It does lead to some nice "reunion" moments. The cyborg siblings finally get to see each other face to face again after all these years and 17 gets to meet his niece. It was a rather sweet moment on its own, but it is further bolstered by Krillin's awkward attempts to make small talk with two laconic no-nonsense androids. It doesn't tug on the heart strings, exactly, but it does add a bit of levity to the episode.
The Piccolo/17 meetup was also something of a small highlight. It seems like the two are going to spar as a way to see how much the other has improved, but Piccolo just offers a handshake and thanks 17 for the assist. Even 17 himself seems taken aback by the gesture.
The most interesting aspect of the episode is a plot by Quitela, universe 4's god of destruction to sabotage universe 7. He concocts a story that Goku and the others are going to try and target universe 9. This manages to convince both Sidra and Roh to send assassins to take out the tyrant before the tournament starts. This will disqualify universe 7 right off the bat and ensure their destruction.
It's a tactic that likely wouldn't be condoned by Zen-O, but as long as Zen-O doesn't know and there's no kind of trail, they can't be blamed if something bad were to happen to Frieza. As they themselves note, Frieza does have a lot of enemies.
Sadly, with all of the other more mundane matters, this plot point doesn't really take center stage until the episode's final moments. As Goku and Frieza are approached not by one assassin, but a whole army of them (a league of assassins if you will.)
In some ways, the pay off is worth it and it does allow the episode to end on a rather high note, but one does wish that the episode had delivered more of that.
When Goku and Frieza do get together, their dynamic continues to be a highlight. The reunion isn't nearly as amiable as Piccolo and 17. Rather than shake hands, they punch each other in the gut. There's clearly some malice, but the two also seem to enjoy it.
Strangely enough, Frieza isn't even too put off by the army of assassins. Given his background, it does make sense. People coming to kill him was likely a common occurrence. He doesn't even really care who they are or why they're after him. Goku is the one who presses for information, not that it gets them anywhere. On the contrary, Frieza's pretty eager to fight and kill them. Not only does he kill one assassin right off the bat, but he transforms into his golden form in order to combat the others.
It was a pretty impressive sequence. It was well animated and the accompanying music had the appropriate "godly" atmosphere.
I can't help but wonder how well this is going to work. Frieza's golden form had a pretty obvious flaw and it wasn't like Frieza is in a position to train to remedy it. On the plus side, his dead body should be able to harness that form better than his body did back when he was alive. I base that entirely on the fact that that's what happened with Goku and the super saiyan 3 form back in the Buu saga, but godly energy might work differently.
Surprisingly, Goku isn't interested in fighting. I know. He's not wrong in citing that they don't have time for this, but Frieza doesn't care; he sees it as a warm up and a chance to kill a bunch of people. It makes for a nice cliffhanger as the two now have to fend off a horde of assassins.
On the one hand, I doubt they'll pose much of a threat, but just seeing Frieza and Goku fighting along side one another seems like it's going to make for a fun watch. I'm looking forward to it.
Sadly, this episode's pacing issues hurt it significantly. There was quite a bit to like. There were great moments peppered throughout, but unfortunately, the episode decided to shift its focus on other things that weren't nearly as compelling.
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