[Theory] The definitive proof that Future Goku NEVER learned Instant Transmission

[vilker]

Not going to address all of this, but:

1. There isn't a perfect translation of the manga available (Viz is noticably imperfect), and I can't read Japanese. Steve Simmons' subtitles are generally accepted as the best official translation Dragon Ball's ever relieved, and Piccolo's dialogue matched up well enough to the only translation of the manga available to me ["But how could you not know about my powers of regeneration? You have my cells."], so I figured it was probably correct.

2. Regarding the computer, regardless of how much of a genius Gero is, his computer was left alone in a cave for over 20 years. If it got a little humid, or if there were a power surge or outage, or an earthquake, yeah, something could've been lost.

3. Yes, Bluma is a scatterbrain. She's an engineering genius, but she's also prone to lapses in common sense, like when she accidentally blew up Nappa's spaceship in the previous arc. So yeah, I could easily imagine a scene of Future Bluma watching Trunks disappear and then immediately going "Shit, Goku got there early because he teleported in, didn't he?"

4. The whole point of this post was that there's no logical, in-universe answer for Cell not knowing that Goku could teleport, and your ultimate answer is that Future Trunks B selected a different, earlier year to return to the past for no logical, in-universe reason.

They're all just oversights. The Cell arc is the most ambitiously complex plot Toriyama's ever attempted in Dragon Ball, and he struggles to execute it. This isn't even a dig at Toriyama. Time travel plots are hard to get right when you have ample time to fine-tune them, and Toriyama was having to come up with the story every week, with former and current editors requesting changes to the plot as he's writing it. So yeah, I do think Cell and Trunks not knowing about Goku's teleportation is just an oops with no in-universe explanation.

I think we have reached the end of the road here. We fundamentally disagree on how to interpret a story, but I will concede one major point to you: Toriyama is not perfect, and Dragon Ball is full of genuine mistakes.

You are absolutely right that he wrote by the seat of his pants and made blunders.

Editor Mandates: Trunks originally naming #19 and #20 instead of #17 and #18? Yes, that was an abrupt change forced by his editors.

Continuity Errors: Cell getting his upper half obliterated by Goku, only to later claim his nucleus is in his head? Yes, that is a classic, undeniable Toriyama mistake.

But here is the crucial difference: Complicating a plot unnecessarily is not an 'accident'.

You prefer to explain the plot holes by stacking 'In-Universe Accidents':

The Magic Glitch: Gero's computer suffered 'humidity' that corrupted only the Instant Transmission file, but left complex DNA (Frieza, Piccolo, Saiyans) intact.

The Incompetent Genius: You equate a comedic gag with Bulma's life's work. She recorded the ship's landing coordinates. If Goku teleported, recording the ship's location is nonsensical. You are asking us to believe the smartest woman on Earth forgot the most miraculous event of her life.

The Illogical Trip: You admit there is no in-universe reason for Trunks to travel to Age 763 when the easiest logical path was to travel to 767 directly.

I prefer to explain it with 'Authorial Intent (Retcon)':
If Toriyama just made a mistake or wanted a simple villain, the easiest, zero-effort route was for Cell to arrive in Age 767. Simple, clean, no plot holes.
Instead, Toriyama forced a date (763) that made no sense for Trunks. He created a convoluted excuse about Cell 'not fitting in the machine', forcing him to revert to an egg and spend 4 years buried underground.
Come on, let's be real: you cannot call a 4-year underground incubation plot an 'oversight'. That is a blatant, highly specific narrative patch. It was a deliberate attempt to justify the Instant Transmission plot hole and every other anomaly.

In fact, I'd bet money that Toriyama had a twist like this in mind the moment Trunks returned and realized the Androids were different (#19 and #20). That whole 'mystery' vibe—the realization that history was profoundly off-track—screams that Toriyama wanted a hidden root cause altering the timeline long before the Androids arrived.

The Method & The Fix:

Toriyama wanted to showcase Trunks' power against Frieza. For this to work, Trunks had to be unaware of IT; otherwise, he would have waited for Goku.

Toriyama realized that if Trunks didn't know the move, it meant it was never used in his history. But chronologically, Goku should have known it.

To solve this, he forced Cell's machine to Age 763. Cell's Egg represents the Primary Bifurcation. Because of Cell arriving in 763, the timeline split earlier. Every time a timeline splits, quantum randomness takes effect ("re-rolling the dice"). This explains the butterfly effects: stronger Androids, delayed virus, and a different training path for Goku (learning IT).

Conclusion:
You view the Cell Arc as a pile of mistakes where machines break due to humidity and people forget things.
I view the Cell Arc as Toriyama's complex attempt to retroactively fix his own loose ends by inserting a root cause (Cell in 763).

If you are satisfied believing that the ultimate biological weapon just had a hard-drive error due to bad weather, that is fair! It's certainly the easiest explanation. But I find the 'Time Travel Causality' explanation much more rewarding and consistent with the manga's events.

[DanielSSJ]

I think we have reached the end of the road here. We fundamentally disagree on how to interpret a story, but I will concede one major point to you: Toriyama is not perfect, and Dragon Ball is full of genuine mistakes.

You are absolutely right that he wrote by the seat of his pants and made blunders.

