Sonic X, Episode 1.26: Countdown to Chaos

Sonic X, Episode 1.26: Countdown to Chaos

Japanese Title: Birth! Super Sonic

Japanese Title: September 28th, 2003

U.S. Air Date: March 27th, 2004

As we reach the end of season one of "Sonic X," I've got to give the show props. At least in its original Japanese form, it is surprisingly easy to watch. It felt like it took me months to suffer through even half of "Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Sonic Underground." Watching "Sonic X," on the other hand, has been a fairly breezy and painless experience. Even during the surprisingly surreal and aggressively wacky episodes, I've been far more into this show than I ever would've expected. Watching it subtitled is, I suppose, what it finally took to make me a "Sonic X" believer. So let's conclude our reviews of season one.

"Countdown to Chaos" begins with dawn breaking over Station Square. As the kids are getting ready for school, the shadow of the Egg Fort II darkens the skies. Sonic follows behind the warcraft, hoping to rescue Chris and prevent Eggman from getting his hands on the white Chaos Emerald. G.U.N. attempts to intervene but it does little to turn the tide of the battle, which is beginning to favor Eggman. After the Egg Fort II transforms into a robot powered by six Emeralds, things are looking grim for our hedgehog hero. Only two things can save the day: The overwhelming power or Chris Thorndyke's love for Sonic and an appearance from everybody's favorite glowy, good super form.

While there's little doubt about who will ultimately be victorious in this episode — the Japanese title even announces that Super Sonic will be making an appearance — I do approve of “Sonic X” upping the stakes for the season finale. Sonic really gets his ass beat in this episode. The transformed Egg Fort II, called the Egg Emperor in the original Japanese but the punnier Eggsterminator in the dub, is a truly formidable enemy. When powered up by the emeralds, it’s even faster than Sonic and whips his ass all over Station Square port area. (Because 4Kids is lame, they cut out a lot of shots of Sonic being battered and bruised.) The beating is so severe that Eggman actually starts to feel bad about it! In this cartoon, I guess one magical power-up is what determines whether a fight is fair or a trouncing. Either way, it is exciting to see the normally unstoppable Sonic face a serious threat for once.

As powerful as the Eggstermiantor is, it’s ultimately no match for the greatest force in the universe: A child’s love. Eggman has Chris clasped against the wall of his murder machine’s cockpit, forcing him to watch as Sonic gets the stuffing kicked out of him. (Which definitely has to rank among this version of Eggman’s more sadistic moments.) This is naturally traumatic for Chris. Even though he’s literally a 12-year-old boy, and the bar holding him in place looks huge and heavy, Chris finds the strength to yank it out of the goddamn wall! He then tears the Chaos Emeralds from the control panel, burning himself in the process, and smashes through the ship's glass. This Chuck Norris-like display of strength concludes with Chris declaring that Sonic will stay with him forever.

This moment is drastic for more than just the obvious sight of a tiny boy-man hulking the fuck out. Chris announcing he'll never ever let Sonic leave is a change of attitude from the last episode. Seemingly every thought Chris has in his head in the last third of this episode centers on his devotion to Sonic. After Super Sonic appears and blows the Egg Fort the fuck up, boy and hedgehog have another tearful encounter. Sonic seemingly tries to inform the boy that he'll be just as strong without him. Chris, in response, screams about how he's nothing without Sonic and he can't bare the thought of him being left alone. This could've been a moment of character development, of Chris realizing he's just as strong without his blue bro, but the boy refuses to change. His starting-to-get-creepy infatuation with Sonic continues to define him. That boy needs therapy.

