The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 44

“Countdown to Armageddon” - Sonic the Hedgehog #46

It’s been a hectic two weeks around here and, even though I still have a butt ton of stuff I need to do, I think things have finally settled down enough for me to continue with this series.

And this time we have an important milestone issue people!!!!

So Sally has called the whole gang together, including Uncle Chuck, Geoffrey, and the newly introduced Wolf Pack, for a bonfire conference. Supposedly to hash out battle plans but mainly it’s an excuse for reminiscing on past events, making accusations, and to explore character dynamics. 

(I told you there was a traitor setting Antoine and Sonic up in #40)  
      

Geoffrey is the first one to start some shit, naturally, by accusing Uncle Chuck. This sets Sonic off and the two get into it. Ending with Geoffrey actually threatening the hedgehog’s life.  

You know, for a supposed professional, Geoffrey doesn’t always think things through. Like, what does he expect Sally to do after he straight up murders someone she cares about in front of several witnesses? Give him a big kiss? Likewise, love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Sonic’s the best defense against Robotnik at the moment and killing him would be a waste of a valuable resource.     

Fortunately, Antoine’s there to save the day!

So remember how I complained that Ant didn’t learn anything at the end of Mecha Madness? I think this makes up for that. Antoine may still be bitter about Sonic’s treatment of him, but I think he’s come to understand that retaliation and revenge does nothing to solve his problems nor make him a hero. In addition, even at his lowest point, Antoine has never considered murder as an option. He cares far too deeply about people to ever use violence for anything other than defense.  
   

He also takes this as an opportunity to explain why he dislikes Geoffrey so much. And turns out, it’s not just because he’s a jerk nor a romantic rival neither. 

Awww, look at baby Twan with his papa! 

All of this sets up further story development for both of them and an intense rivalry between them that’ll last through out the comic’s run.  

So after Sally breaks up the fight, Antoine storms off in a rage and everybody else talks about him behind his back. We get a big old exposition dump about his backstory and it’s a lot to cover so I’m going to break it up into chunks. 

Ok so first off, this is a slight recon. Remember way back in the early days of the comic, Antoine would brag about his past as a knight in the king’s service? This made him seem a lot older than what he really was and now that the writers have finally decided the time frame of events they needed to explain this discrepancy. By making his past boasts a bunch of tall tales not only fixes the continuity but further ties into what we know of his character.

Second, Antoine was brave in the beginning. All through the miniseries he had stepped up and saved the day. It wasn’t until after his run in with Krudzu that his renown cowardliness started to show itself.      

Now before all you nitpickers start ringing all of the continuity alarms, this does make sense when you stop to think about it.

“But Bunnie didn’t meet Antoine until after her robotization!”  

Officially meet and greet, no. But there’s nothing to indicate that they didn’t run into one another before. Perhaps on a reconnaissance mission to the Southern Sector, back before/during the miniseries era, Ant save her life. But, due to the danger, they never stopped to talk to one another. They had to run their separate ways. Never knowing who the other really was. Only to have fate bring them together again later.
       

Remember how Bunnie immediately took an interest in Antoine when he first showed up? Remember how she continued to believe in him and stand by him when no one else did, even though he never gave her much reason to? Remember how she’s carried a torch for him over the years even though he’s never seen her as anything other than a friend? 

Is it really that far fetch to believe that this one act of courage and kindness was what sparked her love for him? Having a literal knight come sweeping in and rescue you, is enough to set any teenage girl’s heart a flutter. Especially one that has a lot of self esteem issues and, as we’ll find out later, abandonment issues.      

“But then why didn’t they recognize each other in issue 3?”
       

Well there’s nothing in the dialogue to indicate that Bunnie doesn’t recognize him. She asks, and I quote, “Oh my, Who is that cute little old soldier boy?”  Meaning she does recognize what he is, a knight/hero, possibly because he saved her once before, but not who he is. In other words, his name or rank or anything deeper.

For Antoine’s part, she’s just been robotized and that run in with her previously was only a few minutes without time for any real introductions or such. Plus as a Freedom Fighter, rescuing civilians from Swatbots/badniks is routine for him. So he could be forgiven for not immediately recognizing her or remembering that one incident.       

My one real complaint about this story is how exposition-y the dialogue sounds. There are times when characters lose their distinctive “voice” and they sound really unnatural. Though I do love that Bunnie’s default description of Antoine when describing him to others is “ever the dashing hero”.  

So Bunnie goes off to find Ant and we get this…..

Afterwards the night ends with nothing getting done and with Ant and Geoff still at each others throats. 

There’s also a second story concerning Knuckles hunting for the Sword of Acorn for Sally. It’s an important McGuffin that’ll pop up later on down in the comic.