Episode 33 of Dragon Ball GT, first broadcast in Japan on January 15, 1997 and titled The Tail's Tale in Funimation's dub, is where the Baby Saga pivots. Majuub, freshly reborn through his fusion with Majin Buu, falls victim to his own beam; Goku returns with his tail restored but loses again; and just when all seems lost, Earth's light turns him into a Golden Great Ape.
Summary
On the Sacred World of the Kais, the tail extraction is going badly, all yanking and grimacing. Through the Crystal Ball, Goku learns that Uub has merged with Majin Buu, and then Elder Kai has Sugoro tie him down so he can pull harder. It barely helps.
On Plant, Baby tells the crowd to clear the area and the fight resumes. Majuub wastes no time: with a beam he turns everyone around him into chocolate, promising to change them back once he has dealt with Baby. Back with the Kais, Goku has an idea: he has Elder Kai tied to a rock, puts the pliers in his hands and flies off as hard as he can. The tail unrolls to full length, and Kibito Kai teleports him to Plant.
Majuub fires a Kamehameha meant to turn his opponent into chocolate. Baby holds it back and, after a long struggle, sends it straight back at him. Goku arrives just in time to watch his student become a chocolate bar and disappear into Baby's mouth. Furious, he steps forward, and Baby realizes that Goku is alive and has a tail again. Goku goes Super Saiyan 3, and this time he can hold the form, but the tail does not give him the boost he hoped for. Baby grabs it, swings him through the air and slams him into the ground; Goku drops back to base form.
Lying beaten, Goku looks up at Earth shining in Plant's sky. He sees the faces of those he loves, from Krillin to Piccolo to Chi-Chi, and wishes with everything he has for the power to protect them. The planet's light washes over him: Goku becomes a Great Ape, and then his fur turns gold. Digging through Vegeta's memories, Baby realizes in horror what has happened: the Saiyan has used Earth in place of the full moon.
Our take
GT finds its answer by looking back. To get past the limits of Super Saiyan 3, the series does not add more hair or another aura; it brings back two elements from the original Dragon Ball: the tail and the Great Ape, the form young Goku took under the full moon with no memory of it afterward. Using Earth as the moon, reflecting the light the transformation needs, is a simple and brilliant idea, and it gives the scene extra emotional weight: Goku transforms while looking at the home he wants to save.
Majuub, on the other hand, pays the price of being a supporting hero. Turning people into sweets is an old Majin Buu trick from Z, and seeing it backfire has a cruel irony to it. But his exit is quick, almost perfunctory: the saga needed to clear the last obstacle before Goku's comeback, and Majuub is the one who pays for it.
Trivia
- Written by Junki Takegami and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Kazuya Hisada as animation director.
- It is the last time Super Saiyan 3 appears in the series, and the first time the form is shown with a tail.
- Goku had not had a tail since the original Dragon Ball: it never grew back at any point in Z.
Characters
- Goku, Baby and Majuub
- Kibito Kai, Elder Kai, Sugoro and Shusugoro
- Bulma, under Baby's control
- In Goku's memories: Krillin, Master Roshi, Yamcha, Piccolo, Dende, Tien, Chi-Chi and many others