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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