God Damn it Goku… I mean, I knew there was going to be one more twist in this tale before it was over. But I should be thrilled by it not exasperated. I get that being smart isn’t one of Goku’s defining character traits, but the fact that these characters keep making the same mistakes over and over again is pretty exhausting.
Goku starts chapter 65 by using his ki to turn a boulder into the sand and ordering Moro to get up. He then pulls a boneheaded move from his classic playbook and both makes Moro promise to go back to prison and also gives him a Senzu Bean. So the stupid stunt he pulled on both Freeza and Cell in combination.
Of course, Moro lies through his teeth in a heartbeat. Taking the Senzu and regrowing his arm. Something I’ve seen fan fiction writers arguing about for years, I guess this manga gives a definitive answer about them being able to regrow limbs. Although I always thought Yamcha’s hole through the chest healing was proof enough of that.
As soon as he’s downed the bean, Moro tries to attack Goku again. Who in retaliation flexes a pec and breaks Moro’s hand on it. Damn. At which point, Moro has broken his word right away and should probably be put out of his misery. Something even Jaco screams, channelling the entire readership. Instead, Goku turns off the silver and pops a squat so he can have a heart to heart with the Warlock.
He laments that Moro couldn’t be a good guy and train to fight him again, which at this point seems to have become Goku’s most iconic character trait. He even gives him yet another chance to go back to prison rather than just ending him. It’s so dumb, the only reason Moro is so strong is because he consumes planets. There is no way he could do that and be “decent” and strong at the same time.
If the chapter wasn’t content to just rip off the Freeza and Cell arcs, it decides to pinch something from the Majin Buu storyline too. Moro’s severed arm is seen lying behind Goku, the one he lost shortly after grabbing Meerus’s neck a few chapters ago. Summoning the arm back to himself, he reattaches it and attains Meerus’s power. Which includes the ability to utilize Ultra Instinct.
And suddenly we have a very bad situation on our hands. Good job Geeko.
As Beerus states, “That dope can’t stick a landing for his life.” At which point I’m really wondering why he isn’t involving himself, an Ultra Instinct powered evil warlock is a very pressing issue for universe 7 in it’s entirely, maybe even the entire multiverse. Then again, this should only last half an hour given the limitations on Three-Seven’s powers. Beerus does look concerned enough that I’m surprised he’s not involving himself though.
High on his new power, Moro battles Goku who takes a few hits, but hardly seems flustered. As they fight, Moro’s body swells and inflates, much like Saganbo did so many chapters ago, his body can’t contain the godly power in how holds and he seems to be on the fast track to blowing up. At which point Moro realises this, and beings thinking of a replacement that can contain his power.
Seeing what’s going on, it’s Whis of all people tells Goku to stop fucking around and put an end to Moro. Because we all know what happened with Freeza that second time he came to Earth when he was backed into a corner.
Well, Moro’s magics come up with a new trick and the Warlock merges himself with the very planet itself. An action shocking enough to wipe the stoic right off Goku’s face. I’ll admit, as much as ridiculous Deus ex Machina move as this is, it makes for some really cool visuals, as Moro’s face and hands energy from the very ground itself.
Something even Whis seems concerned about. With a body as large as the Earth, Moro can contain the angel power. Even worse, Moro’s fate is now inexplicitly linked with the very Earth itself. Killing him would mean also destroying the planet, and to top off this cake of crap, the detonation would be powerful enough to destroy the entire Galaxy.
Welp, they certainly know how to raise the stakes for this story’s ending. It’s just too bad all it’s doing it retreading the same old ground we’ve seen previous Dragon Ball stories. This is just like the fight with Cell, where he had realised he’d lost and decided to hold the entire Earth hostage by blowing himself up. Just because you increase the scale of the stakes doesn’t mean it’s an original idea.
I’m bummed, even more so considering I can think of at least three solutions to this problem right off the top of my head:
- Just blow up the planet from a distance and use the Super Dragon Balls to fix it. We might get a cool story arc out of it.
- Have Whis rewind time and then have Goku kill Moro, he did it for the Freeza movie and I feel like this is a much more warranted situation to do something like that.
- Have Vegeta just punch the ground a bunch and use his Forced Spirit Fission to separate Moro from both the Planet, Meerus’s power and Seven-Three.
The longer this arc goes the more I’m bummed out by it. I’m certainly eager to see where it goes and how it concludes, but the extent to which I feel like it is repeating itself is frustrating. At this point it feels like Dragon Ball is just a rat on a wheel, destined to run forever but never actually get anywhere.
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 