With an unconscious Goku and Trunks captured and taken to a lab, Pan sneaks into the base, even disguising herself as a robot when she find parts on an assembly line. The robot scientists begin to examine Goku and Trunks, starting with a power analysis, and of course, the readings for Goku are off the chart, which concerns General Rildo. He would rather destroy Goku, but Dr. Myuu needs the Saiyans for his experiments. To ease him, Giru reveals that he has records of the battles he's watched Goku in as well as Pan and Trunks, which he downloads the files of into not only Rildo, but the Sigma Force.
Eventually, Pan's cover is blown and she's detected in the base. Rildo sends out one of the Sigma Force, Nat, to take care of her. With Pan having trouble with him, Nat reveals that Giru had recorded their battles and that he knows her moves. Greatly upset at Giru's betrayal, Pan powers up a blast that takes Nat by surprise and destroys him. Pan's reasoning is that Giru never saw her that mad.
In my opinion, they should have used this moment for Pan to transform into a Super Saiyan. (And before anyone says that that instance shouldn't have been enough to spark a transformation, let me remind you that Goten first sent Super Saiyan getting too worked up while training with Chi-Chi.) In fact, Pan never goes Super Saiyan in this series at all. I've heard two reasons for Pan not going Super Saiyan. The first is that because her Saiyan DNA has been too diluted, only being a quarter, but from what we see later in this series, that isn't the case. The other reason is that they didn't know how a female Super Saiyan would look. What's so hard about that? Her hair turns yellow and stands straight up. Even fan artists can do this.
Pan busts into the lab but quickly gets knocked out (get used to that happening in this series). Goku, having just awoken, becomes furious at this and powers up, breaking him and Trunks out of the containment pods they were in. Trunks gets Pan to safety as Goku fights the remaining members of the Sigma Force. Since they have Giru's recordings, the Sigmas are able to match Goku until he's able to outsmart them. Eventually, they combine into the Sigma Force Cannon...which is really more of a bigger robot than a cannon.
It's a pretty even fight until the robot is thrown into the air by Goku and destroyed with a Kamehameha. Goku then heads back to the ship and meets up with Trunks and Pan, discovering that the three Dragon Balls they had are gone. Soon enough, Rildo arrives too. Trunks gets zapped by Rildo and becomes encased in metal, done in a similar way to something I can't put my finger on...
Trunks is teleported to Myuu's lab. Pan goes after him as Goku begins his battle with Rildo. It's a good fight with good banter, and things get taken up a notch when Goku goes Super Saiyan and Rildo assimilates the parts of the Sigma Force into his being, becoming Meta Rildo. This form doesn't last long though as it's quickly broken apart, so Rildo sheds it and transforms into what I like to think as his "pure" form. In this form, he's able to travel like liquid through any metal on the planet, including the areas he creates himself.
Meanwhile, Pan fights her way through the lesser robots in the base to find Trunks, eventually confronting Giru. But before she can get her payback, the building's security literally spits her out. Mysteriously, the three Dragon Balls are spit out with her as well. Pan then goes to the battle between Goku and Rildo, but her distraction gives Rildo the opportunity to turn Goku and Pan into metal too, who are then teleported to Myuu.
As Myuu is about to begin his experiments on the Saiyans, Giru transports in and actually saves them, destroying a good part of the lab and freeing Goku and Pan from their metal encasements. Before he can free Trunks, Myuu grabs his slab and threatens to destroy him. During the attempt to retrieve him though, Trunks' slab falls to the floor and it shatters, apparently killing him. But soon after, the real Trunks arrives, having been saved by Giru beforehand with his slab being switched out for a fake. It turns out Trunks and Giru have had a secret plan from the moment they came to M2 after Giru told Trunks the truth about everything.
Myuu tries to run but is stopped by Trunks, who opens a secret lab Myuu doesn't want them in. In this lab is another bionic organism gestating in a tube that Myuu calls Baby, made up of different energies from across the galaxy. As this project was going to be Myuu's ultimate tool for universal domination and unlike any of his other creations, rumors has spread across the machine community of M2, particularly that they were all to be deactivated once Baby was completed. Having been told about this by Giru, Trunks used his time to find Baby and shut down the experiment once and for all...or at least he thought he did.
Baby opens his eyes as his energy begins to build up, he fully forms, breaks free from his tube and causes a huge explosion in Myuu's base, significantly injuring the doctor in the process.
