Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Discussion, generally of an in-universe nature, regarding any aspect of the franchise (including movies, spin-offs, etc.) such as: techniques, character relationships, internal back-history, its universe, and more.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 12:03 am

Future Cell stole future Trunks' time machine and went to the past with it. Why did he end up in the main timeline before Mecha Freeza arriving? That doesn't make sense, considering future Trunks wanted to advise them he succeeded in defeating the androids, just like the future Trunks we know of did.

User avatar
Jinzoningen MULE
I Live Here
Posts: 4405
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 8:33 pm
Location: Salt Mines

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Jinzoningen MULE » Tue May 23, 2017 12:05 am

Cause plot holes.

...or maybe Cell bumped the controls when he jumped into the machine or something, I don't know.
Retired.

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 12:20 am

Jinzoningen MULE wrote:Cause plot holes.

...or maybe Cell bumped the controls when he jumped into the machine or something, I don't know.
Cell said he didn't choose the era. Trunks had already programmed the time machine for that era and he just pushed the button.

User avatar
Jinzoningen MULE
I Live Here
Posts: 4405
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 8:33 pm
Location: Salt Mines

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Jinzoningen MULE » Tue May 23, 2017 12:21 am

ahill1 wrote:
Jinzoningen MULE wrote:Cause plot holes.

...or maybe Cell bumped the controls when he jumped into the machine or something, I don't know.
Cell said he didn't choose the era. Trunks had already programmed the time machine for that era and he just pushed the button.
The first one, then.
Retired.

User avatar
TheGodfather93
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:55 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by TheGodfather93 » Tue May 23, 2017 12:24 am

Jinzoningen MULE wrote:Cause plot holes.

...or maybe Cell bumped the controls when he jumped into the machine or something, I don't know.
Nah, it's probably because plot. A whole lot of plot contrivances in that arc, like the fact that Kami knew of Cell's arrival for four years, but waited until he actually started absorbing people to act on it.

Granted, the story wouldn't have been able to progress without these things happening, but it doesn't make it any less stupid.

For all the Android arc's epic moments, there are equally as many, if not more moments of character stupidity.
If you have the time and are interested, please consider checking out my fanfiction account at https://www.fanfiction.net/~thegodfather93

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 12:31 am

Yeah, the stupid thing is not just Cell arriving before Mecha Freeza's arrival, but also arriving in the main timeline. The Trunks from Cell's timeline wanted to tell the Z warriors he destroyed the androids, and those Z warriors definitely weren't the ones from the main timeline. If Cell hadn't killed Trunks, then the Trunks from Cell's TL would arrive in the main timeline and we'd have a meeting of two future Trunks lol.

User avatar
Nejishiki
I Live Here
Posts: 2406
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 11:45 am

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Nejishiki » Tue May 23, 2017 12:32 am

Future Trunks' time machine was set for that AGE. Future Cell had no control over his arrival point. As for Future Trunks' motives, there are reasonable theories I could share but if you're looking for official explanations, they do not exist. Regarding Future Trunks' desire to revisit his friends after defeating the Artificial Humans, there's two options to consider. He either didn't travel back to the past or he made the trip after killing No. 17 & No. 18 in both timelines. Cell arrived years later for both Trunks, after all.

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 12:46 am

Nejishiki wrote:Future Trunks' time machine was set for that AGE. Future Cell had no control over his arrival point. As for Future Trunks' motives, there are reasonable theories I could share but if you're looking for official explanations, they do not exist. Regarding Future Trunks' desire to revisit his peers after defeating the Artificial Humans, there's two options to consider. He either didn't travel back to the past or he made the trip after killing No. 17 & No. 18 in both timelines. Cell arrived years later for both Trunks, after all.
The only explanation I can think of is if future Trunks wanted to travel before Mecha Freeza's arrival and inform them about the way of defeating the upcoming threat, creating yet another timeline free from the androids. But that seems unlikely based on Piccolo's wording in the next scene and the fact that the future Trunks we know of just wanted to let them know he succeeded in defeating the androids, not go back to before Mecha Freeza's arrival and create yet another timeline, nor would it make sense considering there's already a timeline besides his own in which the androids were defeated (probably by the control).

User avatar
Nejishiki
I Live Here
Posts: 2406
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 11:45 am

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Nejishiki » Tue May 23, 2017 1:01 am

I'm referring to the original Future Trunks' plan to travel further backwards for debatable motives, which may have made sense if dead men could talk. Unfortunately, we don't know but I rather not dismiss him entirely based on assumption. I asked to consider that he may have took the report trip first, which you were questioning, and was murdered years later before a second trip. Our Future Trunks had foresight to deviate from his original life through knowledge of Cell & probably only had one report trip or none at all.

