Saying words like "incoherent" is another example of
way over-simplifying. Where some find incoherency, I'm finding a layered continuation of the story.
The most we can say about that room is that Gohan got much stronger because of it.
I remember Gohan falling unconscious with a fever for a couple of days not long before he and Goku had emerged. It's likely that he went unconscious after being overloaded by his own power(looking it up, it's DBZ #167), which was revealed later on. Gohan was shown to still be anxious in protecting everyone in his semi-conscious rambling, but that was all before he had ever encountered Cell and had the opportunity to observe his character.
Cell started out evil, but so did Vegeta. Gohan was there to experience that first-hand. #16 -- who was designed specifically to kill Goku and be utilized as a weapon of mass destruction -- well, we know how that turned out. Gohan had seen that not everything has to absolutely follow its original script. Though not explicitly stated, we know that he witnessed these things.
the rest of your post are pure strawman arguments. How you can be so completely off the mark is beyond me. It's like you weren't even reading.
Those weren't even my arguments. That was a brief overview paraphrasing what you and others have penalized the arc for.
I have been reading -- you've said more than once that you needed impetus for change -- where's the change? Gohan's attempt at resolve is not a change within his character. This is Gohan given the opportunity, in natural character to his core, responding to a threat after he was expected to go solo on the spot and told that he was the only one in the world that had the power. He had tangled briefly with Cell at first, and his heart wasn't into what he felt was a pointless fight which then turned into him (Gohan) fearing that he would all-out lose control. It wasn't about getting cold feet.
Anyway, I blame Goku for all of this. But, Goku is Goku (this was commented about in-universe by others). Goku took responsibility for his miscalculation by attempting to remove kamikaze Cell after Gohan kept playing around, and probably also for giving Cell a senzu bean earlier.
DBZ #170 even went in a bit about Gohan's approach to resolving a conflict. Obviously to much smaller degree, but could it have been a slight precursor that this was where the narrative may have been headed? Gohan showing peaceful resolution... ?
Gohan did not come out looking worse by the end of it all, imo. Gohan had all of the raw power, but he was still a child who needed guidance -- that was kinda the point as he had always been spoiled by his home-life and relied almost entirely on others. Goku had much more experience in 1 Vs 1 big bad battles, plus was super-excited about fighting. Gohan had gotten overly reckless, and it cost him immensely in crunch time. He would be understandably completely down on himself once he had snapped out from having sadistic behavior. If not for Vegeta getting in the way and launching an attack, Gohan had committed to putting Cell down. I don't hold it against Gohan for needing a pep-talk from the afterlife at the end. The SSJ2 transformation had an unfortunate trade-off.
ABED wrote:For those that are fine with Gohan at the Cell Games, lets get to the fundamentals - what is Gohan's arc in the Cell arc? Who is he at the start and who is he at the end?
I've kinda answered this already in this thread. This arc was continuation of a greater on-going character arc that started from his introduction (the anime adaptation reminded us several times through flashbacks). By the end, the oft mentioned hidden super-power had been brought to the surface which enabled Gohan to go way beyond and protect his world(and potentially the universe) from the biggest bad, at the time.
Gohan was fundamentally consistently the same character from beginning of
Z to conclusion of the Cell Games, retaining his gentle nature throughout all of his experiences, thanks to his loving family and peaceful living environment. I find it somewhat odd though that after experiencing Cell and the 'death' of Goku, that Gohan still settled for being committed full-time to being a scholar in the Boo arc. At the same time, it feels like a natural progression from the Cell arc. He had all of the power within him, but let it slip away out of lack of interest in fighting, plus a very high respect for his Mother's wishes.
Anyway,
LuckyCat said it best -- this arc isn't for everyone. It's a bit more on the heavy side, and certainly not a fun watch.
