Commentary for October 18, 2019:

What...?

That’s it?

Sonic beats Shadow... by apologising to him?!

Yes. He does.

Although, it’s not really accurate to describe this as Sonic beating Shadow. Really, it’s a matter of Sonic realising that “beating” him isn’t the answer. Shadow is angry; he feels hurt, betrayed, and he’s lashing out at the person he thinks is responsible. Sonic’s tried explaining that he didn’t leave Shadow behind to die out of spite and, while that is true, it didn’t address the hurt feelings that needed to be addressed.

Shadow needed to hear this heartfelt apology from Sonic, to really grok that he’s telling the truth, that he didn’t want Shadow to die, he didn’t leave him to die, and that, if he could have saved him, he would have. Up until now, Sonic had just met Shadow’s aggression with aggression, and he was never going to defuse the situation that way.

So he took a chance on empathy. Let’s see if it pays off...