The Canon Path of Shadow The Hedgehog

[@ZenkuTheories]

Actually, it's easy to figure out Shadow's canon path based on some words Shadow recalls in the Last Story and dialogue from certain characters like Cream and the GUN Commander in expert mode. Here's how it seems to go. Westopolis (Neutral) - Glyphic Canyon (Neutral) - Cryptic Castle (Hero) - The Doom (Hero) - Iron Jungle (Hero) - Space Gadget (Neutral) - Black Comet (Neutral) - Last Way. Let me explain. I chose to start Shadow's route with Glyphic Canyon because I don't see Shadow being interested in Sonic's mission all that much, and nothing implies that Shadow went around killing people for Black Doom. It's the same case for Glyphic Canyon. As for Cryptic Castle, It's confirmed Shadow chose the hero path because Cream thanks him for rescuing her in expect mode. The Doom happened because Shadow recalls Black Doom telling him to remember what the humans did to him during the Last Story. It's the same case for Iron Jungle. He recalls Eggman lying about creating him and remembers dying when he travels with Sonic to the Ark. Space Gadget happened because the Last Story and expert mode confirm that the GUN Commander confronted Shadow on the Ark. I put in the Black Comet since it seems it's where he found the last Chaos Emerald. Mind you, Shadow collects all of the Chaos Emeralds on every stage I chose except for The Doom.

[@mewmaster93]

I have my slightly own variation of this idea, but while still adhering to the full route nature of Shadow the Hedgehog instead of throwing in stages that can't happen from making certain decisions. Like ThatSonicGamer I agree with the logic of why Shadow would go through the first few stages up to Cryptic Castle. However, I do think he WOULD help Amy, likely triggered by connecting her to Maria like he did in SA2. Not to mention, like you said, the Expert Mode dialogue confirming Shadow did rescue Cream and Cheese during the game. From there he winds up back at Sky Troops, siding with Black Doom simply as a means to an end to get closer to Eggman. Shadow takes the Hero Mission here, because he's already been influenced by helping Amy out. Now this is where it gets a little twisty. He goes to Space Gadget next, but if you recall, the pre-stage cutscene puts him in the same area where he sees the Shadow Androids for the first time. THAT encounter still happens here before Sonic and friends come to pick him up. The logic this time though is that Shadow follows Sonic to space not only for the Chaos Emeralds, but because they heard Eggman was heading there too in pursuit of the Black Arms. Shadow wins Space Gadget, motivated by the memories of SA2 again. And now, much like the last pre-stage cutscene, you'll recall that Final Haunt's takes place in the same area as pre-Cosmic Fall, where Expert Mode proves that Shadow had a confrontation with the GUN Commander. That same confrontation happens here. Whether Sonic is there or not is up to you to decide, personally I think it'd help the GUN Commander warm up to Shadow if Sonic was there vouching for his good side, not to mention Sonic could throw in a snide comment about him getting arrested back in SA2. Final Haunt then happens, but this is where the Hero-Dark route stuff obviously has to break off with the introduction of a Neutral Path, where Shadow snags the last Chaos Emeralds by himself while everyone else is fighting inside of the Black Comet. Thus leading to the Final Story.

[@silveraustinluna]

Late comment but just one problem. You have put down Glyphic Canyon (neutral) and Cryptic Castle (Hero). Glyphic Canyon's neutral mission doesn't take you to Cryptic Castle but to Prison Island. To go to Cryptic Castle, you have to do the dark mission of either Digital Circuit or Glyphic Canyon.

[@ZenkuTheories]

@@silveraustinluna It's not really an issue if you don't think about Shadow's path following the exact order of the game. I already presented evidence of Shadow's path not being any of the set paths in the game.

[@DarioAcereto]

​@@mewmaster93 I remind you The Doom needed to happen because of Shadow remembering Black Doom showing him that.

[@WaterKirby1994]

I see Final Haunt Dark Mission as the canon path with Sonic & Shadow having a rival battle to determine which of them will confront Black Doom. Shadow wins & goes to ask Black Doom about his past in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds & everyone arrives as they do in the Last Story. Also have you ever heard the theory that Shadow canonically visits every stage over the course of the game?

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

All of the individual routes have names. This one is called: “Reclaimed Heart.” Fitting, no?

[@___________0Z0X]

So is it if you beat black doom or the egg dealer?

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

@@___________0Z0X Black Doom isn’t a boss for the level “Black Comet.” Did you watch the video? Hero Mission is Egg Dealer. Dark Mission is Sonic & Diablon.

[@___________0Z0X]

@@Deoxys_Used_Mimic yes I did watch the video, I just got it confused with final haunt, okay? You don't need to be a jerk about it. I was asking which Boss was it for the route that you mentioned because I was curious and I thought what you mentioned was cool. But never mind I guess. I'll just look it up myself or something.

[@DJack276]

I mean, it said that at 6:19, but good to know xD.

[@vantablackecho]

I will cling to him being a total hero and doing every good deed in this game because in Sonic '06, he's arguably the most heroic character in the whole game without even trying to be.

[@Robbie_Haruna]

"Even if the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have."

[@jersont.3339]

Let's remember this shadow barely has any memory of anything before heroes, so he doesn't even remember maria why would he care helping sonic and friends, outside maybe tesm dark and amy (because she makes him remember of maria even tho he doesn't know who she is)

[@tailsfrontiers1224]

@@Robbie_Harunathat shit resonates with me all these years later. Such a legendary quote. Especially knowing why he said it.

[@Kelps.mp4]

I mean, Shadow only defeated Black Doom to bury the last thing that held him back in his past, not because he is a hero or sum shit.

[@khaotix64]

That's only because Silver was too busy running around being a dumbass and Sonic was spending the whole time trying to motorboat Elise's bush...

