In order to understand the ending to Sonic Frontiers, fans need to look at the whole picture. This requires analyzing new characters such as the AI Sage, as well as the mysterious new villain only cryptically known as “The End.” After all, these endings put a fair amount of focus on them and their fates. It’s important that fans look at these scenes closely to understand just what might be coming next for the series.
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Sonic Frontiers’ Secret Boss Fight
After Super Sonic takes down the Supreme Titan, he asks if it’s truly over after a dark purple and red mist leaves the ancient mechanical weapon. According to Sage, the entity is going into space to regain its true form, which seems to be in the shape of a massive moon. Here, players learn that the true enemy of Sonic Frontiers is an embodiment of the void in the form of a gigantic godlike planet that can use its essence to take over the things it conquers. Super Sonic eventually breaks through the planet, but it nearly strikes back before Sage sacrifices herself to finish it.
In the blast, Super Sonic is thrown back down to his home planet, but Sage’s last words are “please look after father.” This refers to the father and daughter relationship Dr. Eggman and Sage built up over the course of the game, with Sage making her dying wish that Sonic take care of the scientist in her stead. Back on the planet’s surface, the Ancients’ Cyber Space opens up and frees Tails, Knuckles, and Amy as pieces of The End fall through the atmosphere and Sonic returns home. Fans then catch a brief cutscene of Eggman alone on the shore, reaching out to the meteors before hanging his head low. It’s clear that he’s aware of what’s happened to his daughter.
After the credits roll for a bit, fans will see Sonic talking with Tails, Knuckles, and Amy about their future solo plans that they decided to undertake during their respective parts of the game. It’s rather straight forward, including Amy revealing that Sticks exists in the main Sonic universe and not just the Sonic Boom spin-off. More credits roll afterwards, but if players had their difficulty on hard before fighting the Supreme Titan, then they’ll have faced The End and won. The reward for pulling this off is an achievement and a special secret ending that plays after the second half of the credits.
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Sonic Frontiers’ True Ending
The final cutscene in Sonic Frontiers starts almost the same as the first one did. Dr. Eggman is deep within a structure on the Starfall Islands, typing away at a makeshift computer as ambiance from his machine can be heard, almost sounding like a digital heartbeat. Eventually, Eggman stops typing and executes the program. The screen glitches just before the glyph that’s been following Sonic all throughout the Starfall Islands appears.
Once it shows up, Sage’s voice can be heard, calling out to her father. Eggman says “that’s my girl,” and the cutscene ends. The biggest takeaway from this is that the doctor has somehow managed to resurrect Sage, but exactly how takes some thought to figure out. The glyph on the screen was never fully explained, but it may have something to do with how the Kocos’ souls lifted into the sky and the glyph appeared when Sonic and his friends brought them peace. There’s a chance that the glyph represents Cyber Space. The Ancients used Cyber Space to upload their souls and almost their entire existence.
Sage tells Sonic at one point that she was originally just a simple AI, as seen in the Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence comic. However, when she was uploaded to Cyber Space to obtain the Ancients’ secrets for Dr. Eggman, her code was influenced by Cyber Space. She says this gave her a human form and free will. It’s most likely that due to this connection, a piece of Sage was kept in Cyber Space, which was enough for Eggman to bring her back. There isn’t much to go off of when it comes to understanding if Sage is fully restored, or if there’s more work to be done.
Overall, the true ending uses its quiet atmosphere and ambiance to fill the viewer with intrigue before giving the important reveal that Sage isn’t fully gone after her brave last stand. It leaves the player with that as their last moment with the game. It certainly feels like a tease for some DLC, or perhaps that a sequel to Sonic Frontiers is quietly in the works within Sonic Team. This should excite the fans who adored the game that more is coming so soon. It isn’t clear what, but at the very least, fans don’t have to mourn the loss of Sage in the meantime.
Sonic Frontiers is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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