Gohan and Piccolo do attempt to be the ones to offer said cover, but they are interrupted by the two Namekians who they have been fighting the past few episodes. You do have to wonder why they thought that they'd be able to just abandon the fight right in the middle, but at least they made the effort.
Instead, it's the android siblings who end up coming to Goku's aid, taking on both Rozie and Ribrianne. The prior is especially interested in avenging Kakunsa and goes after 17, leaving Ribrianne to deal with 18.
Had the pair not been largely portrayed as comedic relief, this fight probably would have come off as more daunting. Thankfully, the episode manages to strike just the right balance so that the established trait isn't completely abandoned, but the fight is still exciting and tense enough to hold your attention. At no point did I view it as a waste of time, which a lot of viewers could have easily thought.
While the two pairs do largely split into separate one on one fights, the twin siblings do get to showcase several great teamwork moments. Oddly enough, for me the highlight was the small heart to heart talk the two have as 17 is bandaging up his sister's ankle. You rarely see this sort of thing from the two of them. It made the heartwarming nature of it that much more noticeable and effective.
Speaking of 18's ankle, it seems the injury is worse than it looks, as it causes 18 to land on it wrong at one point. Considering how her foot bent on said landing, I would have bought this as the debilitating injury much more than the small bruise that she was sporting before. Oddly enough, she seems to fight fine afterward. Chalk it up to her cybernetic implants, I guess?
Not surprisingly, the central theme of this match up is love. 18 reveals that she is fighting for her husband and daughter. You'd think that Ribrianne would show some level of respect for this, but she scoffs and says 18 knows nothing of love. The universe 2 fighter even mocks 18 for having Krillin for a husband.
It's a very strange turn. You'd think that someone that focused on love wouldn't be obsessed with appearance or be dismissive about the love between either spouses or parents and kids. It makes Ribrianne's rants about how she's going to bring love to everyone sound fake and self righteous. Maybe that was the point, but it didn't work for me. It also leads to a strange moment after the sibling androids knock them out of the ring where the universe 2 fighters talk about how this was a learning experience and that they learned about a new kind of love. So, they didn't know about familial love? It seems like one of the obvious ones...just saying. Ribrianne even referred to it as trite, so really, the whole thing is just confusing.
Oddly enough, while the two androids were aiming to protect Goku, the fight leaves him vulnerable to the other fighters from universe 2. He himself doesn't seem to have a problem with it, though. He just stands up, gets into a defensive stance and tells the three fighters to come at him. It's perfectly in character and I think that's one of the things that fans love about Goku. It was a small moment, but still awesome.
The episode also features a scene where Vegeta attempts to attain the power of ultra instinct himself. To do so, he intentionally lets his guard down just as Katopesla aims to challenge him, thinking that simply by standing there, his body will naturally do the work. I can almost understand Vegeta's logic, but it does seem like a gross over simplification of what ultra instinct is. I mean, if the gods have trouble attaining this power, it really wouldn't be that simple. At least he got a zenkai boost from it, right? I know word of god says that's no longer a thing, but my headcanon says that they do still get a boost. It might not be enough to make a difference anymore, but I think that works better than just saying that it's gone away because whatever shut up.
In order to challenge the saiyan, Katopesla changes his form to amplify his strength as opposed to his speed. While it seems like he's doomed to be comic relief at this point, it was cool to see that he has some versatility. Depending on what other stats he can boost through different forms, he could have been a serious contender in the tournament if the writers had handled him differently, it's almost a pity.
Then again, once Vegeta gets bored and finally starts exerting even the slightest bit of effort, it's a quick curb stomp battle with Katopesla on the losing end of it. It was a great highlight for Vegeta, though. I won't lie.
All in all, this was a strong episode. There were more than a few highlight moments and those who hated Ribrianne will be happy to see her eliminated. She got a somewhat decent send off. Sure, her cause is exposed as being hollow and hypocritical, but she got to showcase some clever tactics and that transformation sequence really was something to behold.
Next week's episode should be interesting. With both universes 6 and 2 down to a handful of fighters and the episode's title hinting at more erasures, we could be in for a two-fer as far as eliminations go. It should be an interesting watch.
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