Dragon Ball Super Reveals Merus' Identity and Origin

The latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super continues pushing the "Galactic Patrol Prisoner" arc toward its inevitable conclusion. New villain Moro is still keeping Earth in sight as his next big meal, while Goku and Vegeta are both still off-world, separately pursuing new forms of training that will hopefully allow them to finally overcome Moro's energy-sapping abilities. While Goku and Vegeta both become of aware of the ticking clock hanging over Earth, Chapter 55 of the manga also manages to drop a major (and long-awaited) reveal, regarding the true nature and identity of the Galatic Patrol's elite patrolman, Merus!

Warning! Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 55 SPOILERS Follow!

As virtually every fan guessed early on, Merus is indeed part of the race of angels that Whis and Grand Priest both belong to. In fact, it is Whis and Grand Priest who convene outside Grand Zeno's palace to discuss the matter of Merus, and that's were we learn that Merus isn't just an angel - he was the direct trainee of Grand Priest himself!

"I dispatched my trainee angel, Merus, to Universe 7," Grand Priest tells Whis. "So that he might learn about the way of things and broaden his perspective. We angels must always act impartially. Beyond that single law, there are no restrictions on what we can or cannot do. His enlisting in the Galactic Patrol seemed a decent choice, as it would allow him to observe the side of good and virtue, but, alas..."

The discussion goes on to cite the fact that in training with the Galactic Patrol, Merus inevitably gained the sort of bias of an actual mortal lawman, which has brought him dangerously close to violating the Angel Laws. Whis is quick to point out that though he is now biased, Merus hasn't technically done anything to intervene in the fate of mortal conflicts, as he's only used tech weapons while serving as a Galactic Patrolman (not his Angel powers), and is now only using partial Angel powers to train Goku.

In the end, the angels decide on a middleground reprimand: Whis is allowed to go to Galactic Patrol HQ and retrieve Merus peacefully, but Merus must abandon his studies in the mortal world and head back to the angel realm to complete his training. He'll be no help to Goku in the final battle against Moro...

The Japanese-language and English dub releases of Dragon Ball Super are now complete and available to stream with FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. Viz Media is releasing new chapters of the manga at a monthly rate that can be read entirely for free through the Shonen Jump digital library, and Dragon Ball Super's big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Fans in Japan are also able to enjoy fresh non-canon adventures from the franchises with new episodes of Super Dragon Ball Heroes' promotional anime series.