Dragon Ball Super‘s final episode rocked fans with its impressive presentation, and once the surprises starting hitting they didn’t quite stop and continually knocked back fans with the many turns the episode took before it ended.
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But despite the Tournament of Power’s winner being a complete surprise to pretty much every fan, it seems the series has been hinting at the winner since the Tournament of Power began.
So, Goku is the limit breaker and 17 is the survivor. 18 mentioned that they are becoming more and more similar and connected over time. Limit Break “X” Survivor.
โ FrozenParticle (@ParticleFP) March 25, 2018
As Twitter user @ParticleFP points out, the end of the Tournament of Power reflects the name of the series’ second opening song, Kiyoshi Hikawa’s “Limit Break X Survivor.” Goku is the “Limit Break” who went beyond his usual Super Saiyan boundaries with Ultra Instinct (note that this could also reference Vegeta’s final limit breaking form as well), and Android 17 is the “Survivor” who survived his self-destruction gambit and ended up going on to win the entire thing.
After Android 17 wins the tournament, he uses his wish on the Super Dragon Balls to bring back all of the erased universes. Android 18 asks him if he’s okay with that, and Android 17 says it’s fine. 18 then says that Android 17 and Goku are very much alike, thus forming the “X” of the opening theme.
While this theory may seem out there at first, the theory that the series could reference the tournament’s end is not without some credibility. The staff has mad many references throughout the tournament to other famous Dragon Ball events, and it has even gone on record that series creator Akira Toriyamahad a full outline of how the tournament would progress.
Taking that knowledge into account, it would not surprise if the series were actually hiding the hint to the Tournament of Power’s winner, Android 17, right under fans’ noses the entire time.
For fans sad about Dragon Ball ending, it seems there is still some hope for closure before the end of the year when film releases December 14. The film has just released its first trailer and will focus on the Saiyans, the “origins of Goku‘s power,” and potentially the story of the very first Super Saiyan God. Not only does it aim to be the best film in the series, original creator Akira Toriyama will be contributing to the film’s script and new character designs.
Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and is available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.
If you want to catch up with the English dub, the first 52 episodes of Dragon Ball Super are now available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and available to purchase on Amazon Video as well. The 52 episodes span the full range of what has aired in the North America and covers the “Battle of Gods” arc, “Revival of F” arc, the “Universe 6” arc, and bringing the series right up to the current TV airings of the “Future Trunks” arc.
