"Power levels are b.llshit" - best approach? (Spoilers for episode 66)

[Fishman]

I honestly have not had much problem with it. If anything Super is handling power discrepancies more organically than the series proper ever did. I can stomach stretches if it frees us from the shackles of "I'm a 2, you're a 1, I beat you every time by numerical fiat". The range of powers characters can have at this point is so wide that being that strict is just archaic.

So you wouldn't object to Krillin powering up to Super Saiyan Blue level out of nowhere?

[LowRyder2005]

Personally, I don't really agree with those people who have been acting like all their convictions have been shattered, if anything I think there's already been far worse.
Nothing that has happened recently has been really bothered me. With "worse" I'm referring to stuff way before the latest Trunks/Vegito vs. Zamasu shenanigans.

Let's take a stroll down to memory lane. For instance, I think of people who were not only accepting, but actually shipping and/or trying to convince everyone that Piccolo was in the same ballpark of a Super Saiyan God during the U6 Tourney and that he had reached that level after training in the woods for some months with (a considerably out-of-shape) Gohan. It's not like it was entirely unwarranted, given that an argument could be made for a lot of things today (mainly "Goku's base <= SSG" vs. "Even though they were going for base <= SSG, today Goku's base has been soft-retconned to regular levels"), but not so much back then, when it was stated that Goku had "absorbed" his godly power... and yet, and I hope I don't sound biased, how people could justify something like that and still talk about an acceptable plot progression always escaped me.

(Hey, I won't even start with fans stating that Tagoma was an uber-strong fella thanks to mistranslations of about Tagoma matching a fully rested Gohan).

Is it really so bad here? Now, while everyone (Trunks first and foremost) had a lot of strange power-ups along the way, I can at least trace them back to improving constantly while fighting another constantly-improving Black... I can even tentatively picture the be-all end-all God ki reaching Trunks through osmosis (awesome, TOEI) because of Trunks' strength. I can even get the strange Genkidama-sword technique popping out of nowhere because of some strange unknown conditions.
Furthermore, I'll picture something in my head as Zamasu's power waning and/or being unstable (à la Broly) thus making him vulnerable, Vegito still not going all out/ being able to curbstomp Zamasu if he wanted and yadda yadda yadda.

That being said, on the other hand I wouldn't kid myself with believing that this wasn't anyone's original intention... so, I can still kinda relate with thoughts like "hey? What's this? Someone clearly isn't doing their homework". It's abundantly clear that the writers have been working mostly lackadaisically as far as power scalings are concerned. They simply have a character X, who happens to fill a narrative role in the script, become able to hang out with the strongest dudes in the multiverse bypassing the preceding rules of rituals and exotic trainings needed. Rules they themselves had made.
Of course, I'd say that at least some of the plot devices in the past were paper-thin (Namekian fusions were one, in my opinion). Yet here we have literally been jumping from one more yet undiscovered shred of hidden power left to tap into to another. If there is a plot device anywhere, it's as transparent as it gets. This is bound to feel cheap to most.

Hey, actually, why don't we make a "Moments When I Had :smh: for Super's Power Scaling"?

1. The possible implication that even Potara wouldn't be powerful enough to work against a super-suppressed Beerus. Too soon, man. Too soon.
2. When SS2 Vegeta ragebursts beyond SS3 Goku. No reason needed: he's simply a madder, badder mofo than ever.
3. The infamous "near 10%" line (... Then, how the heck is Fusion not enough? Especially now that we have seen that Vegito is stronger than SSB * 10? Never mind).
4. Freeza being delighted at the prospect of reaching a power level of 1,300,000.
5. Freeza becoming godlike regardless, with jogging, push-ups and good nutrition.
6. The "probably-about-as-strong-as-Zarbon" Shisami somehow giving Piccolo a run for his money (at least they fixed this in Super through the Tagoma being a real plot device).
7. The Z-fighters being exhausted or risking their lives while fighting dozens of infinitely weaker opponents (it would've been hard - but not impossible - to convince anyone the Freeza's army was a real threat, but why not even try?).
8. Base and weaker Gohan (is it Base? Is it ultimateish-but-weaker-than-a-regular-Super-Saiyan? Still a mistery) outperforming Piccolo.
9. Goku and Vegeta being addressed as people who could potentially beat Beerus with SSB. Goku goes Blue + KK*10 and yet it's heavily implied Beerus and Champa would still beat him.
10. Almighty SSB Goku killed by a somewhat regular laser. Somewhat fixed in Super.
11. Base Goku fighting better than SSB Vegeta against Hit (some mental gymnastics to justify that one).
12. (Base?) Copy Vegeta stomping SS3 Gotenks.
13. (Base?) Copy Vegeta stomping SS3 Gotenks after Cabba was somehow a match for Vegeta while they were both in base form (some mental gymnastics to justify this one as well).
14. Obviously, Vegeta calling Base Cabba "trash" when the latter is possibly either or both:
A. Abnormally strong
B. About as strong as Vegeta,
And without training with Whis. even though it can be argued that it was all an act.
15. Every time a fight between vastly stronger individuals barely scratches a city. Yet, the weaker Super Saiyan God could destroy the universe with power equivalent to a... I don't even know anymore.

