'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 131: 'The Miraculous Conclusion! Farewell Goku! Until We Meet Again!'

As the title indicates, this episode marks the end of the tournament of power.  It's been a long gauntlet, and with the climactic battle with Jiren still not over, this episode had quite a bit of ground to cover.

With Frieza and 17 entering the fray, the episode was able to up the action.  I didn't think they really stood a chance, but they fare far better than they likely had any right to.  That's not to say that Jiren doesn't smack them around quite a bit, but considering how powerful Jiren had become and how much trouble they had with him before, it was still a strong showing.

This is due in part to teamwork and the writers throwing them a bone by having Jiren succumb to exhaustion.  It seems that, like Goku's mastered ultra instinct, Jiren's power is starting to take its toll on his body.  Either that, or the fact that the fighters had been able to manage to mount such a resistance at all shatters his confidence in himself.  It's kind of vague like that.  The fact that he just falls to his knees and waits for Frieza to finish him lends credence to the latter, but again, it isn't really clear. 

Had Frieza been practical, he could have won the tournament right then and there.  Unfortunately, villain habits are hard to break.  Just as Jiren took too long and allowed Goku to get a second wind, so too does Jiren, which comes via a rousing speech from Toppo. 

On the plus side, this does give Goku a chance to get back into the fight.  It makes sense, given that he is the main hero of the series, though it is made clear that their only hope is to work together.

It turns out that Goku and Frieza make a pretty potent team.  We don't get to spend too much time with this particular 2 on 1 fight, but we get enough that viewers should be satisfied.  It is kind of disappointing that their final strategy ultimately boiled down to "bull rush him and push him out of the ring, leaving 17 to take the win".  It makes you wonder why it never occurred to them to try that before, but oh well. 

With that, universe 11 is erased.  Jiren seems to be in good spirits, though.  He actually smirks a couple of times.  As Goku has done so many times before, he has cracked through his rival's stoic shell and awakened his fighting spirit.  Goku says that they'll see each other again and the focus shifts to 17, who is asked to make his wish.

The return of the super dragon was a tad underwhelming.  I get that the episode didn't have time to do the grand spectacle of its debut appearance, but it looked to be the same size as Shenron.  It's still kind of awe inspiring, but it wasn't as jaw dropping as it probably could (or should) have been.

So, does 17 get his boat?

Nope, he wishes for all of the erased universes to come back.

This was the most predictable wish one could have made.  I was kind of hoping that all of the residents would be brought to universe 7.  That way, you could condense the multiverse, but still keep the characters.  It seemed like a good compromise, as a lot of these characters now have strong fan followings.  It would have made sense in universe as well.  The gods would have fewer universes to manage, but there would be no casualties.  Still, I can't fault 17 for doing something selfless.   

With this wish, a lot of fans suspected that the 6 universes that the omni-kings had erased before would be brought back too.  Given how 17 worded his wish, I figured that was going to be the big twist.  It's still possible, but we see no evidence to suggest that it was the case.

We do get something of a twist, with the reveal that the omni-kings had more or less predicted that the winner would make this wish.  In fact, they were banking on it.  The grand priest reveals that had the winner made a self-serving wish, the entire multiverse would have been deemed unworthy of existence and erased. 

Having the whole thing be a secret test of character seems eye-roll inducing at first, but really the seed was planted early on.  Remember the whole thing was determined by mortal level.  True, strength is a factor, but virtue and morals were also things that the omni-kings placed stock in.  As such, this was a way to integrate that, as opposed to having it all boil down to who had the strongest or most skilled fighters. 

While Frieza does initially seem to be robbed of his revival, Whis comes in and makes good on the promise.  Granted, he does it to reward the tyrant for his efforts, but the end result is the same.  The angel is surprisingly upbeat about doing it too.  It stands in stark contrast to the others, who are horrified at the development.  Still, Goku says that should Frieza try something, he and the others will stop him.  Sure enough, one of the final shots in the episode's closing minutes is Frieza gathering his forces and declaring that the emperor of the universe is back.

Given that this is the "finale" for the show (at least until the movie that's coming out later this year) I was wondering if this was going to make any effort to tie into Dragon Ball Z's epilogue.  It really doesn't.  I'm not sure how it could at this point, but it would have been nice to see.  I suppose we have to call that an alternate timeline where Beerus never woke up.  While it stinks, you could go and toss it into the "GT" continuity, but I think that this new journey will be more interesting anyway.

