Episode 61 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on October 9, 2016 and titled Zamasu's Ambition: The Storied "Project 0 Mortals" of Terror in Funimation's dub, is the saga's big exposition episode, but exposition with blood on its hands. Goku Black and Future Zamasu explain how they got here, what they did to the gods and to Goku's family, and whose fault it all is. The answer makes Trunks snap.
Summary
Black lays it out: he is the Zamasu of the original timeline, the one who killed Gowasu, and thanks to the Time Ring nothing that happens in the past can touch him. That is why Beerus erasing his younger self changed nothing. The other Zamasu is native to Trunks' future: equally disgusted with mortals, he welcomed his double as the only ally worth having. Together they used the Super Dragon Balls to make Future Zamasu immortal, then destroyed them.
That was the start of Project 0 Mortals: kill every god who could stand in their way and wipe out the mortal races one after another, saving the humans of Earth for last as the worst of all, for their wars and for daring to travel through time. The fight resumes and the pair remain clearly superior; every wound dealt to the immortal Zamasu closes at once.
Then Future Zamasu asks Goku whether he wants to know what happened to his family. He recounts the day of the body swap: Goku was out in the fields, suddenly found himself in Zamasu's body, and Black killed him along with Chi-Chi and Goten. Rage lets Goku turn the tables for a few moments, but the challenge only pushes Black's power higher, and he cuts Goku down with an upgraded version of his energy blade.
Trunks steps up to face Black and asks Vegeta to handle Zamasu. The two villains, however, throw a greater sin back at him: breaking the gods' taboo by changing the past. The new Time Ring is the proof; Goku was supposed to die of the heart virus, and by saving him Trunks made everything else possible. Trunks has had enough: he only wanted to save everyone, and if that is a sin, so be it. He erupts into a Super Saiyan form never seen before and vows to kill Black.
Our take
The episode works because the cruelty is told, not gratuitously shown. The flashback of Goku, Chi-Chi and Goten's murder lasts only seconds, yet it weighs more than any fight: the series has rarely staged its hero's death so coldly, and it does so using his own face.
The accusation against Trunks is the script's master stroke. It flips a quarter century of history: the boy who saved the past becomes, in his enemies' eyes, the root of everything. The logic is debatable, but emotionally it is perfect, and it gives the final transformation a motive beyond simple anger.
Trivia
- Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and directed by Takao Iwai, as confirmed by Toei Animation's episode page; it drew a 6.0% rating.
- The flashback to Trunks' past, with Frieza's death and the destruction of Android 17 and Android 18, reuses footage from Dragon Ball Kai.
- It is the first time Goku and Vegeta fight together in Super Saiyan Blue, and the first time a Saiyan gets a rage boost in that form.
- Trunks' new form has no official name in the anime: fans call it Super Saiyan Rage.
Did you know? Trunks' form blends traits from other transformations: the bulk of Super Saiyan Second Grade, the lightning of Super Saiyan 2 and an aura reminiscent of Blue.