Oddly enough, the high priest directly contradicts himself less than a minute later when he says that the winning universe will get nothing for their victory. Beerus takes this to mean that the honor of victory will be the prize, but the other shoe drops when the high priest announces that universes that get defeated will be erased.
I'm torn on this development. On the one hand, it does give the story some stakes. The last tournament was largely just for funsies, but now there's tension. On the other hand, we've only gotten brief glimpses of portions of other universes. Wiping them out this quickly seems like a waste of a lot of story potential.
Even though, we knew that this was going to happen (given that it's the whole hook for this arc) this was still a pretty dramatic bombshell. The look of horrified shock on everybody's face really sells the fact that this development was not what anybody had in mind.
To Goku's credit, he does offer to talk to Zeno, in the hopes of talking him out of the whole universe erasing thing, but Whis tells him not to, saying that angering Zeno by asking him to change his mind would likely result in him getting erased on the spot.
Goku's vow to win is nice and all, but it still ignores the destruction of 11 other universes. Even Supreme Kai channels Goku's selfishness a bit when he notes that he'd be forced to feel great shame if his universe was defeated. Granted, there's not much they can do, but it still seems like a case of warped priorities.
Because the future omni-king has never seen a martial arts tournament before, the high priest also decrees that three of universe 7's fighters will fight three of universe 9's in a preliminary exhibition match. There are no stakes, but it is later said that boring fights could result in erasure, so fighters can't rest on their laurels here.
As Vegeta still refuses to leave Bulma, Goku recruits Gohan and Majin Buu. The prior is reluctant, but is eventually convinced when he learns the stakes. Goku alludes to the fact that Gohan will get his fighting spirit back, but hasn't he been training with Piccolo? Gohan also had that whole run-in with Watagash, so he shouldn't be that rusty, right?
Buu, on the other hand, gets coaxed by chocolate. I can see why the fighters consider him, given his strength and resilience, but he seems to be more of a detriment. Again, he falls asleep when his round is about to begin and it doesn't seem like he understands what's happening.
When he does make it to the ring, he makes no effort to counter his opponent's kicks. It's hard to tell whether Buu is faking him out or whether it's actually having an effect. An argument could be made for both sides. On the one hand, the fact that Buu is largely impervious to physical damage suggests he's playing possum.
On the other hand, we've seen him legitimately lose and get pummeled into submission by both Kid Buu and Beerus, so him getting his clock cleaned isn't outside the realm of possibility. The smirk on Buu's face suggests that it's the prior, but the episode ends on that note; so we'll have to see how his fight plays out.
It was cool seeing all of the gods gathered in one place. Champa and Vados are clearly seen. Goku's even nice enough to give a cheerful greeting to the rival god of destruction. We also see Gowasu make a return appearance, though he doesn't say anything and isn't acknowledged by anyone. There are of course, several other unique kais, gods of destruction, and angels. Though, we don't get their names just yet.
Having Mr. Satan tag along also worked well. He's largely there to manage Buu, but his presence adds a nice perspective to the fact that we're seeing a mass assembly of gods. Considering the other characters have regularly interacted with various kais, his sense of awe and amazement is refreshing. While both he and Gohan aren't aware of the various protocols involved, you can tell that they are at least trying to show the proper respect. It's heartwarming in its own weird way.
Goku on the other hand....Well, he's Goku. He doesn't put his foot in his mouth the same way he had in the last episode, but his overall casual demeanor is still pretty facepalm inducing at points. Even the other gods comment on how impudent he's being. I want to defend the saiyan, but they're not wrong in this case. You really start to miss the Superman-esque persona that Goku had in the Z dub.
Overall, this episode was OK. It was largely about setting things up and getting the ball rolling. We still managed to get some humor and nice character moments peppered throughout, though. It was good seeing Goten and Trunks continue their training and Pan is, of course, super adorable in the one scene where she appears.
Next week, the exhibition begins in earnest as Buu starts to take the fight seriously.
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