Dragon Ball Super Flashback Fills in Some Major ‘Father of Goku’ Holes

Dragon Ball Super has brought Bardock into the recent events of the series through a new flashback exploring an unseen part of his past, and with it has answered a major question about his final moments seen during Dragon Ball Super: Broly and the Dragon Ball Z: Bardock: The Father of Goku specials! Bardock has been increasingly relevant during the events of the Granolah the Survivor arc as it was revealed that the Saiyan had actually been the one to save Granolah and Monaito from Planet Cereal’s destruction. The newest chapters of the series took this even further by showing Bardock’s conflict with the Heeters as well.

With the reveal that the Heeters not only had a part in Planet Cereal’s destruction but fought against Bardock directly, the newest chapter of Dragon Ball Super takes this one step further and actually gave Bardock a huge hint that the Planet Vegeta was marked for destruction next. With this hint crawling into his mind, it explains why the Bardock we see in the events of Father of Goku and Dragon Ball Super: Broly (and Dragon Ball Minus) is so immediately on edge when things don’t look right and sets out to attack Frieza all on his own. 

Chapter 83 of Dragon Ball Super continues the fight between Bardock and Gas in the past, and Gas starts teasing him with the fact that he’s fighting for the sake of a doomed planet and race. Bardock initially shakes this off, but after defeating Gas, Elec arrives to hammer the nail in further. Bardock asks him why he would attack him knowing he’s loyal to Frieza, and Elec teases him with what Frieza’s really planning. He calls Bardock gullible to the point where he wouldn’t see a “meteor” dropping on his head coming until it’s too late, but refuses to elaborate further. 

This is likely what sparks Bardock to think a little more openly about the Saiyans’ working with Frieza in the first place. The Bardock we see at the beginning of this flashback has his core values (especially when it comes to his sons’ futures), but at the same time is still working within his race’s mentality. This is what helps him overcome this, and what ultimately sets him on the path to making one final stand against Frieza before his death. 

What do you think? How do you feel about Bardock being tipped off about Planet Vegeta’s destruction years before it actually happens? Does it change his eventual choices at all? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!