New ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Arc May Put an End to Super Saiyan God

Dragon Ball Super is headed into its next saga thanks to the manga, which has launched into the new “Galactic Patrol Prisoner” storyline. In just 1.5 chapters, the new storyline has already presented us with one of Dragon Ball‘s most powerful new villains, given Goku, Vegeta, and company some powerful new potential allies, and started to tie threads together from both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super that could have major implications for the franchise’s future. One of the biggest early foreshadows of the “Galactic Patrol Prisoner” arc could actually be something of a major game-change for the franchise. We’re talking about the elimination of Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan God power!

Here’s how the dots connect:

The new villain of the “Galactic Patrol Prisoner Arc” is Planet-Eater Moro, a powerful ancient fighter and sorcerer. Moro has the terrible power to drain the life force of entire planets and their inhabitants to fuel his own indomitable strength and formidable magic. 10 million years ago, The Galactic Patrol was able to lock Moro away, but only after Universe 7’s ruler, Daikaioh, was first able seal Moro’s magic away at great personal cost. The act of taking the sorcerer’s power away cost Daikaioh most of his godly energy, leaving the Grand Kai a shell of his former self. By the time of Dragon Ball Z, Daikaioh wasn’t able to overcome an attack from the likes of Buu, and was ultimately absorbed into the demon, where his godly goodness helped balance the villain and create the “Fat Buu” we now know and love.

Now Moro is free again, and The Galactic Patrol has had to take Majin Buu in the hopes of freeing Daikaioh to help defeat the ancient villain. However, the stage seems to be being set for one decisive showdown. Daikaioh no longer has the godly energy to defeat Moro, and the list of beings in Universe 7 who come with the attributes of being highly skilled fighters who are also capable of tapping into godly energy is short. In other words: it will probably come down to Goku, Vegeta, and Super Saiyan God/Super Saiyan Blue sealing rituals to stop this bad guy. However, by the time our Saiyan heroes get the job done, they may have to expend the godly energy that has defined what Dragon Ball Super is all about.

That could mean Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Ultra Instinct would all be powers lost to Goku and Vegeta, but the big question is: would fans mind that sacrifice? Super has always been accused of overpowering the characters, and the new Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie is re-approaching concepts like Super Saiyan to have more power potential (see: Broly) rather than adding tags like “Legendary Super Saiyan” to the mythos. After all the exploration of divine power, maybe taking the Saiyans back to their series roots wouldn’t be so bad.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly is now in theaters in Japan. Funimation will be bringing the film to theaters in the United States on January 16th. Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.