Episode 5 of Dragon Ball Z, first aired in Japan on May 24, 1989, does something few cartoons would have dared: it kills its hero. Goku sacrifices himself so that Piccolo can hit Raditz, and the battle ends with two dead. Meanwhile, out in space, Vegeta and Nappa make their first appearance.
Summary
Gohan slams into Raditz with a headbutt that cracks his armor: for an instant the scouter reads 1,307, more than Goku and Piccolo combined. Right after, the boy is harmless again, his power plummets and Raditz knocks him out. He has realized that Gohan's strength depends on his emotions, and he decides to kill him before he learns to control it.
That is when Goku, his ribs broken, finds his last reserves: he grabs his brother from behind and pins him. He asks Piccolo to fire the Special Beam Cannon again, even though it will hit them both. Raditz begs once more, promising to leave forever, but this time Goku is not fooled. Piccolo's beam pierces them both.
As he lies dying, Raditz hears Piccolo explain that Goku will soon be revived by the Dragon Balls. So he reveals that everything said here has been relayed by scouter to his two partners: the other Saiyans will reach Earth in a year, and they are far stronger than he is. Piccolo finishes him off.
Bulma, Krillin and Roshi arrive by plane and find Gohan unconscious but unharmed. Goku still manages a joke: dying, he says, is a pretty miserable business. Krillin promises they will bring him back soon; Goku says he is counting on it, then closes his eyes. Moments later his body vanishes, and Piccolo guesses that Kami is behind it.
On a distant planet, meanwhile, Nappa and Vegeta sneer at Raditz's death. The Dragon Balls catch their interest: with a single wish they could gain eternal life. They climb into their pods and launch, ready to sleep through the whole journey.
Our take
Killing Goku in the fifth episode is a bold writing choice, and Akira Toriyama's manga, whose chapters 203 and 204 the episode adapts, handles it without melodrama. There is no grand farewell speech, just a joke and a look. The fact that Piccolo, his archenemy, fires the shot with his consent makes the scene all the stranger and more memorable.
The sacrifice also works because the viewer knows the Dragon Balls exist. Death is not final, and the show says so openly; the tension shifts elsewhere, to the clock and to who is coming. That is where the ending earns its keep: in a few seconds it introduces Vegeta, cold and contemptuous, and Nappa, huge and a little dim, and sets the one-year deadline that drives the entire saga.
Also worth noting is how Gohan is treated as a weapon: for Raditz, and then for Vegeta, the boy is a scientific curiosity. Vegeta speculates that crossing Saiyans with Earthlings might produce extraordinary warriors, an idea the series will confirm again and again.
Trivia
- This is Vegeta and Nappa's first appearance. While talking about Gohan, Nappa mentions the "Super Saiyan" for the first time, using the English word super.
- In Japan the episode drew a 16.4% ratings share. It was written by Takao Koyama and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi.
- The 1996 English dub merged it with the next episode as Goku's Unusual Journey. Under broadcast rules, references to death were softened, often into "the Next Dimension".
- The uncut 2005 redub titled the episode Gohan's Rage.
Did you know? Vegeta dismisses Raditz as a weakling beaten by someone with a power level "just over a thousand". Given everything that follows, the line sounds almost comical.