Sonic X, 3.21: The Cosmo Conspiracy

Sonic X, 3.21: The Cosmo Conspiracy 

Japanese Title: Assassin Shadow!

U.S. Air Date: April 1st, 2006

Japanese Air Date: April 23rd, 2020

Once again, I've got to talk a little bit about the U.S. dub title of a "Sonic X" episode versus its original Japanese title. I actually don't dislike the 4Kids title for this one. I'm partial to alteration in titles and "The Cosmo Conspiracy" has a nice ring to it. It also does a decent job of reflecting the contents and main point of the episode, at least after the fact. But "Assassin Shadow!" has a blunt, propulsive power to it that is hard to shake. It really tells you everything you need to know: Shadow is in this episode and he's out to fucking kill someone. That exclamation point really just seals that you're supposed to shout the title as a startled shout. 

So who is Shadow trying to murder? The English title gives us his answer. The so-called Ultimate Lifeform sneaks aboard the Blue Typhoon, gets into Cosmo's room, and threatens her life. The fearless crew immediately get to work protecting the girl. Tails grabs her hand and they go running through the ship. Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris stand in Shadow's way but none can deter the determined hedgehog. Rouge then informs Knuckles of what they discovered in the last episode. This sets up an even more drastic conclusion. 

Part of why "Assassin Shadow!" works is because it's simple. This is essentially one long chase scene. Cosmo is on the run from Shadow, Tails and everyone else try to stop him, but he just keeps coming. In that sense, it reminds me of horror films like "Halloween," "The Terminator," and many other slasher flicks. We've got a vulnerable female being endlessly pursued by a seemingly unstoppable killer. He can't be reasoned with and nothing will convince him to stop coming. When you combine this set-up with repeated shots of Tails and Cosmo running through closing blast doors, which Shadow easily rips through, and you've got a surprisingly tense half-hour. 

And it certainly helps that, at least in the unaltered Japanese version, Shadow is in an unambiguously murderous mood. The very first word he says to Cosmo is simply "Die!" He repeatedly references his homicidal desires throughout the episode that follows. There's no getting around it. Shadow intends on murdering Cosmo. He even seems to think he's doing her a favor, at one point. That kind of grim determination absolutely helps raise the tension. If Shadow catches her, it's over. So that makes you really invested in making sure she doesn't get caught. (Unsurprisingly, all this kill-y, die-y language was softened considerably in the 4Kids version.) 

While "Sonic X" has sometimes struggled with getting viewers to give a shit about its non-Sega characters, I think this episode being as good as it is proves that we care about Cosmo. Tails certainly cares about her. All throughout this episode, he mentions again and again that he's sworn to protect her. At one point, he clamps himself around Shadow's leg, trying to hold him back. Tails is willing to put himself directly in harm's way to protect this girl. As if this wasn't tensely romantic enough, there's an earlier, rather subtle moment that works really well. As they go on the run, Tails grabs Cosmo's hands. She looks at him meaningfully and grips harder. Going into this season, I never would've guessed that these two would develop into one of the show's best written relationships. 

Watching Shadow chase Tails and Cosmo from point-A to point-B might've been a bit dull but this episode smartly throws in a lot of rather dramatic events. Tails gets in the X-Tornado at one point and attempts to run the hedgehog down, to no avail. There's a confrontation between Shadow and Knuckles, which gives the kids some extra time. The best of this moments occurs when Tails lures Shadow into the inner chamber of the Sonic Driver and uses it to shoot him into outer space. That would work on a mere xenomorph but Shadow just Chaos Controls back onto the Blue Typhoon, which is itself a dramatic reveal. The only writing choice in this episode that strikes me as mildly bullshitty is Shadow collapsing from exerting himself without his inhibitor rings. 

The most dramatic moment in the episode comes at the end. Just as Shadow is about to strike Cosmo dead, the glass separating the bridge of the ship from the cold reaches of space is shattered. There's a moment of all the air being sucked out of the room – another inconsistency in this show's wildly inconsistent depiction of outer space – before the hole is patched by mysterious forces. Its then revealed why Cosmo didn't respond at all to Yellow Zelkova being one of her species last time: It seems Cosmo has been an unwilling sleeper agent of the Metarex the entire time. She's pretty shocked about it and it's a hell of a cliffhanger to end on. How the next episode handles this particular plot point will determine whether this twist really works for me but, within the context of this episode, it's a success. 

I think the showrunners knew this was a better-than-average episode too, as there's a couple of brief splurges of improved animation. When Tails is escaping from the collapsing X-Tornado or trying to hold onto Cosmo at the end, everything's a little more fluid and expressive. (Also, Knuckles spiky knuckles are back, so they either regrew or he just put on a new glove.) Tense thrillers like this really appeal to me so I'm feeling the need to rate this one a [8/10]. I'm betting, in the future when I think back to my favorite "Sonic X" episodes, this one will probably be somewhere near the top.