User avatar
DBZAOTA482
Banned
Posts: 6995
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:04 pm
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by DBZAOTA482 » Tue May 23, 2017 1:08 am

Trunks probably didn't finish setting the coordinates.
fadeddreams5 wrote:
DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.

I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 1:18 am

Nejishiki wrote:I'm referring to the original Future Trunks' plan to travel further backwards for debatable motives, which may have made sense if dead men could talk.
I remember he proposing such thing in the space ship, but Kuririn pointed out it wouldn't alter that timeline, it would just create another timeline, making Trunks quickly disconsider this idea.
Nejishiki wrote:I asked to consider that he may have took the report trip first, which you were questioning, and was murdered years later before a second trip.
Who? Trunks? Cell killed Trunks in his timeline three years after the androids' defeat, just like in Trunks' timeline. But the difference is that the Trunks from his own timeline had knowledge of Cell, was prepared for this latter's ambush and had the strength to deal with him. Not so much with future Trunks from Cell's timeline, though.
Nejishiki wrote:Our Future Trunks had foresight to deviate from his original life through knowledge of Cell & probably only had one report trip or none at all.
Oh yeah, just like I said above. But you do agree that the Trunks from Cell's timeline has had contact with the Z warriors from another timeline, right? And that future Trunks was looking to tell these aforementioned Z warriors he managed to defeat the androids from his own timeline... so why'd his time machine be setted to travel to the MAIN timeline, right before Mecha Freeza's arrival? That's what I'm asking.

User avatar
dbgtFO
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7888
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:07 pm
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by dbgtFO » Tue May 23, 2017 1:40 am

Cause Piccolo was a dumbass who couldn't put 2 and 2 together. Trunks obviously has no reason to travel to a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival, if he wanted to tell them he secured peace in his world.

Cell either bumped the controls or the timemachine works by having to actually stop it in the intended year, which Cell couldn't do as an egg and thus, the timemachine only stopped, when it ran out of fuel, which happened to be 1 year before Freeza's arrival on Earth
Of course there's also an alternate take on this, one I happen to prefer actually; that Trunks very much intended to arrive at that exact point to save the world!

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 1:57 am

dbgtFO wrote:Cause Piccolo was a dumbass who couldn't put 2 and 2 together. Trunks obviously has no reason to travel to a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival, if he wanted to tell them he secured peace in his world.
Is it Piccolo's fault? Okay, Cell mentioning he just stopped before Mecha Freeza's arrival should lead Piccolo to realize he didn't want just to say "I also succeeded in defeating the androids, don't worry...", but I think AT was thinking the way Piccolo told, therefore being his fault rather than Piccolo's. He seems to be mixing things at this point too, like how he drew Trunks killing Freeza in Cell's timeline, when it should logically be Goku doing this.

And why'd Trunks want to go back before Mecha Freeza's arrival? You don't think the Z warriors he had contact with managed to defeat the androids? And even if he wanted to travel back to before Mecha Freeza's arrival, why'd that happen to be in the main timeline?

User avatar
dbgtFO
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7888
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:07 pm
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by dbgtFO » Tue May 23, 2017 6:49 am

ahill1 wrote:
dbgtFO wrote:Cause Piccolo was a dumbass who couldn't put 2 and 2 together. Trunks obviously has no reason to travel to a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival, if he wanted to tell them he secured peace in his world.
Is it Piccolo's fault? Okay, Cell mentioning he just stopped before Mecha Freeza's arrival should lead Piccolo to realize he didn't want just to say "I also succeeded in defeating the androids, don't worry...", but I think AT was thinking the way Piccolo told, therefore being his fault rather than Piccolo's. He seems to be mixing things at this point too, like how he drew Trunks killing Freeza in Cell's timeline, when it should logically be Goku doing this.
Yeah, AT definitely screwed up.
And why'd Trunks want to go back before Mecha Freeza's arrival? You don't think the Z warriors he had contact with managed to defeat the androids? And even if he wanted to travel back to before Mecha Freeza's arrival, why'd that happen to be in the main timeline?
In the alternate take, we end up with the Z team eventually all getting killed off even with Future Trunks by their side.
Basically the first part of that world's altered history goes the same way until right before they find Cell's time machine. In that scenario with no Future Cell, things could have ended differently, even with Kamiccolo to match #17.
Thus the Trunks who grew up in that timeline would be told by Bulma how it all went wrong and how he couldn't rely on Goku and co. to beat the androids, so he would have to kill Dr. Gero before he got a chance to exact his revenge.

