Episode 139 of Dragon Ball Z, first aired in Japan on May 13, 1992 and titled Unwelcome Discovery in Funimation's dub, closes the Androids Saga on a question mark. Trunks discovers that saving this present won't change his future, Vegeta swears to push past Super Saiyan, and Bulma receives a photo of a time machine that shouldn't exist.
Summary
Flying to Kame House with the sick Goku, Chi-Chi, Krillin, Yamcha and Gohan, Trunks toys with the idea of traveling even further back to destroy Dr. Gero's lab before the Androids are activated. It takes an innocent question from Gohan to make the truth click: by changing the past he created a new timeline, and his own world will stay exactly as it is, whatever happens here. He tells Krillin it was his mother's wish all along. If they couldn't save their own future, at least another one should know peace. Memories of his ruined city and of fleeing the Androids flash through his mind.
At Kame House, Chiaotzu cooks a soup that wins over Master Roshi and Oolong, so much that the old master invites him to move in, mostly to keep eating well. Soon Tien arrives and the two head off to train.
On the plane, Goku sinks into a nightmare: Androids 17 and 18 walk into the room where he lies and kill Gohan, Krillin, Chi-Chi and Trunks one by one, while he flails helplessly, his punches passing through them like a ghost's. He wakes up screaming, and Chi-Chi gives him his medicine.
Vegeta, meanwhile, stands alone on a rocky hill in the pouring rain. Android 18's words echo in his head; in a fit of rage he transforms and convinces himself there must be a level beyond Super Saiyan. He will reach it, whatever it takes. His aura tears a hole of clear sky in the gray clouds.
When Krillin calls Bulma to tell her about moving Goku, she has strange news. A farmer found a moss-covered vehicle with the Capsule Corporation logo on his land and sent her a photo: it's identical to Trunks' time machine. Trunks is certain his mother barely managed to build one, and his is sitting in the capsule in his pocket. When the photo arrives by fax, he stares at it in disbelief.
Our take
It's an unusual arc finale: no battle, just a mystery. It works because it overturns everything we thought we knew. The moss-covered time machine is the first clue to the arrival of Cell, who came from yet another timeline after killing a different Trunks and stealing his ride. The real threat isn't the Androids heading for Kame House.
Trunks' explanation of timelines matters just as much. Dragon Ball picks a clear rule, unlike many time-travel stories: a changed past doesn't rewrite the future, it branches off beside it. That rule will return in Dragon Ball Super.
The anime adds three things here: Chiaotzu's soup, Trunks' memories and Goku's nightmare, the darkest scene in the episode. Vegeta's vow, on the other hand, comes from the manga and seeds the forms beyond Super Saiyan we'll see in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Episode 140 kicks off the Cell Saga.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 357. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with animation direction by Yukio Ebisawa.
- Its 18.3% share was the lowest of the Androids Saga.
- In Italy it aired on Italia 1 on September 11, 2000.
- Saga divisions vary: for Funimation the Androids Saga ends here and the Imperfect Cell Saga begins with episode 140, while the split used by Italian Wikipedia stretches the Androids arc to episode 147.
Did you know? In Goku's nightmare, Android 17 actually draws the pistol he always carries in his holster, one of the very few times the gun is ever seen in use.