Guilt Tripping

"Guilt Tripping" is the ninth episode in the Sonic Boom television series. It first aired on 17 December 2014 in France and on 17 January 2015 in the United States.

Summary
Sonic and Tails stumble upon a village being plundered by bandits. They save the town but can't leave because the villagers guilt them into staying every time they try.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Badniks
 * Bee Bot (multiple)
 * Crab Bot (multiple)
 * Motobug (multiple)
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Fastidious Beaver
 * Gogobas
 * Gogoba Chief
 * Team Sonic
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Weasel Bandits

Locations:
 * Sonic Boom World
 * Bygone Island
 * Gogoba Village
 * Sonic's Shack
 * Dr. Eggman's Lair

Items:
 * Meh Burger
 * Wrist controller

Vehicles:
 * Hoverboard

Plot

 * For the transcript of this episode, see Guilt Tripping/Transcript.

On a peaceful day on Bygone Island, Sonic and Tails race each other through the jungle on the latter's Hoverboards. As they enter the treetops, Tails takes the lead due to his superior knowledge of the boards. Sonic pulls a stunt to reclaim first place, but fails to notice a low branch, which knocks him off his Hoverboard and down to the ground. Sonic finds his Hoverboard in some bushes where he and Tails then notice a trio of criminals, called the Weasel Bandits, ransacking and stealing from the Gogobas in Gogoba Village. The heroes approach the bandits and villagers, the latter who are at peace with the theft since they claim the bandits need their possessions the most. Upon being threatened by the leader of the bandits, Sonic promptly incapacitates the gang; he and Tails then tie them up before catapulting them away using a palm tree.

The Gogobas thank the heroes, though the Gogoba Chief notes that they scattered their belongings in the battle; Tails offers to pick up the scattered goods but is politely refused by one female Gogoba, who proceeds to collect them herself despite her acute back pains. In the meantime, the villagers throw Sonic and Tails a feast to honor them, though Sonic turns it down and is ready to leave. The Chief notes that the food would be left to decompose if the heroes do not eat it, thus guilt tripping them to stay. Unnerved by the hungry Gogobas watching them eat, the duo tries to leave again but the Chief guilts them into staying the night when he mentions the hospitality his people have already provided. Sonic and Tails are subjected to more royal treatment with the Gogobas giving them a large bed and the nursery's only blanket, much to their dismay.

At night, Sonic and Tails try to sneak away but are met by the Gogobas and their Chief, who have been awake to watch over them. While the Gogobas approve of their departure, they bring up that their village would probably be destroyed by bandits while the two are away. Sonic and Tails, desperate to return home, come up with a solution: build a defense system to protect the village in their absence. When Sonic and Tails show the defense system to the Gogobas however, the villagers get caught in it just as the duo walk away. Now forced to stay, Tails is at a loss as to how they can fight guilt, but Sonic gets the idea of using the Gogobas' tactic against them. Sonic and Tails therefore face the Chief, where they try guilting him into letting them go home in order to water their plants. Eventually, the Chief concedes and Sonic and Tails are allowed to leave.

At Sonic's Shack, Sonic and Tails are glad to be free, but to their shock the Gogobas have taken residence in the shack so that Sonic could keep protecting them. As the Gogobas show the tasks they have done for Sonic to instill even more guilt, he discovers on his answering machine that Dr. Eggman had been calling him. The doctor initially left a message threatening to destroy the dam, but admits he was actually preparing an ambush a few messages later, when Sonic did not show up. As soon as the messages end, Eggman shows up at the shack with his robots to attack. However, Sonic and Tails are unable to fight properly because the Gogobas are everywhere, so they use their Hoverboards to take the fight to the air. After Sonic and Tails destroy the robots, Eggman and the Chief meet, and the heroes trick Eggman into taking the Gogobas, claiming that they were the key to their victory and that Eggman would be unstoppable if they joined him. Though the Chief wants to stay, Sonic guilts him into helping Eggman out of pity. After a brief negotiation, the Gogobas form an allegiance with Eggman and follow him back to his lair, to which Sonic and Tails celebrate. Eggman is later seen regretting his decision back home as he is subjected to the Gogobas' guilt tripping.

Continuity

 * The Weasel Bandits are introduced, which would return as prominent members of the Lightning Bolt Society.

Trivia

 * The Gogoba Chief made a cameo in the previous episode, "Eggheads".
 * This episode is the first to feature Eggman as a side-role.
 * This is the first episode where Amy does not appear.
 * The Hoverboard Tails uses in this episode is the same one he used in "The Sidekick".
 * Fastidious Beaver's appearance in this episode to correct the Gogobas' grammar form of "who" mirrors the exact same thing he did to Sonic in "The Sidekick".