Editor Mandates: Trunks originally naming #19 and #20 instead of #17 and #18? Yes, that was an abrupt change forced by his editors.

Continuity Errors: Cell getting his upper half obliterated by Goku, only to later claim his nucleus is in his head? Yes, that is a classic, undeniable Toriyama mistake.

But here is the crucial difference: Complicating a plot unnecessarily is not an 'accident'.

You prefer to explain the plot holes by stacking 'In-Universe Accidents':

The Magic Glitch: Gero's computer suffered 'humidity' that corrupted only the Instant Transmission file, but left complex DNA (Frieza, Piccolo, Saiyans) intact.

The Incompetent Genius: You equate a comedic gag with Bulma's life's work. She recorded the ship's landing coordinates. If Goku teleported, recording the ship's location is nonsensical. You are asking us to believe the smartest woman on Earth forgot the most miraculous event of her life.

The Illogical Trip: You admit there is no in-universe reason for Trunks to travel to Age 763 when the easiest logical path was to travel to 767 directly.

I prefer to explain it with 'Authorial Intent (Retcon)':
If Toriyama just made a mistake or wanted a simple villain, the easiest, zero-effort route was for Cell to arrive in Age 767. Simple, clean, no plot holes.
Instead, Toriyama forced a date (763) that made no sense for Trunks. He created a convoluted excuse about Cell 'not fitting in the machine', forcing him to revert to an egg and spend 4 years buried underground.
Come on, let's be real: you cannot call a 4-year underground incubation plot an 'oversight'. That is a blatant, highly specific narrative patch. It was a deliberate attempt to justify the Instant Transmission plot hole and every other anomaly.

In fact, I'd bet money that Toriyama had a twist like this in mind the moment Trunks returned and realized the Androids were different (#19 and #20). That whole 'mystery' vibe—the realization that history was profoundly off-track—screams that Toriyama wanted a hidden root cause altering the timeline long before the Androids arrived.

The Method & The Fix:

Toriyama wanted to showcase Trunks' power against Frieza. For this to work, Trunks had to be unaware of IT; otherwise, he would have waited for Goku.

Toriyama realized that if Trunks didn't know the move, it meant it was never used in his history. But chronologically, Goku should have known it.

To solve this, he forced Cell's machine to Age 763. Cell's Egg represents the Primary Bifurcation. Because of Cell arriving in 763, the timeline split earlier. Every time a timeline splits, quantum randomness takes effect ("re-rolling the dice"). This explains the butterfly effects: stronger Androids, delayed virus, and a different training path for Goku (learning IT).

Conclusion:
You view the Cell Arc as a pile of mistakes where machines break due to humidity and people forget things.
I view the Cell Arc as Toriyama's complex attempt to retroactively fix his own loose ends by inserting a root cause (Cell in 763).

If you are satisfied believing that the ultimate biological weapon just had a hard-drive error due to bad weather, that is fair! It's certainly the easiest explanation. But I find the 'Time Travel Causality' explanation much more rewarding and consistent with the manga's events.

The only thing I want to add is that the whole rigamarole with Cell arriving early and reverting to an egg to fit in the time machine gave Toriyama the excuse to have a creepy horror/mystery sub plot in the arc, with Bluma, Trunks, and Gohan investigating the other time machine and finding Cell's discarded cicada shell, and that the specific year was picked at semi-random (ala the M_ 17th conundrum that ended up corrected in other versions)

[vilker]

The only thing I want to add is that the whole rigamarole with Cell arriving early and reverting to an egg to fit in the time machine gave Toriyama the excuse to have a creepy horror/mystery sub plot in the arc, with Bluma, Trunks, and Gohan investigating the other time machine and finding Cell's discarded cicada shell, and that the specific year was picked at semi-random (ala the M_ 17th conundrum that ended up corrected in other versions)

I completely agree that Toriyama wanted to introduce a creepy horror/mystery subplot (the cicada shell and the rusted time machine are classic Toriyama 'Rule of Cool' elements).

However, calling the choice of Age 763 'semi-random' ignores the mathematical precision of that specific date. It is literally the only possible window Toriyama could have chosen to make the story work. It is the 'Goldilocks Zone' of the Dragon Ball timeline:

The Impossibility of it being 'Semi-Random':
If Toriyama was just picking a random year to give Cell time to grow, why 763?

If he picks 761 or 762: Cell arrives before or during the Namek Saga. The Butterfly Effect would interfere with the Frieza fight or the use of the Dragon Balls.

If he picks Age 764: Goku has already returned to Earth, Frieza is already dead by Trunks' hands, and the timeline is already set.

Age 763 is the EXACT and ONLY blind spot. It happens right after Namek is resolved, but while Goku is isolated in space learning Instant Transmission. It is far too convenient and structurally perfect to be a 'semi-random' error. It is the exact surgical insertion point needed to alter Goku's training path without breaking the previous arc.

Trunks explicitly confirms the Butterfly Effect:
I think you mentioned earlier that it's hard to square how a buried larva could cause timeline changes. But you are arguing against the manga's own dialogue.
When Trunks and the others discover the truth about the second Time Machine, Trunks explicitly states that this event (Cell's arrival) is what distorted history.
Toriyama uses Trunks as his mouthpiece to tell the audience directly: 'This is why the Androids are different. This is why history changed and this is why every Trunks' surprises'.
If Toriyama didn't intend for Cell's arrival to be the main cause of the timeline changes, he wouldn't have written Trunks explicitly blaming it for the distortions.

