Episode 58 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on August 22, 1990, introduces Frieza's secret weapon: the Ginyu Force, the tyrant's elite squad, leaves its base and heads for Namek. Funimation's uncut dub calls it Unknown Enemies, while the Ocean/Saban version went with Immortality Denied. Meanwhile Vegeta believes all seven Dragon Balls are his, unaware that a child has just pulled the most cheeky trick of the saga on him.
Summary
Left alone after Vegeta's departure, Bulma asks Krillin why he gave up the ball so quickly. He explains there was no choice: the Saiyan would have killed them and taken it anyway. Their only hope is that Gohan reaches the last one first.
Aboard his ship, Frieza concludes that Zarbon is either dead or has run away. A soldier informs him that the Ginyu Force is preparing to leave; the tyrant kills him the moment he is no longer needed. On Planet Frieza No. 79 the alarm sounds and the squad's five members climb into their pods and launch. On King Kai's planet, the god senses five evil presences, recognizes them and tells his pupils about the destruction they have caused. In space, Goku keeps training at a hundred times Earth's gravity.
Vegeta, on his way to summon the dragon, feels an energy that suddenly vanishes. It is Gohan, who has masked his power and dropped behind a rock with the ball recovered from the lake. The prince threatens to level the area unless whoever is hiding comes out, so Gohan steps forward, managing to leave the ball on the ground first. Vegeta notices the device in the boy's hand; Gohan says it is a watch. In a good mood and convinced he already has every ball, the prince asks whether his father is on the planet too, then knees him in the stomach and lets him go.
Gohan reaches Krillin and Bulma with the ball, and the three decide to move before Vegeta returns. Sure enough, the prince goes to the village, dives into the lake and finds nothing. He realizes that "watch" was a radar and that the boy fooled him. Furious, he flies to the cave, only to find it empty. Krillin has decided to take Gohan to Grand Elder Guru so he can have his power unlocked too, and Bulma stays behind alone, guarding the ball in a new hiding place.
Our take
The episode works as a change of gear. Until now the race for the Dragon Balls was a three-way game between Frieza, Vegeta and the Earthlings; now a fourth player is on the way, and King Kai's fear, recognizing the danger even from the Other World, tells us these will be no ordinary soldiers. The Ginyu Force gets only a fleeting introduction, and the mystery builds anticipation.
The best moment, though, is the meeting between Vegeta and Gohan. The prince has every reason to take revenge on the son of the man who humiliated him on Earth, yet he spares him, almost condescendingly. It is a whim born of good humor, but it is the first sign of a relationship that will change profoundly over the years. Gohan, for his part, shows with the watch lie a composure he did not have not long ago.
Trivia
- Written by Hiroshi Toda, directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Ratings share: 19.9%.
- It adapts chapter 269.
- In the manga Frieza is alone when he realizes Zarbon will not return; the anime adds the soldiers and the execution. King Kai sensing the squad is also an anime addition.
- In the anime the Frieza scene takes place four days before the squad reaches Namek; in the manga, on the same day.
Did you know? In the Ocean dub Vegeta refers to Bulma as "that gorgeous girl", a line absent from the original that many fans read as an early hint of the couple they will become.