Episode 59 of Dragon Ball GT, first broadcast in Japan on September 17, 1997 and titled Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta in Funimation's dub, marks Vegeta's return. As Goku is steamrolled by Omega Shenron, the Saiyan prince shows up with Bulma's invention and reaches Super Saiyan 4 himself, by way of a Great Ape that briefly forgets whose side it is on.
Summary
Moments after his birth, Omega blasts Goku's family and friends away with an explosion, then shows the Saiyan the "cemetery" he has prepared for him. Goku, still blind, cannot hurt him. The dragon now holds his brothers' powers and uses them one after another: Nuova's heat, Eis's ice, Oceanus's whirlwinds and Rage's lightning.
Suddenly Goku's sight returns. He catches Omega off guard with a 10x Kamehameha and blows him apart with a full-power strike. His friends celebrate too soon: thanks to Rage Shenron's ability, the pieces of the dragon pull themselves back together. Omega then knocks down everyone present, one by one, and Goku, barely on his feet, realizes he can no longer win.
In desperation, he grabs the dragon from behind and prepares to blow himself up along with him. It is Vegeta who stops him: he tried the same thing against Majin Buu and knows that self-destruction would only kill Goku. Then he announces that he has a way to become a Super Saiyan 4. Bulma, who has arrived with the Blutz Wave Generator, bathes him in its light. Vegeta becomes a towering Great Ape, but his mind is gone: he lunges at Goku and crushes him in his fist. It is his old rival's voice that brings him back. The Great Ape turns golden, then shrinks until it gives way to a Super Saiyan 4.
Everyone stares at the two transformed warriors, and Chi-Chi and Bulma even find time to argue about whose husband is better. Goku and Vegeta attack together, but Omega still has the upper hand. That is when Vegeta suggests the unthinkable: fusion. Goku can hardly believe his ears.
Our take
Vegeta arrives late, as he so often does, but this time the wait is part of the story: while Goku was fighting the dragons, he stayed behind with Bulma to prepare his moment, and now that time pays off. The transformation is the best part of the episode. A Great Ape crushing Goku in its fist calls back their first battle on Earth, when a transformed Vegeta nearly broke every bone in his body; this time, though, Goku's voice is enough to stop him, and that detail sums up how far the prince has come.
Then there is the final proposal. In the Majin Buu saga, Vegeta agreed to merge with Goku only because there was no other way, and grudgingly. Here he is the one suggesting the Fusion Dance, and Goku's surprise mirrors the audience's: it is the clearest sign of how much the character has changed. The Bulma and Chi-Chi bit is fun but badly timed. Japanese viewers, meanwhile, had to be more patient than usual: five weeks passed between this episode and the next.
Trivia
- Written by Toshinobu Ooi and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Tadayoshi Yamamuro as animation director.
- The Blutz Wave Generator is the same machine Bulma built under Baby's control to turn Vegeta's body into a Golden Great Ape. She explained her plan to Vegeta in Episode 55.
- This is the first time Vegeta reaches Super Saiyan 4.
- Episode 60 did not air in Japan until October 22, 1997.
Did you know? Funimation's title, Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, spoils the surprise before the episode even starts. The Japanese title plays on doubt instead, asking whether the Great Ape is friend or foe.