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"Flashpoint" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of Team Four Star's DragonBall Z Abridged and is the fifty-second episode overall. It was first uploaded to the official website on February 16, 2016, and later uploaded to YouTube on February 18, 2016.

Summary[]

In the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku announces, to Gohan's horror, that he is going to teach Gohan how to dodge by way of firing a Super Saiyan blast at him that Gohan could not possibly survive.

Gohan can't bring himself to move out of the way. Trying in vain to hold the blast back, reflecting on his helplessness, and desperate to survive, Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan and forces the blast away. Goku is elated, but Gohan is too caught up in the intensity of his transformation to respond with more than manic growling.

On Earth, Krillin throws a Kienzan disc at Perfect Cell in grief and rage, but it dissolves harmlessly on impact, prompting Cell to cheerfully kick Krillin in the neck hard enough to send him flying through a plateau. Trunks flies away to help Krillin, while Android 16 blames Cell for 'eating his family'.

Vegeta approaches Cell confidently as Cell mockingly expresses his admiration for Vegeta's dedication to dooming the world to suit his own ego.

Krillin recovers from his injury with a Senzu Bean, and immediate claims that Vegeta is about to die, implying that Cell held back massively in his devastating attack, as Krillin can tell when people are playing around, a fact he directs accusingly at Trunks.

Cell interrupts Vegeta's posturing with a simple challenge to hit Cell as hard as he can. To Vegeta's shock, an impulsive kick lands harmlessly on Cell's head, and Cell kicks Vegeta through several rock outcroppings and drops him into the ocean.

Trunks admits that he discovered a way to surpass Vegeta in power but has hidden that fact to save his father's pride, claiming that the realization would shatter Vegeta. "AND BECAUSE OF THAT 18 HAD TO DIE!?" Krillin shrieks. Trunks asks why it matters because it was the plan to detonate the bomb in her. He then sees Krillin crying and glaring at him with all his might. Realizing Krillin had fallen in love with the android, Trunks apologizes in a moment of genuine regret for his stupid action.

Vegeta drags himself back onto land as Cell mocks him, offering him one last chance to attack Cell with everything he's got. Vegeta flies into the air and begins to summon a terrifying amount of power, to the point where Trunks and Krillin belief that Vegeta intends to destroy the entire planet just to kill Cell. Vegeta unleashes his 'Final Flash' attack, prompting a moment of concern from Cell as the blast engulfs him and skims the Earth, parting the ocean for miles before shooting out into space.

Relieved to have survived, the three are further elated to see that Cell has had most of his torso blown off in the blast. Vegeta laughs as Cell screams in apparent agony and frustration, before Cell suddenly regains his composure, and instantly regenerates the missing portion of his body.

Vegeta panics and begins to pelt Cell with ki blasts, only for Cell to effortlessly walk through the hail and knock Vegeta across the island again. Krillin insists that Vegeta's life is in danger, reminding Trunks that they no longer have Dragon Balls to resurrect Vegeta with, while Trunks continues to hesitate.

Cell mocks Vegeta one last time, suggesting that Vegeta should do what everyone else does, and "Wait for Goku" before breaking Vegeta's back. As he's about to destroy Vegeta's unconscious body, Trunks begins to power up, as Cell watches curiously.

In a post-ending scene, Gohan has gotten a short new haircut, and is called over to eat by Goku. Goku lets Gohan 'cook' his portion by throwing it up into the air for Gohan to blast it with his ki, but the food bursts into flames and sets Goku's hair on fire. Gohan's attempts to warn his father fall on deaf ears, as Goku focuses on chastising Gohan's lack of control, while Goku's entire head bursts into flames. (Beautiful karma).

Cast[]

Music[]

  • Shunsuke Kikuchi - Cha-La Head-Cha-La (Variations)
  • Kenji Yamamoto - An Unfamiliar Menace
  • Hironobu Kageyama - Cha-La Head-Cha-La
  • Kenji Yamamoto - A New Foe Rears His Head
  • Kenji Yamamoto - Symphonic Transformation
  • AinTunez – Super Saiyan Vegeta (Fauxchestral Vers.)
  • Shunsuke Kikuchi - Prevent It! Cell's Perfect Body
  • AinTunez – Perfect Cell X Hikari no Willpower
  • Kenji Yamamoto - Bubbles' Dance

Running Gags[]

  • Krillin Owned Count 35: Krillin gets kicked through a plateau by Perfect Cell.
  • "Dodging" comes up again.
  • Gohan mutters "Damn you, Pavlov." when Goku fires at him; echoing Piccolo from Episode 8.

Cultural References[]

  • The echoing effect on Vegeta's voice when he's defeated evokes the 'death cry' of a defeated character in a Street Fighter game. Everything Cell says afterwards is in reference to fighting game announcements.
    • Coincidentally, this episode was released on the same day as Street Fighter V.
  • The title of the episode, Flashpoint, is a reference to the DC comic storyline where Barry Allen, AKA The Flash, goes back in time and creates a timeline called flashpoint. Similarly, Trunks time travels to create a better world but ends up causing a new threat, much like Barry in most flashpoint arcs.
    • This is also the 52nd episode of the series. The original flashpoint comic story directly led into DC's 2011 reboot, known as The New 52.
  • Cell's demand that Vegeta "Hit me as hard as you can." references a famous line in the 1999 movie Fight Club.

Trivia[]

  • This episode marks the debut of Gohan's Super Saiyan form. The sequence was made as part of a director's cut for The "Perfect" Guy. Originally, it was to be shown along with Perfect Cell's transformation, but they ultimately decided not to.
  • This is the first episode of 2016.
  • This episode marks the first time that Team Four Star used custom music by AinTunez. In this case, the song is an arrangement of "Vegeta's Super Saiyan Theme".
  • In the stinger, Goku was singing a variation of "Dragon Soul", the theme song for Dragon Ball Kai. A full version of the song was released on MasakoX's YouTube Channel.
  • Cell tells Android 16 not to "lose his head", foreshadowing 16's eventual decapitation.
  • Gohan speaks during the end sequence, making him the third character to do this, following Vegeta and Trunks. During this, he is trying to help Goku put out his flaming head. The sequence concludes with panic over Goku lighting the Hyperbolic Time Chamber door on fire.
    • Gohan is also one of the two characters to read the disclaimer and speak in the ending sequence in the same episode, the other one being Trunks.
  • The Episode Breakdown segment admitted to a writing error when Krillin tells Trunks that he knows how strong Cell is. What the viewer is intended to be informed, is that after years of physical abuse and attacks from various characters throughout the series, Krillin can evaluate how powerful an opponents attacks can be based on his perception of their power level, and Krillin evaluated Trunks as intentionally performing at less than his full capacity.
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