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alewyren · 7 years

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LIMIT BREAK X SURVIVOR--aka, how the Universe Survival Arc will end

(much credit to @reiujii, who spent a LITERAL WEEK brainstorming possible outcomes with me on discord until we cracked this shit. could not have done this alone)

As of right now, we're up to Episode 95 of Dragon Ball Super, and I'd wager near the midway point of the Universe Survival Arc. Since the U7 team roster is pretty much finalized and a lot of the groundwork has been laid for future events, I figured I'd take a stab at trying to figure out where this crazy trainwreck is going.

And you know what? I think we did it. I think we actually fucking did it. While obviously nothing is for certain, there is very strong and extensive evidence supporting a very specific ending for this arc that will, in no short words, make franchise history. And oh boy, it's... something. Like, the writing has been on the wall for this since day one. How the hell will Universe 7 survive the tournament? How will Jiren be overpowered? What's the deal with that weird evil Goku transformation seen in the opening? And how will you-know-who factor into this arc's resolution?

I'm going to attempt to answer all these questions and more. Should go without saying, but there be spoilers beyond the cut, especially if any of this turns out to be true.

First off, I advise giving Evil Angel and Righteous Demon another listen. It's... very relevant, but misleading because when it was still playing, we had no idea what was actually going to be the main event of this arc. Just that it was talking about things like angels and justice we kind of remember from the Zamasu arc. So, now that we're further in, think about how the lyrics may allude to current developments.

Need a hint? It's not about the angels or Zamasu. It's about Goku and Frieza, and how this arc will end.

(Goku is referred to as a demon by Bergamo, revived Frieza is referred to as "angel Frieza" in promotional material because of the halo. So... yeah.)

Now, let's get the major points of how the tournament will go out of the way first. This will sound far-fetched, but all will be explained.

Frieza will strike a deal with the angel of Universe 9 and exploit a loophole in the rules to become Universe 9's hakaishin during the tournament itself. (07/05 addendum)

Goku will fight Frieza, who has officially gone rogue, and lose--but not get disqualified.

The last three contestants standing will be Goku, Jiren, and Frieza. Goku will be out of steam. Frieza and Jiren are fighting each other. However, Jiren is the superior of the two, being the mortal stronger than a hakaishin.

Frieza's only option to survive the tournament will be to transfer ki to Goku, and count on him to win and honor his promise to revive him.

With this power boost, Goku will be strong enough to defeat Jiren and use the Super Dragon Balls to wish back all the contestants and universes eliminated in the Tournament of Power.

There is a lot to unpack here, but this is the conclusion the ToP has been building towards since day one of the arc. I am not kidding. So let's break it down.

1. Frieza will become the hakaishin of Universe 9 during the tournament

I'd say that it's been foreshadowed that Frieza will end up becoming a hakaishin, but that would be inaccurate. It's been all but outright stated.

If it can wield the powers of a hakaishin and is stated to be an excellent hakaishin, maybe it will end up becoming hakaishin. Just a thought.

And I mean, it makes sense. Blowing up planets is what he used to do for a living, to the point where Beerus literally had him perform his duties while he was asleep. Sure, he’s far from being an upstanding citizen, but if Beerus is anything to go by, that’s not a prerequisite to getting the job at all. It's extra convenient from a writing standpoint, because the position allows Frieza to keep being... well, Frieza, without necessitating that he be stopped. Those planets won't destroy themselves. It’s like, his dream job.

Besides, there will be an angel breathing down his neck constantly to make sure he doesn’t do anything really stupid, like try to overthrow Zeno-sama. It’ll be fine.

But we’re not here to talk about the inevitability of Frieza becoming hakaishin, period. We’re here to talk about why and how he’s going to pull it off during the tournament itself.

(NOTE: As of episode 98, everything from here to the bystander line is outdated, but I am leaving it for posterity. Please consult the addendum above for the revised theory, though some details may still be relevant.)

The groundwork has been laid for Frieza pulling some crazy scheme to get ahead in the ToP, and Universe 9 is being set up as the weak link he will exploit. They’re the weakest universe, most desperate to survive, and therefore the most vulnerable. Additionally, he already possesses two key facts about Universe 9: its management is incompetent, and they tried to break the rules before the tournament ever started. He’s a prime position to blackmail and manipulate their entire universe.

And his target?