Conclusion:
Yes, Toriyama wanted a cool mystery subplot. But the mechanics he used to execute it (Age 763 + Butterfly Effect) perfectly seal the plot holes regarding Goku's abilities and the Androids' differences.

Even if we assume Toriyama just 'had incredible luck' with his semi-random date... that 'luck' created a perfect in-universe explanation, which was then given continuity by deliberately removing Cell's ability to use Instant Transmission while still allowing him to use Frieza's techniques.

I choose to follow the manga's explicit explanation (Trunks confirming the timeline distortion) rather than assuming everyone forgot everything, computers broke down, and pure randomness miraculously picked the single most important key date.

[dbgtFO]

As far as theories go, I do think it fits.
Toriyama with all his whims, particularities and absurdities might very well have intended for Cell's arrival and therefore further splintering of established history as being the cause for everything turning out differently, even the event that isn't explixitly speculated in-universe to be the effect of that.

Much like with at times absurd powerscaling, I have accepted him not being a 100% super consistent, flawless logic level writer and with time distortions, the absurd is more accepted.

So yeah it can work.
Just underlines what a shame it is, that he never went back and gave us a full breakdown on what really happened in all the other timelines.
I'd honestly have preferred the Trunks special to be a 3 parter, with the 1st part covering Mecha Freeza vs Goku and co. followed by Goku's death by heart virus(perhaps even an origin point for the virus?)
2nd part being the 1st confrontation with the androids and how all safeguards were removed(no Dragon Balls, no contact to Namek etc.) And then the final part just being the story we got with Trunks and Gohan.

[vilker]

As far as theories go, I do think it fits.
Toriyama with all his whims, particularities and absurdities might very well have intended for Cell's arrival and therefore further splintering of established history as being the cause for everything turning out differently, even the event that isn't explixitly speculated in-universe to be the effect of that.

Much like with at times absurd powerscaling, I have accepted him not being a 100% super consistent, flawless logic level writer and with time distortions, the absurd is more accepted.

So yeah it can work.
Just underlines what a shame it is, that he never went back and gave us a full breakdown on what really happened in all the other timelines.
I'd honestly have preferred the Trunks special to be a 3 parter, with the 1st part covering Mecha Freeza vs Goku and co. followed by Goku's death by heart virus(perhaps even an origin point for the virus?)
2nd part being the 1st confrontation with the androids and how all safeguards were removed(no Dragon Balls, no contact to Namek etc.) And then the final part just being the story we got with Trunks and Gohan.

Thanks! I completely agree. Toriyama wasn't writing hard sci-fi; the 'time distortion' caused by Cell's arrival is the perfect narrative umbrella he used to make everything fit.
​To build on your great idea of that 1st part (Mecha Frieza vs. Goku & Co.), here is my definitive take on how they actually survived those 3 hours without Goku using Instant Transmission:
​The Missing Link: The 3-Hour Survival
Frieza didn't just sit and wait patiently. He recognized Piccolo from Namek and knew that killing him would destroy the Earth's Dragon Balls (his chance at immortality). Instead of blowing up the planet, Frieza tortured Piccolo to get the information.
During this desperate struggle, Gohan and Tien Shinhan were actually killed by Frieza.
​When Goku finally landed in his ship (3 hours later, without IT), he stepped out to find Piccolo tortured and his own son dead. That absolute shock and extreme rage did two crucial things:
​It gave Goku the ruthless drive to instantly obliterate Frieza and King Cold without mercy or second chances.
​That massive spike of stress and explosive anger is exactly what prematurely awakened and accelerated his heart virus.
​After the battle, they simply gathered the Earth's Dragon Balls and used Shenron to resurrect Gohan and Tien.
​It perfectly explains why Goku didn't need IT, how they survived the wait, why Gohan was alive later to fight the Androids, and it adds a dark, tragic origin to the heart virus triggering. Seeing this exact sequence in a 3-part special would have been absolute peak Dragon Ball!

[ThunderPX]

Cell wasn't able to observe the technique properly while understanding what it was and knowing it was coming until his self-destruction. When he saw it in his second form, he didn't know what was happening, and when Goku used the Warp Kamehameha, he was taken off-guard.

If Goku teleported to Earth to fight Freeza, the spy robot would not have seen the technique actually being executed, only the outcome of it, once. That wouldn't be enough data for the computer to teach Cell.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

2. About Spy Robot
The Spy Robot explicitly states in the manga that it collected cells from Frieza and King Cold, and then stopped collecting data because it had enough. Cell never claims Trunks killed Frieza in his original timeline; the robot data simply confirms Frieza died and then stop to collect data about Trunks fighting androids.
Cell mentions Trunks because he killed him; in fact, Cell is surprised when he sees Trunks in that same timeline and then realizes that he also traveled with the time machine. Toriyama is aware of the events; it's just somewhat confusing that he didn't collect any of Trunks' cells, but he's referring to the Trunks who fights the androids.

