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In the latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super, we see the family history of Goku play out in a surprising fashion.
The current arc of Dragon Ball Super showed Granolah on a quest to avenge his mother by killing Vegeta and Goku. While Granolah’s revenge is still possible, this chapter's findings force him to readjust his target.
Goku finally discovers his father's origins in Dragon Ball Super
The story so far
Granolah, the last surviving Cerealian, found himself on a quest to avenge his mother's death at the hands of the Saiyans. To do this, he planned on killing Goku and Vegeta, the last two Saiyans left alive in the universe.
While successful in his battle with Vegeta and Goku so far, Monaito (a father figure of sorts to Granolah) tells Granolah to stop the fight. Monaito explains that he lied to Granolah, and one Saiyan actually saved his life as a child. Monaito revealed the man’s name to be Bardock.
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76 ended there, but fans who knew who Bardock was, had an idea of what was coming next. Just mentioning Bardock’s name starts a wildfire in the Dragon Ball fanbase, emphasizing his mass popularity despite few appearances.
Invasion of the Saiyans
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 77 opens with a flashback from Monaito to the day the Saiyans attacked Planet Cereal. Coming without warning during a Full Moon, the Saiyans instantly became Great Apes, and their invasion plan went off without a hitch. Both Namekians and Cerealians alike were mercilessly slaughtered by Saiyan soldiers.
Monaito finds himself the last surviving Namekian on Planet Cereal, heir to the Dragon Balls of that Namekian culture. We then cut to Great Ape Bardock, evident by the scar on his face, who sees a Cerealian boy fleeing to the countryside. Bardock pursues the boy and finds Granolah and his mother, Muezli, hiding out in a ruined house together.
Granolah faints from fear, and we then see a Cerealian soldier attempting to destroy the moon with an energy beam. The beam slices the head of a Saiyan before destroying the moon, successfully taking the aforementioned and all Saiyans out of Great Ape form.
This includes Bardock, who we now see in humanoid form, standing across from an unconscious Granolah and Muezli. Muezli fires a beam and slices the shoulder of Bardock, who is now lost in thought thinking of his wife and children.
Genetic kindness
Specifically, we see Bardock get berated for not being present for Goku’s birth before a touching scene where Bardock names his son Kakarrot (Goku’s Saiyan name). Coming back to Monaito’s flashback, we see Leek (the Saiyan who had his head sliced) telling Bardock the invasion is done.
Bardock tells Leek he’s staying behind to look for survivors, who in turn tells Bardock to hurry since Frieza is coming. He then notices a power level in the mountains, which we discover is Monaito. After trying to attack Bardock, Monaito lets Granolah and Muezli into his home.
Bardock says he only helped them because he felt like it. It was a great writing choice to emphasize his warrior persona while still letting kindness shine through. Monaito then learns Bardock’s name before we briefly return to the present.
In the present, Granolah learns that Bardock is who he has to thank for his survival, and Goku, shortly after that, learns Bardock is his father. Monaito actually says that Goku is Bardock’s spitting image, likely symbolic of how Goku is kind like his father was. Vegeta then makes a more obvious comment about kindness being a family trait before we again flashback to Muezli’s fate.
Muezli’s fate and Granolah betrayed
We then see Monaito healing Bardock’s arm before he leaves. Enter the Heeters, who Bardock detects with his scanner and explains that the group are brokers for the planets Frieza conquers. Muezli comes out to see what’s going on while the Heeters explain their plan to take over Frieza’s army. Unfortunately, Granolah wakes up and follows Muezli outside.
Upon seeing Bardock’s tail, Granolah shouts “a Saiyan” before being put back to sleep by Monaito. Unfortunately, the Heeters hear this, and Bardock robes himself while falsely preparing to kill the survivors. Elec (leader of the Heeters) tells Bardock to get on with it, before Bardock says the Namekian’s powers may be worth checking out.
Unamused, Elec kills Muezli himself before telling Bardock to quickly kill the other two. Enraged, Bardock attacks the Heeters, but this attack is blocked by Gas. After escaping, Monaito says he cannot save Muezli. Bardock then comments that the Heeters will come for them before we see Gas flying off to find Bardock and friends.
We then come back to the present Heeters, where Gas and Elec are discussing that specific night all those years ago. Gas remarks he suffered an indignity that night which he will never forget, before the Heeter crew restates their intent to gather Monaito’s seven Dragon Balls.
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 78 and final thoughts
Presumably, Dragon Ball Super Chapter 78 will open with Granolah accepting that the Heeters killed his mother all along. Further commentary from Goku and Vegeta about Bardock is likely, as Goku will surely want to know all he can about his dad.
It would be a great move to give Goku another personal stake in Saiyan race history and status, something he hasn’t received since the Frieza saga.
Likely the most anticipated events in Chapter 78 will be the hopeful formation of a team between Goku, Vegeta, Granolah, and Monaito. They all have a common enemy now, and with Granolah having no reason to hate Saiyans he’ll surely team up with Goku and Vegeta. The Heeters collecting the Dragon Balls is also something that must be stopped.
Overall, Dragon Ball Super Chapter 77 was a great chapter which set up the future of this arc very well. We have a clear antagonist, we can expect great fights based on the arc so far, and there’s lots of character motivation for everyone involved.
The last piece needed is the indignity that Gas suffered, presumably at Bardock’s hands. This will expectedly tease a great fight between Gas and Goku, who Gas will lash out against as a result of the similarity in appearance to Bardock.
Be sure to keep an eye out for Dragon Ball Super airing monthly in Shueisha Shonen Jump, with the next issue releasing November 19, 2021.
