Even though Vegeta‘s growth as a person and fighter has been at the center of Dragon Ball Super‘s narrative lately, the most recent chapter seems to hint at the inevitable downfall of the Saiyan prince. Vegeta’s redemption arc began long ago, arguably as early as the Frieza Saga, but that hasn’t stopped the proud warrior from earning his fair share of defeats. As the battle with Gas nears its end, Vegeta’s chance at finally earning a win appears to be growing slimmer and slimmer.
Chapter 84 of Dragon Ball Super deals with the growth of both Goku and Vegeta after learning of Bardock’s past fight with Gas. The narration given by Monaito seems to indicate that Vegeta and Goku both have gained a new understanding of Saiyan pride. Vegeta in particular has been constantly plagued by the idea that he alone carries the sins of all Saiyans as their prince. The Saiyans were a proud and at times barbaric race who relished combat and battling strong opponents. Their ferocity manifested itself under the control of Frieza as a near unstoppable genocidal force capable of conquering and destroying entire civilizations overnight. Vegeta himself was part of this way of life for decades, being no stranger to killing children and the elderly on Namek. Though it seems as if Vegeta has finally accepted that he has to move past these failings, this does not mean that his growth as a person will translate directly into a victory.
In the battle with Gas, Vegeta seems to have a small edge on Goku as Ultra Instinct does not seem to give Goku the ability to dodge all of Gas’ moves, while Ultra Ego allows Vegeta to keep powering up even after he takes hits. Using this ability to his advantage, Vegeta manages to bait Gas into staying still to deflect a massive ball of Hakai energy. While Gas is having trouble fending the move off, Vegeta rushes in to fight at close range. Even though he had to tank some of Gas’ attacks, Vegeta manages to land a blow on his opponent, relishing the fact that the more damage he takes, the stronger he will get. This maneuver leaves Goku on the sidelines as Vegeta takes on Gas alone. But the fact that Vegeta is trying to rely on taking enough damage to eventually overpower Gas – while Goku is seemingly unscathed – points to an eventual loss for Vegeta and win for Goku.
Vegeta seems to be getting set up for another unseemly loss against Gas because of his strategy. Throughout Dragon Ball Super, while the series focuses on both Goku and Vegeta, only Goku seems to collect actual wins against major opponents. Vegeta has yet to defeat any major enemy within the series and is almost always relegated to the role of Goku’s sideman. Vegeta is always the fighter who provides the way to win but never actually cashes in on it himself. In the Cell Saga, Vegeta’s energy blast was enough to finally distract Cell from his beam struggle with Gohan. In the Buu Saga, Vegeta comes up with the plan to create a Spirit Bomb with energy from the entire Earth. In the Moro Saga, Vegeta is the one who gives Goku the energy he needs to ascend to Ultra Instinct one last time. If the past is any indication, while Vegeta may be pivotal to victory, there is no way he’ll be the one to directly conquer Gas.
Dragon Ball Super is almost dead set on keeping Goku as the character who comes away from battles with the win. The Granolah Saga is setting this up once again with Vegeta sustaining injuries and Goku maintaining the ability to come in at the last second. Though he may be overcoming his internal conflict as Dragon Ball Super unfolds, it seems like Vegeta still won’t be bringing home a victory anytime soon.