With everyone safe and the three Dragon Balls back with them, the GT gang attempt to take off from M2, but are stopped by General Rildo, holding on to their spaceship. All three Saiyans step out and fire a blast at Rildo, freeing them from his grip and apparently killing him. As we find out though, Baby was possessing Rildo. I would say that Rildo, given his capabilities, could have survived a blast like that, but I'm willing to chalk that up to Baby's possession, as he probably wasn't able to use Rildo's full capabilities at that moment; the same thing happened when Ginyu took over Goku's body during the Frieza saga.
And with that, the search for the Dragon Balls resumes. They detect a ball on an attacked and apparently empty ship floating through space and not only find the one-star ball (uh-oh), the lone survivor of the ship, a young boy. They take the boy on their ship and find the nearest planet to give him medical attention, where the doctors save him. As it turns out though, the boy is possessed by Baby.
So let's talk about how insanely fast Baby is. After killing Myuu, he's able to go back to M2, possess Rildo, attempt and fail to stop the GT gang, takes off into space again, gets ahead of the GT gang, finds a ship where he kills (and we find out later that he feeds on) every passenger, save for one boy who he possesses, and leaving the one-star ball he had as bait to lure them in. Baby, forget universal domination, you could make Jimmy John's freaky fast delivery slogan a reality. Seriously though, I feel like we needed to have an episode where they found another Dragon Ball before they ran into Baby again just so his plan could seem just a little feasible.
Baby plans to possess one of the GT gang, first by getting one of them alone. Baby jumps from the boy to a doctor and offers Trunks a tour of the hospital to look at their technology. Once alone, Baby makes his move, but Trunks is saved by Goku and Pan. While a battle ensues, Baby is still clearly no match for a straight fight, but is able to push them back with an energy burst. This also causes a cut on Trunks' arm, which Baby uses as an entry point to possess him. While he's able to control him at first, Trunks powers up to Super Saiyan and is able to purge Baby from his body. Baby realizes he needs more energy to fully possess a Saiyan and makes his escape, possessing a woman boarding a spaceship (eventually killing and feeding everyone on board once they're in space). With no way to find Baby, the GT gang resumes their search for the last three balls.
We then jump back to Earth where he have our biggest development yet: after being told by his daughter Bulla that he looks like a geek, Vegeta has saved his moustache!
No, but in real developments, Goten's date with Valese is interrupted by a strong man with laser eyes tearing up the city apparently looking for Saiyans. Goten takes him down, but is then attacked by two more assailants, and is able to take down as well. A fourth man kicks Goten in the stomach, and it's then revealed that all four men had been possessed by the freaky fast Baby, who has made his way to Earth and in a new form, revealing himself when he realizes Goten is a Saiyan.
The two battle, but since Baby isn't strong on his own, his plan is to wear down Goten and then take over his body, which he succeeds in doing. He's then able to access Goten's mind and learns that Vegeta is the strongest Saiyan on the planet and set's his sights on him. Baby Goten arrives at Capsule Corp looking for Vegeta and acts coldly to Chi-Chi and Gohan, who are also visiting. Gohan is able to tell something is wrong right away and leads "Goten" away from the city. They battle, and it's Gohan's unwillingness to hurt his brother that allows Baby to jump over and possess Gohan.
Piccolo arrives afterward, having sensed Baby's dark energy. Unfortunately, he is quickly taken down by a Kamehameha from Baby Gohan. It doesn't kill him, but he's apparently left for dead. So this is Piccolo's first appearance on this series, and he gets taken down as if he were Krillin or Yamcha. It's not hard to argue that after all the Saiyans, Piccolo is one of the strongest beings on Earth, and he probably keeps up his training unlike Gohan, Trunks, or Goten. He's an important character, but it feels like the writers forgot about him and had to put him in last minute just so they could find a reason for him not to show up for a little while.
Anyway, Baby Gohan takes the injured Goten back to Capsule Corps and goes after Vegeta, attacking him and Bulla as they're returning home from shopping. Immediately sensing something's wrong, Vegeta sends Bulla away so he can deal with "Gohan". It's here that Baby reveals that his true lineage is that of the Tuffles, the race that shared the same planet as the Saiyans before they were wiped out. So the motivation for Baby's actions is revenge for his fallen race. The two battle, and Baby reminds Vegeta that he'll have to kill Gohan to kill Baby, to which Vegeta responds in a very Vegeta way "What makes you think I have a problem with that?" Nice to see family life hasn't changed him that much.