I don't think that's a reasonable interpretation of the scene in question. It seems clear to me, when examined in context, that Cell is talking about a scenario in which Trunks had killed Freeza. The panel even shows the two being killed in the same way that we originally saw Trunks do it.

If Toriyama intended something else, he could have simply drawn something else, such as Goku in the clothing of Yardrat killing Freeza. The readers wouldn't have been confused by this.

Let's first look at the dialogue that sets up this scene:



"Son Goku... Piccolo... and then Vegeta's cells were harvested in the battle when Vegeta and co. came to Earth..."

So this panel is describing a single event, the battle against the Saiyans. Then, another event is described:



"Furthermore, we were fortunate to obtain the cells of Freeza and his father when they came to Earth. Obtaining the cells of that punk called Trunks as well would have been good, but we already had a sufficient number of Saiyan samples."

Emphasis mine. As I recall Herms put it a long time ago, either this is the most abrupt change of topic of all time, or Cell was really describing Trunks defeating Freeza and Cold.

[vilker]

2. About Spy Robot
The Spy Robot explicitly states in the manga that it collected cells from Frieza and King Cold, and then stopped collecting data because it had enough. Cell never claims Trunks killed Frieza in his original timeline; the robot data simply confirms Frieza died and then stop to collect data about Trunks fighting androids.
Cell mentions Trunks because he killed him; in fact, Cell is surprised when he sees Trunks in that same timeline and then realizes that he also traveled with the time machine. Toriyama is aware of the events; it's just somewhat confusing that he didn't collect any of Trunks' cells, but he's referring to the Trunks who fights the androids.

I don't think that's a reasonable interpretation of the scene in question. It seems clear to me, when examined in context, that Cell is talking about a scenario in which Trunks had killed Freeza. The panel even shows the two being killed in the same way that we originally saw Trunks do it.

If Toriyama intended something else, he could have simply drawn something else, such as Goku in the clothing of Yardrat killing Freeza. The readers wouldn't have been confused by this.

Let's first look at the dialogue that sets up this scene:



"Son Goku... Piccolo... and then Vegeta's cells were harvested in the battle when Vegeta and co. came to Earth..."

So this panel is describing a single event, the battle against the Saiyans. Then, another event is described:



"Furthermore, we were fortunate to obtain the cells of Freeza and his father when they came to Earth. Obtaining the cells of that punk called Trunks as well would have been good, but we already had a sufficient number of Saiyan samples."

Emphasis mine. As I recall Herms put it a long time ago, either this is the most abrupt change of topic of all time, or Cell was really describing Trunks defeating Freeza and Cold.

To be completely honest, it's highly likely that Toriyama simply got confused with his own timelines or took a visual shortcut. He didn't explicitly draw Trunks in that specific panel, only Frieza sliced ​​to pieces. Perhaps he thought Goku finished him off in a similar way in the original timeline (a concept of "destiny" where the outcome is the same), or he simply didn't want to design a brand new death scene that would confuse readers at that point.

It makes sense that Toriyama mixed things up because the timeline structure is genuinely complex. We must remember that there is an "unseen" middle past where Cell hasn't arrived yet, but Trunks does. In that timeline, Trunks gets the blueprints, returns to his future to deactivate the Androids, but then Cell kills him, steals the time machine, and creates the final timeline distortion.

So, strictly speaking, we have four scenarios:

Timeline 1 (Cell's original timeline): No time travelers arrive here. Goku takes care of Frieza himself. Goku doesn't know Instant Transmission (IT) and dies of the heart virus. Years later, Trunks (who traveled to Timeline 2 for blueprints) deactivates the Androids, but Cell kills him to steal his time machine.

Timeline 2 (The Unseen Past): Trunks arrives from Timeline 1. He kills Frieza. Goku doesn't know IT (Cell hasn't arrived in Age 763 yet to cause the butterfly effect). Trunks gets the blueprints, goes back to his future, and never returns here.

Timeline 3 (Main Story): Cell arrives from Timeline 1 in Age 763. The timeline is completely distorted. A different Trunks arrives later. Goku knows IT but doesn't use it, and Trunks kills Frieza. Trunks and Krillin destroy Cell's embryo.

Timeline 4 (Our Trunks' Future): Trunks returns from Timeline 3 after training. He is vastly stronger. He destroys his Androids easily and vaporizes the Cell of his timeline when he tries to ambush him for the time machine.

Toriyama probably thought Cell came from a timeline where Trunks did arrive and kill Frieza, mixing up which robot recorded which event. However, if Trunks killed Frieza and later obtained the blueprints, he probably also destroyed Gero's underground lab and Cell's embryo (although no one knew about Cell yet) . Therefore, that specific Cell could never have traveled to the past. I think the Cell we see only comes from the original future (Timeline 1), meaning his robot must have recorded Goku killing Frieza, not Trunks. But it's possible Toriyama thought that Cell comes from Timeline 2.

[Mystic-han]

Or

Future Goku know teleporting and just used it to get rid of freeza and cold

Or

Freeza and cold fucked around long enough for him to arrive in the pod and end it

Your first option is mathematically impossible according to the manga.

Option 1: 'Future Goku knew teleporting and used it.'

The Flaw: Dr. Gero's Spy Robot was watching that fight to collect data for Cell.

