Episode 122 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on January 7, 2018 and titled With His Pride on the Line! Vegeta's Challenge to Be the Strongest! in Funimation's dub, opens the showdown between the last two universes. Everyone picks an opponent, and Vegeta picks Jiren: not to copy Goku, but to beat him his own way.
Summary
With only two universes left, the Grand Minister shrinks the stands, so gods, eliminated fighters and the guests from the exempt universes end up sitting side by side. Vados, who no longer has a universe, settles in with Universe 7. On the stage, Super Saiyan Blue Goku attacks Jiren, who asks him why he keeps seeking more strength. Goku does not know, he just does; Jiren says he wants something beyond strength. That is when Vegeta barges in and demands to fight Jiren himself.
The other duels heat up. Dyspo, who brags about being the fastest fighter in any universe, dodges Frieza's finger beams, and Frieza dismisses him as someone who is only good at running. Gohan and Android 17 take on Toppo, careful to stay away from his massive arms.
Vegeta feels a ki heavier than any he has ever faced, but swears he will beat Jiren and claim the Super Dragon Balls. When he gets knocked back, Goku takes his place and eats the same rapid-fire punches. Vegeta, however, has been watching: when he comes back, he dodges the blows, closes in and lands a punch square on Jiren's chest. Piccolo realizes he memorized the attack pattern by watching Jiren hit Goku. Whis wonders whether the prince is testing Ultra Instinct, but Vegeta notices something else: Jiren is not using the same strength against him that he used on Goku. Sure enough, Jiren strikes back and engulfs him in a blast that drags him to the edge of the arena, where it explodes.
Meanwhile, Dyspo grabs Frieza by the tail and swings him around, and Gohan's Kamehameha does nothing to Toppo. When the smoke clears, though, Vegeta is still on the stage, battered and furious to see Jiren not even winded. Jiren calls his fighting style arrogant, conceited and impure. Vegeta admits the arrogance: it is a Saiyan's pride. He will leave Ultra Instinct to Kakarot, he says, and win his own way. His ki soars, and Jiren agrees to take the Final Flash head-on. For a moment Vegeta sees him on the ground and celebrates, then Jiren appears right in front of him, compliments the force of the attack and blasts him point-blank. Eight minutes remain.
Our take
This is the episode that gives Vegeta his mission statement for the end of the tournament. After trying, and failing, to chase Ultra Instinct, the Saiyan prince picks another road and says so plainly: that power belongs to Kakarot, his will be pride. It is a choice consistent with everything the character is, and the series respects it, because his new transformation is born right here.
Jiren, for his part, starts showing a philosophy along with the muscle. When he calls Vegeta's style impure and says he wants "something more" than strength, he lays the groundwork for the reveal of his past. The final twist, with the Final Flash shrugged off, is just cruel enough to raise the stakes once more.
Trivia
- Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and directed by Takahiro Imamura, with Hirotaka Nii, Kōji Nashizawa and Yūya Takahashi as animation directors. It drew a 4.2% rating in Japan.
- From this episode on, the ending theme is "Lagrima" by OnePixcel, which carries the series to its last episode.
- In the manga, Vegeta never fights Jiren in regular Super Saiyan Blue: he uses his evolved form and, in base form, a different attack instead of the Final Flash.