This guy.

Mojito has received some very specific characterization so far. Of all the angels, he’s the only one who’s ever shown anything resembling an emotion that isn’t hunger--and we’ve never even heard him speak. What we do know of him is that he is a natural genius who is very unhappy with how his universe is being run. It’s safe that he’s going to be more relevant than we’d expect from the angel of the universe with the worst odds of winning.

So what Frieza will do is, covertly attempt to stage a coup along with U9 and possibly Frost, but with his endgame being something entirely different than he lets on. And he will strike an alliance with Mojito.

There is a rule about the gods interfering in the tournament, but nothing about the reverse. There is a rule about killing other contestants, but nothing about, say... shooting a death beam right through the Universe 9 Kaioshin in the middle of the tournament, killing both him and his hakaishin. And he has already been appointed as his successor, so he ascends to hakaishin status right there in the middle of the arena. Naturally, the other hakaishin are outraged--especially Beerus, who yells at Goku about why the hell he even recruited this fucking lunatic.

Daishinkan calls a time out to determine what to do about this. Eventually, he decides that because Frieza did not technically break any rules, he will be allowed to continue competing with his newfound power, though the rules are immediately amended to prevent anyone else from following his example. It seems likely that he’ll be moved to the U9 team, since as its hakaishin he would be wiped out along with the rest of U9 if the team were to fall. Frieza expected something like this, but it really doesn’t make a difference to him.

Frieza, now a hakaishin, is now only second in power to Jiren--the mortal stronger than a hakaishin. And a shoe-in for MVP if he doesn’t get eliminated. Which, if Frieza of all people gets the wish on the super dragon balls... that’s gonna be really, really terrible for absolutely everyone.

But take a step back--how did he achieve this?

By killing yet another bystander.

And, true to his word, Goku is furious with Frieza, and horrified once he realizes that the crazy bastard could actually win the entire tournament now. Chekhov’s gun, fired. Relationship tension, snapped. They fight. Goku actually loses.

But he’s Goku, he doesn’t get disqualified here. Either Frieza gets distracted or someone saves him. The details aren’t really important.

2. The last remaining contestants will be Goku, Jiren, and Frieza

So, here's the thing. Jiren is indeed being built up as Goku's main enemy in the tournament, but while he is the strongest fighter in the ring, he's not Goku's personal enemy. From day one, he was envisioned as Frieza's. How do I reckon this? It’s all there in the name.

Jiren=Renji=Stove in Japanese

What's the opposite of a stove?

That's right. A goddamn fucking FREEZER. (I hate you so fucking much for this, Toriyama.)

Though I mean, it makes sense beyond that. Frieza is ultimate evil, Jiren is ultimate justice. U11 does view Goku as evil, but Frieza... Frieza being there will tip the scales immensely, especially if he becomes a literal god. But since we know that Jiren is going to be the major challenge of this tournament, that pretty much guarantees that Frieza will be one of the last ones standing with him. And if he's officially gone rogue, that's... bad. Like, potentially-omniversally-destroying-if-he-wins bad.

Jiren steps up to the challenge of stopping this evil.

He’s the only one who’s a match for Frieza, and proceeds to 1v1 him in the middle of the ring for the rest of the tournament, thereby distracting both of them from the other battles and keeping anyone else from claiming the territory--which, as the tournament dwindles down to only the strongest fighters (Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, the other Pride Troopers, Kale, Hit, and Ribrianne, most likely), becomes increasingly a problem. The idea is that once a victor is decided in that fight, the remaining members of U7 will actually stand a chance teaming up against a weakened Frieza or Jiren. Unfortunately, at the end of these battles, Goku is the only one left standing. Time is running out, and both Jiren and Frieza are still fighting.

The problem is, it’s not so cut and dry as Goku and Jiren teaming up to take on the greater evil. For one, despite Frieza holding his own very well Jiren has the advantage anyway, so Goku’s assistance wouldn’t really change the outcome. Secondly--and this is the main problem--Universe 11 sees Universe 7 as evil and will certainly not restore them if they win the Tournament of Power. Likewise, although Goku fully intends to wish back every universe, Jiren sure as fuck doesn’t trust him, fully intending to defeat Frieza and then finish off Goku. And Goku tipping the tables in Frieza’s favor would be, colossally stupid, for obvious reasons.