The episode closes with Goku and Vegeta sparring in super saiyan blue.  While Goku can't access his ultra instinct power anymore, he does swear that he's going to keep breaking his limits.  It's a bit sad (and weird considering he had "mastered" it) but this does keep at least a few of the other characters relevant in terms of being able to hold their own in fights against foes that can challenge the saiyan protagonist.  Vegeta, naturally, makes a similar vow, saying that this is what saiyans do.  While Z's epilogue is more or less tossed out the window, this sequence does give us a nice call back with the two saiyans standing in the poses they took in their first fight back in the saiyan saga.  I thought it was a nice touch.

All in all, I think this episode is about as good as it could have been.  The fights were exciting, the animation was top notch, and there were some real highlights included.  It's abrupt at points, but there was no way around that.  It also has to deal with the fact that it's a series finale, but also not one because there's a movie and a potential relaunch next year.  That's a tough spot to be in.  This wraps things up and gives all of the characters a pretty happy ending, while also leaving threads for future story lines.  There's Frieza, of course, and I'm guessing Goku will want to try and re-attain ultra instinct.  Even though the characters have hit god-tier and beaten the strongest being in the multiverse, it still seems like there are places the franchise can go.  It's going to be interesting to see.

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 130: 'The Greatest Showdown of All Time! The Ultimate Survival Battle!!'

With Goku having truly mastered the power of Ultra Instinct, the fight takes a sharp turn.  Just as Goku was almost powerless against Jiren in their first showdown, so too is the pride trooper against the saiyan now.

After so many episodes of Jiren being the super-powerful, unstoppable opponent for so long, it's more than a little satisfying to see Goku finally gain the upper hand.

It seems like victory is in universe 7's grasp, but Jiren won't go down easy.  On the contrary, losing the fight triggers memories of his childhood trauma.  In true "Dragonball" fashion, this allows him to tap into even deeper power and break his own insane limits.

Odd as it may be, it gives Jiren the advantage and Goku's ultimate form is soon losing.  In fact, it seems like the fight is lost. 

Unfortunately for Jiren, the other Z fighters announce that their faith in Goku remains intact.  This gives the saiyan a second wind that brings him back into the fight.  When the pride trooper expresses confusion, we get another heartwarming moment as the spectators talk about the effect that Goku has had on them, and vice versa.  It's a bit meta, but with this being the show's penultimate episode, I thought it was kind of perfect as it had nods to both "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z".

Jiren, for his part, doesn't buy into the magic of friendship and seems determined to snuff out the idea at any cost.  Considering how much time he's spent dedicating himself to the whole solitary thing, it makes sense. 

Jiren is so determined to disprove Goku's power source that he even makes an attempt to kill the spectators to show how fickle it is.  It's a pretty jarring moment on several fronts.  It's especially odd as neither the grand priest nor the omni-kings make any effort to protect them the attack, nor do they penalize him for the action.  I guess the writers thought it would be a cop out, but it's strange that Goku had to be the one to deflect the blast.

While Goku admits (again) that he's no great hero of justice (the dub of this line should be interesting seeing as the dub Goku more or less declared himself as such in the fight against Frieza) he won't tolerate people threatening the lives of those he cares about. 

Just as Jiren did, Goku taps into even more power and puts Jiren on the ropes.  You'd think that the fight is over, but the spectators telling Goku to end it telegraphs the fact that the fight isn't quite over yet.

It's nothing Jiren does, nor is it a last second backstab by Frieza (which I thought it was at first) but it seems that, much like the kaio-ken, Ultra Instinct takes a physical toll on the body.  As such, Goku finds himself depowered, on the ground, and writhing in agony.  It leaves him at the mercy of Jiren, who merely has to knock him out of the ring.

While Jiren was clearly annoyed with Goku's persistence, he tries to make Goku's defeat as honorable as possible, saying that he was a proud warrior and that he will live on in Jiren's memories.  He even goes so far as to lament the circumstances behind this win, admitting that it feels wrong for their confrontation to end this way.  Considering what a schmuck Jiren has been as of late, it was a rather heartwarming moment in its own way. 