[@rpzamer1218]

My thoughts for the "cannon path" is that every level must occur to some degree. Weather or not shadow is involved is up for debate but every level must happen to some extent. Take for example the 2 levels with the gliphic canyon assets. The dark mission must happen as the grean cores must activate in order to make the temples rise and then they fight Eggman in a later stage. For me the best way to think of it is that every stage happens. And the mission done for each is ether hero or neutral (for the most part) or have no shadow involvement

[@seantaylor424]

I think this lines up with what the game's director said about the game's path ultimately being up to the player rather than definitely saying only one path is correct. If all paths are equally valid, then all of the stages must have happened to some extent; like you said, though, probably mostly Neutral and Hero outcomes, since most Dark missions are too catastrophic to allow other possibilities...Plus, Shadow helped stop Metal Overlord in Heroes, so I doubt he'd find the Black Arms appealing without a lot convincing/brainwashing.

[@xaviersejour9183]

I feel like Shadow probably would help Amy find Cream. I’m not sure if he values the human life or at least soldiers with guns. But if Amy asked I’m sure shadow would drop whatever he’s doing to help.

[@xaviersejour9183]

Space colony ark I don’t think shadow is killing anyone just yet but he probably would try to save the other scientist. Or Think about it. Maria is the best friend but everyone else is still family

[@thelivingglitch307]

With a soul modeled after Maria's, certainly.

[@doctornsilver3882]

"His number one priority is keeping maria safe" *He says, as he's flying off at the literal speed of light.*

[@_SSimp_]

i feel like no path/ending is canon. it shows what shadow could have become, but he didn't. he isn't "black-hearted evil", or "brave-hearted hero", he is all.

[@cosmicoutpost59]

“This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me!” - 2005 Edge

[@addambelmont3050]

That line is taken out of context. Shadow is fine that the chaos emerald is easy to take, not that taking candy from a baby is fine.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@addambelmont3050He doesn’t even canonically say that. The Japanese version is completely different. Shadow has a horrible translation/localization.

[@lpfan4491]

@@bunsmasterbunny The localization is so bad its good, it's hilarious.

[@choatixtherobot]

Great for when you're on the pure hero route

[@christianschoff2490]

He took candy from Cream.

[@TheSwordsman100]

It was said by Takashi Iizuka that the Hero path is the canon ending. However, going pure hero doesn't match up with the Last Story, the game's cutscenes or future games so I agree with the theory vid posted by GamingTopTen that the true ending is ending 094 For Love's Sake. As it covers everything required for the Last Story while also giving us that Hero path ending.

[@speedhog58]

My little head-canon is that Black Doom immediately takes control of Shadow from the start and that the branching storylines are mostly in Shadow’s head.

[@fitzsimonogbo5391]

This was literally the very first path that I took when I first played this game back in 2005. Very interesting that you mentioned this optimal path for Shadow the same way I played it over 19 years ago.

[@marthflores3515]

legend

[@kahboom76]

This might sound strange, but I actually think the canon path is more than six stages. Based on Expert mode at the end of the game, Shadow would've had to make contact with all the characters at some point, so my theory is that most middle stages that can't be reached in a storyline may have already or will happen at some point. Based on the Last Story's opening, ending stage must Black Comet with Shadow facing the Egg Dealer without killing Eggman and since all friend characters gathered around Shadow, it's believed that he may have helped them at least once.

[@zacharyconfer1828]

I actually just worked this out last night. The canon path isn't playable in game, because in canon, all the levels happened. The path is: Westopolis, Lethal Highway, Death Ruins, The Doom, Glyph Canyon, Sky Troops, Iron Jungle, Lava Shelter, Prison Island, Mad Matrix, Digital Circuit, Crytpic Castle, Circus Park, Central City, Air Fleet, GUN Fortress, Space Gadget, The ARK, Lost Impact, Cosmic Fall, Final Haunt, Black Comet, Last Story AMA

[@numbug1234]

Unfortunately, it's impossible for there to be "one" singular path. Glyphic Canyon Hero has to happen because of Expert Mode, but at the same time The Doom has to happen because Shadow remembers Black Doom's line in the stage intro during his flashback, and Death Jungle is one of two areas where Shadow learns of the Promised Time. And it's not just Stage 4 (the only part where there's no Chaos Emerald), Shadow has to be present in Cosmic Fall because this is literally the ONLY time he talks to the GUN Commander, but he also needs to end up on the Black Comet as well. And just before talking with the GUN Commander he talks about Eggman's manipulation and his memories, and the only stages where he has any memories is Prison Island or Lost Impact, both of which conflict with other confirmed locations he visits. And, most critically, every single ending ends with Shadow affirming for a fact who he is, when the Last Story starts off with him talking about how he's about to find out.

[@BikotoCH]

I think this has to be the most canonical run. Just explaining that shadow would do the dark mission to figure out what Black is doing is just like shadow working with eggman in Sonic Adventure 2. Love the video! Keep up the fire work

[@fnm124]

They're all canon. It's a groundhog day-like scenario.

[@BlackFlash09]

Like the Hedgehog Day episode from Sonic Boom?

[@fnm124]

@@BlackFlash09Yes, but Shadow wasn't aware during the game's events.

[@tommapar]

@@fnm124 I'd like to know what do you base that upon, like I played through the game with a friend last couple of weeks, did all 10 final bosses, and did the last mission, and there's not ONE mention of time travel.

[@seanimo8579]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ2VY6uurribpsksi=I5ThcqegFX9PfuRg

[@phonesjuda7318]

​@@tommapar​@tommapar there is no need because no character is aware of the loop, the loop condition to end is the accumulation of chaos energy by collecting them in each route by realizing different actions that create different emotions, which in turns power up the chaos emeralds with enough chaos energy to allow for the story to progress. The things mentioned in hard mode and the final true story seem to create a contradicting course of events, making the only way possible for it to go is that all routes are Canon and when the loop ends, some characters get the knowledge of some of the routes for the ending to go as it goes. That, or simply that there is no possible way to actually play the Canon course of events, because the game mechanics doesn't allow it.

