#and I figure Eggman is counting on the fact he can defeat Silver in battle to ensure that the ruined timeline can come to pass

[true-blue-sonic]

You know, because being a hedgehog from the future, I always wondered if Eggman sees Silver as a threat since silver only comes when things are dire. Do you think Eggman would try to use Silver to get info on the future or perhaps try to dispose of him first, so he doesn't warn sonic and co.

I have wondered that before as well: you would indeed say that Silver arriving means that Eggman was going to win, but now might not due to Silver's influence. But the way I think Eggman works regarding Sonic and co. is that Eggman just goes do whatever, be it Emerald-gathering, evil-monster-freeing, base-building, and so on, and only during those things or afterwards do Sonic and co. notice he's up to something again. They don't actively seem to chase each other down before they can do anything, so to say: Eggman goes do His Evil Stuff and only once he begins actively causing trouble do the heroes intervene. They don't try to stop him while he's just keeping to himself (even though he's 100% planning evil things in that time), and in the same vein, Eggman doesn't seem to actively try to bring harm to Sonic's friends. You'd say it's easy enough to find out where, say, Tails is currently hanging out and then just bomb the hell out of him to rob Sonic of his best friend and most helpful companion, but Eggman just... doesn't. I figure his reasoning is that it wouldn't be fun that way, or that it would be too easy a victory? Or he knows that harming any of Sonic's friends will bring upon him a vengeance no-one knew Sonic could contain...

As for Silver specifically, I do think he could be a thorn in Eggman's side specifically, because his presence indeed means that Eggman's chances of winning are greatly diminished now. But Eggman absolutely strikes me as the kind of person who still believes himself to be capable of coming out on top despite literal time travel at play to stop him, so I doubt he's too impressed with Silver and his actions. It's just a bit annoying that we don't have any stories with Silver in a central role again, so we can see if his first action is to go to Sonic and friends to warn them, or take the fight to Eggman. He does the former in the Forces prequel comics, so unless Eggman is somehow able to find out where Silver is to intercept him the moment Silv enters the past, it might not even possible to dispose of him before everyone is warned. But I do quite like the idea Eggman would capture Silver to make him tell all about what the ruined future is like, if only so he can gloat about it! Silver would be beyond peeved and angry, though that's not stopping Eggman. As it stands I doubt Eggman would either capture or kill Silver unless there's a clear reason for him to do so/they cross each other in battle for the latter, since he seems sure enough of himself to deem victory inevitable despite having the literal protector of the future try to put a stop to it. And I don't think Silver is itching for that to change anytime soon!