Shadow and Maria had dreams
Shadow’s tragic backstory centers around his friendship with Maria Robotnik, Eggman’s terminally ill cousin who he was meant to save as a research subject on immortality. We see a couple of scenes of Shadow reflecting on their friendship, including what looks like a dream sequence in which the two imagined living on Earth. They lived on Space Colony Ark most of Maria’s life, but we see a shot here of the two sitting together in a field of flowers.
Maria wanted nothing more than to be able to live on Earth again, and she and Shadow would dream of going down there until her untimely death acted as the catalyst for the events of Sonic Adventure 2. It’s still unclear just how Sonic 3 will portray her death, but the trailers aren’t subtle about her demise.