The Proof: If Goku had used Instant Transmission against Frieza, the Robot would have recorded that data. Consequently, Cell would have been born knowing the technique (just like he knows the Kamehameha).

The Reality: Imperfect Cell does not know Instant Transmission. He explicitly states he learned it after self-destructing in the Present timeline.

Conclusion: Since Cell didn't have the data, Future Goku never used the move.

Option 2: 'Arrive in the pod.'

This is exactly my point! He arrived in the pod because he had to. If he knew Instant Transmission, he wouldn't have risked waiting in the pod while Frieza threatened the Earth. He would have teleported instantly. The fact that he stayed in the pod confirms he didn't know the technique.

Or

Future Goku learned IT , teleported to earth since that was he was going to do anyway in the present timeline, killed Freeza and cold just like he already told us , and without trunks to be mistaken for vegeta /piccolo he got no reason to wait

[vilker]

Or

Future Goku know teleporting and just used it to get rid of freeza and cold

Or

Freeza and cold fucked around long enough for him to arrive in the pod and end it

Your first option is mathematically impossible according to the manga.

Option 1: 'Future Goku knew teleporting and used it.'

The Flaw: Dr. Gero's Spy Robot was watching that fight to collect data for Cell.

The Proof: If Goku had used Instant Transmission against Frieza, the Robot would have recorded that data. Consequently, Cell would have been born knowing the technique (just like he knows the Kamehameha).

The Reality: Imperfect Cell does not know Instant Transmission. He explicitly states he learned it after self-destructing in the Present timeline.

Conclusion: Since Cell didn't have the data, Future Goku never used the move.

Option 2: 'Arrive in the pod.'

This is exactly my point! He arrived in the pod because he had to. If he knew Instant Transmission, he wouldn't have risked waiting in the pod while Frieza threatened the Earth. He would have teleported instantly. The fact that he stayed in the pod confirms he didn't know the technique.

Or

Future Goku learned IT , teleported to earth since that was he was going to do anyway in the present timeline, killed Freeza and cold just like he already told us , and without trunks to be mistaken for vegeta /piccolo he got no reason to wait

I don't understand that; it doesn't make any sense. Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, Bulma, and the others were already there before Frieza arrived. If they had sensed and seen Goku appear, they would have asked him where he suddenly came from, how he learned the technique, and so on. Bulma would have had no reason to keep track of the coordinates of a spaceship that would land hours later when they were no longer there. Besides, the spy robot would have recorded the IT technique and added it to Cell's repertoire, just like he has Frieza's techniques.

[TobyS]

This thread is a wild example of creating a problem that isn't there.

I'm pretty sure we don't know if the spy robots and cell collecting robots are even the same robots.
It's a plot point Gero at least was not using them after the saiyan saga, or at least not reviewing the footage. That's how they don't know about Super saiyan and go from being extremely over-prepared to under-prepared without the hart virus timing working in their favor.
Either the cell gathering robot is going out alone now, not recording or it's footage just isn't watched.

Even if the Freeza and Cold arrival was taped, it's going to be filming Freeza and cold while sampling them, possibly while they fight the other Zfighters for a few seconds.

Goku suddenly appears, indistinguishable from Super Speed to a non ki sensing camera probably looking away from Goku at the time. Even if it did see the arrival it doesn't know what he did or how and didn't see the entire thing.

Cell could easily be talking about Future Kid Trunks not a "Freeza-killing" Trunks, Trunks would be mentioned separately because he is the last Fighter to appear in the timeline before Cell is complete, and Cell has killed him personally, and knows he exists at that point in the timeline when he is talking to Piccolo.

The panels being reused are simply panels being reused, notice Goku NOR Trunks are pictured it's just reusing panels exactly like it's reuses Panels from the saiyan fight on the same damn page, it's just a short hand to saying "when these two showed up and died (like you the audience have already seen) we scraped their corpses/blood up"

There's actually 2/3 time periods possibly implied in Cells explanation. He says "Goku and Piccolo's as well as Vegetas cells were taken when the latter came to earth"
Then he says about Freeza coming to Earth. Then he says he could have had Trunks, but he doesn't say that the possible Trunks sampling would have been at that time, he doesn't group him like he does the others, nor does it picture an adult Trunks, just said they had enough Saiyans. If we assume it must be a Trunks at the same time as Freeza we can be obnoxious and say it's equally possibly saying Freeza went in the saiyan saga.

Goku only tells the others about IT because after Trunks interferes they wonder why Goku didn't and how they would have done.

Goku has no reason to use IT again other than to save time flying home with Gohan, he has no other fights and if he didn't teach it in the main timeline he wouldn't here before he got too sick to do so.

Even Cell going underground has no reason to cause ripple effects that reach out into space.
Regardless Cell is only underground in the Main timeline, not the unseen timeline which already had a future trunks visit to give medicine.
Unseen Goku had to deal with Freeza and we cant cite Cell there.
You are then left with a Goku learning IT without Cell (Unseen) a Goku learning IT with Cell (main) yet you want to say that Future Goku never had IT? Why?

If the ripple effect was explained to make sense of stronger androids it's clearly Trunks own time travel being blamed, not Cell.
Cell had so little impact his presence wasn't even a big enough paradox to split the timeline until he attacks Gingertown.

