I figured that Zamasu's arrival would make for an exposition heavy episode as he lectured the heroes on his grand plan. Surprisingly, such was not the case. The only comment he makes is clarifying that he and Black aren't allies, but kindred spirits, which doesn't really help a whole lot. He does make several comments on how inferior mortals are, but that's to be expected. Black also has a line noting that "his body" really wants to fight Goku, lending credence to the idea that something is inhabiting Goku's body (maybe even his corpse,) but it's still pretty vague.
Instead, we're given the show's biggest and strongest action set piece to date. Not only does Zamasu get his rematch with Goku, showing that he can now hold his own against a super saiyan blue, but Black gets in on the action to boot.
I'm a noted sucker for 2 on 1 fights, but this did seem like overkill. Goku had his hands full with just one, so going up against two opponents really puts him on the defensive. That is until Future Trunks jumps into the fray.
That's right, we have a 2 on 2 battle royale. It's not often the show does this. More often than not, it's the heroes taking turns against a single opponent, so this was a real treat. It upped the scale, the pacing was appropriately fast, and it was all very well animated. It's a highlight for the show all around.
Granted, the fight still doesn't go particularly well. Black is formidable on his own, and only getting stronger with every punch that Goku does manage to land. It's made worse by the fact that Zamasu seems invincible.
Normally, this wouldn't be that big a shock, Zamasu is a god, of course stabbing him won't do any good. However, with the established rules of the mythos, yes Zamasu should be hurting and he isn't.
It's a problem to say the least.
Credit to Trunks though, he still gives the kai a run for his money. He even uses his father's patented "final flash" attack. It doesn't have any real effect, but it was still an awesome moment and I thought that it was a nice touch. Just as he pays homage to his former mentor by using the masenko, so too does he do the same for his father.
Speaking of, Vegeta himself gets a moment to shine when he uses the last of his strength to blow up Zamasu and Black's death sphere. Even the two are amazed that he had enough energy left to do that, especially considering he still has the hole in his chest.
Was it just me or did Vegeta's wound move? It seemed like Black's blade went through the center of his chest, where here, it was lower and off to the side. I'm guessing they're using that to explain how he's still alive. In the grand scheme of things, it probably isn't that big a deal, but I did find it amusingly strange.
Ultimately, the heroes are forced to retreat, though it does give both the resistance and Yajirobe a chance to shine as they are able to distract the two villains long enough to get the saiyan trio away and back in the time machine. I'm not sure what the long term plan here is, but at the very least, they'll be able to get Vegeta a senzu bean for that pesky impalement wound.
I'd commend the episode for the sad goodbye between Trunks and Mai, but I'm pretty sure they'll be coming back, which robs the moment of a lot of its poignancy. Even the idea that Mai could get killed in his absence doesn't make a whole lot of sense as he has a time machine and would likely appear back seconds after he left. I get what they were trying to do. It was executed well enough, but the circumstances negate it, making it something of a head tilting moment.
Speaking of head tilting, the return to the present means that we also check in on "present day Zamasu". It seems that Zamasu's journey isn't over. I'm guessing we're going to see how he became more powerful (and more specifically invincible) making that the focus of the next chapter of his arc. Although, I'm not sure what else there is. He's told of the super dragon balls after seeing Gowasu watch the Goku/Hit fight on "Godtube"....yes, Godtube. Gowasu even makes a joke about wanting to become a "Godtuber", it's very strange. It seems like that answers that, but where Black comes in remains a mystery.
Granted, if it's immortality Zamasu's after, the regular dragon balls would certainly do the trick. Of course, they may not exist in his universe. Besides, with the title "Dragon Ball Super", they had to keep the Super Dragon Balls involved somehow, so this works well enough, I guess.
Overall, this episode worked really well. As noted, the action was top notch and we got some interesting developments on Zamasu's front. Black took a bit of a backseat, but that was alright. It still did a good job of giving every character a moment to shine. It's not easy to do with so many players, especially when a few vastly outclass the rest, but this did that well.
This arc continues to show itself as the best one to date. I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.
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