Dragon Ball Super Episode 62
“So what if I’m a sinner? I will still protect this world!” However, destiny has slowly become a growing presence in this latest story arc. Zamasu certainly feels like he’s receiving some divine right and doing important work with his Zero Mortality Plan. Future Trunks is also a character that really connects to this concept though. Back in Dragon Ball Z’s Cell Saga he was an agent of destiny that helped prevent the destruction of the world in a way that was uniquely specific to him. The same is true in Dragon Ball Super and if it wasn’t for Future Trunks’ heads up about Goku Black, Goku and friends would be in much worse shape than they are now. “I Will Defend the World!” plays even harder into this overall theme as it illustrates just how driven Future Trunks is to kill Goku Black. He doesn’t just want to help out with Goku Black’s end; he believes that it’s his job to finish. This episode pushes Future Trunks one step closer to that destiny and underscores just how grand this obsession of his is. “I Will Defend the World!”” begins with an exciting introduction that’s all about making a spectacle out of Future Trunks’ fancy new “Super Trunks” form. The new plateau of power makes quite the splash in this episode and even though it feels like some updated version of Ultra Super Saiyan (something that Trunks also helped pioneer), it seems to hold some tremendous power. In this new form Future Trunks somehow seems to be at an even level with Goku Black. Trunks hurts Goku Black more than anyone else has been able to so far and he actually gets the guy on the defensive. It might seem kind of ridiculous that Super Trunks would be as strong as Super Saiyan Blue Goku or Vegeta, but this episode is all about giving Future Trunks his moment to shine. Maybe his incredible rage in this moment allows him to do a better job than he normally would. Super Trunks is so confident in his ability that he actually uses the opportunity to act as an exit for Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma to retreat back home. The fight itself is pretty fantastic. It’s satisfying to see Goku Black and Zamasu continually think that they have the upper hand on Future Trunks, only for him to consistently dish back what they’re giving him. His super powered mega Masenko is an especially great moment. It’s also sweet to see Vegeta step in and keep Zamasu occupied so he’s unable to lend Goku Black a hand and that the fight can remain fair. It’s not the lengthiest battle, but the episode makes every second count. “I Will Defend the World!”” also helps the audience understand truly just how clueless Chi-Chi is about everything that’s going on. Not only does she have no idea that Goku is waging war against an evil version of himself, but she didn’t even know that he was gone. As this episode slows down a little, a lot of its focus falls on Chi-Chi’s efforts to locate her husband and figure out what’s been going on. It’s pretty wonderful to see Krillin and others deflect Chi-Chi’s questions and try to distract her so nobody has to be the one to break to her the news about the dangerous mission that Goku’s currently involved in. Chi-Chi’s ignorant accusation of how she’s worried that Goku “might be off fighting some idiot again” is the perfect distillation of how removed she is from this world. When she reaches Bulma’s house she eventually learns the truth about her husband, but jeez Chi-Chi, try to take an interest or something! I also love that everyone, even Bulma, have an unspoken agreement to just lie to Chi-Chi whenever she risks getting in the way. During this rest period everyone is fairly anxious, not only about what their next move should be, but if Future Trunks will be okay in the two-on-one battle that he’s locked in. It’s also crazy to see Beerus and Whis just peace out of this situation since they’ve fixed thistimeline of its Zamasu problem. Some future timeline apparently isn’t of their concern. The brainstorming session is considerably stagnant, but Piccolo does come up with a worthwhile idea that should make a lot of OG Dragon Ball fans crack a smile. It’s the return of the motherfucking Evil Containment Wave (Mafuba)! There’s a bit of a primer on the technique’s past and how it’s saved their ass in the direst of situations before. Goku doesn’t want to waste any time on this matter, so he instant transmissions over to Master Roshi to begin his arduous training to master the move. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to devote an entire episode to Goku’s Mafuba training, so it’s a little bit of a surprise to see him master the move by the end of the installment. This all nicely meshes with the episode’s larger theme of destiny and it’s somewhat poetic that this decrepit, legendary old man has lived long enough to impart this crucial information to save the world. Meanwhile, Vegeta decides to spend this time training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. At this point it doesn’t seem like simply getting a little stronger or applying more brute strength is going to be the key to defeating Goku Black and Zamasu, but it’s appreciated that Vegeta’s determination and work ethic never dies. Besides, if Goku is off mastering some new technique then Vegeta’s got to do something to prove that he’s better. It seems like the most sensible plan here would be to fuse and kill Goku Black and then use the Mafuba on Future Zamasu as the perfect way to handle his immortality. That solution almost seems soobvious that I was a little shocked somebody didn’t outright mention it here. That being said, because that plan makes so much sense the series will probably go in a completely different direction and mess with expectations. Then again, why introduce something like the Evil Containment Wave if that’s not going to be the play here? It’s worth pointing out that during the whole Golden Frieza arc Goku and Vegeta make a pact to never fuse again, so I guess that’s out of the cards here, as silly as that reason may be. At this point it seems like it might be a struggle to even get these two to fight in tandem with one another, so let’s take this one step at a time before fusion is put on the table. It seems like another beyond-logical solution to the Goku Black and Zamasu problem would be for Beerus to simply destroy them, like he did to Zamasu in the past. Well, the series has conveniently pointed out several times already how much of a taboo it is for Gods to travel through and muck about with the nature of time. Even though some rules can be ignored when in extenuating circumstances, Beerus and Whis have already done more than they should have with the timeline. I It’s also for this reason that I wouldn’t bank on Goku whipping out that deus ex machina button from Grand King Zeno to get out of jail free here either. Granted, the series spent a lot of time on this button and it will surely get used at some point, but pulling the trigger here would only alert Zeno to how many rules the Universe 7 team have already broken. Beerus and Whis would likely be worried about erasure. Now we just need a Sea Turtle side story filler episode where he plots and exacts revenge on Goku for all of this abuse. Maybe Bubbles and Gregory help, too.
