Commentary for August 21, 2020:

This is a reasonably faithful re-creation of Sonic and Knuckles arriving inside the base, just with some of the minutiae changed for the updated setting. In particular, the exchange between them as they go through the warp ring and come out the other end is lifted straight out of the original Eon’s Comic #128. But they ran into some robots on the other side in that version, rather than a pair of soldiers.

But yes, of course Eggman had no intention of really helping Sonic free his friends, which is why he gave them the wrong location in the base to warp to. But two can play at that game. As was revealed in the last chapter, Sonic has actually been following Sally’s plan all along, using Eggman as a distraction so he can get inside Devil’s Island and break out the Freedom Fighters. Whether or not everything’s going to go smoothly, however... well, it wouldn’t be much of a story if it did, would it? And we’re all genre savvy enough to expect complications.

Anyway, Sonic tying someone up with a long piece of fabric like this is a homage to a couple of instances in Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic, where he basically did the same, right down to the “you said it” line when his victim tries to say something while muffled. I know I’ve said some harsh things about Sonic’s portrayal in that series and I absolutely meant them; but it wasn’t all bad all the time.