Season 2, Episode 2 of Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM). The Freedom Fighters manage to finish a working de-roboticizer, immediately putting it to work on Bunnie and Sonic's uncle Chuck, but the result isn't as cut and dry as they hoped it to be.
This episode provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: When Chuck is de-roboticized, he says he's been dreaming of the day ever since he was turned, revealing that those roboticized are still completely aware but have no control over their own bodies.Uncle Chuck: I've been dreaming of this since the first day I was roboticized.Sonic: You have? But I thought when you were roboticized, you didn't...Uncle Chuck: Know what was going on? We know everything. We just can't do anything about it.
- Bittersweet Ending: Both Uncle Chuck and Bunnie return to their robotic forms after the effects of the de-roboticizer mysteriously wear off. Sally promises that they will improve the machine so its effects will be permanent next time. Though Chuck returns to Robotropolis as a robot, he regains his free will, now serving as a double agent for Sonic and the Freedom Fighters.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The episode ends with Sonic grabbing the iris-out.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: The Freedom Fighters finally manage to make a working de-roboticizer, and use it to revert Bunnie back to normal. Seeing this, Sonic retrieves his Uncle Chuck from Robotropolis and subjects him to the process. Later, it turns out that the effects are only temporary when Bunnie's arm and legs revert back to robot form. Sally makes an attempt to comfort her and reassure her they'll restore her back to normal again in due time... only to realize that if the deroboticization on Bunnie was only temporary, then the same thing will happen to Uncle Chuck.Sally: It's okay, Bunnie. We'll get you back to normal again. Listen, all we have to do— Oh, no!
Bunnie: What?
Sally: Uncle Chuck!
- Heroic Willpower: After several brief periods of freedom thanks to the Power Rings, Uncle Chuck ultimately breaks free of Robotnik's control through his own willpower.
- Hope Spot: The Freedom Fighters make a machine capable of reversing Unwilling Roboticisation. They start by restoring Bunnie's limbs and fixing Uncle Chuck, but everyone later finds that the effects were only temporary. Near the end of the episode, when Sonic helps him regain his free will, Chuck chooses to remain in Robotropolis as a spy for the Freedom Fighters. Despite Sonic's dejection that Uncle Chuck is a robot, Sally assures him they will see him again, and the fact that the De-Roboticizer works at all means there is a chance for a more permanent effect.
- I Choose to Stay: Though he regains his free will, robot Chuck decides to use this to his advantage by becoming The Mole in Robotropolis for the Freedom Fighters.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Knowing he actually is still there, Sonic tries to get through to Chuck before he roboticizes Tails and Antoine. It works, and Chuck breaks free from Robotnik's control.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Sonic pretends to give up so he'll be taken to Robotnik and the roboticizer. When Robotnik demands to know why he's there, Sonic hams it up, saying he can't take the stress anymore and his nerves are shot. Robotnik is unconvinced, and after a little banter, orders the SWATBots that brought Sonic in to put him in the roboticizer anyway. They grab Sonic, but he quickly trashes them and takes Robotnik for a spin in his own command chair as a diversion before getting to the true purpose of his mission, stealing parts from the roboticizer to fix the deroboticizer the Freedom Fighters have been working on.
- Iris Out: The episode ends with one, and in one of the series' most cartoonish moments, Sonic grabs it and peeks out to say "Serious".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sonic's impatience gets Tails and Antoine captured by a re-roboticized Chuck and just inches from being roboticized themselves.
- Orphaned Etymology: Lampshaded; Robotnik states something's rotten in Topeka, only to then say he has no idea where that is.Robotnik: Oh, please. Something is rotten in Topeka... wherever that is.
- Sequel Episode: To "Ultra Sonic" - Sonic is reunited with Uncle Chuck and successfully restores him for good.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Upon the team seemingly creating a successful deroboticizer, Sonic wastes no time using it on Chuck, only later realizing the untested effects are only temporary.
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: The Freedom Fighters manage to whip up a working deroboticizer They actually give it a test run and when it seems to work on Bunnie, Sally initially wants the group to wait 24 hours so they can make sure the effects will last. Sonic, however, refuses to wait and rescues Uncle Chuck, subjecting him to the process as soon as possible. Sally's fears prove justified when it turns out the deroboticization is only temporary, leading to both Bunnie and Uncle Chuck reverting back to their robotic forms.
- Women Are Wiser: Sally attempts to convince Sonic to play things safer with testing the deroboticizer, with her and Dulcy bailing him out when it falls on deaf ears.
