During a discussion detailing what could help the IDW line improve its storytelling, a point I made against Sega's mandates is its insistence on keeping the characters, Sonic especially, from steering too much from the archetypes Sega enforces on them.

Which is what both directly and indirectly results in Shadow's infection; unanimously agreed by the fandom to be one of, if not the worst part of the comic thus far; as Sega insists that Shadow's rivalry with Sonic be his most prominent focus while also not allowing Sonic to be challenged by Shadow since he... I guess can't be phased by anything Shadow does to him, since he's the main character who can do no wrong.

Which leaves Shadow to self-sabotage himself in an astounding display of character vandalism.

We all know this. And at a base level I'm sure we all know why this is also terrible. But for good measure before I suggest my alternative, it's important to recap why this moment doesn't work for not just Shadow, but also for Sonic.

...otherwise you could skip to the final section for the actual point behind the title but trust me, there's more to this than just “Modern Shadow bad, Dreamcast/4Kids Shadow good”.

The moment itself, admittedly, opens brilliantly. Shadow is rightfully angry at Sonic for letting him influence their last encounter and indirectly allowing the Zombot Virus to spread. This makes for great, natural tension in a relationship that's usually more about mutual respect despite having opposite perspectives on heroism.

But rather than taking advantage of that; letting this be a moment for Sonic to learn more about himself through this exchange with Shadow, or letting this be a moment for Shadow to reconsider how he feels about Sonic as a rival and as a hero; Shadow himself is derailed after their all-too-brief exchange because Sonic always has to get the last word in the end and isn't allowed to change beyond his usual schtick of being the determined do-gooder.

So if Shadow can't win and Sonic can't be challenged, then Shadow's ultimately always going to get the short end of the stick in the argument, which trivializes the whole point of having one in the first place. At least between two characters who are both supposed to be protagonists with good points to make. And in this case, it results in Shadow being so angry that his train of rational thought sends him on a self-inflicted spiral to infection. Which is wrong on so many levels.

Shadow's anger against Sonic wasn't pronounced enough to realistically interfere with his sense of judgment, or his drive to do the right thing for the planet first and foremost, and to have him do otherwise made his earlier argument look hypocritical because he also put his personal feelings above doing whatever's necessary to save the planet, the exact thing he gave Sonic such shit for in the first place.

Which granted, might be fine if for one, that was better-established, and two, it was done in a way that didn't spit on Shadow's usual principles as a character, but it does neither of those things because Shadow's never put on the defensive since... well, he was barely allowed to talk to Sonic for more than a page before going off to kick ass and take names. Including his own, because by god he slandered it by the end of that issue.

We know Shadow's not an emotional person and he's the kind of character who'll take drastic measures and make ruthless sacrifices to further his own goals for justice; qualities that should always shine through in every decision he makes. And yet, his infection provides us with none of those things. His grudge with Sonic becomes more important than helping the city even though logically you'd expect Shadow to make the opposite decision despite, or even because of this fact.

And as a result, none of the choices he makes are in favor of the one thing he's trying to defend in the first place since he's too busy trying to prove a point in an argument that, frankly, Shadow himself already won at that point in time. It's absurd on so many levels. And that needs to change.

Ian Flynn's original idea was for Shadow to be infected by losing his energy upon using his Inhibitor Rings to fight a horde of Zombots. Which is more in-line with his character and provides more of an opportunity for Sonic to regret what happened to Shadow instead of more or less shrugging it off since Shadow basically deserved it for being so stupid... but I think we can go further than that, while still abiding by Sega's mandate of keeping the focus on Shadow and Sonic's rivalry.

Essentially, focus more on Sonic being on the defensive and Shadow being on the offensive, rather than just having that argument last a page, go nowhere (while Shadow's still around), and have Shadow get infected soon thereafter through contrived bullshit that barely has anything to do with their debate.

Specifically, provide Sonic with the harsh reality that he's more than capable of making mistakes by having him be the one to infect Shadow.

Picture this. Rather than having Shadow simply say that Sonic deserved to get infected, Shadow would relentlessly and harshly deliver a chilling lecture to Sonic about how distracting Shadow from doing his job to protect the planet is what was ultimately responsible for its destruction. That this, along with Sonic being infected, now makes Sonic untrustworthy; any advice Sonic tries to provide about the Zombots would get immediately shot down by Shadow, and Shadow goes further by saying that Sonic is a liability whose infection will only result in others getting the Virus too. This is a colder Shadow who's absolutely done with Sonic, who no longer respects or is confident in Sonic, because in his eyes, Sonic isn't a hero anymore. Not only did Sonic deserve to get infected, but he also doesn't deserve to be called a protector after the conga line of trouble Sonic has brought to the table from the moment Shadow first tried to get involved. And with that, Shadow orders Sonic to not get entangled in the rescue mission at all, and to run off somewhere where his infection won't contaminate any more survivors.

Now, all this could, and I think should strike a chord in Sonic. He's not used to being bossed around, he's not used to being defied by people he usually trusts and respects, and he's not used to those same people accusing him of being less than what he knows he is. Sonic's a character who sticks to his principles no matter what, and who doesn't let others sway what he thinks it means to be a hero; and would naturally ignore Shadow's demands to try and prove he's still the same guy no matter what Shadow says. Not necessarily angrily or arrogantly, but more just because it's in his nature to help, even if some people think he's doing the opposite. Which ends up backfiring as Sonic, in the middle of clearing a path for some survivors, accidentally collides with Shadow and spreads the infection to him.

At this point, Shadow snaps. Now forced to be just as much of a risk to humanity as Sonic himself, he becomes infuriated and attacks Sonic directly. But he soon cuts himself short when he notices the infection spreading further just as Shadow's about to get the upper hand. Shadow is forced to run away to keep the Virus from spreading, but has made one fatal error that would keep him from staving it off as efficiently as Sonic; while Shadow can run just as fast, his stamina isn't nearly as consistent (as evidenced by his fall from the ARK in SA2), and so Shadow ends up tiring himself out faster without any immediate support on-hand, and uses the last of his strength to isolate himself in a remote location, unable to fight the Metal Virus back any further. He endures his transformation alone, away from any immediate danger... at least until his zombified form catches up to the population. That last part would likely be featured in another issue rather than having Shadow's re-introduction and infection all happen in the same instalment.

This sentiment could even last longer than just the one arc, assuming that Sega wants to have Shadow stick to being an asshole who no longer considers Sonic to be an equal in any way, and having this moment be the transition point between peak-game-Shadow and mandate-Shadow. He'd still be focused on protecting the world his way, but when it comes to Sonic, he has no patience for anything he does anymore, because Sonic, even after the Metal Virus is dealt with, would have done nothing to earn Shadow's respect back.

There'd still be some snags here and there when it comes to how mandates flat-out incorrectly perceive Shadow's relationship with Team Dark, but if you're gonna force him to be more of a Vegeta-type character to Sonic, you might as well justify it once the initial qualities of Shadow's character begin to get contradicted.

It's not perfect, but I think it does still work in this case, at least better than either option that was initially drafted for the twist. Sonic sticks to his guns while also being given a moment that forces him to reflect on his choices more clearly, and Shadow sticks to his guns while not being given a moment that... does the opposite of that. Their more tense rivalry is both justified and can be further explored in the future, all while abiding by Daddy Sega's iron grip on their new interpretations of the characters. At least hypothetically, because I've never met Daddy Sega and his belt might be more painful than I initially would have expected it to be. Might be studded with spikes for all I know, that is on-brand for their spiny mascot.

So... thoughts?