The 132nd episode of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on March 18, 1992 and titled Follow Dr. Gero in Funimation's dub, is an episode of revelations. Android 20 turns out to be Dr. Gero, creator of the androids; the killers Trunks described have yet to be switched on; and Gohan and the others finally learn who the mysterious young man from the future really is. The fight becomes a race against time toward a hidden laboratory.
Summary
Trunks confirms that Androids 19 and 20 are not the ones from his time and thinks aloud: perhaps his first trip changed history. At Vegeta's request he describes the real enemies, a dark-haired young man and a blonde girl. Android 20, still on the ground, smiles and announces that 17 and 18 are about to enter the picture.
At that moment Bulma's aircraft arrives, carrying baby Trunks and Yajirobe. The android blasts it and slips away in the confusion. Trunks catches his mother and the baby, his own younger self, in midair, while Vegeta doesn't lift a finger: all that matters to him is the chase. The young man is appalled by his father's indifference, and Bulma hits back at Vegeta with one of her trademark jabs.
It's Bulma who drops the bombshell: the old man is Dr. Gero, and his lab should be in a cave somewhere in the northern mountains. Piccolo suggests destroying it before the two androids can be activated, but Vegeta dismisses the plan as cowardly and flies off alone, eager to face them. Trunks goes after him to keep him from getting killed, remembering how his mother described a proud man who could never show affection.
Once they're gone, Piccolo reveals to Gohan, Krillin, Tien and Bulma that the young Super Saiyan is the baby in her arms. Gohan escorts Bulma, the infant and Yajirobe home, while the others head north. Hidden in the rocks, Dr. Gero watches them pass, recognizes Bulma as the daughter of the Capsule Corporation's president and realizes they know where to look: he has to reach his lab first.
Our take
After two episodes of fighting, this one shifts gears and works on character. The reveal about Gero neatly stitches two eras together: the Red Ribbon Army scientist, an old enemy from the original Dragon Ball, has turned himself into an android and spent years nursing his grudge against Goku. It's the first sign of how deeply the Androids arc is rooted in the hero's past.
The emotional core, though, is Vegeta's family. A prince who lets Bulma and his son fall rather than lose sight of the enemy is consistent with the character at this stage, and Trunks reacts the way any son would. His memory of a mother who still speaks of Vegeta with affection adds a layer: the boy came back to save a father he never actually knew.
The only anime addition is a short scene at Goku's house, where Chi-Chi despairs over her husband's illness. Everything else is faithful to the manga and moves briskly, with an ending that ramps the tension back up.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 347 from page 7 to the end and chapter 348. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama, it drew a 24.2% share.
- In one shot Vegeta is still a Super Saiyan, yet a coloring slip turns his eyebrows and eyes black.
- In the manga and in Kai, Trunks admits he doesn't like his father but won't let him die. Funimation's dub of this episode changed the line to "I won't let it happen again, I won't let my father die."