Final Showdown

"It's time for your terror to end!!!" — Goku while launching the Penetrate! technique to King Piccolo.

Final Showdown
Japanese Name	最さい後ごの賭かけ!!
Romaji name	Saigo no Kake!!
Literal Name	The Final Gamble
Series
Saga	King Piccolo Saga
Episode #	122
Chapter counterpart	The Blasted Earth Goku's Final Gamble The Fist of Son Goku
Japanese airdate	August 10, 1988
English airdate	October 6, 2003
Previous episode	The Biggest Crisis
Next episode	Lost and Found

"Final Showdown" (最さい後ごの賭かけ!!, Saigo no Kake!!, lit. "The Final Gamble!!") is the twenty-first episode of the King Piccolo Saga and the one hundred twenty-second episode in the Dragon Ball series. This episode first aired in Japan on August 10, 1988. Its original American airdate was October 6, 2003.

Summary

King Piccolo threatens to murder Tien

Sensing he is fighting a losing battle, King Piccolo resorts to cowardice, threatening to kill an exhausted Tien Shinhan if Goku even dares to move a muscle. Yamcha reaches the battlefield in his plane, accompanied by Bulma and Launch, and they set out to find Goku. Yajirobe has also arrived to watch Goku fight, hesitating on whether he should help him or not. Upon discovering that King Piccolo has murdered Shenron, Goku resigns himself to endure repetitive pains for Tien's sake, getting his limbs crippled one-by-one, save for his right arm, which Piccolo conveniently forgets to attack.

Goku delivers a fatal blow to King Piccolo

With Goku incapacitated, King Piccolo prepares to finish him off, but Goku gathers his remaining strength in his right fist, using a one-handed Reverse Kamehameha to propel himself at King Piccolo with great speed and punches a hole clean through King Piccolo's torso. However, King Piccolo uses the last of his power to create his final son, telling him to avenge his death before his body explodes in a massive fireball. Yajirobe saves Goku from falling to his death and retrieves Tien. Tien is motivated to train better than ever and is deeply impressed by Goku's incredible skill and courage.

Major Events

• Goku kills King Piccolo.
• Piccolo Jr. is born.

Battles

• Goku vs. King Piccolo

Appearances

Characters

• Goku
• Tien Shinhan
• Bulma
• Yamcha
• Launch
• Yajirobe
• Suno
• King Piccolo
• Piccolo Jr. (Debut)

Locations

• Central City
  • King Castle

Objects

• Power Pole
• Airplane
• Hovercar
• Flying Nimbus

Animation Staff

• Key Animators - Yoko Iizuka

Differences from the Manga

• The scene of Yamcha, Bulma and Launch commenting on the large crater where Central City once was and their decision to get closer to the battlefield on foot is exclusive to the anime.
• The following scene of Yajirobe seeing the same destruction and repeatedly leaving and returning to the area is also exclusive to the anime.
• Suno's appearance at the hospital and her reaction to the explosion she feels given off by King Piccolo's death is exclusive to the anime as she never appeared in this saga in the manga.

Trivia

• When King Piccolo holds up his hands, he is seen with red blood.
• In the scene where Yajirobe thinks about what Goku said about giving him a free meal, his speedometer reads the speed of 88 mph. This could be a reference to the 1985 movie Back to the Future.
• In the scene where Yamcha tells Bulma that it is too dangerous and he will proceed alone, Launch is behind them holding a M202 FLASH rocket launcher backwards and accidentally fires it. This could be a reference to the 1985 film Commando, where actress Rae Dawn Chong does almost the same thing.
• This is the last episode until "Next Up, Goku" where Goku kills someone, although he did assist Piccolo Jr in killing Raditz.
• Upon seeing Goku alive after his second energy wave, Piccolo states that he's fought all over the universe, yet Goku is the first person strong enough to face him directly. This is shown in Dragon Ball Z to be false as Piccolo was never shown to have returned to the spaceship that the Nameless Namekian took to Earth before he split into Kami and Piccolo. In addition, Piccolo's power level of 260 would make him a weakling by the standards of the Frieza Force, and even by Namekian standards. This is only in the English version. In the Japanese version, he only expresses shock that Goku, a mere human, could stand up to his power.
• It is later revealed in the series that King Piccolo, his son Piccolo, and Kami are Namekians, and that Namekians can regenerate as long as their heads are intact. So when Goku used his Penetrate! attack on King Piccolo by blowing a big hole through his torso, then he should’ve been able to regenerate. A possible reason as to why he didn’t is because he wasn’t revealed to be a Namekian until later in the series, or it could’ve been that he lost the ability to do so because he was trapped in an Electric Rice Cooker for hundreds of years, and was overconfident in his abilities that he saw no reason to learn how to regenerate.

Gallery

King Piccolo grabs Tien King Piccolo holds Tien Goku approaches King Piccolo holds Tien King Piccolo with Tien King Piccolo with Tien King Piccolo takes a rock King Piccolo with a rock in his hand King Piccolo about throw a rock at Goku King Piccolo blows the rock at Goku King Piccolo laughs King Piccolo shocked King Piccolo holds a rock in his hand Goku takes the full force of King Piccolo's rock Goku charges energy in his right-hand Goku fires a Reverse Kamehameha Goku propels himself up at King Piccolo Goku prepares the Penetrate! attack Goku performs the Penetrate! Goku's Penetrate! technique King Piccolo tries to defend Goku blasts through King Piccolo Goku kills King Piccolo Goku after defeating King Piccolo King Piccolo with a huge hole in his chest and blood on hands Goku falls after King Piccolo released an egg and exploded Yamcha and Bulma dodge a rocket from Launch Yajirobe in his hovercar Yajirobe looking for Goku Yajirobe catches Goku Post battle victory Goku's injuries still causing him pain Tien decides to return to Kame House to deliver the news of the victory Goku in Yajirobe's car, ready to go to Korin for healing Goku with injured arm