If Chris leaping through a window for Sonic and declaring he's never gonna give him up nor let him down strikes you as less than platonic, you're not alone. Chris clearly loves Sonic and it's not too far of a leap to assume he looooves him. If this was the case, it would be far from the only queer content here. Before heading into battle, Topaz gifts Rogue a ring and makes her promise not to "say goodbye." Topaz tries to brush it off as not a big deal but blushes the entire time, with Rouge flirtatiously accepting the gift. I can't really think of a heterosexual explanation for this moment. Later, Lucky the robot is explicitly described as falling in love with Sonic after he rescues him. Okay, I know, robots don't really have genders but everyone calls Lucky a him. His eyes turn into hearts for Sonic, a further cartoon heart encircling them. This isn't subtext, this is domtext. "Sonic X" is now a gay show and there's nothing anyone can do about it. (Unsurprisingly, Lucky's love for Sonic was removed from the dub. Yet even 4Kids can't deny Rouge and Topaz's sapphic affection and left that moment untouched. If anything, it's more romantic in the U.S. version.)

For the kids watching this episode on the Fox Box back in 2004, I'm betting it was more remembered for being Super Sonic's first appearance. Somehow, the battered and beaten Sonic gathers up the Chaos Emeralds after Chris and Rouge accidentally drops them in the ocean. He emerges as Super Sonic. Because curb-stomp battles are seemingly the only battles this show does, Super Sonic destroys Eggman's most fearsome robot in seconds. In a show fond of deus ex machina, Super Sonic is the deus-est of them all. His god-like powers even extend to Chaos Controlling the entirety of Angel Island and a chunk of Mobian land to Earth. I don't really find this to be a satisfying conclusion, though it certainly fits the tradition of Super Sonic immediately resolving all the plot's problems. If nothing else, I do like the touch (in the Japanese version anyway) of Super Sonic speaking calmly and quietly. He's all-powerful, what's he got to be anxious about?

“Sonic X's” reliance on sloppy resolution to the episode's problems is, if nothing else, entirely consistent. The show's consistency shows itself in another way: G.U.N. is completely useless. After some foreshadowing, the Beetle tanks built with Eggman technology make their appearance here. They prove completely useless against the Egg Fort. Not because they aren't powerful – the laser beams they shoot from their Hercules beetle stalks seem pretty strong – but because Eggman's shield easily deflects them. Even though Sonic never has trouble tearing through Eggman's armor, the Hercules tanks similarly withstand the Egg Fort's weaponry. All the tanks really do is help carry Sonic to the fight over the ocean. Otherwise, the U.S. government contributes nothing to the day being saved and it's totally up to Sonic. As is usually the case.

“Countdown to Chaos” is obviously a more serious episode of “Sonic X,” focused primarily on the character's relationships and a big epic showdown. Yet, even now, this series can't resist its weird sense of humor. Lucky's sudden attraction to Sonic is obviously the biggest, weirdest joke here. There are also multiple fourth wall breaks from Eggman. He addresses the audience repeatedly. While Sonic is getting pummeled, he points out how, if this wasn't a kid's show, he'd definitely be dead by this point. None of these jokes are laughers – Lucky falling in love with Sonic is hilarious – but it does continue to show this series' quirky sense of humor. Though an earlier moment where Sonic running by kicks up Helen's skirt, Danny looking a little too closely at this, is a gag we probably could've done without. 

What with this being the season finale, you can also tell that “Sonic X” got a little bit of a budget boost with this episode. Most of “Countdown to Chaos” looks like a typical installment of “Sonic X,” which is to say the animation is totally serviceable if a little bit mediocre. However, there are two scenes that look a little better. When Sonic is leaping across the flying Hercules tanks, getting closer to the Egg Fort, the lines are crisper and the action is smoother. The same is true during the Egg Fort's big transformation into the Eggsterminator, which features typically flashy anime style posing. It's nice that someone kicked in a little extra money here.

While I certainly have some issues with this episode taken on its own, it proves to be a fairly satisfying conclusion to “Sonic X's” first season. Super Sonic may be a cheap plot contrivance but it's one that was inevitably going to show up anyway. Big chunks of Sonic's home world being zapped to Earth certainly proves to be a hell of a cliffhanger to end on. There's enough surprises here to ensure I had a good time, which is basically true of the entire season as well. Onward to season two! [7/10]