Episode 17 of Dragon Ball Z, City of No Tomorrow! The Long Road to Victory, first aired in Japan on August 30, 1989, finally gives the Earth's warriors a taste of battle. At Kami's palace, Krillin and the others find themselves in a Saiyan city and face two of its warriors, in what turns out to be a brutal test. On Earth, meanwhile, Gohan's training enters its second phase.
Summary
Six months have passed and Gohan has survived. As promised, Piccolo starts teaching him to fight: the boy attacks, the master dodges and counters, insisting that Gohan learn to sense his opponent instead of looking for him with his eyes. Time is short, and Piccolo allows no breaks.
At Kami's palace, on the other hand, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu are restless: after two months they still have not received any real training. So Mr. Popo takes them to the Pendulum Room, which sends their minds into the past. The four find themselves in a ruined city inhabited by Saiyans, and two warriors attack them without warning.
The fight is a disaster. Chiaotzu and Krillin go down almost immediately; Tien and Yamcha hold out together, and Yamcha unveils a powered-up version of his guided energy ball. It is not enough: they too are overwhelmed and killed. Then they wake up in the palace, unharmed. It was all in their minds. Kami explains that those two Saiyans were low-level fighters, far weaker than the ones heading for Earth, and asks whether they still want to fight. Instead of giving up, the four come out more determined than ever: Yamcha vows to endure any training it takes to win.
Our take
From Akira Toriyama's manga, the episode uses only the very first pages of chapter 210, in which Piccolo begins Gohan's combat training. The whole Pendulum Room sequence and the Saiyan city are anime additions, at a point where the comic dismissed the Earthlings' training with a caption.
As filler, though, it is among the most useful in the saga. It shows what Goku's friends are actually doing, confronts them with the enemy's level and sets the stage for the real battle: anyone who knows the story knows that the outcome of this simulation will not be far from reality, and it is hard not to shiver watching it again.
It is also one of the few occasions where Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu fight together as a team. The defeat is total, but their final reaction, determination instead of fear, says a lot about characters the series tends to leave in the shadows.
Trivia
- In Japan the episode drew a 17.3% ratings share. It was written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Osamu Kasai.
- The uncut 2005 redub titled it Pendulum Room Peril, after the room Mr. Popo uses; the 1996 dub called it Showdown in the Past.
- The Italian title, "The Encounter with the Two Saiyans", misspells the race as "Sayan", as it does in episode 11.
Did you know? According to the Japanese synopsis, the two Saiyans in the vision had only half the strength of Vegeta and Nappa, a detail that makes the four Earthlings' defeat even grimmer.
Characters
- Krillin
- Yamcha
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Kami and Mr. Popo
- Gohan
- Piccolo