It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog

"It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" is the fifty-second and final episode in the Sonic Boom television series' first season. It first aired on 20 September 2015 in France and on 14 November 2015 in the United States.

Synopsis
In his most diabolical plan yet, Dr. Eggman decides to band together with all of Sonic's enemies. Shadow the Hedgehog, joins the fight.

Appearances

 * Ball Bot (multiple)
 * Badniks
 * Bee Bot (multiple)
 * Crab Bot (multiple)
 * Motobug (multiple)
 * Cubot
 * Giant Robot
 * Lady Walrus
 * Moth Bot
 * Octopus Bot
 * Orbot
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Team Eggman
 * Charlie
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Lightning Bolt Society
 * Dave the Intern
 * Tree Spy
 * Weasel Bandit
 * Willy Walrus
 * Stuntbears
 * Stuntbear No. 1
 * Stuntbear No. 2
 * T.W. Barker
 * Team Sonic
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Sticks the Badger

Plot
At the beginning of the episode, Dr. Eggman is in his lair and has gathered all of the villains on Bygone Island. Included are the Lightning Bolt Society, T.W. Barker and his Stuntbears, and Charlie. Eggman says that one member has not shown up yet and explains that he has assembled the villains to finally beat Team Sonic. Meanwhile, at Amy's House, Team Sonic is busy putting together a Björnvaalden bookcase that Amy has bought at the foreign built-it-own furniture store, but all the pieces are together in the box and the directions are complicated. Back at the lair, Eggman has passed around cheese, but when somebody asks if he would like crackers, the doctor has none. Then, Eggman hears a voice behind him. It turns out to be Shadow the Hedgehog, and Eggman is overjoyed with him joining the team. The villains then start to argue about Shadow being cooler than all of them, and Eggman decides he should train his recruits in team-building exercises.

While Team Sonic continues trying to build the bookcase, training starts for Eggman's recruits. In one game, the villains pass around an invisible laser, saying "zip", "zap", or "zop", but when it comes to Shadow, he does not speak. Eventually growing tired of their games, Shadow states to Eggman that he and the villains he gathered are all fools and decides to go off on his own, shocking the recruits. He then teleports off. As Team Sonic goes out to buy a new bookcase after Knuckles accidentally breaks a part, Eggman despairs over losing Shadow as an ally, certain he was the key to his team's victory; however, his recruits insist they do not need him and voice their trust in Eggman's leadership, which gives him the encouragement he needs to go through with the plan anyway.

Back in the Village Center, Team Sonic thinks they are done with the bookcase, but there are a lot of parts laying around, and the bookcase itself looks horrible. Eggman then shows up with his Giant Robot. All the villains attack, and Team Sonic has to split up in order to defeat them. For example, Amy and Sticks chase after the Lightning Bolt Society because they have stolen Lady Walrus's purse, Tails pursues Willy Walrus with his plane, and Knuckles battles T.W. Barker piloting the Octopus Bot. Charlie then comes in his mech, but Sonic has an idea. He stands on one of the boards, resembling a seesaw, and calls to Eggman to fire on the other end. The seesaw catapults Sonic into Charlie's mech, and it crashes into Giant Robot, disabling them both. Sonic then threatens Eggman.

Shadow then reappears, standing on Giant Robot's shoulder, unable to watch Eggman fail further. The hedgehogs then duel, with Eggman trying to keep up with the attack. Shadow is able to knock Sonic into a pit, and Eggman gloats that Shadow has finally beaten his nemesis. Eggman takes a selfie, but Eggman forgets to take the flash off, blinding Shadow momentarily. Sonic then gets up and makes his move, knocking Shadow into a building. Shadow swears that the two will meet again but on his terms and then vanishes, but blames Eggman for his defeat. The rest of the team comes back and fist-bump each other. Eggman tries to retreat inside his Eggmobile, but the team walks toward it.

Team Sonic is then playing a volleyball-like game using the Eggmobile with Eggman inside. Watching Eggman being thrown around, Orbot and Cubot express their fondness of this adventure and mention that they cannot wait for more adventures with the same eight people and four main locals. Cubot adds that maybe they should start an internet petition just to be sure.

Goofs

 * When Charlie catches Dave the Intern in his mech when he falls over, Charlie and his mech are much smaller than normal.
 * When Eggman is reciting the rules of Zip, Zap or Zop, Shadow is seen standing back from the rest of the group. However, when T.W. Barker passes the "imaginary ball" to him, he is standing directly opposite.

Production
According to Alan Denton, it was initially decided during the writing process of the first season of the Sonic Boom television series that Shadow was not going to be used. The reason was that if they had to, it would have to be in a way that did not make fun of him or made him look stupid or goofy. After a lot of work though, the writers came up with "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" which they believed both served the character and made for a funny episode.

Trivia

 * This episode marks the debut of Shadow the Hedgehog in the Sonic Boom TV Series.
 * The music used when the villains are training is based off The A-Team theme song and was also used in "Closed Door Policy".
 * The foreign built-it-own furniture store Amy got her bookcase from was first mentioned on the introduction page of Sonic Boom #5.
 * The "Battleforce Galactica" franchise mentioned by Dave the Intern is a parody of the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
 * Eggman breaks the fourth wall by mentioning that Shadow is the second most popular character in the canon series.
 * Orbot and Cubot also break the fourth wall by saying what they expect in season two at the end of the episode.