Tumgik
#about Nine specifically to burn slower. And it does so by having Sonic refer to him as his friend/buddy first‚ and then best friend towards
Sonine Prime ... Part 3
Hi, everyone and welcome back to Sonine Prime! The part of the show when I come out and talk about Sonine (and a bit of Sontails) in Sonic Prime!
Last time we finished up the set of scenes starting with their meeting and ended with Sonic and Nine's capture by the Chaos Council. This time, we're hoping to get to move on to the next episode before moving on to the next part😂
<< Part 2 | Part 4 >>
(Essay/thoughts/analysis under the cut)
Starting out with an honerable mention of a moment!
Tumblr media
"Nine! Is that you?"
Nine: You're just wasting your breath.
Sonic: Omg Nine👀😊
And then, just before Sonic is put through a series of grueling diagnostic tests, Nine is used as collateral to get him to comply.
Tumblr media
"Do not fight them. It will only end badly. For him."
Tumblr media
"Nine!"
"Okay, let's start the test. The sooner we do this, the sooner Nine and I can get out of here."
Another small thing:
The way Nine tenses up furing the first test, as Sonic risks being shot by both laser guns (another tick in the "Nine cares a surprising amount about someone he just met" box)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Hmmm, and the little things just keep coming, don't they?
Sonic loses his footing in the giant hamster ball filled with spike balls.
Tumblr media
"Sonic!"
Tumblr media
Which of course, makes Sonic palpably annoyed
Tumblr media
Hmmm almost reminds you of when Eggman insulted Tails, doesn't it?
"You wanna test me, Eggheads? Question. How do you tick off a hedgehog? ANSWER. Mess with his friends!"
Hehe. Interesting.
"No one messes with my best friend!"
vs
"How do you tick off a hedgehog? ANSWER. Mess with his friends!"
Sonic begins to "hallucinate" as he says, and we're treated to another flashback
Amy: I guess he didn't hear the stick together part.🙄
Knuckles: Does he ever?
Tails: No. But he also hasn't let us down when it really counts! You know Sonic. He'll catch up at some point.😊
No comment about how everyone else is at least mildly annoyed at Sonic and Tails stands up for him in a way that redirects their attention from what Sonic did/is doing to the fact that he'll be there when they need him.
Good bye Season 1 Episode 1 of Sonic Prime, hello Episode 2!
"It's not about the zigs or the zags... It's about the friends we made along the way."
Sonic looks at Nine, has a flashback/vision of seeing Tails and Shadow before the shattering. Then, he looks at Nine both after being confused and still a bit out of it
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Okay, so aside from that funny little moment (Sonic's face), there are some little things to piece together from Nine's end after the council brings out the energy extractor.
First, unlike Sonic's repeated winking afterwards, Nine winks at him smoothly. He doesn't change expression as he does so, and it happens in a singular smooth motion. This makes sense as to why the message Sonic received from the wink was a sort of "I have a plan". While we can't know exactly what he meant, what is clear was that the wink at Sonic was deliberate.
