, and also he likely has other secrets before that outside of the ark ,on earth maybe on mobious during his brief travels down there

A robotnik always growing up on being a robotnik

The only reason shadow having ended up being a good person...was due to the naive promises of a sick child who likely have barely experienced the world and didn't grow to eventually become the monster that alot of the robotnik family ends up being,what if...she was already developing those tendencies under gerald and shadow being naive never even noticed

What if this is cannon, and we've been just oh nice human child and experiment buddy running around having fun being nice

When budding an absolute sick little monster brat, a big ol monster mostly deceives everyone and poor innocent experiment fooled by the happy times.

If yall gonna make maria survive the ark Give me a old Maria who at first acts nice on first meeting shadow then it slowly unravels SHES A FUCKING MONSTER to the point that eggman pretends she doesn't exist because he's terrified of her and actually knew she was around and he didn't say anything because he knew how she is ,and Eggman EGGMAN didn't wish her upon his enemies like AT ALL he never said anything about them pretending he never knew gerald or Maria as to not mess up shadow even more than he already is ,gerald and Maria weren't the nicest robotnik family members no EGGMAN IS and that's saying alot ,it spins a whole other meaning of gerald and Maria being the black sheep of the family , most see the black sheep as being the nicest person pretty much abused n shit in a family of assholes , but in the robotnik they are the worse of the worse of an already fucked up family

Actually... this is my au Maria. Well, who she had been if she survived the ark,a monster in human skin metaphorically speaking tho she died, she had been already showing signs of the monster she would have become.

Fate never speaks ill of the dead, but she makes very few exceptions, but she never speaks of this to shadow, but now that he's better and gotten over, he's been slowly learning the truth about that family to the point that it's making him ill having robotnik in his own name

When fate and shadow eventually do get married, the shadow decides to take fates, the family name replacing the robotnik in his own, signifying that he's both truly moved on and never wants to ever be associated with that family again and the rose colored glasses on those memories are gone