Soon enough, Goten arrives and appears to want to help Vegeta but then he turns on him. As it turns out, Baby leaves traces of himself in those he possesses and is able to bend them to his whim. The two double team Vegeta, cutting up his body, giving Baby entry points to possess him. Vegeta tries to fight off Baby's control and ultimately fails. Unlike Baby's other victims, he actually begins to change Vegeta's body, now that he has the right host.
And with that, Baby begins his crusade to infect everyone on Earth as the first step for universal domination.
After finding the last three balls, the GT gang finally return to Earth, first stopping at the lookout to give the balls to Dende and Popo, unaware they along with everyone else has been possessed by Baby. Trunks heads back home as do Goku and Pan. When Goku and Pan arrive, they are treated coldly by Chi-Chi and Videl and are soon attacked by Gohan and Goten once they arrive. After Pan gets hurt and passes out, Goku goes on the offensive against his possessed sons. Goku prepares to blast them with a Kamehameha, but is stopped by Mr. Satan, who has been able to stave off infection from Baby thanks to Majin Buu's help. Mr. Satan informs Goku of Baby's actions, and soon enough, Baby Vegeta arrives as well, along with the possessed Bulla and Trunks (who was infected when Baby attempted to possess him). Goku has Buu take Mr. Satan and Pan to safety as he battles Baby. Unlike the other Saiyans, Baby wants Goku dead. Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 but his child body isn't able to sustain the form; to be fair, Super Saiyan 3 was always a drain on Goku's power, even as an adult. Baby then gives Goku what is probably the worst beatdown he's received since his battle with Frieza on Namek. Baby then plans to finish off Goku after being given energy from everyone he's infected on Earth, transforming him into his final form and the power to form his Revenge Death Ball, which he throws at Goku, apparently killing him.
The best way to describe the Revenge Death Ball is like a negative version of the Spirit Bomb, being made for evil intentions rather than good. It's an interesting concept that hasn't been done before. And much like the opposite of a Spirit Bomb, it only takes one episode to form.
As for Baby's final form, I like it. It gives him his own distinct appearance without looking like he's possessing Vegeta. Although I have to wonder what it would have been like had Vegeta kept his moustache (no promises, but that's the last time I plan to bring up the moustache).
After Goku's defeat, Dende brings Baby the Black Star Dragon Balls and summons the giant Red Shenron. Baby wishes for his home planet to be restored right in Earth's orbit. Shenron grants the wish and the balls scatter across the galaxy once again. Why does Baby wish for Planet Tuffle back when he can just use Earth for his base of operations and christen it the new Tuffle planet? Aside from pride, if you had to press me, it's for plot convenience later on. With his new planet created (with a city already in place), Baby begins transporting everyone on Earth there, thanks to a doomsday situation created by Capsule Corp, which is one big ass spaceship. Pan, Buu, and Mr. Satan are able to sneak on the ship and make it to Planet Tuffle. There, Pan has a plan: throw laxatives down people's throats to expel Baby from them. Obviously this doesn't work and it almost leads to her being killed by Gohan until she is saved by Uub, who was also able keep himself from being infected by Baby.
Uub battles Baby, and after sensing how much strong Uub is than the Saiyans, he blasts Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, stating he's done with them. Baby soon defeats Uub in a beam clash and tries to finish him off with a Revenge Death Ball. Majin Buu steps in and absorbs the attack and then explodes. Buu's energy surrounds Uub and goes inside his body and the two become one being: Majuub, who is basically just Uub wearing new clothes similar to Buu's, but is also stronger and acquired Buu's ability to turn people into chocolate. For those who forgot, Uub is the reincarnation of Kid Buu, so they are essentially becoming a complete being again, much like Piccolo and Kami when they fused.
Despite this power boost though, Baby defeats Majuub in yet another beam clash, and he ends up turning himself into chocolate, which Baby proceeds to eat. So as you can tell, Goku spending seven years away from his family to train this kid turned out to be really worth it. Seriously though, they built up a lot of hype with Uub, about how strong he was and that he was going to be Goku's successor, but they turned it into a lot of wasted potential. It's like how Gohan was always meant to surpass Goku but they decided to keep the spotlight on Goku. History repeats itself again it seems.
As you probably know though, Goku isn't really dead (which means like the Spirit Bomb, the Revenge Death Ball doesn't always get the job done). While the aforementioned events have been going on, Goku's been doing his own thing. Before the Revenge Death Ball collided, Kibito Kai teleported in and grabbed Goku, but the shockwave caused him to drop Goku mid-teleportation and Goku ended up in another dimension. What happens in this other dimension is so stupid and ridiculous that I'm not even going into detail on it, because it doesn't even have bearing on the plot. It's essentially filler, which I'm surprised even exists on this show since there's no manga like before to go along with. It's practically like the fake Namek arc back in Dragon Ball Z, just not as long. Maybe this is another reason people hate GT, that it has pointless moments and a good chunk of people watching just want to get this over with as soon as possible.
