Sonic X, Episode 3.09: Ship of Doom

Sonic X, Episode 3.09: Ship of Doom

Japanese Title: Metarex Battleship Attack!

U.S. Air Date: November 5th, 2005

Japanese Air Date: April 7th, 2020

At the end of the previous episode, Shadow teleported back onto Eggman's ship and collapsed. In this episode, we learn that the so-called Ultimate Lifeform has amnesia, which Eggman decides to use to his advantage. All villainous plans are put on hold when Metarex Hellship, a living battleship, is specifically ordered by Black Oak to murder Sonic and Eggman. After seemingly destroying Eggman's ship, the living vessel goes after the Blue Typhoon. Upon seeing the machine, Cosmo realizes that Hellship is the same Metarex responsible for the death of her family. 

I don't know who decided this was the way it had to be but, somehow, it became a foregone conclusion that Shadow's brush with death at the end of "Sonic Adventure 2" left him with memory loss. That's how it was in a hundred fanfics. That's how it was in "Sonic Heroes." And that's how it is in "Sonic X." This is weird to me, as having a mysterious past and being manipulated by Eggman already happened in his first appearance. Why would you want to repeat that storyline? Maybe Sega demanded Shadow's origins be kept vague, until his own video game revealed the truth about his half-alien heritage. (Though that doesn't explained why fans adopted this idea so readily.) The Archie Comics skipped this and was better for it. Either way, I guess we're just stuck with amnesiac Shadow again for a little while longer. 

Shadow is definitely back. But it goes to show how committed "X" is to depicting the Metarex as imposing foes that even Shadow's supposed ultimate superiority is little match for them. Hellship – unsurprisingly bowdlerized in the English dub to the still pretty metal Scarship – is still more-or-less impervious to Shadow's attack. The talking battleship also has slightly more personality than most of the other Metarex warriors we've met so far. He rambles on again about bringing order to the universe and is undyingly loyal to Black Oak. I wish the show would dig into this a little more. Does the Metarex empire interpret "order" as "the complete death of all life?" Or are they more about subjugating lifeform to their rule and massive casualties are just the easiest way to do that? If the former, it makes sense that their ranks would be filled largely with extremist true believers. 

Of course, another reason Hellship is only allowed to show so much personality is because... He's a ship. You don't really expect much charisma from a talking spaceship, even one that has a big angry face built into his hull like this guy. I suspect this character exists largely so the mechanical designer can, once again, indulge his fetish for flying battleships. It seems there have been a much higher number of battleship-like space vessels on this show than you'd expect from a "Sonic" adaptation. Hellship isn't even the only one in this episode, as he's introduced massacring a fleet of ships built out of asteroids. (That look more like potatoes.) I have not been exposed to too much of Yasuhiro Moriki's other work, so I don't know if this is a reoccurring trademark of his. But I'm still going to guess that "Battleship Yamato" was a big deal for this dude. 

Shadow's defeat at the hands hull of the Hellship is not the only sign the ship is a serious threat. Immediately afterwards, the vessel bombards Eggman's ship with missiles and laser weapons until it finally explodes. Of course, there's no way in hell that this cartoon was going to actually murder Eggman, even if that would've been a hell of a way to raise the stakes. Not even our heroes seem to take the idea very seriously, assuming Shadow at the very least must've survived the blast. Inevitably, it's revealed that Eggman did survive. The method of his escape, like it always is in situations like these, is incredibly underwhelming. I was going to make an Annie Wilkes joke about how Eggman didn't avoid the cockadoodie missile but apparently I've made that same reference three times prior so I'll restrain myself. But my point stands.

Recently, I was bitching about how “Sonic X” isn't just fast-and-loose with the rules of space but outright ignores them, at least for the furries. That continues in this episode. Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles continue to survive in the vacuum of space without any sort of protection. Even Amy feels fine out in the endless void. I know this is the pickiest of nitpicks to have with a cartoon show about a blue hedgehog who runs fast. But it really becomes really noticeable when are heroes are spin-dashing around the Hellship like it's not problem at all. The battle gets even more implausible when Shadow uses Chaos Control to straight-up freeze the Hellship in time for ninety seconds. (Allowing the heroes to push it through a wormhole just as it's about to self-destruct.) I guess that's an established ability of his by now but it sure feels like a cheat. 

Probably the most interesting element of this episode is the one that gets the least attention. Upon realizing that the Hellship is pursuing them, Cosmo decides she's going to destroy it as revenge for her family and species. I really wouldn't expect someone like Cosmo to swear vengeance upon anybody but, considering what she's lived through, I'm not shocked. However, Cosmo has the least to do in this episode. She suggests the Blue Typhoon flees when the Hellship first comes it way. Otherwise, all her thoughts on the matter occur through simple dialogue exchange. After the ship's destruction, she talks briefly about the hollowness of revenge. How this doesn't bring her family or planet back. But that's the sole line on the topic. This episode really half-assed the frequently well-trotted moral about the futility of revenge. If they wanted to explore that idea more, they shouldn't have made the Hellship just another disposable Baddie of the Week.

Overall, it's a pretty middle-of-the-road episode. It's got a cool villain but the action is kind of goofy, the narrative holds few surprises, and all the characters are just sort of in a holding pattern until the story can really start to move forward. About the only truly memorable element here is the absurd way the Sonic Team bests Hellship, which I won't describe for anyone who wants to be surprised by that. Otherwise, it already feels like season three is starting to spin its wheels a little bit. [6/10]