To the ARK
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"To the ARK" is the third and final episode in the Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings web series. It first aired on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube Channel on 10 October 2024.
Synopsis[]
Shadow leads Rouge and Omega into the heart of a G.U.N. military facility as the next step in his search for answers. The military organization that did so much harm to him in the past is now the only thing between him and his goal: the Space Colony ARK!
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Black Doom (cameo)
- Guardian Units of Nations
- Maria Robotnik (fantasy)
- Metal Overlord (end credits only)
- Mono Beetle
- Team Dark
- Time Eater (projection)
Races and species:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Miscellaneous:
- Beetle Series
- Chaos Control
- Guardian Units of Nations
- Hunter Series
- Particle beam cannon
- Spin Attack
Plot[]
The episode opens with explosions echoing as Team Dark infiltrates the base. While Rouge prepares the shuttle for launch, she comments on how G.U.N. funded the research that created Shadow, only to seal him away later; she raises this point to remind him not to seek any vendettas tonight. As a Blue Falcon mech confronts the trio, a grinning Shadow responds that G.U.N. isn’t his enemy tonight, just an obstacle in his path.
During the battle, the mech fires at them, but Omega keeps it distracted as Shadow manages to grab one of the missiles and launch it back. The G.U.N. soldier inside narrowly avoids the counterattack by launching flares that disorient the missile. Undeterred, Shadow teleports on top of the battle mech and grabs the missile again as it passes by, hurling it directly into the vehicle's hull.
The G.U.N. soldier tries to get a clear shot, but Shadow's teleporting makes it impossible to track him. As Shadow free-falls, the Blue Falcon fires a wave of homing missiles. Shadow destroys several in mid-air before using Chaos Control to freeze time, rapidly taking out the remaining missiles in a massive explosion.
Shadow then Spin Attacks straight through the Blue Falcon, sending it tumbling out of the sky; the pilot panickedly tries to eject, to no avail. Shadow teleports onboard and forces the cockpit open, seemingly ready to attack him, but instead punches the mech itself, un-jamming the ejection mechanism and allowing the soldier to escape before the Blue Falcon crashes into the ground. Shadow then boards the elevator leading to the shuttle, although not before Omega complains to Shadow that he wanted to destroy the Blue Falcon.
Shadow enters the space shuttle and informs Rouge that he’s ready for launch. With everything set, Rouge initiates the countdown, and the shuttle takes off. However, the system detects an unauthorized launch, and Gun Beetles, along with the base’s turrets and machine guns, prepare to open fire to stop it. Just as the attack is about to begin and Rouge hurriedly tells Omega to stop the guns while she tries to halt the procedure, Commander Abraham Tower steps forward, placing his hand on a scanner to override the launch systems and ordering all forces to stand down before the shuttle is damaged.
Rouge then tells Abraham that she retrieved the intel he requested, which was data on the Time Eater. Abraham notes that this came at the cost of millions' worth of G.U.N. assets, to which Rouge apologizes but insists that Shadow needed help to save the world.
Abraham sighs and admits that despite the previous bad blood between him and Shadow, he knows Shadow saved the world from Black Doom and would have supported him if he had just asked. Rouge sarcastically responds by pointing out that Shadow has never asked for permission. When Abraham suggests that she could’ve convinced him otherwise, Rouge smiles and says that only one person ever had that ability, with Abraham acknowledging ruefully that her point is true and said person was lost to them a long time ago.
As the shuttle heads toward the Space Colony ARK, Shadow reflects on a possible future for Maria had the GUN raid that ended her life not occurred, thoughts that begin to have a negative effect on him. He acknowledges after stopping himself that said future was taken from him long ago and, as the episode ends, reaffirms that he needs to focus on the mission at hand: eliminating whatever threat lurks onboard the ARK.
In the compilation of all the episodes, a bonus ending was featured, set aboard the ARK, Black Doom's eyes suddenly open as he becomes aware of Shadow's approach.
Song[]
- "Without You" (performed by Casey Lee Williams)
Trivia[]
- The Commander's full name, Abraham Tower, was officially revealed. Previously, this name was exclusive to Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.
- The episode reveals that GUN was aware of the Time Eater and that such was the basis of the intel operation from the prior episode.
- In the Japanese dub, one of Rouge's voice lines gets erroneously cut off.
- The Shadow Generations gameplay clips during the end credits differ between which version of the episode is being shown:
- The standalone episode shows clips of Shadow's fight with Metal Overlord.
- The compiled series shows clips of Shadow's trek through the ARK.
- The animatic version had several deleted concepts for this episode:
- The episode was originally meant to open with a flashback to Maria and Abe doing schoolwork (a reference to artwork from Sonic Channel) with Shadow interrupting and chiding Abe for finding the assignment difficult, with Abe also making clear he knows of Shadow's ties to Black Arms with Maria playing peace-keeper. Although the scene itself was cut, Abe's presence in the flashback in the prior episode was a holdover from this plotpoint.
- Team Dark's raid of the GUN base was originally going to be longer, depicting the group running towards the base and then breaking in with Omega's help.
- In the scene where the Blue Falcon appears, Shadow explicitly identifies the craft by its full name, and Rouge talks Omega into helping them in exchange for supplying intel of an Eggman base for him to raid afterwards. In the final version, Omega eagerly decides to fight the Blue Falcon without needing to be asked.
- Originally, a single cannon targeted the space shuttle that Shadow was in during the lockdown before Commander Tower interfered. The final version added additional cannons and a fleet of Beetles targeting the shuttle.
- Originally, Shadow was meant to remember a conversation he had with Maria about what life on Earth would be like instead of thinking of an alternate path that might have taken place had the GUN raid not occurred. On a similar note, Shadow would have given a longer monologue and was far more calm during this time. Maria and Shadow's conversation would ultimately be included in the PlayStation cut as the post-credits bonus scene.
- The scene where Shadow saves the pilot of the Blue Falcon bears some resemblance to, and possibly foreshadowed, a similar sequence where Shadow saves a GUN soldier after causing his chopper to crash in the Tokyo stage from the Sonic 3 Movie Pack DLC.
Videos[]
References[]
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