Shadow Dragon Saga

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Dragon Ball GT Sagas Shadow Dragon Saga
Episodes 048-064
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1 Summary
2 DVDs
- 2.1 Episode list
  - 2.1.1 Shadow Dragon Saga (16 episodes)

[edit] Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The fourth and final chapter of Dragon Ball GT not only ends the series, but also brings a conclusion to everything Dragon Ball. The Shadow Dragons Saga, which spans episodes 48 to 64, is the final decisive battle for Earth and brings the series full-circle after over 500 episodes detailing the lengthy saga of Son Goku and his friends.

Following the defeat of Super Android 17, the Earth is on the verge of collapse. The interdimensional rift that let loose an onslaught of past foes from Hell, in combination with the damage they caused before the heavenly order was restored-- along with the massive clash between Super #17 and the Super Saiyans-- has upset the natural balance of the planet and brought forth an unholy chaos of earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions and other phenomena, threatening the lives of everyone on earth.

As a last resort, Goku and his friends immediately round up the Dragon Balls to revive Kuririn (Krillin) and wish things normal again. A swift hunt for the Dragon Balls proves to be the only blessing to be had, however; each of the seven spheres has become inexplicably cracked since the last wish, leaving serious doubts as to whether or not they should be used. Left with no choice, Goku calls for the Eternal Dragon Shen Long, (Shenron), and the sky becomes thick with an odd red darkness . . .

An insidious black smoke issues forth from the Dragon Balls, and from it emerges a dragon that is anything but Shen Long. Kaioshin (Kibito Kai) urgently explains to a stunned Goku that an overuse of the Dragon Balls over so many years has caused a build-up of "minus energy" to accumulate within them and disrupt their balance. The stress of using them yet again has caused the minus energy to at last erupt all at once and coalesce into a dragon of darkness who cares nothing for granting wishes; instead, he ingests the Dragon Balls and, in a swirling storm of wind and smoke, divides their incredible power and splits off into seven separate entities. These Shadow Dragons, each in possession of a Dragonball, promptly scatter across the earth and cause a haze of minus energy to envelop the atmosphere, leaving Goku and the others to ponder over what they should do.

Feeling responsible for the exploitation of the Dragon Balls over the years (everybody else blames Bulma, including the Old Supreme Kai), Goku resolves to chase down each of the dragons and recover the mystical orbs, thus restoring Shen Long to his rightful place. Pan comes along against Goku's better judgement, and with Giru's help they are able to track down Liang Xing Long (Haze Shenron), Wu Xing Long (Rage Shenron), Liu Xing Long (Oceanus Shenron) and Qi Xing Long (Naturon Shenron) and defeat them fairly easily in a set of mostly comedic confrontations . . . however, the situation becomes far more serious with the arrival of Si Xing Long (Nouva Shenron), who represents the four-star ball. Goku is forced to transform into Super Saiyan 4 and an intense battle ensues.

Goku and Si Xing Long thoroughly enjoy their battle, but before a winner is decided, San Xing Long (Eis Shenron) soon arrives and demands that Si Xing Long team up with him to obliterate Goku. Si Xing Long refuses on the grounds that there is no honor in such ruthless combat, and a dismayed San Xing Long takes matters into his own hands as he beats down his brother and fights Goku one-on-one. Goku has a decisive advantage over the three-star dragon, who soon begs for his life, but then just as quickly preys on the Saiyan's trust as he unleashes a last attack that succeeds in blinding him completely.

Enraged, Goku wreaks havoc on San Xing Long and utterly destroys him with the Dragon Fist technique to recover the three-star ball. Si Xing Long finds little honor in attacking a disavantaged opponent and withholds his attack on Goku but is instantly killed with the arrival of Yi Xing Long (Syn Shenron), who immediately engages Goku in battle. Blind, weary, and his power nearly exhausted, Goku is beaten to within an inch of his life by the most powerful of all the Shadow Dragons, and after a fierce fight, he no longer has the energy to sustain the Super Saiyan 4 transformation and falls unconscious.

Goku is rescued by his family and friends, who offer their help. Goku insists that no number of people will be enough to overcome Yi Xing Long and declares the situation to be hopeless, but rather than fight together the real intent is for Son Gohan, Son Goten and Trunks to lend every last ounce of their combined Saiyan energy to Goku and restore his strength. Oob (Uub) barely manages to hold off the dragon long enough for this to be accomplished, and the result is a full-power Super Saiyan 4 Goku who despite his handicap is now far superior to his opponent. Goku thoroughly demonstrates his advantage.

Battered but not beaten, Yi Xing Long plays his trump card and ingests the other six Dragon Balls, uniting the seven Shadow Dragons into the even more powerful figure of Super Xi Xing Long (Omega Shenron) who now possesses the individual powers of all of them. Despite having regained his sight, Goku finds himself outmatched again and again even after resorting to his fully powered Dragon Fist, and has made up his mind to sacrifice his life in a final kamikaze effort by the time Vegeta shows up to even the score.

Goku holds off his effort. With Bulma in tow, Vegeta reveals his plan. Having made use of his wife's intellect to construct a machine capable of producing Bruitz waves, Vegeta allows himself to become overwhelmed by so much of this energy that he regrows his tail, transforms into a Golden Oozaru, and consequently makes his ascension to Super Saiyan 4 . . . but even with Goku and Vegeta on equal footing and teamed together, both of them recognize that they stand little chance of defeating their enemy, leading Vegeta to suggest Fusion.

