The Universe Survival Saga is the last and longest arc of Dragon Ball Super: fifty-five episodes broadcast on Fuji TV between February 5, 2017 and March 25, 2018. It is the saga of the Tournament of Power, where eight universes fight for their very existence, and the one in which Goku reaches Ultra Instinct. From episode 77 the opening theme and the directors change as well.
What the saga is about
It all starts with a promise. Goku uses the button Zeno gave him to remind the king of everything about the multiverse tournament he once mentioned, and Zeno sets it up at once, with a terrifying rule: teams of ten fighters, no prize for the winner, and every defeated universe erased. Eight universes take part; Universes 1, 5, 8 and 12 are exempt because their mortals are rated highly enough.
Team Universe 7
After an exhibition against Universe 9 and a first clash between Goku and Top, leader of Universe 11's Pride Troopers, the hunt for teammates begins. Goku recruits Krillin and Android 18, an Android 17 now working as a wildlife ranger, Master Roshi and Tien; Gohan goes back to training with Piccolo; and Bulla, Bulma and Vegeta's daughter, is born, so the prince can take part too. When Majin Buu falls into a deep sleep, the tenth spot goes to a stunning choice: Frieza, temporarily brought back to life with the promise of a permanent resurrection if they win.
The Tournament of Power
The battle takes place in the Null Realm, on a floating arena: no weapons, no killing, and anyone who falls off the ring is out. The tournament lasts forty-eight minutes, and the first universe to vanish, in front of everyone, is Universe 9. From there the saga becomes one long ensemble battle: Universe 6's Saiyans Caulifla and Kale, who fuse into Kefla; Master Roshi's last great feat; Hit eliminated by Jiren, Universe 11's strongest warrior, whose power exceeds that of a God of Destruction.
It is against Jiren, in episode 110, that Goku first unlocks Ultra Instinct, a state in which the body fights on its own without going through conscious thought. One by one, everyone falls: Gohan sacrifices himself to take out an opponent, Vegeta beats Top after he becomes a God of Destruction, and Android 17 blows himself up to shield the two Saiyans. In episode 129 Goku masters Ultra Instinct, his hair turning silver, but his body cannot hold out. In the end Goku, Frieza and an Android 17 who survived his own explosion push Jiren out: Goku and Frieza fall with him, and 17 is the last one standing. With the Super Dragon Balls he wishes all the erased universes back, while Frieza is given his life back by Whis as a gift from Beerus.
Main characters in this saga
Episodes
The titles are those of Funimation's English dub. For a handful of episodes where English Wikipedia lists a single translated title, we use that one.
The saga's boundaries
On this saga the sources agree: English and Spanish Wikipedia and the Fandom wiki all start it at episode 77 and end it at 131, the series finale. Fandom splits it internally into four parts, from the prelude to the climax, but it is a single story.
Characters and transformations
- Jiren, the final opponent, scarred by the death of his parents and his master;
- Top and the Pride Troopers, Universe 11's champions of justice;
- Caulifla, Kale and their fusion Kefla, Saiyans from Universe 6;
- the Grand Minister and the two Zenos, the hosts;
- Android 17, the saga's surprise hero, and Frieza, an ally of convenience.
This is the saga with the most new forms: Ultra Instinct, incomplete in episode 110 and mastered in 129; Vegeta's evolved Super Saiyan Blue (123); Kale's Legendary Super Saiyan and Caulifla's Super Saiyan 2 (100); Kefla (114); and Top's God of Destruction mode (125). Goku also pushes the Kaio-ken on top of Super Saiyan Blue to twenty times. It is all summed up on our Super Saiyan transformations page.
Differences from the manga
There is no film behind this arc: the story picks up in theaters with Dragon Ball Super: Broly, released in late 2018. In Toyotarō's chapters 27-42 the opening exhibition is a battle royale among all the Gods of Destruction, followed by a duel between Goku and Top. The ending changes a lot: Android 17 fakes his self-destruction and hides under the rubble, fully expecting to survive, and Jiren is knocked out by Goku and Frieza alone. The motive behind the wish differs too: in the anime 17 has been swayed by Goku, in the manga he wants to spite the Zenos and their rule.
Our take
The Tournament of Power is Dragon Ball Super in its purest and most debated form. It has a strong premise, a real battle with enormous stakes, and it commits to it fully: for months every episode is a fight, and the tension genuinely builds, helped by animation far more polished than in the early days. Ultra Instinct became a global phenomenon, and the finale delivered memorable moments: Vegeta fighting for his family, Android 17's sacrifice, Goku and Frieza side by side.
The flaws are the flip side of the same coin. Fifty-five episodes is a lot, the recruitment stretch drags, and with dozens of fighters on the ring many opponents are little more than extras. As a series finale, though, it works: it closes the loop opened with Zeno and leaves Goku and Vegeta ready for new challenges. The previous saga is the Future Trunks Saga.
Did you know? Episodes 109 and 110, with the Spirit Bomb against Jiren and the first appearance of Ultra Instinct, aired in Japan on October 8, 2017 as a single one-hour special.
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