Countdown to Chaos

"Countdown to Chaos" is the twenty-sixth episode of the anime series, Sonic X, and the finale of Season 1/the halfway point of Series 1. It first aired on 28 September 2003 and 27 March 2004 in Japan and the United States respectively.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Super Sonic
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese
 * Christopher Thorndyke
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Chuck Thorndyke
 * Danny
 * Helen
 * Frances
 * Next
 * Topaz
 * Doctor Eggman
 * Decoe
 * Bocoe
 * E-99 Eggsterminator

Japanese version

 * "SONIC DRIVE" - Opening theme
 * "The Shining Road" - Closing theme
 * Kotoba ni Dekinai - Insert (TV-Tokyo broadcast only)

English version

 * "Gotta Go Fast" - Opening theme (USA and CAN)
 * "Sonic X" - Opening theme (AUS, NZ and UK)
 * "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened) - Closing theme

Plot
After Eggman tricked Knuckles and Chris into giving him the six Chaos Emeralds, Chris was held hostage on the Egg Fort II as it took off and goes to meet Lucky who has found the final Chaos Emerald and Sonic had to rescue him. The episode begins with Danny, Helen and Frances playing with a puppet toy of Next until they spot the gigantic fortress flying overhead. Then Sonic runs past while Lucky has just found the last Chaos Emerald in a landfill. The President says that he hopes they are ready for Chaos Control and Tails, Chuck, Amy, Cream and Cheese use the X Tornado to also rescue Chris. When Eggman is just about to grab the Chaos Emerald, Sonic zooms to smash the machine and G.U.N. Beetles attack Eggman, but the Egg Shields block the missiles and he launches a Cannon on the ground that leaves the Beetles unaffected.

The impact causes Lucky to almost fall into the sea, but Sonic rescues him and gets the Chaos Emerald. Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe then transform the Egg Fort II into the E-99 Eggsterminator. Sonic then comes up with a plan to defeat the machine, using his speed. But Eggman uses the 6 Chaos Emeralds Knuckles and Chris gave him to empower the Eggsterminator. The Eggsterminator then attacks Sonic and punches him into a building, and then the Eggsterminator goes out of control and continues to pound Sonic very hard. Eggman is impressed by the strength of his robot but also slightly scared by its power. Then the X Tornado arrives while Sonic, who is still willing to rescue Chris no matter what, tells Eggman that nothing can stop him despite his injuries. The G.U.N. Beetles also attempt to attack, but the Eggsterminator easily destroys them.

Suddenly, the robot uses an extra burst of energy and slams Sonic into the ground repeatedly. Eggman is afraid of his robot now and is angry at it for using all the power from the emeralds, leading to Eggman ordering it to stop as he could not bear to see Sonic getting hurt anymore. In response, the robot lifts up Sonic, now unconscious, and throws him into the air before slamming him once more into the sea. Unable to bear the sight, Chris breaks free from his prison and grabs the Chaos Emeralds and Knuckles barges in to rescue Chris, but Rouge arrives first and rescues Chris. Then Chris accidentally drops the Emeralds into the sea, while the Eggsterminator grabs Rouge and Chris and attempts to crush them. However, with all seven emeralds in his possession, Sonic finally puts his plan into action and transforms into Super Sonic. His first move is to mortally wound the Eggsterminator by reducing its fist holding Chris and Rouge to shrapnel. Eggman does nothing to intervene, knowing that Chaos Control is about to happen. As the malfunctioned Eggsterminator attempts to beat up Super Sonic with its remaining fist, the super-powered hedgehog halts off its attack and destroys the Eggsterminator. Chaos Control has began, but Chris tearfully desired that Sonic cannot leave. Instead of Sonic being transported to his world, Angel Island and Mystic Ruins arrives on Earth. The episode ends with Sonic finding Chris and saying "Hey! Long time no see!".

Regional differences

 * The following scenes has been cut/edited:


 * In the Japanese version, after activating the Eggsterminator, Eggman just seemingly wants to "play around" with Sonic, as he does not want to kill him. After Sonic gets blasted through buildings, Eggman tells Sonic to give up as he does not want to fight. In the English dub, Eggman keeps saying how wonderful his Eggsterminator is.
 * The number of scenes where Sonic is being squashed into the ground are decreased in the English dub.
 * The flashback where Chris remembers his days with Sonic is different between versions.
 * In the Japanese version, Super Sonic tells Knuckles that he is going to destroy E-99, and not to be caught in the Chaos Control. In the English dub, Super Sonic says something about Knuckles' wish coming true, and saying he has unfinished business.
 * In the Japanese version, Super Sonic's voice is cool, calm and collected. In the English dub, it is the same as Sonic's voice.
 * In the Japanese version, as Sonic is walking toward Chris through the mist, the President says "What's happening?", and his Secretary says "We can't be sure for now, but two huge islands have appeared. Perhaps they're from Sonic's world." None of this dialogue is present in the English dub, except for a "Huh?" from Chris that was not in the original.

Trivia

 * This episode marks the debut of Super Sonic in the anime series.
 * This is the only episode to feature one eyecatch card as opposed to mainly two.
 * (Japanese version only) When Eggman fired the Egg Beam Cannon, it misses and then Eggman mentions he hates manga and comics and Bocoe mentions he hates anime as well. In addition, he wonders about good kids watching the episode would imitate all of Sonic's heroic deeds. Thus, all of this "breaks the fourth wall".
 * Later on, when Eggman is about to transform the Egg Fort II into E-99 Eggsterminator, he also engages with the viewers that if they missed watching the episode, they would not be able to catch up with their classmates' discussion topics in school and tells them to not change the channel.
 * This episode shares its name with a comic story arc "Countdown to Chaos", from Sonic the Hedgehog #253-Sonic the Hedgehog #256.