Episode 227 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on May 18, 1994 and titled Heart of a Villain in Funimation's dub, is almost entirely devoted to the duel between Gohan and Dabura. The fight stays deadlocked, but the real turning point happens on the sidelines: watching Vegeta lose his temper, the demon king realizes he has found a better weapon than any technique.
Summary
In the arena Babidi's magic has conjured, all rocks and open water, Gohan starts strong and for a moment seems to be in control. Dabura shakes off the surprise, raises his power and evens things out. He breathes fire again and again without landing a hit, then uses an afterimage to wrong-foot Gohan and blasts him into the water. Back on the ship, Babidi celebrates, convinced Gohan is dead.
Gohan, however, charges two energy spheres and fires them from beneath the surface. Dabura kicks them away and hits him again as he climbs out, leaving his Great Saiyaman costume in tatters. Goku notes that his son should know better than to attack so directly, and Vegeta sneers that this is what happens when you skip training for seven years. Then Dabura spits: the saliva hits one of Gohan's gloves, which immediately starts turning to stone. Gohan tears it off just in time, and it shatters on the ground.
At the stadium the crowd is still celebrating Mr. Satan's victory, while Goten and Trunks fly toward the spaceship. Goten asks what a wizard is, and Trunks, after calling him dumb, realizes he has no idea either and makes something up. On the battlefield Dabura seems to be gaining the upper hand, but he glances over at Vegeta for a split second and Gohan sends him flying with a punch. The demon then summons a sword and forces Gohan into a string of desperate dodges that cost him a few locks of hair, until Gohan grabs the blade and snaps it.
Vegeta has had enough. He demands that Goku pull his son out and let him fight, accuses Dabura of toying with his opponent and snaps that he came to the tournament to beat Goku, not to make sweet father-son memories. Dabura listens, and understands that the evil of the Saiyan prince's past is still alive in his heart. He asks Babidi to call him back, tells the others there is a "new recruit" to bring up to speed and, once aboard, lays out his plan to the wizard. Babidi loves it.
Our take
In the manga, Gohan and Dabura's fight is short, almost a formality; the anime stretches it over a whole episode, adding the stretch in which Gohan overwhelms the demon and Dabura's comeback. The result is a varied duel, with the petrifying spit, the fire breath and the sword reminding us that Dabura is more than a brawler. The underwater attack is a clear nod to Goku's trick against Frieza on Namek.
The real focus, though, is Vegeta. His outburst looks like yet another fit of pride, but it is the key to the saga: Dabura is a demon, and he knows evil when he sees it. The episode builds toward the betrayal patiently, showing a Vegeta who hates being a spectator and who measures everything, even the growth of Goku and his son, against his own rivalry. Dragon Ball Kai compresses all of this considerably.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 455 of the manga. Written by Masashi Kubota and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Yūji Hakamada as animation director.
- It drew an 18.5% share in Japan.
- It aired two weeks after episode 226: no new episode was broadcast on Wednesday, May 11, 1994.
- Every stadium scene, Goten's question about wizards and the stretch where Gohan dominates Dabura are anime additions.
Did you know? Dabura's spit is the same power he used earlier to turn Krillin and Piccolo into statues. Restoring them requires defeating the demon, something Vegeta throws in Gohan's face in the next episode.