Dragonball Super is getting very good at setting up cliffhangers. A few stories are now concurrently happening, and they are beginning to delve into them at the perfect rate to keep viewers hooked, especially long-time fans.
This episode opens with Future Trunks still in our new with his new outfit, doing some “image training” at Bulma’s house. He imagines his battles with Black so intensely he actually begins to sweat. Through various situations he runs in his head, Trunks always seems to be defeated no matter how he reacts to Black’s attack patterns. Trunks is still feeling unsure of his abilities since Black appeared.
Meanwhile, the Professor and Bulma have been working steadily on the Time Machine. They now have a full energy tank for the machine, Bulma has fixed all the physical issues, and even young Pilaf lends a hand with the programming, to Bulma’s surprise. Pilaf somehow knows how to code, apparently very well.
Back outside with Future Trunks, a crash interrupts his mental exercises when Goku, Beerus and Whis all return to Earth with news of Black’s possible origins. They have lunch because Goku has to eat after every trip, and they take the time to explain what happened on the trip. Trunks is trying to figure out how Black could possibly have ki akin to a Kai. Goku smiles at his concern, and the group reminds Trunks that he hasn’t seen what Goku has become since Cell was around. Once he hears Goku has essentially reached godhood himself, Trunks isn’t so worried about how Black will be handled, or being the one who has to do it. A weight is off his shoulders…for about two seconds. His father Vegeta won’t accept his son allowing others to handle his problems, and offers him training. They are the royal blood of a warrior race after all.
Flashing back to the Kai planet where Zamasu and Gomasu were, the two gods are peacefully doing their jobs – watching over a fledging planet within their galaxy – until Zamasu sees one of the creatures on the surface begin attacking another randomly. It immediately brings to mind the “human” he just dealt with. He begins to argue to Gomasu again it might be easier to just destroy this planet before things get out of hand. The elder Kai brings Zamasu into the temple nearby, and reveals the Time Rings. Zamasu is only an apprentice and is not allowed to use these relics alone.
Gomasu explains a pretty standard time-travel ruleset with a few changes – the point it’s worn is the only moment you are allowed to return to, they can be used to travel up to 1000 years into the future of the current timeline, and no one is ever allowed to use them to go further back then when it was first worn by that person. If somehow, by mistake or intent, that happens, NOTHING should be touched or changed. Once anything significant enough has changed, another timeline is created from that moment leading into it’s own future. These are what the green rings symbolize – alternate timelines in the current universe, created by others in the past. They can only be used to travel in that specific timeline.
They take a short trip to the future of the planet they were watching. While Gomasu is attempting to show the creatures has evolved and creature a culture for themselves, yet another one begins to attack a fellow tribesmate. Zamasu sees this as solid proof – violence will beget violence forever, and it should be wiped from existence as soon as possible…just like humans.
Back on Earth, Vegeta is about to his son what he’s become. Vegeta tells Future Trunks to power up as much as possible and don’t hold anything back. Trunks reminds him they spent that year together in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and he survived it. He can handle a sparring match. Trunks goes into Super Saiyan 3, the buff, bulky form that triples strength, but cuts the speed of your attack and movements by quite a bit due to the weight. Vegeta, being…Vegeta, begins laughing at this form, skips any messing around, and jumps right to Super Saiyan Blue.
While a chorus of angelic music swells and the glow of the light almost blinds Trunks, he understands he isn’t nearly as strong as a Saiyan could be. Vegeta wastes no time beating his son to the ground, as is typical of his parenting style. He pushes Trunks to the edge, showing him what he could become if he tried. In a moment of what could be considered weakness (it certainly is by Vegeta), Trunks utters it’s fine if he doesn’t train that hard, clearly Goku and Vegeta can handle any threats to the Earth. Vegeta won’t let this stand, yelling that if you want to reach your goals, you must use your own strength, not the strength of others. Trunks becomes ever more determined.
But what’s this? The Omni-King, leader of all 12 universes, is calling Beerus! He wants to see Goku again before the Interuniversal Tournament! With all this action happening, I’m not sure how happy he’ll be to see the crew of Earth! Tune in next episode for…well, probably another cliffhanger, but you know it’s worth it!
