 Japanese title card · “The Place Where Planets Are Born” | |
| Series | Sonic X (ソニックX), TMS Entertainment |
| Season | Season 3 (2005–2006) |
| Episode | Season 3, episode 26 · no. 78 of 78 |
| English title | “So Long Sonic” (4Kids) |
| Japanese title | 星の生まれるところ (Hoshi no Umareru Tokoro, “The Place Where Planets Are Born”) |
| Japan | Not shown on Japanese TV until 30 April 2020 (Kids Station) |
| First aired (US) | 6 May 2006 · 4Kids TV (Fox) |
| Directed by | Hajime Kamegaki |
| Written by | Kiyoko Yoshimura |
| Storyboard | Hajime Kamegaki |
| Previous episode | A Fearless Friend (S03E25) |
| Next episode | – (series finale) |
Series finale
So Long Sonic is episode 26 of Season 3 of Sonic X and the 78th of the anime’s 78 episodes. In Japan it is called “The Place Where Planets Are Born” (星の生まれるところ). It premiered in English: 4Kids aired it on 4Kids TV (Fox) on 6 May 2006, after a French TV debut on 18 April 2005, while Japanese TV only showed it on 30 April 2020. It was directed by Hajime Kamegaki and written by Kiyoko Yoshimura.
Synopsis
The Japanese version opens quietly the day after the battle, with Vanilla thanking the Chaotix and Amy and Cream bringing snacks to cheer up Tails; 4Kids cut those four minutes. Then Chris remembers the fight’s last moments: as the Final Mova’s core was about to explode, Super Shadow pushed Sonic aside, removed his Limiters and used Chaos Control to stop time so that everyone else could escape.
Shadow is not with the others afterwards, and Eggman fears he did not survive. Sonic gives a grieving Tails a seed, all he could find of Cosmo, and the Planet Eggs fly home to their worlds. With the Master Emerald in powerless shards, Chris talks to Knuckles about where home is now; he has all but given up on Earth.
Then Eggman sends him a “one-way ticket to Earth”: a pod that will take him back if he leaves within three minutes. Chris calls goodbye to Sonic, racing along below, and Eggman declares his empire back in business. In the Japanese version only, a living Shadow lays a rose on Molly’s grave. The closing shots show a plant from Cosmo’s seed in Tails’ workshop, then Chris’ ship heading home through space.
Key Moments
- Super Shadow’s Chaos Control lets everyone escape.
- Eggman gives Chris a one-way ticket to Earth.
- A plant grows from Cosmo’s seed in Tails’ workshop.
Japan vs 4Kids
- The opening scenes – almost four minutes of Vanilla thanking the Chaotix, and Amy and Cream cheering up Tails – are missing from the 4Kids dub, which is the version embedded below.
- Shadow’s fate differs. The English version leaves him presumed dead after his last Chaos Control; the Japanese (and French) version adds a scene of Shadow, alive, laying a rose on Molly’s grave (Sonic Wiki Zone, “So Long Sonic” and “Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic X)”).
- Sonic’s last conversation by the tree is with the spirit of Dark Oak in the Japanese version and with Cosmo in the English dub.
More on the English version’s changes in the Season 3 dub differences box.
Trivia
- The series finale aired in the US on 6 May 2006, closing a run that began on Fox Box in August 2003.
- Directed and storyboarded by series director Hajime Kamegaki, as were episodes 1, 26, 52 and 67 (“Testing Time”).
- Wikipedia’s series summary counts Shadow among the finale’s sacrifices, as the English version implies; Sonic Wiki Zone notes that only the Japanese version shows him alive.
- On home video: the So Long, Sonic DVD set (2007); and Discotek’s Sonic X Collection 2 (2016) and complete-series Blu-rays.
Watch the Episode
The full 4Kids English episode, uploaded by TMS Entertainment’s official “Anime! on TMS” YouTube channel (checked 6 November 2026).
Part of our Sonic X Season 3 guide. See the Sonic X series page for the cast, theme songs and home video.
Sources: titles, credits and air dates from Wikipedia’s list of Sonic X episodes and Sonic Wiki Zone, cross-checked with each other and with Luke’s original Sonic Scene episode table; synopsis written for Sonic Scene from the episode, Wikipedia’s summary and Sonic Wiki Zone’s plot notes; title card and screenshots via Sonic Wiki Zone, copied to our media library.