Second, the way he plays off the earlier wink. I think it's pertinent to mention that he's at the end of two Eggforcer's weapons, and Sonic hasn't exactly been subtle this whole time with the winking. His fairly loud whisper to Nine about a plan isn't exactly subtle either (and Nine isn’t exactly the confessing to caring about someone type), so it makes sense if he plays the earlier wink off as having dust in his eye. There is a real contrast begin the smooth wink before and the way he rubs his eye when he says he just has dust in it. That also being said, they did just meet still, so even if Nine cares about Sonic a surprising amount, I think it can be true that his earlier wink was him trying to tell Sonic that he's thinking of a way out of this just as much as it's true that Nine might prioritize making sure he'll live at least if Sonic's not going to survive the extractor. And since this is all about talking about ways certain bits in this series can be interpreted, anyone want to talk about how "I just had dust in my eye" is commonly used by characters who are pretending they're not tearing up due to the display in front of them? Nine has been watching this display of a hedgehog's last words with...an interesting expression on his face, I'll say. Is he...confused? Just thrown off by how Sonic’s acting here? Dumbfounded? Who knows. All we know is that the camera cuts to Nine quite a bit to show us his changes of expression as Sonic speaks, and that after Sonic looks at him for a prolongued amount of time (after asking if he has a plan), his expression instantly changes. This is to say, even though he clearly wasn't tearing up/betraying sadness in that moment, what if Sonic looking at him then, asking if he had a plan, sort of made him feel laid bare? What if he was afraid for a moment that his expressions betrayed his thoughts and feelings on the inside? I mean, imagine meeting someone for the first time and caring about another person for the first time in years. Imagine you've been lonely and isolating yourself for years of your life, and this hedgehog you've barely met uses his last words to call you one of his friends. Imagine he's begging on what could be his death bed for a plan, and you haven't worked anything out yet (even though earlier you'd winked to make him feel better, feel like there will be a plan). He could die, you don't know what to do, you're still not sure why you care, why this makes you sad. You just met him didn't you? He looks at you for a while, asking for a plan, and for a moment, as you're afraid something will happen to you as he mentions plans to free him, you're also coming to terms with the thought that this hedgehog *could* die. Playing it off as just dust in the eye doesn't just save you from another nasty shock, but it protects you from feeling like the hedgehog is staring right into your soul, seeing your conflicting feelings.
Third, after Sonic says "looks like this is game over" and seems to accept there's no way out, the extractor closing in, the camera cuts away to Nine again, zooming in on his face. There's a subtle shift in Nine's face right then and he looks...almost sad, or like he finds it hard to believe that this is real. Then, when it cuts away from Sonic again, after he says goodbye, Nine's eyes are wide.
Actually, on Nine's expressions during what he and Sonic both believe to be Sonic's last moments, I may have hit the picture limit, but I can at least embed a clip here so you all can watch Nine's expressions.
All I'm saying is that if Nine wasn't having feelings about all this in some form, the creators would not have chosen to keep cutting away to Nine's expression, bidding the audience to see and wonder how he feels about all of this. And I think the fact that Nine is reacting at least a little, not looking bored or uncaring or as if he's trying to get this over with, tells us a lot about Nine and what the creators wanted the audience to focus on.
More evidence to the "Nine cares a surprising amount for a hedgehog he just met and doesn't only care about him out of curiosity/what sonic can do for him" box
Not to mention that just after this, when Nine gets his chance to slip away, he frees Sonic right after freeing himself. This is one of these scenes that *is* arguable, as there's really no point in him leaving Sonic there to die. But, we know that Nine has the capability to go on the offensive (not just because of the entire fight scene from episode 1, but also from the fact that he destroys/dismantles an eggforcer at the computer without even needing to turn around) and Rebel and Renegade are there. So it personally tells me a lot that Nine didn't leave Sonic there to fend for himself (especially since he'll later weigh his options and choose to leave Rebel, Renegade, and Rusty to the council over the chance of saving them and losing the red shard).
Wooo! Season 1 Episode 3, everybody, let's go!
Now, this episode starts with a pre shattering flashback. Just like in episode 2, Sonic's friends talk about how annoyed/frustrated they are that Sonic isn't yet fighting with them. After everyone says their piece, Tails again stands up for Sonic, telling them that Sonic will arrive at some point and that he knows he will.
(We'll come back to these flashback bits with Tails standing up for Sonic while others don't trust/believe in him or are annoyed at him later)
And back to the present, Nine just manages to take control of Rusty Rose in time to save Sonic.
Now, as there are a couple things I'd like to bring to everyone's attention with the aid of screenshots, until part 4, everyone!
Next time we'll hopefully get to tackle the rest of episode 3, and there should be smooth sailing til the last few episodes of the season after that.
12 notes · View notes