[@DiamondBatToons]

Honestly, your take might be the best of the bunch. You gave a really good explanation for what Shadow would realistically do & why.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

@@DiamondBatToons When I saw this comment, the notification said “Honestly, your take might be the” I was bracing myself for the worst but instead I find a very nice comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Everyone’s take on the canon path is so interesting to me that it makes me wanna re-visit this topic. But with Sonic X Shadow Generations on the horizon, we might get a glimpse as to what truly happened in this game

[@DiamondBatToons]

@ThatSonicGamer glad I could keep you on your toes. XD All jokes aside, this was a great video, kesp up the great content. It would be awesome if Shadow Generations confirmed what path was canon.

[@slateoffate9812]

I've SO many ideas! 1: Path 084: Ignorance of the Past. Shadow ponders the "promised time" and plays along with Black Doom. Dark. In Digital Circuit and Prison Island, Shadow sides with the heroes. In Mad Matrix, you'd think Shadow would side with Espio, BUT we've seen what Shadow's idea of hacking is. Dark. Iron Jungle, Shadow and Omega have a common goal. Cosmic Fall, Shadow helps Vector. After beating Black Doom, Vector's reassuring words prompt Shadow to go to the Black Comet to think alone, leading into the Last Way. 2: They're ALL canon! The stages, at least, and it goes full Dark and descending. Shadow doesn't get any of the emeralds right away. 3: Their stages are ALL canon, and are organized like they are in Expert Mode. Shadow ONLY gets the Chaos Emeralds during the Pure Hero stages(give or take one or two), so you could simplify it and say Pure Hero is canon.

[@slateoffate9812]

Eve of the First Day: Westopolis: Dark, Shadow playing along with the supposed Promised Time. First two Chaos Emeralds acquired. Digital Circuit: Hero. Prioritizing the Chaos Emerald, Shadow seeks the portal to its approximate location; Westopolis. Westopolis 2(cutscene only): Neutral, Black Doom casts Shadow away for his disobedience in Digital Circuit. Glyphic Canyon: Dark, Shadow plays along again to get back under Doom's good graces so he can return to Westopolis. The Black Arms attack him as punishment. Lethal Highway: Hero, Shadow's trying to take back the Chaos Emerald. Boss 1: Black Bull. Second Chaos Emerald acquired. Eve of the Second Day: Cryptic Castle: Hero. Shadow has no assurances that Eggman went straight ahead, so maybe helping Amy will cover more ground. Boss 2: Egg Breaker. By the time Eggman retreats, what Shadow believed to be the Emerald is gone. Prison Island: Hero, maybe the disks have something to do with Shadow's past. Circus Park: Neutral. Damn Fourth Chaos Emerald acquired. Central City: Dark, influenced by Doom. The Doom: Neutral Boss 3: Heavy Dog Sky Troops: Neutral Mad Matrix: Hero Boss 4: Egg Breaker Mk. II Death Ruins: Officially on Doom's bad side; Hero. Boss 5: Black Bull Rematch Eve of the Promised Day: The ARK: Black Doom attempted to force Shadow back on side, but failed. The Eclipse Cannon's firing is delayed. Neutral. Boss 6: Blue Falcon Air Fleet: Hero Iron Jungle: Hero Boss 7: Egg Breaker Mk. III Space Gadget/Retaking the ARK Part 1: Neutral. Sonic takes the fifth emerald. Lost Impact: Hero(while the Artificial Chaos still being around implies Neutral, in Hero Shadow kept his word to Maria. You gotta remember Gerald seriously messed with Shadow's head). Shadow claims the Fifth Chaos Emerald. GUN Fortress: Does it matter? Rouge's mission is a lie, a trap. Boss 8: Sonic&Diablon. Ending cutscene doesn't happen. Black Comet: Hero. Shadow claims the Sixth Chaos Emerald. Lava Shelter: Does it matter? It all ends the same. Let's say a Shadow Android carried out the Dark Mission and be done with it. Boss 9: Egg Dealer. Ending cutscene doesn't happen. Cosmic Fall: Hero Boss 10: Black Doom. You get the idea. Final Haunt: Hero. Last Way. Boss 11: Devil Doom

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

I think the canon path is partially based on the game paths. No paths you take is 100% canon and the reason being is for gameplay mechanics. And the actual canon story path is one we can't actually truly experience.

[@MrX-ok3jq]

Cop out answer, but - all of them and none of them are canon, its a mismash of numerous paths. Going by the final boss, the Chaotix break into the arks computers and find Gerald's files (maybe with or without Shadow's help), there is at least some back and fourth with Eggman about being an Android for Eggman's late boss fight line, there seems to be various other tidbits sprinkled around each path that get noted.

[@powernotgamer447]

There is a Brazilian channel that managed to find a canonical path that makes more sense than the one in the video.

[@powernotgamer447]

If you want to know the name of the video is: "Shadow the Hedgehog - Qual o caminho verdadeiro ?"

[@HyperSonic1999orJTH]

Interesting, I remember seeing on a old forum where "153: Together with Maria..." NNDHH(D) seemed canon. Tackles him being a robot in heroes, gets info from both sides causing him to find out the real truth due it not making sense, is on the ark and not far from the black comet, fights eggman and doesn't kill him in this ending. It now seems a little off compared to seeing this pathway and your explanations.

[@Nel_Annette]

If they ever remastered or remade this game, I'd love for there to be a "canon" mode or something that just takes you through every level for one reason or another. "HERE'S how it happened" or whatever.

[@jersont.3339]

Maybe we will know in SXS generations, but who knows

[@rocketanimations1980]

I'll disagree, since during the final boss, eggman confesses to shadow that he isn't an android, which only happens in the penultimate neutral stage, and in one of the last way's cutscenes, the chaotix appears showing everyone Gerald's true intentions with the CD's that charmy had collected. Still, great video!

[@___________0Z0X]

Yeah, but it's impossible to have a pathway that has shadow involved with all let up to those scenes.