The collective sons of Goku and Vegeta hold off Super Xi Xing Long long enough for the two rivals to fuse into the incomparable Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, who is far too incredible an adversary for the dragon to overcome . . . but unfortunately, Gogeta spends too much of the battle toying with his enemy and defuses before he can deliver the final blow, leaving the horrified pair in the same predicament as before. Though they try to fuse once again, Goku has spent too long and hard a battle to maintain Super Saiyan 4 any longer and again reverts to his childhood form after a last fusion attempt, thus making Fusion impossible and setting the stage for the final desperate conflict against Super Xi Xing Long.

Soon enough, Si Xing Long emerges from Goku's forehead due to Goku earlier swallowing the 4 star ball himself. Because of their mental connection, the two trick Super Xi Xing Long into an ungaurded moment and Si takes that chance to use his ultimate attack, however to no avail which causes Xi Xing to reabsorb him. Vegeta soon loses his hold on the Super Saiyan 4 energy as well, leaving the two pure Saiyans absolutely powerless against the might of Super Xi Xing Long, who renews his assault. After Goku is seemingly destroyed in a struggle against the dragon's Power Ball attack, Vegeta orders Trunks to gather everyone into Bulma's spaceship and make their escape before continuing his hopeless offensive against Super Xi Xing Long . . . but even so, Son Gohan, Son Goten and Trunks join in the battle despite Vegeta's wishes. All of their efforts are to no avail, as none of them can make any impression against this horrific embodiment of the Dragon Balls' power.

The Saiyans are felled one by one, but Vegeta assures Super Xi Xing Long that he has lost the battle despite everything. At that moment, a massive Genki Dama rises into the sky with Goku to hold it up, having gathered energy from everyone on earth, and as the Shadow Dragon looks on in disbelief Goku continues (with the help of the four Kaios) to draw in energy from the rest of the universe. A Genki Dama so massive is formed that no evil can stand against it, and with nothing more to do, Goku hurls the bomb upon Super Xi Xing Long and completely obliterates him with a terrific blast, and restores all seven Dragon Balls to their normal state.

With all seven of the Shadow Dragons defeated, Shen Long appears at long last without being summoned, and explains much to everyone's surprise that he will now separate himself and the power of the Dragon Balls from Earth for One Hundred Years to prevent another dragon ball corruption. Goku makes a final request of the Eternal Dragon to restore the earth and her people, and this wish is granted as the last of them all . . . and with nothing left to say, Son Goku climbs atop Shen Long's head and bids everyone good-bye, promising that they will soon meet again.

They go by Tenshinhan and Chaozu by a waterfall, Yamcha and Puar in the desert where they first met. Goku then makes a stop at the Kame House to see Kamesennin and Kuririn. Kuririn and Goku spar a bit and Kuririn punches Goku in the face. Kamesennin also finds out that Goku will be leaving them. Then, Goku stops in Hell to see Piccolo. He tells Piccolo that he will be leaving and that they are glad they met and teamed up. He also says that he has become a good friend and will get out of hell someday. They shake hands and Goku leaves. Meanwhile back on the obliterated city battle field, Goku's family and friends whom witnessed the insane battle now depart to their own respective homes. Pan however comes upon the set of cloths that Goku had been wearing before leaving with Shen Long, Vegeta tells her to keep them dear to her forever. Now with Goku's final destiny at last fulfilled, he flies through beautiful golden clouds atop Shen Long, proceeds to close his eyes, and Shen Long slowly absorbs each of the Dragon Balls individually into Goku's body, eventually causing him to disappear. With that occurrence, Shen Long flies into a bright light with a loud roar, bringing Goku's story to an end .

100 years later, following the events of A Hero's Legacy, Goku's Great-Great Grandson, Goku Jr, now finds himself competing at the final Tenkaichi Budokai, and in the final round of the Jr. division no less. His Grandmother, Pan, and school friends watch on in the audience as his opponent comes onto the stage, a descendant of Vegeta himself, Vegeta Jr. Pan soon enough learns through the boy's Mother just who's heritage he belongs to, and thus cheers her Grandson with all the encouragement she can give. With the bell tolling, the two boys fight it out in an evenly based fight, amazing the crowd, who've never seen such feats as flight and super speed before in their lives. The two boys stop the fighting for just a few seconds and both go Super Saiyan, complement each other's abilities, and rebegin the fight. Pan looks on, however catches a glimpse of her Grandfather, Goku, in the audience and watching the fight. Wanting to see him, Pan moves through the crowd where she saw him and tries to find him, though just as a winner of the fight is announced, she finds she's lost him in the crowd, however she knows that he came back. With the battle of his descendant finished, Goku now walks along the outside of the Tenkaichi Budokai arena, remembers every major event in his lifetime through a dramatic 3 part flashback during his walking, looks in every direction in his path, and at last looks up into the sky and flies upward. With his destiny long since fulfilled, and his Great-Great-Grandson's just beginning, he makes one last wave to us, the viewers, catches his power pole, and flies off on the Nimbus to wherever it's taking him: Thus the Dragon Ball anime Trilogy comes to an end.