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 7:45 am

dbgtFO wrote:
ahill1 wrote:
dbgtFO wrote:Cause Piccolo was a dumbass who couldn't put 2 and 2 together. Trunks obviously has no reason to travel to a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival, if he wanted to tell them he secured peace in his world.
Is it Piccolo's fault? Okay, Cell mentioning he just stopped before Mecha Freeza's arrival should lead Piccolo to realize he didn't want just to say "I also succeeded in defeating the androids, don't worry...", but I think AT was thinking the way Piccolo told, therefore being his fault rather than Piccolo's. He seems to be mixing things at this point too, like how he drew Trunks killing Freeza in Cell's timeline, when it should logically be Goku doing this.
Yeah, AT definitely screwed up.
And why'd Trunks want to go back before Mecha Freeza's arrival? You don't think the Z warriors he had contact with managed to defeat the androids? And even if he wanted to travel back to before Mecha Freeza's arrival, why'd that happen to be in the main timeline?
In the alternate take, we end up with the Z team eventually all getting killed off even with Future Trunks by their side.
Basically the first part of that world's altered history goes the same way until right before they find Cell's time machine. In that scenario with no Future Cell, things could have ended differently, even with Kamiccolo to match #17.
Thus the Trunks who grew up in that timeline would be told by Bulma how it all went wrong and how he couldn't rely on Goku and co. to beat the androids, so he would have to kill Dr. Gero before he got a chance to exact his revenge.
Ok, but isn't Cell's timeline supposed to be a mirror of Trunks? So why do you think there was a Kamiccolo vs #17 and Goku being still alive when the androids started they destruction? Unless do you think Cell's timeline is that different from Trunks'?

User avatar
dbgtFO
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7888
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:07 pm
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by dbgtFO » Tue May 23, 2017 8:35 am

ahill1 wrote: Ok, but isn't Cell's timeline supposed to be a mirror of Trunks? So why do you think there was a Kamiccolo vs #17 and Goku being still alive when the androids started they destruction? Unless do you think Cell's timeline is that different from Trunks'?
If we go with everything Cell states and implies, he actually came from a timeline where there was a future Trunks killing Freeza and Cold. Instead of thinking of it as an error you can just go with it and that is how you end up with this alternate take on his origins and the reason why the time machine was set to that point in time.

User avatar
ahill1
Regular
Posts: 731
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by ahill1 » Tue May 23, 2017 8:52 am

dbgtFO wrote:
ahill1 wrote: Ok, but isn't Cell's timeline supposed to be a mirror of Trunks? So why do you think there was a Kamiccolo vs #17 and Goku being still alive when the androids started they destruction? Unless do you think Cell's timeline is that different from Trunks'?
If we go with everything Cell states and implies, he actually came from a timeline where there was a future Trunks killing Freeza and Cold. Instead of thinking of it as an error you can just go with it and that is how you end up with this alternate take on his origins and the reason why the time machine was set to that point in time.
Ha, I thought that would be your answer :D But if there was a Trunks who killed Mecha Freeza, then shouldn't Goku survive, since he'd have received the medicine from Trunks? Yet Cell was surprised in seeing Goku alive in the main timeline.

User avatar
Lord Beerus
Namekian Warrior
Posts: 21389
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:20 pm
Location: A temple on a giant tree
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Lord Beerus » Tue May 23, 2017 10:59 am

I... never thought about that. It is basically a huge contrivance at best and a plot hole at worst.

User avatar
Cetra
I Live Here
Posts: 3855
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:01 pm

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by Cetra » Tue May 23, 2017 11:11 am

It is always possible that this Trunks wanted to create a timeline where he did not even need to tell them they need to prepare about the Cyborgs but a) tell about his victory) and b) immediately inform them how to defeat the Cyborgs.

This is just a fan answer. It has nothing to do with official word. But yes, I have thought about this for years. Also the answer is pretty much silly because the timeline where he got the blueprints should be a timeline already where they know how to defeat them. Because of the blueprints. So the only thing left would be the report of the defeat. And for that it is the wrong timeline. But maybe for the blueprints there were some losses. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. This is the speculation spiral where it is no longer of any use to think about it. Speculations over speculations but no actual answers, even if they seem plausible.
"Citation needed."
"too lazy

feel free to take it with grain of salt or discredit me altogether, I'm not losing any sleep"

User avatar
dbgtFO
Kicks it Old-School
Posts: 7888
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:07 pm
Contact:

Re: Why did future Cell arrive a year before Mecha Freeza's arrival?

Post by dbgtFO » Tue May 23, 2017 2:19 pm

ahill1 wrote: Ha, I thought that would be your answer :D But if there was a Trunks who killed Mecha Freeza, then shouldn't Goku survive, since he'd have received the medicine from Trunks? Yet Cell was surprised in seeing Goku alive in the main timeline.
Oh yeah, Cell was surprised, which doesn't imply that Goku only died a few days ago, if it follows my alternate take, so yeah, that alternative can't completely work either :crazy:

Post Reply