Highlights
- GT’s Shadow Dragon Saga introduced a creative twist on the series’ arc structure with a beautiful resolution for Goku and the Dragon Balls.
- Overuse of Dragon Balls led to the creation of evil Shadow Dragons, providing consequences and a bittersweet ending for the series.
- Super can implement this arc with increased power scaling by using Super Dragon Balls to introduce stronger Shadow Dragons.
To say that Dragon Ball GT faced a lot of criticism upon its release is quite an understatement. From rushed storytelling to uncharacteristic character moments and plot holes, there are a lot of things that fans of the series felt were off about the show, leading to its poor reception from fans and critics alike. However, GT introduced quite a lot of ideas that were amazing, even if their implementation within the series necessarily wasn’t.
One of these ideas was the final arc of Dragon Ball GT, the Shadow Dragon Saga. Not only was this a creative and fun spin on the arc structure of the series, but it also brought the story of Goku and the Dragon Balls full circle from the very first episode of the franchise, and its resolution was a beautiful send-off to one of the greatest series in all of fiction. So, let’s take a look at why the Shadow Dragon Saga would be a perfect addition to Super.
What Was The Shadow Dragon Saga?
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Start of the Arc |
Dragon Ball GT, Episode 48, “This is a Surprise! Shenlong Becomes An Enemy?!” |
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Debut Date |
June 11, 1997 |
The Shadow Dragon Saga was the last arc of GT, and it begins rather ominously. Since this series was a direct continuation based a few years after the end of Z, it also directly followed the Earth’s dependence on the Dragon Balls. Since these balls were originally hidden and mysterious treasures that were only meant to be found one at a time from random places around the world, they were never meant to be used as much as they were.
However, due to the creation of the Dragon Radar, finding the Dragon Balls was no longer an issue, as they could all be found from any end of the planet in a single day. Whenever a global threat appeared and killed a large number of people, the Dragon Balls were very easily used to bring people back to life, causing them to become heavily overused, as no one saw a downside to using them so much.
Didn’t I warn you about using the Dragon Balls so much? Didn’t I tell you that interfering with the natural evolution of things could have serious repercussions? Well? Didn’t I?
However, this overuse was something that the balls were never designed for, due to which they began to crack. These cracks eventually turned the very fabric of the Dragon Balls into their exact opposite, forming a dark and evil version of Shenron who spawned many other Dragons. Each of these Dragons represented one of the Dragon Balls, and their strength was mutually exclusive to the number of stars on their respective ball, for example, Syn Shenron was the strongest of all the Shadow Dragons and had the 1-Star Ball.
The way the arc played out was Goku and his team going to each Shadow Dragon and defeating them to return the Dragon Balls to their pure state. The ending consisted of the ultimate battle against Omega Shenron, which was the strongest form of Syn Shenron after absorbing the rest of the Black Star Dragon Balls, and saw some of the most memorable moments and characters in the entire franchise.
Why it Made for the Perfect Ending Arc
The Dragon Balls themselves are the most important items in the entire world and are the reason behind the series in the first place. Since they have been used many times over the course of the series, they have introduced somewhat of a ‘deus ex machina’ aspect to the universe, making it so that death seemingly has no meaning, as everyone can just be wished back.
Turning this fix-all concept into something that actually has consequences made for beautiful storytelling, as the one thing that the series was based on now became the thing that would lead to the destruction of the planet. The ending ushers in a new era for the universe, as the Dragon Balls become one with Goku, the person that became synonymous with them as Earth’s protector. For all the negative points about Dragon Ball GT, this ending is bittersweet and ends on a very poignant note.
How Super Can Implement This Arc
Dragon Ball Super is in a very good position to implement this arc into its own canon story and the way that it can be done is virtually identical to how it transpired in GT. This is because the overuse of the Dragon Balls has been a thing ever since the series introduced them in Dragon Ball, so Super can pretty much pick up from here.
However, the difference here would be in the power scaling, as the characters in the canon show are far stronger than those in GT, so the strength of the Shadow Dragons needs to be greatly increased if the implementation of this arc to Super is ever made. One way of making the characters powerful enough to contend with God Ki-wielding characters is by making their creation through the Super Dragon Balls.
These orbs are universal in scale and are far more powerful than the ones introduced on Earth, Namek, and Planet Cereal because they can grant any wish. By having a villain that is hell-bent on taking over the multiverse and is working directly against the order of Zeno and the Grand Priest, they can make a wish through Super Shenron to give them loyal allies to oppose the strongest beings in the multiverse.
Since this falls under something that the Eternal Dragon is capable of, he can grant them extremely powerful Shadow Dragons who, like their GT counterparts, can be of varying strength with their respective Super Dragon Ball. This way, the Shadow Dragon Arc can work its way into Super with far greater power scaling than what is present in GT.
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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