Jiren gives Goku a point blank blast, but the saiyan is saved at the last second by Frieza, who prevents him from getting knocked out of the ring.  It's not all that surprising, as most viewers knew that Frieza was still around somewhere.  Still, it's a decent "big damn hero" moment for the arch villain.  While that "reveal" may come off as lackluster, the writers were savvy to have one other ace up their sleeve.

You see, Frieza's not alone. 

"Wait, what?" you say?

Yeah, he has back up.  It comes in the form of....


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Spoilers ahead..


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Android 17.  Yeah, he didn't die. 


A part of me wants to call this an asspull or talk about how it negates the emotional power of his sacrifice, but it was still a damn good twist.  I sure as hell didn't see it coming.  It was a great note to end on too.  Goku's down for the count, but Frieza and 17 are stepping up to face off against Jiren.

To be honest, I'm not sure what the two can do to him, but we'll see when we get there.  If previous episodes are any indicator, they need only buy Goku a few seconds to heal and catch his breath, but I'm hoping they bring more to the table than that.

I was kind of surprised to see that the fight didn't end here.  Truthfully, if it had, this would have been a very satisfying conclusion.  This episode was fast, intense, and it felt like an appropriate climax to this particular arc.  The animation was really good and the Goku/Jiren fight was as exciting as it's ever been.  We also got some really great plot twists to keep things interesting. It even managed to provide a few strong emotional moments as well.  It was a fantastic episode and gives us great momentum as we head into the finale. 

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 129: 'Limits Super Surpassed! Ultra Instinct Mastered!!'

With Goku having once again tapped into the power of ultra instinct, the fight between he and Jiren begins in earnest. 

Whis points out that this is their last chance in more ways than one.  If Goku burns out as he did the other times he tapped into the power, he won't have anyone to help him, nor will he have enough time to heal. 

While the form is able to level the playing field considerably, Goku finds himself having the same problem he had against Kefla; that is that his attacks aren't doing as much damage as they should be.  Considering Jiren's already hard enough to hurt, it's a problem to say the least.  Even his attempt at using a kamehameha doesn't work, though seeing as it was the same trick he used against Kefla, it makes sense that Jiren was able to come up with a counter-move. 

It's enough to make the universe 11 gods think that Goku playing defense won't be enough to win.   Vegeta for his part does remind them that all of the saiyans have managed to surpass their limits in the fairly short amount of time since the tournament has begun.

There's no mention of Frieza.  He's still out there somewhere, though given the state of the ring, I'm not sure where he could be hiding.  I'm not even sure how they determine what's "out of bounds" and what isn't.    All that's left is debris.  It does give both fighters an excuse to fly, at the very least. 

There does still seem to be a ring, as Jiren is almost able to knock Goku out of it by pummeling him repeatedly from above.  It looks like Goku's goose is cooked as Jiren's attacks are too fast for him to use instant transmission and the ground is crumbling beneath him from the power of Jiren's attacks. 

True to form, this is where Goku truly masters the power and is able to start landing powerful hits against the once seemingly invincible opponent. 

Oddly enough, this was where the fight really started getting good (at least in my opinion).  What we saw before wasn't bad, but the first showdown set a rather high bar.  While it's fast (really fast, in fact, so fast that they don't even bother animating large chunks of it) and fairly even, it didn't have quite as much oomph as the first battle.  Maybe it's because a lot of the shine has come off the Jiren apple or maybe the aforementioned animation short cut, I don't know. 

It was both surprising and satisfying to see how much the tables had turned.  Goku was able to send Jiren flying just as easily as he had to his opponents in earlier matches. 

Jiren isn't taking it lying down, but it marks the first time that we've seen him on the losing end of a fight. 

It really shows you why the gods were so awestruck when they first thought that a mortal had achieved ultra instinct.  Of course, now Beerus is giddy over the idea.  It stands in contrast to his first reaction where he seemed either scared or annoyed.  Even Jiren smirks when he sees what Goku can do.  It took a while, but it seems like Jiren's emotional shell is starting to crack.

All in all, this episode was solid.  It didn't advance the plot much, but it gave us a fairly impressive opening to the final showdown between Goku and Jiren.  It didn't have the wow factor that their first match up did, but it wasn't underwhelming by any stretch.  Hopefully, the next episode can up things even further as the promo promises that both fighters will be breaking their limits...again in order to win the tournament.



 

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