If Toriyama was using Trunks time travel as an excuse to explain differences, why is it not more logical that IT was introduced how it was to explain WHY things could still work without Trunks. If Toriyamas in the business of doing explanations, why not Take IT as an explanation for why obviously he handled Freeza in Trunks timeline but Trunks could still intervene without seeing Goku right away. It's an ever more clever device.

Finally the coordinates, again, Bulma might not know he used IT at all, she does know where the ship landed, might have been detected by satalites and shit, Goku didn't land far from Freeza (possibly because he was chasing em) and she knows Trunks can sense ki. The freeza fight would have moved around. Sending him there is a reasonable location as any. Like telling someone to meet you outside your apartment building not needing to give your apartment number. She probably assumed Goku landed and got out, and doesn't know he was late, maybe helped disposed of the ship later, it doesn't matter it's close enough with reasons for picking it, it's not a plot hole.

[vilker]

This thread is a wild example of creating a problem that isn't there.

I'm pretty sure we don't know if the spy robots and cell collecting robots are even the same robots.
It's a plot point Gero at least was not using them after the saiyan saga, or at least not reviewing the footage. That's how they don't know about Super saiyan and go from being extremely over-prepared to under-prepared without the hart virus timing working in their favor.
Either the cell gathering robot is going out alone now, not recording or it's footage just isn't watched.

Even if the Freeza and Cold arrival was taped, it's going to be filming Freeza and cold while sampling them, possibly while they fight the other Zfighters for a few seconds.

Goku suddenly appears, indistinguishable from Super Speed to a non ki sensing camera probably looking away from Goku at the time. Even if it did see the arrival it doesn't know what he did or how and didn't see the entire thing.

Cell could easily be talking about Future Kid Trunks not a "Freeza-killing" Trunks, Trunks would be mentioned separately because he is the last Fighter to appear in the timeline before Cell is complete, and Cell has killed him personally, and knows he exists at that point in the timeline when he is talking to Piccolo.

The panels being reused are simply panels being reused, notice Goku NOR Trunks are pictured it's just reusing panels exactly like it's reuses Panels from the saiyan fight on the same damn page, it's just a short hand to saying "when these two showed up and died (like you the audience have already seen) we scraped their corpses/blood up"

There's actually 2/3 time periods possibly implied in Cells explanation. He says "Goku and Piccolo's as well as Vegetas cells were taken when the latter came to earth"
Then he says about Freeza coming to Earth. Then he says he could have had Trunks, but he doesn't say that the possible Trunks sampling would have been at that time, he doesn't group him like he does the others, nor does it picture an adult Trunks, just said they had enough Saiyans. If we assume it must be a Trunks at the same time as Freeza we can be obnoxious and say it's equally possibly saying Freeza went in the saiyan saga.

Goku only tells the others about IT because after Trunks interferes they wonder why Goku didn't and how they would have done.

Goku has no reason to use IT again other than to save time flying home with Gohan, he has no other fights and if he didn't teach it in the main timeline he wouldn't here before he got too sick to do so.

Even Cell going underground has no reason to cause ripple effects that reach out into space.
Regardless Cell is only underground in the Main timeline, not the unseen timeline which already had a future trunks visit to give medicine.
Unseen Goku had to deal with Freeza and we cant cite Cell there.
You are then left with a Goku learning IT without Cell (Unseen) a Goku learning IT with Cell (main) yet you want to say that Future Goku never had IT? Why?

If the ripple effect was explained to make sense of stronger androids it's clearly Trunks own time travel being blamed, not Cell.
Cell had so little impact his presence wasn't even a big enough paradox to split the timeline until he attacks Gingertown.

If Toriyama was using Trunks time travel as an excuse to explain differences, why is it not more logical that IT was introduced how it was to explain WHY things could still work without Trunks. If Toriyamas in the business of doing explanations, why not Take IT as an explanation for why obviously he handled Freeza in Trunks timeline but Trunks could still intervene without seeing Goku right away. It's an ever more clever device.

Finally the coordinates, again, Bulma might not know he used IT at all, she does know where the ship landed, might have been detected by satalites and shit, Goku didn't land far from Freeza (possibly because he was chasing em) and she knows Trunks can sense ki. The freeza fight would have moved around. Sending him there is a reasonable location as any. Like telling someone to meet you outside your apartment building not needing to give your apartment number. She probably assumed Goku landed and got out, and doesn't know he was late, maybe helped disposed of the ship later, it doesn't matter it's close enough with reasons for picking it, it's not a plot hole.

You say this thread is a 'wild example of creating a problem that isn't there', but the 'problem' was literally written by Toriyama himself in the dialogue. I didn't draw Trunks sweating in shock when Goku teleported. I didn't make Cell scream 'How did he do that?!' when Goku saved Piccolo. The author deliberately put those reactions on the page to explicitly tell the reader: 'Hey, this technique is new to them.' You are doing an Olympic level of mental gymnastics and inventing 'headcanon' (like the robot looking away, or the camera confusing IT with super speed) to avoid a very simple narrative truth. Calling it 'creating a problem' is just a lazy excuse to dismiss canon facts when your theory falls apart. Let's dismantle your arguments with actual manga evidence:

1. The 'Surprise' Factor (The undeniable proof)
You claim the robots simply missed it or didn't record it. You are ignoring the most crucial piece of evidence: the explicit reactions of the time travelers.

