Did Dragon Ball Super Just Set Up Piccolo’s Retirement?

Dragon Ball Super‘s latest manga arc, “Galactic Patrol Prisoner”, has been doing the heavy-lifting of setting the stage for the next era of the series – even while the anime is still on indefinite hiatus. The story has now entered its final phase, as Goku and Vegeta are making their much-touted last stand against new villain, Moro. In order to defeat the ancient sorcerer, Goku and Vegeta split up and pursued their own respective new forms of training; with the debut of Vegeta’s new “Forced Spirit Fission” power, it also seems like Dragon Ball Super may be setting the stage for Piccolo’s retirement!

Warning: Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 61 SPOILERS Follow!

Vegeta’s training on Yardrat was in “Spirit Control,” which allows warriors to master manipulation of ki energy. In Vegeta’s case, he centered in on “Forced Spirit Fission,” which allows him to separate an opponent from any energy that’s been absorbed or fused together. With that technique in his belt, Vegeta is able to separate Moro from all of the lifeforce energy the villain consumed in his terrible campaign of death and destruction across the universe, effectively reducing Moro back to the status of an ancient and decrepit old goat.

Right now, we’re only scratching the surface of what Vegeta’s new powers can do. However, this same issue of the manga does point us in at least one big possible use of Vegeta’s new powers: undoing Piccolo’s Namekian fusions!

As Vegeta tells Piccolo, when asked about the nature of Forced Spirit Fission: “Yes, I could even extract those other Namekians you combined with ages ago. Care to try?”

Piccolo had two big Namekian fusion moments in Dragon Ball Z: he merged with the bodyguard/warrior Nial before battling Freeza on Planet Namek; he later merged with Earth’s guardian, Kami, in order to fight Imperfect Cell. Namekian Fusion is a permanent process, which required both Nial and Kami to essentially give up their lives to empower Piccolo. However, the “Galactic Patrol Prisoner” uses this new issue to also establish that Namekians have incredible powerful life-forces, to the point that Vegeta is able to resurrect the dead of New Namek, weeks after the planet was killed by Moro. That’s a lot of “coincidence” that seems to be pointing towards one end: Piccolo’s retirement.

While trying to defend Earth from Moro’s forces, Piccolo and the other Dragon Ball Z-Fighters openly admitted they’ve been outpowered by Goku and Vegeta. With Vegeta now having the means to undo Piccolo’s fusions, and presumably restore Kami and Nial to life, it would be a timely and fitting decision for Piccolo to make. The Namekian race needs all the members it can still get, and Piccolo’s time as a warrior seems like its over, given the new levels of power required for Dragon Ball Super fan-favs like Jiren, Hit, or Kefla. Fans now love Piccolo as a teacher, advisor, and surrogate father-figure, so why not make that change official?

Bonus: If Piccolo does separate from Kami, it opens the door for Dragon Ball Super to re-introduce the Evil Piccolo counterpart to Kami’s good side.