Episode 189 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on June 16, 1993 and titled Cell Returns! in Funimation's dub, takes the saga to its darkest point. Goku's sacrifice was for nothing: Cell survived, he is stronger than ever, and he has just killed Trunks. Grief drives Vegeta into a desperate assault, and saving him costs Gohan dearly.
Summary
Cell reappears wrapped in the same crackling aura as Gohan, savoring the terror on everyone's faces. On Snake Way, Goku cannot believe it: he died for nothing, and King Kai complains that he lost his planet too. At Kami's Lookout, Dende confirms to Mr. Popo that the monster has come back even more powerful and doubts that even Gohan can beat him.
Cell explains his secret: there is a nucleus in his head, and as long as it survives he can regenerate. After the explosion on King Kai's planet he rebuilt himself from it, finding that he was perfect again even without Android 18 and, like a Saiyan who escapes death, stronger than before. He has also learned Goku's Instant Transmission, which is how he got back to Earth. Gohan, seething, says he is glad: now he can avenge his father.
Trunks, struck in the chest, coughs up blood and dies. Vegeta freezes. The world around him fades until he sees only his son on the ground. He thinks back to Goku's farewell, to the sneak attack, to Gohan talking about revenge while his own boy lies lifeless. Then he snaps: with a scream he powers up and charges at Cell.
Vegeta buries him under an endless barrage of energy blasts, unloading all his rage. The battlefield disappears under the dust as the other fighters shield themselves from the shockwaves. When the prince finally stops, exhausted, Cell leaps out of the smoke without a scratch and knocks him down with a single blow. As the monster prepares to finish him, Gohan throws himself in between and takes the attack with his own body. Vegeta is saved, but the boy struggles to his feet with one arm injured and now useless.
Piccolo calls for a senzu, but Krillin reveals they are all gone. Cell announces he will end things right away and begins charging a Kamehameha strong enough to destroy not only Gohan but the entire planet.
Our take
Trunks's death is the cruelest blow of the saga precisely because it comes right after Goku's sacrifice, when viewers believe the worst is over. The young man who came from the future to save everyone dies without even fighting, hit by a beam fired out of the smoke. It is yet another consequence of Gohan's mistake, and the boy knows it.
The real lead of the episode, though, is Vegeta. The prince who let Cell become perfect out of pride, and who never showed any affection for Trunks, breaks down in front of his son's body. His attack is useless, and he surely knows it as he unleashes it, but it is the first time we see Vegeta fight for someone other than himself. The flashback and the silence before the charge give the scene the room it deserves.
Cell's nucleus explanation is a bit of a stretch, since earlier in the Cell Games he regenerated even after losing his head, but it serves the drama. Gohan's choice to take a hit for Vegeta is the beginning of his redemption.
Trivia
- It adapts the last pages of chapter 413 and chapter 414. Written by Aya Matsui and directed by Hiroki Shibata, with Yukio Ebisawa as animation supervisor, it drew a 19.5% share.
- It aired two weeks after episode 188. The scene of Dende and Mr. Popo at the Lookout is an anime addition.
Did you know? The original English dub softened Trunks's death: instead of the blood and his immediate passing, Yamcha simply says the young man might not make it.