[@Robbie_Haruna]

To be fair, what the Chaotix were doing in the Last Way's cutscene doesn't explicitly tie to the top secret discs that Charmy collected, (he could also have gathered them on his own even if Shadow wasn't there.) The android thing, even without the final neutral stage, that could also be a followup from what was established in Sonic Heroes (since there's robotic shadows present in that game that cause Shadow a bit of distress.)

[@artistanthony1007]

​​@@Robbie_Haruna Shadow's game is clearly an alternate timeline with what happened with him after the fall & how everything ties up so I wouldn't count Heroes in this.

[@gameramaproductions]

I feel like maria is the 1 and only exception, its very un-shadow but to me he would seem to do almost anything for maria, so hero mission on that stage

[@rpgislife]

You know what's funny about this? This is the EXACT path that I took the very first time I played this game

[@ThatSonicGamer]

That’s wild! I was dumb as a kid so I kept doing Neutral missions (and then the one Hero Mission in Lava Shelter) and wondered why the game was so short

[@rpgislife]

@@ThatSonicGamer Yeah, same, I started the game again and did something different and was in awe finding out that there was more to do

[@robertlupa8273]

With the mostly neutral route, Shadow's words at the ending (even if the ending itself isn't canon due to Eggman dying in it) - "Noone tells me what to do" - make a lot of sense. :)

[@Kookie_13_]

I see 94 for loves sake as the canon path. Shadow says like it or not I have to believe him in the first cutscene implying the dark mission, then in the next level he meets rouge and realises that he should help her because of the experiences he had in sonic heroes. In prison island he helps charms because in the final story they had the secret discs and while you said the same thing about the president, he could have escaped without shadow going onto the airship but charmy couldn’t have found the discs without shadows help. Maybe shadow thinks that it could have something to do with his past since it’s in prison island and he had a memory of being locked up here by gun in the cutscene before the level. Then he helps espio in the second computer level because he needs to find eggmans database of him and helps espio because he might think it has something to do with his memory’s also at the start of this cutscene shadow smacks the computer to make it work and in the final story charmy once again smacking the computer does the job. So that way it happens twice🤣. Next up lost impact. Taking candy from a baby is canon! He helps Maria. Final haunt he beats up black doom with sonic. Final story, the end

[@xscythe67]

Shadow goes through all the stages at some point throughout the story.

[@theghostofjeffgoldblumdail9613]

I figured the canon path was always Westopolis-Normal, Glyphic Canyon-Dark, Cryptic Castle-Hero, Sky Troops-Hero, Space Gadget-Normal, and Cosmic Fall-Dark. This is path number 135, A Vow for the Victims. The reason I think this path works is because while Shadow has no reason no to work with Amy in Cryptic Castle, beating that mission takes you to Sky Troops which is just Glyphic Canyon but now in the sky. Shadow helps Eggman because of the possibility he might be able to help him expressed in the Cryptic Castle cutscene, Shadow heads to Space Gadget, loses against Sonic (but keeps the emerald anyways because I guess Sonic doesn’t really care) and then does Cosmic Fall, where he fights Eggman after finally getting an answer from him about who he is. I think this is the only final boss that can be canon because it’s the only one where Shadow fights Eggman and doesn’t kill him, and in the last story, we see the Chaotix poking around on the arc, confirming they did go there at some point. So yeah, I think this path is canon, and is followed by the last story with Shadow seeking out Doom after getting all the emeralds.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

I like this. The way I try to treat the path is by making sure it ends on the comet. But this has very good thoughts going for it

[@fromas4487]

For me personally it's path 153 Together with Maria. Because it's one of the paths where Shadow remembered his past, thinks that he's a Android and had a conversation with Comander Tower. With the end in Comics fall, you encounter Vector who's searching for the Computer room and you help him find it (kinda), but you take the Emerald in the room before the Computer room. The only problem is that you're not ending up on the black comet. But it's one of the two routes where you get all of the CGI cutscenes. (The other path is 154 because it's the same stages instant of collecting just the Emerald you go to the computer room)

[@haydenccc3159]

Wait a minute. What about the Gun Commander? There was a cut scene where he confronted and revealed to Shadow to be Maria's friend, as a boy, on the ark 50 years ago. And saw how Black Doom helped Dr Gerald create Shadow as well. Should that also be canon too since it's an important cut scene for why the commander hates Shadow?

[@markerikson7423]

He's with the president in Last Story

[@choatixtherobot]

Dont forget the cutscene for the opening to the doom is one of the pre rendered ones which therefore shows in the credits

[@ThatSonicGamer]

I mention that in the video

[@D.AblosFamilia]

I think it's a pretty rough time to formulate a proper Canon Path since the core characters to Shadow should be: Sonic, Rouge, Maria, Omega AND Black Doom here. Of course the Chaotix play a very important role overall in the Last Way so they SHOULD be important too. It's why I'm hoping when they remake Heroes they remake ShtH right after so we can get a solid storyline.

[@retromesh]

I think that Shadow kills Eggman until he is dead. It just the makes most sense to be tbh.

[@christianschoff2490]

This is absolutely brilliant. I not only accept your idea but you've earned my sub.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Thanks a ton! You’re awesome for that!

[@MochicoArtemis]

you should probably look at how the Shadow the Hedgehog fandub played out, when it comes to the paths.

[@artistanthony1007]

Last Story made it clear Neutral and Dark are canon with Shadow gathered the Emeralds for himself, side with nobody and has the reveal Eggman made him on his mind which Eggman then reveals in Devil Doom it was a lie. The CGI cutscenes including the one before game menu begins also has these two confirmed. Also Last Story like in Adventure games, 06 and so on have always been the true ending.

[@Gamrison]

Great video, fun watch! Honestly? I think you could make this a short series if you really wanted, since you mentioned at the beginning this was ultimately your opinion, and you could say, pick your top 5 favourite paths, and explain how they could happen on your own way! Reclaimed Heart is a fitting name too.