I'll leave the current arc and other tidbits to someone else.

[Luso Saiyan]

I honestly have not had much problem with it. If anything Super is handling power discrepancies more organically than the series proper ever did.

Indeed. At least, alleged "discrepancies".

[Hakaishin Saitama]

The bullshit part isn't Trunks defeating Zamasu, that's perfectly fine.

The bullshit part is Trunks learning the Genkidama when he didn't even know the technique, learning it mid-battle, with no idea of what was happening, incorporating it into his sword, essentially utilizing it in a much better way than Goku ever did with all his years of training, and whilst in a rage-induced form nonetheless, when the technique is supposed to be used by someone calm and pure of heart.

We don't know if it's the Spirit Dama just yet could be something else... But this likely go unexplained so I think we will have to settle on it. But hey one more episode to go it all can change...!

First, I admit Trunks utilizing the genki dama in such an effective way was a major ass pull... that being said, I think he could have potentially tapped into that technique by 'fighting for all of humanity' and whatever he was doing in the moment resulted in gathering spirit energy from others. After that, it's a little ridiculous that he thinks of how to and successfully manages to use it in the way he did to 'beat (?)' Zamasu.

... especially considering all the ridiculous power ups Trunk's has developed or learned this arc. It's almost as if Zeno himself is pulling some strings to help Trunk's learn these techniques and defeat Zamasu!

[Alee9977]

Here goes my attemp to make PL have sense:
First of all, to enjoy DB you only need to know who is stronger than who and not how strong is somebody, this goes for people that are saying that everything in the series is bad because of power levels.

The first time we got confused about power levels in DBS was in Vegeta vs Bills, then Tagoma, Ginyu and Freeza after that the problems started here again in this arc, in Ep 57 when Trunks was able to fight agains SSR Black, then in 61 with Goku also being able to handle against SSR Black and Zamasu all by himself, in 62 with now Trunks doing the same as Goku and now in 66 with Trunks destroying Zamasu.
In conclusion, every time we think that there is something bad with the power levels, a rage moment is on it, except for Tagoma and Ginyu that had different circunstances, so instead of saying that power levels are bullshit maybe we just don't understand when there is a rage boost or just Toei doesn't make it clear to see.
Something like that happened in the GG Father and Son and the Goku kamehameha vs Merged Zamasu, although we saw that he didn't expect Goku to have that power left.
Also I believe that by the end of the fight with Vegetto, Zamasu was getting weaker each time something like what happened with 100% Freeza

So everything goes like this:
Vegetto
Merged Zamasu full power
Merged Zamasu after fighting Vegeto
Trunks SSJ with everybody's energy
Merged Zamasu initial
Vegeta
Black
Goku
Zamasu

That's for power level, but with that genki dama at the end of the episode and Trunks ki sword becoming blue and bigger I have no idea.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I honestly have not had much problem with it. If anything Super is handling power discrepancies more organically than the series proper ever did. I can stomach stretches if it frees us from the shackles of "I'm a 2, you're a 1, I beat you every time by numerical fiat". The range of powers characters can have at this point is so wide that being that strict is just archaic.

So you wouldn't object to Krillin powering up to Super Saiyan Blue level out of nowhere?

I'm afraid you missed my point entirely. You are talking about the plausibility and merits of power increases. I am merely referring to how different levels of fighting power interact.

So, are Trunks' faux-godly aura and Genki Sworda spasms of convenience to give an outmatched young man the spotlight in his self-titled story arc? Probably. Does anything Trunks did with them (read: flailing angrily until topped off by Goku and Vegeta) strain my disbelief if I interpret Dragon Ball fights as having the capacity to be more than greater than less than equations? Not tremendously. It makes more sense than Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo's powerlessness before Perfect Cell.