I bet the title got you interested, huh?

In this essay, I will outline what upsets me so much about the argument that Silver is dumb because he trusted Mephiles. Furthermore, I will propose an alternative character ought to be blamed for this, if a source must be blamed.

Okay, I'm sick of writing essays. I'm done with that formal nonsense. Let me explain why this bothers me.

As you probably know, Silver lives in a future devastated by the flames of an immortal fire demon called Iblis. Silver is desperate to stop Iblis for good, so when a mysterious stranger turns up and tells him to go into the past and kill the "Iblis Trigger," Silver unthinkingly follows his instructions.

And boy, does the fandom hate that.

Here's the thing: Silver's young. He lives in this world virtually alone, with only Blaze the cat by his side. He's desperate to save this world any way he can. So why does everyone give him flack for this?

Yeah, the mysterious stranger telling you to kill someone is a little out there, but think about it logically: someone released Iblis on the world. If one could stop them from doing that, wouldn't it fix the future? On the surface, at least, it seems fairly logical.

Without much time to think it over, it makes sense that Silver would accept this. He's probably starved for interaction with others, so his first instinct would be to trust first, suspect later. Also, he's an adorable cinnamon roll who just wants a peaceful world.

BUT! Aside from this, there's a very obvious issue about this whole situation.

Wanna know what it is?

Yep. It's Blaze.

I'd like to clarify one thing before I move on. I DO NOT hate Blaze. In fact, she's in my top ten favorite Sonic characters. Nor do I hate Silvaize, or anyone who ships it. I only take issue with the story reasons behind her being in 06. Which is...virtually nothing.

Here's the thing: she doesn't really serve much of a purpose than to be the seal for Iblis at the end of Silver's story. She hangs around in the background, calls Silver naive, then sacrifices herself and is never spoken of again.

So...why is she there? Popularity of the character, I assume.

This gets weird when you consider that she's much more experienced than Silver. She's been on adventures before, and she's tough. So...why is Silver the one getting flack for believing Mephiles, when Blaze just chills in the background and also doesn't say anything about it?

If anything, it's worse with her because we know she's smarter than that. She's experienced and able to deal with shady characters and liars. In fact, she even confirms this HERSELF in a cutscene (if you can call it that...) from Team Sonic Racing:

In case the text isn't clear, here's the quote:

"Vector, I am a princess. People lie to me daily. It is my job to find the truth so I know who I can trust."

Huh. Really, Your Highness?

So, why is she so keen on trusting Mephiles? Even when Silver's having doubts about the plan of killing the Iblis Trigger, Blaze calls him naive and reminds him that this is their only shot at fixing the future. She's basically doing the same thing Silver is, but he's the one who gets attacked for it. Weird. :/

Anyway, those are my comprehensive thoughts on this! If you've actually read this far, thank mew so much for actually caring enough to want to know my thoughts! *gives cookie*

Stay safe and healthy out there! :D