Eventually, Goku escapes the other dimension and Kibito Kai is able to bring him to Other World (which is essentially Heaven in the Dragon Ball series). Old Kai has a plan to give Goku the power boost needed to defeat Baby: regrowing his tail. But since they don't have time for the proper training to do it naturally, their only option is to painfully yank it out, and after some comedy that works half the time, they're successful and Kibito Kai takes Goku to Planet Tuffle just after Baby eats the chocolate Majuub.
Goku and Baby battle again, and while Goku is now able to sustain his Super Saiyan 3 form, Baby still mops the floor with him. As Goku is laid out, he looks up at the Earth above and feels sadness that he won't be able to save it along with his friends and family. But thanks to his tail, looking at it triggers Goku's Great Ape transformation, now in a golden form thanks to his Super Saiyan abilities. While a Great Ape usually appears when a Saiyan with a tail absorbs the Blutz Waves from a full moon, it's stated here that the Earth gave off Blutz Waves as well. I'm just willing to accept that since this is fictional science after all, though I'm still chalking this up as plot convenience.
Much like when he was a kid (the first time), Goku has no control of himself in this state, acting like a feral beast. While he's able to hurt Baby, he's putting everyone else on the planet in danger as well. Goku eventually stops when he looks up at the Earth and tries to reach it with his hands. Pan tries to reach her grandfather inside the giant ape and finds success by showing him an old photo of the whole Dragon Ball gang on an outing to the beach when Pan was four years old. Along with some touching flashbacks that show Goku's caring nature as a family man rather than a fighter, seeing Pan crying and catching her tears on his giant finger starts to bring out the old Goku. He looks up at the Earth again, which triggers a transformation into the form that this series is known for: Super Saiyan 4.
The design for Super Saiyan 4 is quite a departure from previous transformations, which is its strength and weakness. I have to say though that with the long hair that came from Super Saiyan 3, having more hair grow on the body probably seemed to be the next logical step. And while the gold hair is gone, that does help it stand on its own. Overall, it really is the best compromise between the Great Ape and Super Saiyan transformations. Why does Goku turn back into an adult and his clothes change size too? I'm just going to say it's probably the same logic that allowed Justin to grow to adult size when he morphed into the Blue Ranger on Power Rangers Turbo. Either that or Goku figured out how to do Piccolo's clothes beam.
I've had this theory about Super Saiyan 4 that others have probably had. When Vegeta told the legend of the original Super Saiyan way back in the Frieza saga, it was stated that he was destroyed by his own power and there was a silhouette of a Great Ape, most likely a gold one like Goku transformed into. Since a tail makes a Saiyan more powerful, transforming into a Super Saiyan immediately with a tail may be too much to handle. Goku however has been without his tail for decades and has trained his body to handle immense power, even reaching two more levels of Super Saiyan. By the time he grew his tail back, he had been able to channel the energy he had from his Great Ape form and turn it into Super Saiyan 4, which can be seen as the ultimate Saiyan form.
Baby, wanting to achieve a Great Ape form as well, tasks Bulma with finding a way despite the fact that he in Vegeta's body doesn't have a tail. Goku then crashes in in his new form and the two begin to battle again, but now the tables have turned. The now seemingly indestructible Goku is finally inflicting considerable damage on Baby. When it looks like Baby's end, Bulma is able to focus the Blutz Waves coming from the Earth onto Baby with a Blutz Wave amplifier, causing Baby to transform into a Great Ape as well, even growing a tail. Unlike Goku when he transformed though, Baby is able to retain his intelligence, can talk and stay focused on Goku. Also unlike Goku, when Baby causes collateral damage to his planet and the people, he either doesn't care or he's having fun doing it.
The battle appears to be even again as the two eventually knock each other out. During this break in the action, Old Kai sends Kibito Kai to retrieve the Sacred Water from the lookout on Earth. For those who don't know, the Sacred Water was a plot device during the Garlic Jr. saga back in Dragon Ball Z. After Garlic Jr. infected the people of Earth with the Black Water Mist that turned them into mindless animals, the Sacred Water was spread to cure them. Dende and Popo try to stop Kibito Kai, but he's able to cure them once he finds it and then heads to Planet Tuffle where he cures and heals Trunks, Gohan, and Goten.
