Here's Why We're Hype for KNUCKLES & The MASTER EMERALD! (VIDEO SCRIPT)

I need Idris Knuckles to say “Oh no” at least ONCE in this movie. Otherwise I won’t believe it.

___________

Readers, I know that it’s been a minute since I’ve actually REACTED to a trailer here on the channel

And while I’m not starting now, I do want it on record that I’ve never squee’d this hard for ANYTHING ELSE than when I saw the trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog 2

And yes, that’s mostly due to how they introduced Knuckles

Listen. Listen, I don’t think y’all understand the gravity of the situation.

/Do you see how accurate this is to Sonic 3? DO YOU?! AAAAAHH!!!/

But you’re not necessarily here to see me fanboy like the rest of them...the best of them

You’re here because you want to understand why Knuckles’ involvement in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is such an important plot point for not only this movie, but possibly the third, and where the story could possibly go as a result.

Well Readers, allow me to use this absolutely perfect opportunity to rehash a topic I covered in an OLDER video of mine in order to present some brand new content to appease the YouTube algorithm.

Listen, this is now my full-time job; I am NOT against doing this AT ALL.

So from the trailer of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, there are a LOT of references to a lot of the games across generations

/Parts of the story feel like they’re ripped out of Sonic 2 and ESPECIALLY Sonic 3, while visual references to Sonic Adventure are scattered all over the place/

But it's IN those references and story beats that I kinda received confirmation about all the plot points I called that they were gonna use in this movie and possibly in the 3rd, pretty much as soon as I walked out the movie theater after seeing the first one

What is the plot beat that I called for Part 3, you ask? It’s the fact that we’re going to see Team Sonic fight an unleashed Chaos, with Sonic going Super Sonic with the Chaos Emeralds in order to do it.

So I explained this back in my initial video I made after the first movie came out saying that they’re planning on going the trilogy route for the franchise, but I’ll give a refresher for everyone here.

In Sonic lore, Knuckles -- voiced by Idris Elba in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 -- is the last surviving descendant of the Knuckles clan; a tribe of anthropomorphic echidnas that were all but wiped out by a powerful god-like figure called Chaos.

One of the last act of the Knuckles clan before their near-genocide was to imprison Chaos in a giant green princess cut gem called the Master Emerald, after separating him from 7 smaller emeralds of different colors that gave him damn near Infinity Stone like powers that were later deemed the Chaos Emeralds because of how he used them to obtain his Perfect Cell -- I mean Perfect Chaos form.

Knuckles’ deal is that despite being the last of his kind, he’s honorbound to protect the Master Emerald -- and even the seven Chaos Emeralds in some iterations due to Chaos’ association with them -- though not necessarily knowing or caring about the reasons in the past that explain why.

Now while the lore regarding Chaos was added in the generation of the likes of Sega Dreamcast and beyond, Knuckles being the protector of the Master Emerald on the floating Angel Island existed since the Sega Genesis era with Sonic 3.

/And one of the plot points -- as it looks to be mirrored in the movie -- is that Robotnik is using Knuckles’ gullibility to his advantage and convincing Knuckles to fight Sonic thinking the hedgehog is after the Master Emerald, while Robotnik steals it for himself./

Because Readers, while there is, in fact a green Chaos Emerald amongst the seven of them...

/Only the Master Emerald is as big as the one that the trailer shows Robotnik approaching/

/And considering the giant tornado of doom with crackling green lightning we see spawning on earth is a key display of Robotnik using the power of the Master Emerald in the movie, I think its safe to say that we’re getting a consistent combination of both OG Master Emerald lore and Next Gen Master Emerald lore in this movie/

The thing about the movies however, is that the 2020 film gives us the perfect set up for the bout between Sonic and Knuckles to happen while Robotnik goes after the Master Emerald. And in the trailer for 2, we see the animosity between the two thanks to said set up play out instantly

Because if you recall, movie-verse Sonic has trauma linked with echidnas because of what looks to be the Knuckles tribe trying to kidnap him as a child...

/And that’s more than likely gonna be Sonic’s driving force to not trust him./

/Add the Knuckles tribe attack associated with why Longclaw planted the seed of individuals wanting his power (there will always be people wanting your power), and it makes immediate sense why Sonic said this to Knuckles in the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2/(I won’t let you take my power)

So taking all the lore and the actual events of the first movie into consideration, here’s how I think Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the inevitable Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movies are going to go:

/Tails, sent off to find Sonic on earth for reasons surrounding his special abilities, accompanies Sonic to find the Master Emerald before Robotnik does./

Robotnik however is able to trick Knuckles into helping him find the Master Emerald, convincing him that Sonic wants it for himself.

/Sonic feeds into the animosity Robotnik is trying to stir because of Sonic’s trauma regarding being hunted by members of the Knuckles clan as a child.../

And eventually Knuckles realizes that Robotnik was using him to get the emerald for himself before working things out with Sonic and teaming up with him and Tails.

Then once Robotnik gets the Master Emerald, he uses it to power up one of his creations, and either accidentally or purposefully unleashes Chaos on the world as a result...

/Setting up a cliffhanger ending that’ll be resolved in Sonic the Hedgehog 3./

What I think will be the main goal of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is that Team Sonic, consisting of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, is in a race against Chaos -- and Robotnik real talk, now with probably Mecha Sonic powered by Sonic’s quill he gained from part 1 -- to find the Chaos Emeralds.

And because I’m the trilogy guy here on YouTube, what I think will be the plot thread brought over from part 1 that’s gonna be expanded upon in part 3...

Is that the reason why Longclaw was so adamant about Sonic’s safety regarding his special abilities, is because Sonic is one of the only beings powerful enough other than Chaos that can harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

/Similar to how Peter Quill’s celestial blood allowed him to have direct contact with an Infinity Stone in the MCU./

That’ll probably be when we learn that around the same time the Knuckles clan tried to kidnap Sonic as a kid

Chaos had just turned evil, they heard word of a creature that can possibly use the 7 emeralds surrounding the Master one...

/And sought to acquire Baby Sonic by any means necessary to force him to use the 7 as a weapon to combat Chaos before Longclaw gave them no choice but to trap Chaos in the Master Emerald when she sent Sonic away./

That would put Knuckles around the same age as Sonic, and make him completely oblivious of what his clan was willing and trying to do to another child his age when all but himself is wiped out by Chaos.

And once Sonic realizes that, understands that Knuckles is not his ancestors and sees the devastation Chaos can do to the world he now calls home, he’s gonna use his ability to tap into the seven emeralds and go Super Sonic in order to fight chaos

So from the looks of it -- with the exception of them introducing Knuckles in 2 instead of 3 -- my initial prediction regarding where they’re gonna take this expected trilogy of Sonic movies hasn’t strayed off course YET

Nevertheless, I’m just as hype to see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as you are, even if my predictions about how the movie’s story is gonna steer the potential third installment end up being INCREDIBLY inaccurate.

So with that being said Readers, your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below how hype YOU are for Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, how you think the possible third installment of the trilogy is gonna go down if you feel like it’s still too early for them to introduce Chaos

Oh, right. Um... Shadow the Hedgehog (pause). There’s your one mention of him. You’re welcome.

Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.