Future Trunks is completely shocked when Goku explains and demonstrates Instant Transmission. If Goku had magically teleported in front of Frieza in the original timeline, Bulma would have documented it as the miracle it was. Trunks was expecting a spaceship, not a teleporting wizard.

Cell is genuinely shocked when Goku uses IT to save Piccolo and Tien ('How did he do that?'). Cell's supercomputer has data on all techniques. If Goku used IT to kill Frieza, the computer would have registered the spatial anomaly. Both characters from the future are shocked because in their history, Goku never used that technique.

2. The Quantum Butterfly Effect (Debunking the 'Space' argument)
You stated: 'Even Cell goes underground has no reason to cause ripple effects that reach out into space.'
This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how Toriyama's time travel works. It is not just a physical ripple; it is a quantum divergence.
Trunks explicitly states in the manga that there is an underlying anomaly causing massive changes (Trunks neither contact Dr.Gero but: A-19 and A-20 appearing instead of 17 and 18, the Androids being much stronger, A-16 appear, Goku's virus delaying). When they find the time machine, Trunks connects the dots: Cell arriving in Age 763 is the root cause. The moment Cell arrives in 763, the timeline physically splits. Everything in this new universe is subject to change, including Goku's training decisions in Yardrat. It doesn't need physical contact; the timeline itself is a different branch.

3. The Unseen Timeline Fallacy
You asked: 'If Unseen Goku had to deal with Freeza... why would you say Future Goku never had IT?'
Because in Timeline 1 (Cell's future) and Timeline 2 (The Unseen Past), Cell has not arrived in Age 763 yet. Therefore, there is no butterfly effect in Age 763. In those timelines, Goku takes the ship, arrives late, and doesn't learn IT. Only in Timeline 3 (the main story), contaminated by Cell's egg, does Goku alter his training and learn IT. It perfectly aligns with Trunks' realization that Cell's early arrival changed everything.

4. The 'Blind Camera' and Genetic Memory Excuse
Your argument relies heavily on the robot 'looking away', 'not reviewing footage', or 'confusing IT with speed'. This ignores how Cell was actually created. Cell doesn't just watch video tutorials; Dr. Gero's computer extracts abilities and traits directly from DNA (genetic memory). Cell explicitly states he knows their techniques because he is made of their cells. A perfect example is Frieza: the spy robot never filmed Frieza surviving in the vacuum of space while on Earth, yet Cell inherited that exact biological ability and knowledge directly from Frieza's cells.

The spy robot physically collected Goku's cells during that same fight. It doesn't matter where the camera was looking; if the Goku they sampled possessed the knowledge of Instant Transmission, Cell's genetic makeup would have assimilated it immediately. We have absolute proof of this: Cell finally learns Instant Transmission only after self-destructing on King Kai's planet, explicitly stating he assimilated it from Goku's cells in that exact moment. If his original genetic samples from the Frieza fight contained IT, he wouldn't have been shocked by it earlier, and he wouldn't have stated he just learned it after exploding. The computer sampled a Goku that simply did not know IT.

5. The Coordinate Plot Hole
If Goku teleported instantly to Frieza, the ship would land hours later in a completely random location, not right next to the battlefield. Bulma gave Trunks the exact coordinates of where Goku would arrive. Why? Because in her history, Goku arrived in the ship exactly where she pointed.

Conclusion:
Toriyama improvised, yes, but he also fixed his own plot holes. He realized that for Trunks to intervene in the first place, he couldn't know anything about Instant Transmission—which explains Trunks's surprise. But that wouldn't make sense if Goku had used it in the original timeline. So, he masterfully used Cell's egg (arriving a year prior) as the ultimate scapegoat for all timeline distortions, including Goku's technique. He then stayed completely consistent with this plot thread by making Cell (the other time traveler) also completely unaware of IT. Your theory requires blind robots and characters having amnesia; the Butterfly Effect theory only requires reading Trunks' exact dialogue and realizing that the two characters from the future who literally know everything about everyone, the only thing they are completely ignorant of is Goku's technique.

[Bloodthroe]

Amazing. Of course Goku used instantaneous movement. Frieza says something along the lines of it will take an hour or two for his soldiers to destroy all human life on the planet. If Goku didn't teleport, then there would be no humans in Trunks's future.

1. There is no proof that Gero's robots appeared before or after Frieza arrived on Earth. Frankly, it makes no sense for them to appear immediately. It takes time for them to fly there.

2. No, because the Z crew are incredibly bad at communication. And Gohan was hanging back, he would not have seen Goku use the teleport and just assumed he arrived in the spaceship. Nevermind the fact that talking about his father would just be a sore subject for Gohan.

3. Again, Bulma was not there either. She would also be confused about when Goku arrived on Earth.

4. No...

5. This is just fiction. If Toriyama were to say Krillin defeated Cell by throwing avacados on him in a world where avacados are extinct, then that is exactly what happened. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense. Goku did teleport to save the Earth from Frieza in the future timeline. Your inconsistencies don't make sense, but it wouldn't matter if they did.

And there is no reason to assume Goku's ship would land in a different location, because he wasn't piloting it. It was all ran by a computer. I honestly wonder if this whole thread is bait.

