After making a fatal mistake in trying to stop Eggman’s latest scheme to collect the power of the Paradox Prism, Sonic finds himself in a world that is both strangely familiar and completely different.
Tropes:
- And That's Terrible: Sonic express how "so messed up" it is seeing a version of Amy that's not only a cyborg, but powered by an animal (Flicky) like the Badniks back home.
- Art Shift: Sonic's flashback to how he rescued Tails from his bullies (and Nine's accompanying flashback about how he wasn't rescued and came to rely on himself) are rendered in Retraux pixel art that's somewhere between the original Genesis games and the Sonic Advance Trilogy.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Tails' dystopian counterpart "Nine", with the seven extra robotic tails, is almost certainly meant to invoke the idea of the multi-tailed Asian fox spirits, more specifically the most famous nine-tailed variant.
- Berserk Button: Sonic's friends being threatened or insulted.
- Despite knowing that the Egg Crusher is trying to lure him into a trap, it calling Tails "ugly" and insulting him for his two tails is what pushes Sonic over the edge and goads him into attacking it.
- He's perfectly willing to go along with the Chaos Council's tests - even enjoying them somewhat - until he sees Nine being electrocuted for trying to intervene, at which point he furiously tells the Council they've "ticked him off" and begins running so fast that his accumulated energy causes an explosion.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with a flashback of Sonic racing through Green Hill to collect rings, when suddenly Shadow intercuts his path and uppercuts him into the air.
- Crapsack World: After destroying the Paradox Prism, Sonic finds himself in an Alternate Universe where the local Eggman, together with a whole council of his own parallels, has achieved his goal of taking over the world. As a result, Sonic's home is now an industrialized dystopian hellscape, with the natives being kept in line by Badniks and his allies forming their own resistance force, serving under Eggman, or keeping to themselves.
- Distinction Without a Difference: Eggman crows that his plan to trick Sonic into clearing a path to the Paradox Prism "went off spectacularly", to which Cubot adds, "And it worked, too!" Eggman immediately lampshades it: "That's what I just said!"
- Enfant Terrible: One of the Chaos Councilors of New Yoke City is a baby version of Eggman called Doctor Babble, but age aside, he’s no less brilliant or violent than his counterparts.
- Fist Bump: Orbot and Cubot exchange one after Eggman successfully tricks Sonic into clearing a path to the Paradox Prism.
- For Want Of A Nail: The New Yoke City version of Tails, Tails Nine, was never rescued from his bullies by Sonic and so became a hardened, violent loner trying to avoid everyone and relying on nobody but himself and his inventions.
- How We Got Here: The episode starts with Sonic catching up to his friends to fight Eggman before he breaks the Paradox Prism. As Sonic tries to process the dystopian New Yoke City, there are flashbacks showing what led to the battle.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Sonic tries this with Tails Nine, assuming he has amnesia. He...doesn't.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Sonic is unamused when Mr. Dr. Eggman refers to him as an "it".
- Mythology Gag:
- The passcode for Tails' workshop and Nine's secret hideout is 1992 - the release year of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where Tails debuted.
- Sonic's arrival in New Yoke City is similar to his arrival on Earth in the first episode of Sonic X, though unlike that show, he fails to dodge the oncoming traffic.
- As the Council begin to run tests on Sonic, Dr. Done-It calls him a "Blue Rabbit", referring to how Sonic was originally conceived as a rabbit in early development.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twice over for Sonic.
- Sonic letting himself get provoked by Eggman directly leads to him charging a bomb Eggman had prepared with his speed while attacking. Said bomb detonates a huge part of the mountain the Paradox Prism was hidden in, sparing Eggman the trouble of having to dig for it.
- Sonic destroying the Paradox Prism so Eggman won't be able to get it is the Inciting Incident that starts the show, seemingly shattering the multiverse and stranding Sonic outside of it.
- Shout-Out: Tails edgy counterpart "Nine" is clearly modeled on Doctor Octopus of Spider-Man fame, to the point of even battling Sonic on top of a moving train a la Spider-Man 2.
- Traintop Battle: After angrily tossing Sonic out of his hideout, Nine chases him all over the adjacent subway until he slips on a train car's roof and falls off, nearly getting hit by another train before Sonic saves him.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Sonic assumes he's in a Bad Future failing to realize that he's in a multiverse story rather than a Time Travel one. The closest he gets is his epiphany that Nine isn't the same Tails he knows, but even after that, he assumes he's just lost his memory.
