‘Sonic the Hedgehog’: What is the Master Emerald?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 brings Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) back from the Mushroom Planet, introduces Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba), and allows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) to use his Super Transformation for the first time in theaters. All these plot elements revolve around the fabled Master Emerald.

What is Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Master Emerald?

In the first Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie, we learn that the Blue Speedster arrives on Earth after being gifted a bag of teleportation rings by Longclaw, a member of the Owl Tribe. Longclaw sends Sonic away and stays behind to fight off a group of unknown attackers. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 expands on this mysterious scene, explaining how Sonic and Longclaw are connected to the Master Emerald.

Long before the first movie’s events unfold, the Echidna Clan unites the seven Chaos Emeralds, creating the Master Emerald. This powerful artifact of infinite energy allows its bearer to shape reality, either to conjure miracles or summon unspeakable nightmares. The Owls feared the Echidna Clan would use the Master Emerald to wage war, which was a fair assumption, given the group’s warrior ways. So, the Owls attacked the Echidnas, stole the Master Emerald, and hid it on Earth.

The people attacking Longclaw and Sonic at the beginning of the first movie are the last adult members of the Echidna Clan. The warriors leave an infant Knuckles and go after Longclaw to reclaim the Master Emerald and their glory. Longclaw had anticipated the attack, so she hid the map leading to the Master Emerald with Sonic’s affairs before sending him alone on a journey through different planets. Longclaw and the Echidnas die during their confrontation, turning Sonic and Knuckles into tragic orphans.

What happens to the Master Emerald in Sonic the Hedgehog 2?

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles works with Dr. Robotnik to pursue Sonic, retrieve the map, and find the Master Emerald. That happens because, as far as Knuckles’ knowledge goes, Sonic is the last member of the tribe responsible for the decimation of his people. Knuckles is eventually betrayed by Robotnik, who claims the jewel’s power for himself. That forces Knuckles and Sonic to put their differences aside and join forces to avoid the world’s destruction.

In the battle against Dr. Robotnik and his giant mecha, the Master Emerald is shattered into pieces. After that, Sonic manages to use the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and defeat Dr. Robotnik. Knuckles manages to use his powers to compress all the pieces of the Master Emerald and reforge the jewel. However, the movie doesn’t make it clear if the Chaos Emeralds are once again contained inside the Master Emerald or if all these jewels are separate entities after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will most likely expand on the mystical artifacts. Still, looking at the Sonic games reveals how the Master Emerald can return to the cinematic universe.

The movie’s Master Emerald is quite different from the Sonic games

In the Sonic games, the Chaos Emerald was always independent from the Master Emerald. The Chaos Emeralds have the power to bend time and space, besides granting the infinite energy needed for Sonic to achieve his Super Transformation. The Master Emerald, on its turn, can either increase or nullify the power of the Chaos Emerald. Some games use the Master Emerald to prevent villains from wreaking havoc with the Chaos Emeralds, while in others, the giant green jewel is a tool the heroes use to conquer mighty foes.

In the games, the Master Emerald is also a prison for an entity named Chaos. Chaos is a being of pure energy and one of the first guardians of the Chaos Emeralds. However, due to an attack by the Knuckles Clan, Chaos lost its mind and went on a rampage that could have destroyed the world. The Knuckles Clan, realizing the errors of their ways, sealed Chaos inside the Master Emerald, becoming the jewel’s eternal protector.

The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have only scratched the surface of the Master Emerald’s lore. They have simplified the relic’s story while keeping its connection to the Echidnas. However, the cinematic universe still has to explain where the Chaos Emeralds come from and how they will be related to the Master Emerald in the future. If they draw inspiration from the games, the upcoming movies and TV shows of the Sonic franchise might get even wilder than they already are.