[vilker]

Amazing. Of course Goku used instantaneous movement. Frieza says something along the lines of it will take an hour or two for his soldiers to destroy all human life on the planet. If Goku didn't teleport, then there would be no humans in Trunks's future.

1. There is no proof that Gero's robots appeared before or after Frieza arrived on Earth. Frankly, it makes no sense for them to appear immediately. It takes time for them to fly there.

2. No, because the Z crew are incredibly bad at communication. And Gohan was hanging back, he would not have seen Goku use the teleport and just assumed he arrived in the spaceship. Nevermind the fact that talking about his father would just be a sore subject for Gohan.

3. Again, Bulma was not there either. She would also be confused about when Goku arrived on Earth.

4. No...

5. This is just fiction. If Toriyama were to say Krillin defeated Cell by throwing avacados on him in a world where avacados are extinct, then that is exactly what happened. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense. Goku did teleport to save the Earth from Frieza in the future timeline. Your inconsistencies don't make sense, but it wouldn't matter if they did.

And there is no reason to assume Goku's ship would land in a different location, because he wasn't piloting it. It was all ran by a computer. I honestly wonder if this whole thread is bait.

Calling this thread 'bait' just because your headcanon collapses under the weight of the manga's logic is a massive cop-out. You are asking us to ignore the author, ignore the dialogue, and pretend the characters are absolute morons just so your theory can survive. Let's dismantle this piece by piece:

Regarding Frieza destroying the Earth in 1-2 hours:
His soldiers could have spent three hours slaughtering humans or fighting the Z-Fighters, and it wouldn't have mattered at all—the Dragon Balls would simply wish everyone back later. The idea that Goku had to teleport instantly to prevent permanent damage is completely false. You are completely ignoring the actual plot. Frieza destroyed Namek; his only remaining key to immortality was Earth's Dragon Balls. He wouldn't dare kill Piccolo.

Now, let's look at your 'rebuttals':

1. The Spy Robot 'Arrival Time' Excuse
You still don't understand how Cell works. It doesn't matter when the robot arrived or if it was 'looking the other way'. Cell does not watch videotutorials; he is built from genetic memory. If the spy robot collected cells from a Goku who had already mastered Instant Transmission, that technique would be encoded in Cell's DNA.
Proof: The robot never saw Frieza floating in the vacuum of space, yet Cell inherited the biological ability to survive in space directly from Frieza's blood. If the Future Goku they sampled knew IT, Cell would have possessed it from birth. He didn't.

2. The 'Amnesia and Bad Communication' Comedy
This is where your argument turns into an absolute joke. You seriously want us to believe in a universe of amnesiacs? Goku—who was missing for a year—suddenly materializes out of thin air, saves the world, and absolutely nobody asks him: "Hey Goku, how did you get here without a ship? Where have you been for a year? Why didn't you come back when we asked the Namekian Dragon?" Furthermore, Gohan lived with his father for years after this before Goku died. Are you honestly claiming Goku actively hid a life-saving teleportation technique from his own son? Why would he keep the Yardrat training a total secret until his dying breath? Your argument requires Goku, Gohan, and everyone else to be total idiots.

3. Bulma's Log and the Empty Ship
"Bulma was not there either." Read the manga. Bulma literally flew there with the Z-Fighters to see Frieza arrive. She was physically present.
Now use some common sense: If Goku teleported, killed Frieza, and everyone went home, why on earth would Bulma stay behind for 3 extra hours just to record the exact landing coordinates of an empty spaceship? She wouldn't. She recorded those coordinates because that is where and when Goku physically stepped out of the ship in her timeline.

4. The 'No...' (The Lack of Argument)
Brilliant counter-argument. You say 'No' to the Butterfly Effect, but Trunks literally says it in the Japanese manga. Trunks explicitly states: "So what came out of that time machine is the cause of all these changes in this timeline." Are we supposed to believe Trunks—the guy who knows the future—is the only one who doesn't know what's going on? Cell is a time traveler too. He knows everyone's moves. The ONLY things that shock Cell in Age 767 are: Trunks being there, A-16, Goku being alive, and Goku using Instant Transmission. Those are the EXACT things that changed from Cell's original past.

5. The 'It's Just Fiction' Surrender
Saying 'it doesn't matter if it makes no sense' is the ultimate white flag. You have no arguments left. I am not pointing out an inconsistency; I am explaining exactly why Toriyama wrote it that way.
If Toriyama didn't care about the timeline logic, explain this: Why did Trunks' stolen Time Machine arrive in Age 763?
Cell states he just pressed the button Trunks had pre-programmed. Why would Trunks program the machine to travel to Age 763, a full year before Frieza arrives, when Goku is still deep in outer space?
The answer is obvious to anyone reading the narrative: Toriyama specifically chose Age 763 to insert Cell's egg into the timeline before Goku returned to Earth. This creates the exact quantum distortion (Butterfly Effect) needed to alter history, allowing Present Goku to learn a technique that Future Goku never did. There isn't any more reason.

You are forcing characters to be mute, robots to be blind, hiding behind 'bad communication', and ignoring Toriyama's specific dates and Trunks' dialogues. The manga evidence is completely against you.