'Dragon Ball Super' Explains Pesky Tournament of Power Plot Hole

Dragon Ball is plenty used to plot holes, but fans know the series will circle back to address those gaps every now and again. Now, it seems the Tournament of Power is getting such a revision, and readers are happy to see Android 17 set his self-sacrificial goals straight.

As it turns out, the android is not nearly as suicidal as fans thought, and the former baddie just schooled Krillin about it.

For those who are caught up on the Tournament of Power, they will know how it ends. The competition has high stakes as the fate of the multiverse lies upon it, so Team 7 is taking it very seriously. As such, Android 17 opted to detonate himself while fighting Jiren to give his comrades an opening, but the Dragon Ball Super manga revealed the real plan Android 17 had in mind the whole time.

Chapter 42 sees Android 17 win the Tournament of Power after it is revealed he did not explode himself. Having kept hidden, the fighter won the event after Freeza and Goku outed themselves to take down Jiren. Everyone was shocked, but fans wondered ever since the anime revealed this twist how Android 17 did not get noticed. The answer to that all falls down to the fighter's ki... or lack of it.

"Surprising indeed. We couldn't sense him, so we couldn't have known he yet lived," the Grand Priest explains before Tien confirms androids don't have ki. It doesn't take long for Krillin to ask Android 17 how he survived the blast in the first place, and the hero laid out his plan from the start.

"As if I'd ever do such a thing. Besides, I lost that function a long time ago. You're the one who wished away the bomb installed in me. Remember, Krillin," Android 17 explains.

After reminding Krillin he still has to babysit his children, Android 17 goes on to live out his Tournament of Power wish by reviving all of the universes which got annihilated. It might have taken some time, but anime fans finally got a definitive explanation as to why Zeno didn't notice the Team 7 fighter managed to fly under the radar after supposedly dying, and Android 17 didn't hold back his explanation when questioned about his so-called suicide mission.

Are you glad this got cleared up? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super: Broly officially releases in Japan this December, so fans will get to see more of Super Saiyan Blue Goku in action soon enough. 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.