[@trueblueryu5713]

Slightly off topic, but I'm calling that in the third Sonic movie, the person who fires at Maria Robotnik is gonna be that commander with the obsession for Olive Garden.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

IMAGINE!

[@somerandomnesspoo8467]

Black Comet Hero is cannon, the killed Eggman is a fake (i.e. Sonic Heroes). It's left pretty open of what Shadow is going to do afterwards as if it's leading to something else.

[@SFproductions1]

Man this is such a cool video idea! if I ever play shadow again I'll take this path 😭

[@___________0Z0X]

This is exactly what I needed today. Thanks man, you put a lot of thought into your path. I subscribe now.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

I appreciate it! Thank you!

[@224y-p4w]

I can definetely agree. This was one of my favourite paths

[@powernotgamer447]

There is a Brazilian channel that managed to find a canonical path that makes more sense than the one in the video.If you want to know the name of the video is: "Shadow the Hedgehog - Qual o caminho verdadeiro?"

[@rafagamer5915]

vc é BR?

[@powernotgamer447]

@@rafagamer5915 É claro

[@goobytime]

My perspective is as follows. Commentary or even a response vid welcome. 1. Multiple Acts Theory: Some stages are actually inter connected like acts. 2. The path that best sets up the finale and all its plot hooks is canon. Likewise the route that gives the most clues is the truth. 3. Shadow was told “the lie” canonically. Shadow ends up in Iron Jungle in 3/5 routes. 4. ALL flashback stages are canon via acts. 5. According to Expert Mode: Cryptic Castle (Hero) is canon. 6. Sky Troops suggests the Black Arms canonically win Glyphic Canyon and Digital Circuit on their own. GUN canonically wins Westopolis and Lethal Highway on their own. 7. Shadow goes to ARK in 3/5 routes, so this must have happened. The Route: a. Westopolis (Hero). Motivated by self defense. b. Lethal Highway (Dark). Act 2 of Westopolis. Beeline for Chaos Emeralds. Black Arms win Glyphic Canyon and Digital Circuit. c. Prison Island (Hero). Important stage as it gives a clue to Shadow’s past. Hero path sets up the finale. Motivated by pursuing a potential lead for himself. The Doom is Act 2. d. Cryptic Castle (Hero) via different route. This stage is canon. Mad Matrix is Act 2 to Cryptic Castle. Hero is picked because pursuit of a potential lead. Meanwhile, Black Arms launch a surprise attack on Central City. GUN wins but damage is massive. Eggman wins Sky Troops. Shadow is detected shortly afterwards and “the lie” is set up. e. Iron Jungle. Hero cause Omega. Egg Man tells “the lie”. Lost Impact (Hero) is Act 2. Space Gadget (hero, Shadow cares nothing for the race) is Act 3. f. Final Haunt (hero) takes you about to center of Black Comet, setting up finale. Overall: Hero, Dark, Hero, Hero, Hero, Hero.

[@TheBanishedWind]

Didn't SEGA say the Pure Hero path was canon?

[@AutismGaming489]

The canon ending is the one where I betray Sonic at the last minute.

[@Tarquin23]

The true path is actually called “The Beginning”, and covers every character that would reasonably appear in the final story. I figured this out back in 2006 - check it out.

[@Wolfist1]

It has been too long since I have played that game. I would have to replay it to get my mindset straight on that game.

[@emperorxander666]

the only cannon path is the one that get you to that damn 4th chaos emerald

[@5h0ckblock]

During the last battle with devil doom, Eggman references saying he created Shadow. Additionally, while I personally question expert modes canonicity, I can't ignore that Cream thanks Shadow for saving her, meaning its likely the canon route involves him saving Cream and Cheese. The commander also apologizes to Shadow for trying to kill him, making that specific cutscene canon as well. The canon path likely MUST contain all of these. However, as for the other missions in the game, with or without shadow they all occur, its just that in certain scenarios we need to believe the side characters were competent enough to do what they needed to on their own to have completed what they needed to do. Context clues can be used to figure out the true outcome of each stage without Shadow being involved. For example all three members of Team Chaotix must have completed their task in their missions for last story to be possible.

[@VixYW]

Idk about the whole path, but it has to end inside the black comet no matter what, given they are there at the start of the last story. It would be easier to go backwards from those levels and see what makes more sense given the ending.

[@SHADZA4321]

Personally, I thought on the idea of rewriting the game as one cohesive story instead of trying to find a canon path within that mess.

[@Chaos-Zakai64]

I feel the Shadow androids should show up at some point during the cannon path. And Shadow questioning if he's an android. Mostly because of that line Eggman says during the final boss fight in the final story.

[@SilentImmortal-]

Sega: *Everything is Canon.*

[@francescostark2209]

I agree up to the part where Shadow arrives at the Ark, in that stage I believe that Shadow helped Maria as he could, in the past Shadow is seen as a more cheerful character, he probably only showed this side of himself with Maria. After that stage was over Shadow discovers the cruelty of human beings and starts looking for the next emeralds. He arrives at Eggman's base and there he finds copies of him, starting to have doubts whether he is the real Shadow or not, here he will help Omega in the mission and together they will defeat Eggman After completing Omega's mission and defeating Eggman, Shadow will search for the last emerald with even more doubts due to Eggman. Here he will meet the general who will tell him the truth about the Ark. Here Shadow understands that he is the original shadow and that he will pay for his sins but first he has to finish what he started so he asks the general to wait. With the last mission shadow will go directly in search of the chaos emerald, he will not help vector as he is not interested, and he will come across eggman again who will once again confirm that he is the original. At the end shadow beats eggman and recovers the last emerald telling him to leave the ark and never return, after this event shadow will go to black doom with the emeralds to confirm what he thinks and stop him definitively in the true ending. This for me is the canonical path that also connects all the various stories present in the game. Tell me what you think, see you soon.

