#if we got the Espilver route... I do think Silver would be rather horrified at himself if his actions got Espio actively hurt or in trouble

[true-blue-sonic]

on the topic of silver apologizing. do you think there’d ever be a situation in which he’d have to apologize to espio about something serious?

I can think of some situations, yes. Specifically ones wherein Silver's flaws have brought on more trouble than it is worth, or actively put a companion in danger. Silver is very stubborn, smug, and hounds targets down with relentless determination, where it's also really very hard to change his mind in full. And that works great in the Rivals games, because he was right on the money about Eggman Nega there! But I do think that there'd be situations wherein he hears what's going on, immediately decides that This Is The Way Things Are And Thus This Is What I Must Do To Make Things Better For All, and creates a haphazard plan based on solely that before jumping right into the action... which is not exactly how e.g. a detective hired to find the objective truth in a situation would handle things. Basically, I think Silver does not wait to gather all the details of a given situation first to then put them together and see what is most logical: he follows his heart and his desires to make everyone happy. I'm specifically thinking of TSR where he apparently gets the jump on Eggman to interrogate him about the Ultimate Energy Engine, without much in the way of a plan and such. He just comes bursting right in and accuses Eggman about things. And also here, he is right! One thing I like about the games is that Silver is actually just always right in his suspicions, haha. But more realistically speaking, I figure there will be moments where his heart is wrong as well. And when that happens and he's done something dangerous or irreversible in his haste, it'll be a whole issue to fix things again.

That being said, I do think Espio both has patience with him and knows this is something that can happen with Silver's personality at play. In Rivals 2, I would argue Espio fulfils a role of support and stepping in when Silver is not capable of making plans himself: like when Espio makes the decision to steal Sonic and Tails' rings, or when he urges Silver to go find the secret room with Chao in the Mystic Haunt and tells him to not lose hope then. He's not there to dampen Silver's passion, but more funnel it into a productive way that aligns with their goal, if that makes sense? And Silver treats him with respect once they begin to collaborate, plus he is grateful for Espio's help. So, if there is a situation wherein he did something dangerous, I think Espio explaining why Silver did something wrong might be enough to urge Silver into apologising for it. But honestly, I would say Silver's own feelings might play a large role in it as well. Like, I wouldn't say he was disappointed in or upset at himself at all for nearly killing Sonic twice in '06 once he found out he had the wrong guy, for example. He showed sympathy to young Elise's situation, but afterwards just went right on to his next course of action, namely recruit Sonic's help to rescue adult Elise without any form of apology. He truly just kept trucking on for the sake of the future. But in a situation wherein he does feel bad at himself for what happened, it might make it more likely for him to apologise? I find it difficult to say, because I don't get the feeling Silver ever does really feel bad at himself. His confidence in himself and his abilities can be a bit staggering at times, haha.

This got long, but my overall answer would be that it depends on what Silver actually did, the repercussions of that, and how Silver himself feels about it. But considering he's got a good opinion on Espio, having Espio explain what went wrong might be enough to make Silver apologise for causing such troubles, I do feel like. But I doubt it'd be a very lengthy apology; at best, I'd say it's a "sorry" and then just an immediate continuation of their adventure to make things right once more.