It's been made clear that Jiren has been holding back this whole time and the final shot of him strongly suggests that he's about to really cut loose and show the two saiyans what he's truly capable of.
From here, the episode cuts to the Frieza/Dyspo fight. The universe 7 tyrant tries to maintain his confident demeanor, but it's clear that Dyspo and his speed is giving him more trouble than he would like to admit.
As such, he tries a different tactic: bargaining. He notes that the two can keep fighting, but even if Dyspo wins, universe 7 still has the numbers advantage and that there's no guarantee that Jiren will knock Goku and Vegeta out of the ring in time. Much like he did with Roh and Sidra, Frieza offers to throw his own universe under the bus if Dyspo agrees to use the super dragon balls to revive him.
This scene was honestly one of the highlights of the episode. Frieza's really in his element when he's tempting others to compromise their morals for a short term gain and it's really fun to watch.
It's also quite satisfying to see Dyspo soundly reject the offer. Sure, Toppo said that winning was the only priority, but seeing Dyspo announce that he won't compromise with evil was a great moment. Even when he's seemingly backed into a corner, he's still a superhero and he's going to carry himself as such.
It's at this point where Frieza decides to stop screwing around and goes into his golden form. Sure, the transformation sequence is the exact same one used before, but with that haunting chant playing over it, it still works.
The golden form seems like it gives Frieza a distinct advantage as he can match Dyspo's speed with ease.
Unfortunately, Dyspo has another power. Much like Hit's ever expanding time skip, Dyspo can increase his speed even further. With this, not even Golden Frieza is a match for the pride trooper. Heck, the two omni-kings can't even keep up with their godpads. Slow motion replays don't seem to make a difference either. They're disappointed at first, but seem content to go along with it. Strangely, the grand priest says that next time he'll equip them with better tech. I suppose there are still 4 other universes if there were to be another tournament, but it does lend credence to the idea that something else is going on.
Were it not for Beerus yelling out, Frieza might very well have been eliminated. However, the god of destruction's desperate cry draws the attention of Gohan, who doesn't hesitate to jump to the aid of his father's nemesis.
Frieza does toy with the idea of actually betraying Gohan this time, but the saiyan shuts it down by saying that if Frieza tries anything, Gohan will knock him out of the ring himself. Judging by the look on Gohan's face, it's clear he's not kidding.
Even with the backup, Dyspo proves to be a formidable opponent. The two can't seem to get a hit in, as Dyspo dodges all of their attacks with ease.
True to form, though, Gohan uses his head and comes up with a plan to put Dyspo in check. Frieza uses his finger beams to create grid walls that prevent Dyspo from moving around too much. The supreme kai of universe 11 cites this as a "cheap trick", but it was actually clever tactical thinking on Gohan's part.
It results in a straight up cage match between the two. It does have its downsides, as Frieza's beams are just as likely to hurt Gohan should he get pushed into them (which does happen), but it's not enough to give Dyspo an advantage. As long as Dyspo is unable to use his speed, Gohan has the clear upper hand.
Unfortunately, the effort takes too long and Frieza runs out of stamina, forcing him to stop the attack. This wasn't like other instances where Gohan got cocky and decided to toy with his opponent. Dyspo was just putting up that much of a fight.
Before Dyspo can do anything, however, Gohan grabs him and tells Frieza to fire. Whether this was an intentional nod to Goku's fight with Raditz way back at the beginning of Z or not is unclear. Either way, it works, as Dyspo is knocked out of the ring. Sadly, Gohan goes with him, but nobody seems too upset about it. Even Goku notes to himself that Gohan did really well, so at least he got to go out on a high note.
I'm not sure what effect this will have on the tournament overall. On the one hand, Dyspo was tough, so having him out is a plus. On the other, Gohan's out and Frieza's burnt out (though he was still able to retain his golden form). It's likely he'll get a second wind and go help 17 confront Toppo, but the latter was already fighting off two warriors, so even with Frieza jumping into the fray, it might not be enough to turn the tide. I suppose we'll just have to wait until the next episode to find out. The fact that the arc (and possibly the series?) is ending in March does up the anticipation level to a certain extent as the countdown progresses both in and out of universe.
Overall, this was a strong episode. The scales tipped back and forth between Frieza and Dyspo, allowing for an exciting fight, Frieza got to play the corrupting tempter, and Gohan's intellect got to shine again. All in all, it wasn't too shabby for 23 minutes.
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