[@delinquentlord581]

I feel like lost impact is like before the doom with all the creatures everywhere in the ark, but gun was like this is too dangerous, let's shoot all the people there Edit: i feel like all the levels are canon in the game, but put it all in order with some with neutral missions, some with hero missions, and some with bad missions with cutscenes that makes sense for the story

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Oh for sure

[@delinquentlord581]

​@@ThatSonicGamer you should read the edit part like if all the levels you can play, but instead of like going through a path, you can play all the levels, but some have neutral, some have good, and some have bad missions, plus with cutscenes too that'll make a lot more sense than what we have now

[@jacobkakyoin6882]

Shadow needs to have visited Mad Matrix minimum as far as his involvement in the Chaotix subplot goes, because Charmy ramming the computer to activate Gerald's final message was inspired by Shadow hitting it to hack them in earlier on - it also makes character sense then for him to have done Charmy's stage, where he starts to see Shadow as a super cool role model. Eggman also needs to have tried to gaslight him about being an Android, but also the Commander needs to confront Shadow about Doom's role in his creation, but also he has to wind up on the Comet... and so on. I think the President retreating to the GUN Fortress near the end of the conflict is a 'canon event' as it were, and that it happens whether Shadow is there during his takeoff or not. It only makes sense - Central City coming under attack always makes perfect sense. The Maria flashback stages don't need to literally be visited for Shadow to remember their events, I'd say, but otherwise, I think some broad strokes version of every single major event did 'happen' in some way. The main difference between the three stages we get set on the Black Comet is that Last Way and Final Haunt have no GUN Soldiers, implying that Shadow's actions helping the Black Arms make GUN more aggressive in their pushback against them, making more desperate moves because they're on their last legs, but also, Black Comet is flooded, some defense system of some sort that makes it impossible for Black Doom to be confronted by anyone but, funny enough, Knuckles implies he's handling it, and on Black Comet's hero mission telling Knuckles to do what he has to do is the last we hear of Doom, suggesting that Knuckles soloed him or intends to. (Did he have an offscreen swimming stage to reach him or something?) Egg Dealer in Black Comet is also the only boss battle to be completely random and unexplained in the game. Anyway point is, the version of the comet we see in Last Way, which obviously is indisputably canon, is a lot closer to the version of the area we see during Final Haunt, which implies the war is NOT going in in the black arms' favor. This itself, to me, implies that Shadow acted generally more heroically than not, though I can see some exceptions to this - the ruins in Glyphic Canyon became the air fleet in Sky Troops, and Shadow even comments on his surprise that they could fly, so at the very least, he possibly activated those after all and at the very least did not wipe out the aliens who were already there trying to when he passed through. ...tbh, latter might make more sense, because he probably would've noticed it take to the skies a lot sooner if he'd personally gotten it moving again. Very least, literal stage ORDER might not necessarily be a reliable way to determine which stages happened or how they ended. Like how does Shadow activating a security system to keep the Black Arms out of Eggman's castle transition into him attacking him then Shadow leading an army of aliens into Central City? Stage direction isn't necessarily canon.

[@tylerhughes9090]

I can see path happening, l think people always assume Shadow straight up kills people in this game, personally l think he just knocks them out, hence in this path Dr Robotnik is knocked out by Shadow, and Robotnik is awake in the cutscenes before the final level !

[@ASIRREO]

Eggman path obviously

[@MrAppleSalad]

Based on the Expert Mode, I don't think that any of the paths shown in the main game are the "true path". Expert Mode is a VR training simulation based on Shadow's memories, and it contains modified versions of every stage in the game. I think THAT'S the canon path, which also makes sense since there are things in the last story that just do not work with any given path. The two biggest things that your path misses that 100% had to have happened are A: The Chaotix ended up on the ARK in position to activate the message, and B: Shadow had a heart-to-heart with the GUN Commander which later led to them making up. Neither of these happen in your path and therefore it doesn't work. There's also a bunch of other smaller points, such as all the different flashbacks being spread across the stories. There's no reason for Shadow to get disy spells on one path and not on another, guy has a concussion those should happen regardless of the choices he makes. It just makes way more sense that pretty much everything that we see in the game happens (except for the endings ofc) despite it all being spread out across the different paths. Basically, my thought is that the mission structure is meant to represent Shadow's constantly fluctuating and inconsistent mindset throughout the journey. He doesn't know who he wants to be, and he keeps getting pulled in all different paths, while suffering from amnesia and a concussion that often causes him to collapse. Guy isn't exactly in the best mental state, so honestly I'd imagine if you asked him what happened during the game he'd give conflicting and vague answers himself.

[@sirducksworthythe3rd842]

The cannon is were you fond out he is clone of the one from adventure 2 who died at end

[@TheJaredPunch]

IMO, A singular atonement: the Anti Hero, Dark Ending is the path and ending that makes the most sense to tie with the ending. The main goal of this path is to keep Eggman alive. Because he has to be the one to tell Shadow that he is the real Shadow. So from Westopolis up until The Doom is for the same reasons as you. Shadow’s goals and motivations are to get the Chaos Emeralds and use them to restore his memories. Nothing more, nothing less. He has real reason to side with anyone. However, I have decided to take the Hero Route of The Doom stage and lead into Cosmic Fall. Has here, instead of Black Doom successfully gaslighting Shadow into hating humans, his love for Maria will keep him off the path Black Doom is setting him up for (at least for the time being). This leads into Iron Jungle, where Shadow runs into his Android copies. But the true ending won’t work if Shadow sees himself as an Android. And if Shadow chooses to help Eggman defeat the GUN Soldiers, it defeats the purpose of doing the Hero Mission for Maria. So the only other course action is to help Omega take the fight to Eggman ASAP and attack his blimp. Eggman isn’t going to die here, because Eggman would eventually be confronted anyways if he doesn’t help Black Doom on the Comet or help Vector find the computer room. Cosmic Fall’s beginning cutscene just before Shadow is confronted by the Commander makes more sense. By this point, the flashbacks with Maria and Eggman’s Shadow Android plot is leaving Shadow distressed and confused. So the confrontation with the Commander is the final nail in the coffin for Shadow’s actions going forward (no matter the Hero or Dark Endings). Slightly Hero path Shadow is the most consistent version of Shadow in this game IMO. This gives the final confrontation with Eggman on the arc more meaning. And even if it requires Shadow to bend to Black Doom’s will (again), it isn’t enough to sway Shadow into turning against humanity like he attempted beforehand. The only problem with the ending in relations with the true ending is that it makes it seem like Shadow immediately forgets that he wanted to protect the arc. So instead, let’s make it so that Black Doom decides to threat the Ark if Shadow doesn’t comply to return to Earth (where needs the Chaos Emeralds at to complete his plans). That gives Shadow a reason to leave the arc for now. And then everything from then on should be the same. Everyone (Eggman included) try to convince Shadow to not buy into Black Doom’s BS, but the latter successfully brings the Black Comet into to earth. From there, Black Doom reveals the truth about his relations with Gerald and Shadow’s creation. Team Chaotix are still on the Arc and managed to find Gerald’s recording offscreen, and Gerald’s video restores Shadow’s resolve to fight Black Doom and save the world. The only flaw with this path being that The Chaotix’s mission to collect the Secret Discs are left out of field.

