Dragon Ball Super Reveals Bardock's Secret Connection to the Dragon Balls

Dragon Ball Super's new Granolah The Survivor Arc continues to be one of the most transformative storylines in the series – and the latest chapter is certainly one of the most game-changing stories yet! In Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 83 we finally get to see the full flashback fight between Goku's father Bardock and Gas of the evil Heeters family – the very same fight that Goku now has to win against Gas, decades later. In listening to the recording of Bardock's fight, Goku (and we the audience) also find out that Bardock had his own secret connection to the Dragon Balls – long before Goku ever got to Earth! 

(WARNING: Dragon Ball Super Chapter 83 SPOILERS Follow!) 

In "Bardock vs. Gas, Part 2" Bardock is going all-out against Gas, but the young Heeters' freaky powers (able to manifest any kind of weapon) are too formidable. The last surviving Namekian on Planet Cereal, Monaito, scrambles to enact a desperate plan: use the two Dragon Balls in his possession to make a wish that could save Bardock! 

Monaito's first idea is to use the Dragon Balls to wish Bardock back to his home planet. However, when the great dragon Toronbo appears before Bardock to request his permission for the transport home, Bardock refuses. Saiyan Pride won't let Bardock run from the fight – or abandon those he's protecting (Monaito and Granolah). 

When the old Namekian psychically contacts Bardock to plead that the Saiyan hero flee, he finds Bardock's resolve unshakable. Instead of using the wish for himself, Bardock has a different wish in mind: "I'd wish that my sons end up thriving." Monaito makes the wish, and Bardock goes on to finish the fight and win on his own terms. 

With this chapter, Dragon Ball has made a further monumental change to the core mythology surrounding Goku and his connection to his father, the Dragon Balls, and Earth. For better or worse, we now understand that Goku didn't walk his own path to growing and thriving as a hero of Earth – he literally had mystic forces behind him, guiding him, all along. Goku's safety and evolution was just one of the legacy gifts Bardock left his son – and in our view, it makes Goku's saga that much sweeter.  

Dragon Ball has spent the last few years completely overhauling Bardock's character and backstory, to make the line of heroism between Goku and his father much more direct. By seeing how his father operated, Goku arguably now has a path to finally embrace his Saiyan identity, and use that new wholeness to evolve his Ultra Instinct power to the next level. 

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