Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Plot Synopsis
The story is quite straightforward and begins with Doctor Robotnik (Jim Carrey) finding himself stranded on the mushroom planet. Settling in for the long haul, he hits a break when a portal opens up to reveal Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba), a crazed red echidna with a serious chip on his shoulder. Knuckles is desperate to find Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) and make him pay for the slaughter of his people, something that links back to Longclaw and the battle that we saw at the start of the original movie. In order to stop Sonic, Knuckles intends to use the Master Emerald, the largest and most powerful emerald that can give its wielder unimaginable power. With Knuckles and Eggman working together, Sonic finds himself up against the ropes. That is, until Tails (voiced by Collen O’Shanussy) jumps in and helps his idol to try and thwart this threat and save the day.
Where is the Master Emerald?
When Knuckles first mentions the Master Emerald, Robotnik immediately perks up and senses an opportunity to use this for his own diabolical means. After the pair agree to team up together, they set out to hunt for its location. At the same time, Sonic and Tails head out to try and find a compass that is likely to lead them to the Master Emerald. This takes them out to the remote corners of Siberia, where they engage in a rather colourful dance-off with the locals. Once Sonic and Tails do obtain the compass, a big snowboard chase ensues as Knuckles is desperate to stop Sonic no matter what. Unfortunately, Eggman shows up and knocks out Tails. This allows him to take the compass for himself and become one step closer to “ultimate power.” Before Knuckles leaves with Robotnik, he begins questioning his rivalry with Sonic and what he knows about the blue hedgehog, as his rivals gives up chasing him and instead focusing on making sure Tails is okay. When they leave, an avalanche is triggered which gets dangerously close to Sonic and the now-unconscious Tails. Thankfully the pair manage to quite literally crash Randall and Rachel’s wedding in Hawaii as Tom uses the ring to transport them there.
Who is Randall? What’s going on with the wedding?
One of the less interesting subplots in the movie – Randall and Rachel’s wedding – actually happens to be one big sham. Codenamed Operation Catfish, Randall is part of a taskforce known as GUN, which was created to monitor extra-terrestrial activity. And with Sonic and Tails before them, the pair have landed right in their laps. Our protagonists are unfortunately captured, leaving it up to Maddie and Rachel to save the day and free them from their predicament. Randall realizes how strong and self-confident Rachel is, and falls in love with her all over again. To prove as much, he jumps in the way of a taser, saving his bride from being electrocuted.
Does Robotnik use the Master Emerald?
Back to the action that matters though, and Robotnik heads off with Knuckles and uses the compass, which lights the way to the Master Emerald. This happens to be on a strange island temple that levitates out of the ocean. Complete with Indiana Jones-esque traps and a big ol’ maze, Knuckles and Robotnik make it to the center of this labyrinth and find the emerald. However, Sonic tracks them down and soon catches up as they square off in the chamber. Robotnik predictably betrays Knuckles, using the Emerald’s Chaos power for himself. The temple begins to crumble and fill with water, leaving Sonic and Knuckles to their doom. In doing so, Robotnik returns to Agent Stone and together, they create a massive Egg Smasher robot ready to help him take over the world.
Does Knuckles survive? How does Sonic save the day?
Back in the sunken temple, Knuckles finds himself crushed under the weight of a large stone pillar. As water fills the chamber, he looks close to passing out. After some lovely nods to the Sonic games, Sonic heads underwater and helps Knuckles lift the pillar off him. The echidna swims away but with Sonic unable to use his spin powers underwater – or jump that high – he looks close to passing out. Thankfully, Knuckles comes back and exchanges the favour, saving the blue hedgehog from his watery fate. Understanding that their history is actually quite similar and they’ve both been through a lot, Knuckles starts to understand that revenge and hatred are not always enough to move past trauma. Seeing Sonic and his carefree attitude is enough for him to change his tone and team up with him to tackle Robotnik. So Sonic, Tails and Knuckles work together to stop Robotnik while Tom and Maddie are also along for the ride – quite literally – as they drive up to the Egg Smasher robot.
How is Robotnik stopped? Does Robotnik die at the end?
While Sonic distracts Robotnik, doing well to thwart his attacks and keep Eggman distracted, Knuckles and Tails sneak up the exterior of the robot and break into the core. Hitting Robotnik with a well-placed punch, the emeralds come tumbling out as Sonic consumes the emeralds and becomes a Super Saiyan. Well, the hedgehog version anyway. He becomes Super Sonic. With glowing yellow fur and unimaginable power, he destroys the giant robot and defeats Robotnik, sending him tumbling from the Egg Smasher, falling to his doom. But is Robotnik really dead? Fans of the Sonic games would say no but given Jim Carrey has said he doesn’t want to act anymore and will be taking a break, we could actually see his character killed off completely. In the meantime though, and with Robotnik stopped, Tom is happy that Sonic now has a crew of his own, something he had been worried about through the movie. Sonic also calls Tom his dad too, a further call-back to the early moments in the movie where the pair ended up on a lake fishing together, with Tom instilling fatherly words of wisdom to the hedgehog. It’s a happy ending all round and Knuckles seems to have buried the hatchet with Sonic too.
Is there a post-credit sequence?
Yes! Do not go anywhere when the final credits roll as you’ll definitely want to stick around for this one. GUN are looking for Robotnik’s body in the wreckage but find something far more dangerous. One of the agents reveals to the commander that he’s gone through Robotnik’s archives and found something dating back 50 years called “Project Shadow”. As we cut down to an underground lair, we see the iconic black-and-red hedgehog in stasis at a facility.
Who is Shadow the Hedgehog?
Fans of the games will remember that Shadow the Hedgehog showed up way back in 2001 during the video game Sonic Adventure 2. Shadow is a science experiment gone wrong but described as the “Ultimate Life Form.” Shadow is basically this franchise’s answer to Mewtwo in Pokemon. Now, the lore surrounding Shadow paints him as an immortal being created by Robotnik’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. This creature was created through genetic engineering as part of an experiment to cure his granddaughter Maria from a deadly illness. Shadow and Maria formed a strong bond until the government deemed him a threat. Shadow was placed in suspended animation after GUN killed Maria. Maria’s death traumatized Shadow, who vowed to keep his promise to her that he would protect the world from danger. In the games, Eggman learns of Shadow and revives him in a diabolical new plan to defeat Sonic, framing Sonic for GUN’s evil deeds. Whether Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will actually follow this backstory of not is left up for debate, but it certainly poses a very interesting turn of events going forward! Read More: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Movie Review Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of the ending? Have we missed anything? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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