[@andrewt7264]

My canon path is pretty close, with the same reasoning up to the Doom. I do think Shadow would have helped Maria save everyone in the Doom just because of their bond and Shadow having a heart like Maria's at first (if you go with Gerald's journal in Sonic Battle). Then I think in Iron Jungle Shadow would want answers from Eggman and side with Omega in tracking him down (which would also give a little bit of closure to the Heroes plot thread). Finally Shadow is super confused by his flashback and Eggman in Cosmic Fall. Hero ending more likely. From that ending he would definetely want the answers mentioned in the opening of Last Way. Only thing is it doesn't answer how the Commander gets back to GUN HQ or how Shadow and friends get to the Black Comet.

[@andrewt7264]

Oh, it also puts Vector in the oh so important computer room for the ending.

[@trentonhamilton645]

They've got all the right materials to write a compelling story for Shadow navigating his past after Sonic Heroes concluded; however, there is one major problem that prevented this game from being just as good as the Adventures and Heroes.... It relies too heavily on non-linear pathways, while I understand how essential it is to do a complex mystery on Shadow's relationship with Professor Gerald, Maria, Commander Tower and Black Doom, it does suffer from lack of sequential focus resulting in multiple plot holes, awkward endings (mainly more than 10), and don't even get me started on the missions, especially Mad Matrix and Lost Impact. 😑

[@jakeproven256]

By the way, I think Black Doom might've been voiced by the same guy who voiced Shokinabo, in TMNT 2003.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Sean Schemmel

[@jakeproven256]

@@ThatSonicGamer Yes, he voiced several 4kids characters, didn't know it was him, I guess he just used the same voice for Black Doom and Shokinabo.

[@BloodSonicFlux]

Shadow doesn't do what anyone tells him to? Weird i couldve sworn his first appearance was SA2, where he listened to Eggman and did what he told him to on quite a few occassions.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

@@BloodSonicFlux He used Eggman from the very start to get what he wanted: To fulfill Maria’s Wish of destroying everyone on that Planet

[@BloodSonicFlux]

@ThatSonicGamer exactly, which is the same rationale Shadow used in the opening cutscene for this game.

[@RealtaoNua]

I choose Multiverse mode.. multiple diverging Timelines!

[@supersonicmario56]

The path that I personally think is canon doesn't really exist here since: 1. The levels where the Chaotix appear have to be included due to their contribution in the Last Story. 2. Shadow has to encounter every character (barring Omega) at least once since they all appear in the Last Story as well. 3. Both The Doom and Lost Impact are automatically canon due to Maria. You can already see the issues forming here. If 2 canon levels exist in the same column, then only one can be played, along with the fact that only one character can be encountered. The later wouldn't be much of an issue if it wasn't for the fact that many of the characters only have 1 appearance in 1 level, primarily Amy and the Chaotix. Cryptic Castle, The Doom, Lost Impact, and Prison Island are all canon in my book, but they all can never be played on the same playthrough.

[@petercottantail7850]

"where's that damn chaos emerald?"

[@rafagamer5915]

"where's that damn fourth chaos emerald?"

[@Labuddhista]

To me he went a bit more evil but he still anti hero

[@idfkwhatyouwantfromme]

I really like this one. Makes a lot of sense. Counterpoint: the canon path should be one where he helps all the chaotix members.

[@EmeralBookwise]

I don't think there is a canon path. There's a bit of truth and lies in every mission, all of it representing Shadow's fragmented memories and fractured perception.

Litterally none of them. The final story takes events from every path which makes no sense. You would assume its cannon the hero mission no questions asked.. but it isnt.

[@ironicallyuncreative]

this video ties the final story pretty well to all endings kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ2VY6uurribpsk

[@olliesidaway]

The only story that’s 100% canon is the last story. The issue that creates is that not one story path is able to create the outcome seen in the last story. Characters aren’t in locations they should be, story threads are mentioned that only happen in one or two stories, etc. not one path could feasibly lead to the last story without making contradictions.

[@MSCDonkeyKong]

The real answer is expert mode is the canon one

[@jorgealexisromero1645]

For me it was the two city stages, then prision island because the aliens are looking info on the Ark, then the canyon , skytroopers and after the battle he ifinds himself in the jungle stage chasing the doctor, then we have a flashback mission, follow by the stage with the shadow androids then going to space with another flashback stage, the race with sonic, then the mission where you need to destroy the ark defenses with the flying thing, cosmic fall as a stage where you need to scape the ark and then I think you can mash together all the comets stages

[@HeroOfLight13]

Officially speaking, I think Iizuka said that the pure neutral path is the “canon” path but I always felt like that was just a cheap easy answer. Yours definitely feels more logical lol.