Destroy myself, or destroy everything else? Is there really a right answer?

3. Frieza will transfer ki to Goku, allowing him to surpass the power of a hakaishin and overpower Jiren

Frieza, meanwhile, is also out of options.

While his original plan was absolutely to defeat or at least outlast Jiren and walk away with the super dragonballs, it becomes increasingly clear that he will not win this fight. He outright agrees with Goku that he can’t be trusted to honor any bargain Goku might attempt to make with him, so he’s not going to get any help there. He realizes there is only one option available to him to ensure his survival through the tournament. It’s one he hates, but it's literally all he has. He has to help Goku, and count on his promise to revive him after the tournament. It sure as hell is more likely than Jiren doing any such thing.

Goku turns his back to Frieza for an instant, and he fires a blast at him. But it’s not an attack--it’s a ki transfer.

“My hand slipped.”

He falls unconscious, possibly muttering about how they’re even now, Jiren knocks him out of the arena, and Goku takes a second to process what the fuck just happened. Then, he powers up.

Of course this mysterious transformation looks oddly evil, if he literally must possess Frieza’s power to achieve it! There are even flecks of purple energy! (With this in mind, it may actually be a variation of Super Saiyan Rosé, if he truly must wield the power of a hakaishin to use it. Variation only because I don’t see him pulling off the pink hair.)

This time, he can handle Frieza’s hakai energy. Goku now wields the combined power of both himself and his worst enemy. And it’s enough to win. Cue Limit Break X Survivor.

(Think about the title of that song for a second. Goku is able to break his limits once again and win the tournament with the help of Frieza, the son of a bitch so hellbent on his own survival that he would screw over his own entire universe at the drop of a hat. The writing has been on the walls since day one.)

Goku wins the tournament, ringing out Jiren with seconds left on the clock, and restores all of the contestants and universes that were erased. This act redeems him in the eyes of the other universes, earning the apology of Jiren and the promise to fight again on better terms. He does, of course, honor his promise to revive Frieza, who is allowed to keep his swanky new job as U9′s hakaishin. Now that their score has more or less been settled, he is content to put murdering Goku on the backburner for now. These U9 planets won’t destroy themselves.

All’s well that ends well. Except...

Daishinkan is not happy about Goku’s restoration of all the erased universes. However, Zeno-sama absolutely loved the tournament and its outcome, and loves Goku more than ever now. So, for now, there’s nothing he can do but end the arc on a slightly ominous note for the future, setting him up as the eventual Big Bad of Super.

Conclusion

Essentially, the Universe Survival Arc was covertly setting itself up to be a Frieza... uh, not exactly "redemption" arc, since he's no better of a person or any closer to actually repenting for his actions, but "learn to hate Goku a little less and actually move on with your life" arc, from the very beginning. Back before we even had any idea he'd be showing up again. And every scene with him makes infinitely more sense if you view it through that lens.

That's why all the animation budget has been going to his scenes, and why his character has been so flawlessly executed that even the people who hated the idea of his return have been enjoying every second of him actually being on-screen. That's why his return seemed so out of the left-field--it had to be, so they could covertly set the stage for what they actually planned on doing with him beforehand, without tipping anyone off. The conclusion to this arc that has been alluded to from the very beginning is entirely dependent on him being there. Toei knew damn well it would be a hard sell. But apparently, they were really determined to pull it off. And it seems to be going well so far.

But yeah, this is the main event of the arc. Honestly, I'm not even mad. Well, I'm mad about how one of the biggest hints here is a PUN, but I'm not mad about Frieza putting his villain career behind him. It sounds so weird on paper, but the evidence is all there, and they've demonstrated very clearly that they don't plan on downplaying what a horrible person Frieza is in the slightest. If anything, they're outright relishing it, and it's amazing. I imagine he'll just kind of be... around sometimes, after this arc, with an angel breathing down his neck to make sure he doesn't try any stupid shit. We'll get a mention that his universe's mortal level has gone up by some ridiculous number from how ruthlessly he's been managing it, and he'll probably wind up popping in and out of the story as a neutral character according to the demands of the plot.

Since when was fucking DRAGONBALL this complicated. God. This has to be Toyotaro’s doing, if he really is working more on this arc’s storyline than usual. You magnificent bastard.

#dragon ball super #dbs spoilers #goku #jiren #frieza #dbz #musings

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