While this is happening, Bulma uses the Blutz Wave Amplifier again on Baby, reviving and giving him a power boost. Goku awakes as well, but he's starting to run empty on energy. Pan steps in repeatedly blasts Baby in the face only to be smacked away. Baby prepares to step on Pan when Trunks arrives and blasts Baby, followed by Gohan, Goten, and Kibito Kai. They figure out that the best chance to stop Baby is for the four Saiyans to give Goku the energy boost he so needs. Of course, Baby won't just stand around and let them accomplish this, but a distraction comes in the form of Majuub, who has reconstituted himself inside Baby's stomach. It turns out Majuub allowed himself to be eaten by Baby knowing he could turn himself back to normal (although this doesn't make sense because Majuub thought Goku was dead and he was supposedly the last hope to stop Baby). With Majuub causing pain for Baby, this allows Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Pan to give their energy to Goku. Baby's eventually able to regurgitate and spit Majuub out, and he fires a Gallick Gun at the Saiyans. He's too late though as Goku is back to full strength. And so the final stretch of the battle begins. Baby uses his Revenge Death Ball again on Goku, but Goku takes it head on and is able to disperse the energy. This action amazes and frightens Baby as Goku follows up with a Kamehameha that sends Baby flying. With Baby down for the count, Goku blasts the tail off of Baby, causing him to shrink back down to normal size.
Realizing his defeat, Baby leaves Vegeta's body and retreats as Vegeta turns back to normal. Baby takes a ship and leaves the planet, only for Goku to fire another Kamehameha that directs Baby's ship into the sun, finally destroying him once and for all.
Following Baby's defeat and spreading the Sacred Water to everyone infected by Baby on Earth and Planet Tuffle, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Pan, Mr. Satan, Majuub and Kibito Kai return to the lookout. It's here we see that Goku is still a child in his normal state. In my opinion, they should have used this opportunity to make Goku an adult again. They made Goku a kid again at the beginning of GT because they wanted to recapture the tone of the original Dragon Ball. Now that things got serious again like they did with Z, I feel like the need for a kid Goku had subsided and adult Goku should have been brought back and not just when he's Super Saiyan 4. It's not like there was an issue with voice actors; Goku's Japanese voice actress has been voicing him as both child and adult since the beginning.
Anyway, danger still looms though as the Earth is two weeks away from exploding because of the wish made on the Black Star Dragon Balls. While they did bring the balls back, Baby's wish started the countdown again. With no time for another search through the galaxy, Vegeta comes up with a plan: move everyone still on Earth to Planet Tuffle (our second instance of plot convenience). But since not everyone would believe such a crazy story, they have Mr. Satan spread the message since the people love him and will believe anything he says. You know, I've always hated how stupid the people of Earth seemed to become since the Cell saga when they hang on Mr. Satan's every word; I guess it helped that he was able to become part of the Dragon Ball family and they can use it to their needs like here.
And so the migration begins. Some Earthlings take ships while Goku and Kibito Kai use Instant Transmission to teleport people to Planet Tuffle. There are also some who need to be taken by force, and this is accomplished by Vegeta knocking them out. This also allows for some cameos from past Dragon Ball characters, both major and minor (and yet still no Launch).
Everyone is evacuated, except for Piccolo, who has elected to remain behind. He contacts Gohan telepathically to say goodbye and explain his reasoning, that with him gone, the Black Star Dragon Balls will no longer be a threat to any world. It's a pretty emotional farewell, followed by the Earth's explosion and Piccolo's demise. I wish Piccolo had a bigger role in these past two sagas considering his role in the Black Star Dragon Balls' creation. But this isn't the last we see of our green friend though.
Soon after, the Namekians use their Dragon Balls to restore the Earth, and everything goes back to normal with the whole Dragon Ball gang gathering for a get-together at Capsule Corp as the saga ends.
The Baby Saga is leagues above the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga and is probably the best saga to come from GT, bringing us a devious villain and the Super Saiyan 4 form that while there may be different opinions on it, is still iconic in some way. Of course the saga does have its problems from wasted opportunities with Pan and Uub and needless filler. While things do tend to get drawn out like the previous saga, I feel like it's done the same way as in Dragon Ball Z that while some things will take forever, they still keep you entertained in my opinion. While Dragon Ball Z's ending was left open ended, if they ended the overall anime series here, I think it would have been a fine saga to conclude on.
Next month, we venture into the second half of Dragon Ball GT as we look at the Super Android 17 Saga. The dead rise and villains from the past return. Sounds good, right? Prepare to be surprised.
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