[@HeroOfLight13]

Personally speaking tho, the “definitive” canon path needs to include more than just 5-6 stages, there’s just too many story beats to cover there lol. It needs to be at least a 15 stage game to get all the juicy bits lmao

[@artistanthony1007]

That's actually what Last Story confirms and has a bit of a Dark in it, this is even seen in that first wordless CGI Cutscene with it mainly having aspects of Neutral but with some of Dark in there.

[@Bossu]

Right off the bat i think you're on the wrong track. I personally think he'd totally help out Black Doom in Westopolis. Without any outside influence, he already thinks of humans as some pathetic race. Then this weird alien shows up who not only knows Shadow's name but hints at his past by saying "...as promised.". From the very first few lines Shadow expresses his desire to figure out his past and, even if nothing would come of it, he'd want to find out what Black Doom knows. No, i think he totally goes down the dark path in the first mission.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

@@Bossu And that’s totally fine

[@ironicallyuncreative]

This video by @Hard_Pretzel proposes a pretty interesting theory as to what the actual canon path to Shadow 05 is kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ2VY6uurribpsk

[@truthspreader1996]

You did good!

[@travismontgomery1897]

This is a valid video. Edit: Grammar correction.

[@rickyasbury1878]

However there’s one problem there IS one route where shadow doesn’t kill dr.eggman which if I’m correct is the semi dark bad ending

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Ah the beauty of choice. Pick the path you feel is the most canon. It's great to hear how others see this going

[@Rustyhobo5]

the story tree while a little underwhelming was a great idea and good implementation for its time

[@jeremiahwilliams6131]

What's that music in the beginning?

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Episode Shadow, Level Select, Sonic Forces

[@jeremiahwilliams6131]

@@ThatSonicGamer thank you

[@turnergaming125]

Whats the outro song name?

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Cyber Space 3-2 Go Slap from the hit game Sonic Frontiers! Now available in your area

[@teamsonicchannel4400]

Doesnt eggman have to be canon as he ends up admitting that he lied inast story

[@artistanthony1007]

Yes, Shadow was pretty much told he was made by him and that little thing is on his mind but he never actually goes full evil with or believe he's an Android unlike in the one route prior to Last Story where he did.

[@TrueDarkVanitas]

each path has a name. which one was this one?

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Path 112: Reclaimed Heart

[@Isaiahmob06]

I love Shadow 05 it's so hated tho.

[@SpeedPatrolOne3]

Bro where did you get your hat? I want one lol

[@ThatSonicGamer]

GameStop my friend

[@deslardesslok]

12:54a.m. 5/21/2024

[@axellea5671]

So speaking of all 326 routes, did you ever run into a glitch where no matter what you do, you just get a total score of zero? I've been running them lately on the ps2 and when it comes to the gun fortress i just cant get a hero score aside from 0 and E. Dark is fine. Got an A for it. I've unplugged the card and re-did a brand new game without saving or having any previous playing, I've gone into mission selection, I've replayed the entirely same route like 6 times over. The only thing i can think of that i didnt try is taking a different route to the fortress. Can't find anything online, just stuff like "why was shadow rated poorly?" "Making shadow the hedgehog better." Game critic stuff.

[@ThatSonicGamer]

Never seen that happen with me

[@robertanderson9447]

I think how it works is, when you finish a Hero mission your Dark points are subtracted from overall score, and vice versa. There's not a lot of ways to get Hero points in that level, so it's tough. Try these: A: If you've gotten either of the Final Haunt endings, use the Heal Cannon in the Shadow boxes to heal soldiers and boost your Hero score. and/or B: Finish the level as quickly as possible and rely on the time bonus. Getting the 5 secret keys will help a little. If that doesn't work I don't know what it is.

[@axellea5671]

I've never seen it happen before, never seen it happen to anyone, there's nothing online about it... but the hero and dark score differences makes A LOT of sense. My go-to is to take the big gattling gun from the giant gun mechs and repeatedly build up my dark gauge for unlimited ammo and health so i just sprint through shooting everything in my path. So I'll get like twelve thousand dark points opposed to one thousand hero points. I annihilate almost everything and it completely outweighs the hero points and just hits me with 0. It's not the stage or picking the certain side. It's me and how I'm going through it.

[@robertanderson9447]

@@axellea5671 Yeah that'll do it. Same thing with Final Haunt Dark, since every enemy in that level is an alien. Some people will even intentionally die after hitting the final checkpoint just to erase the hero points.

[@axellea5671]

So it was totally the idea of shooting everything in sight and the Dark score completely outweighing things. It's not a bug it's a feature. Got my A rank though.

[@stardragon01]

Semi Dark as the canon ending. No offense it does make the most sense. But I the least interesting path. Hero: Save the world or proved he the better hedgehog Semi Hero: He a mistake or ark protector Normal: Android and new leader of the Eggman Empire. Dark: Rule the with Black Doom or without. Semi Dark: Lonewolf or blind loyalty to Doom. Semi dark doesn’t even have it own theme.

[@gc6096]

👍👍

[@tomcurl8034]

your logic seems sound

[@nothingthestreamerisonline]

wow............

[@hatbros4463]

I prefer the together with Maria path

[@BananaR777]

Eh \ thought the guns were pretty unique, look at the black dooms factions guns, and the omochao gun

[@robertwyatt3912]

None of the paths are canon.

[@mrwizzardknight]

I don’t want a canon path! What I want them to do is to fix this game’s total mess of a new story making brand new cutscenes in between where Shadow goes through all the game’s stages the exact same way in super hard mode only way much easier! He only fights the primary and second bosses ONCE! Near the end! Oh yeah! And I want him to get the six remaining emeralds in the six remaining stages! Those secondary bosses being; GUN Fortress, Sonic and Diablon, Lava Shelter, Egg Dealer and Final Haunt, Black Doom! Again! For the primary bosses, I want them all to be fought near the end of the game! And all those other emeralds Shadow got, their all fakes!

[@EternityVoid_]

So basically, you want a remake

[@mrwizzardknight]

@@EternityVoid_ Yes I want a remake!