rereboy wrote:fig404 wrote:The time-travel issues in the Cell arc.
The time travel will never make sense because there are too many plotholes.
However... I have an explanation that (almost) makes sense. I think that the author was thinking about something like this when he wrote the Cell arc.
Graphic:
Keep in mind that the Time Machine seems to "memorize" the timeline it came from and the timeline that it created. Therefore, it not only is able to move through time but it can also go to different timelines that it has visited before and came from.
A new timeline is created whenever a paradox happens. Basically, if Trunks` original time travel altered his own timeline, then he would change, become someone else and he wouldn`t need to time travel. But if he hadn`t time traveled, then that change would never happen. That`s a paradox. One theory to fix this, is the theory of different timelines coexisting which is obviously adopted in Dragon Ball.
Now, lets look at the graphic:
Timeline 1 : This is the original timeline where Goku died with a illness. Its Trunks` original timeline.
Timeline 2: This is the timeline created by Trunks` first time travel. Please notice how everything in that timeline is the same, including the past, and the only differences are the changes caused from the moment Trunks appeared.
In this Timeline. Trunks shows up and saves Goku from dying with the illness, while killing Freeza and his father. He warns him about the androids and leaves to his original timeline, timeline 1. He then travels again to the past, to the timeline he created, timeline 2, after recharging his time machine (with that second voyage he may have created another timeline, but I doubt it, since I think it wouldn`t create a paradox since the timelines are already apart from each other. That second voyage was more like going to another universe than actually time travel to change things. But if it did create another timeline, lets say timeline 2b, the difference would simply be that in one of the timelines Trunks never showed up a second time, while in the other, he did ).
So, anyway, he gets there and they all face the androids. What exactly happens is unknown but they defeat the androids eventually, probably by discovering the secret of the remote control. Trunks goes back to his timeline and also defeats his androids, probably using the remote.
But after that, Cell awakens in timeline 1 and discovers that the androids are gone. It kills Trunks and uses his time machine to go back and change things. Since it last visited timeline 2, there is where Cell goes. But he gets there in a point in time before the original voyage of Trunks. However, this is still the past of timeline 2. It just happens to be equal to the past of timeline 1 before Trunks arrives. The arrival of Cell creates obviously a paradox which brings about the creation of timeline 3.
Timeline 3: this is the timeline of the main story. It was created by Cell`s arrival. It contains the changes that Trunks made to the timeline but it also contains the changes that Cell did to the timeline. Everything happens like we all know it happened with Gohan defeating Perfect Cell. After that, Trunks returns home to his timeline. And this is where a curious thing happens... Trunks travels to timeline 1, just like Trunks, the Trunks that was in Timeline 2, did, but he goes to a point in time before Cell kills him in that timeline, the same Cell that caused the existence of timeline 3. So that obviously created a paradox, and so, yet another timeline was created. A timeline where the Trunks that returned was powerful enough to kill Cell, and not be killed by him.
Timeline 4: this timeline is also shown in the story. It happens when Trunks returns to the future and kills the androids and Cell.
The are however a few problems with this theory:
- Cell told Piccolo (in the main story) that in his timeline Trunks killed Freeza and his father. Obviously that can`t happen with the theory I developed. However, I considered that a plothole. To me, the author had this theory in mind, but he made a mistake when he wrote that part. So to me it doesn`t invalidate the theory, because there are few theories with zero inconsistencies. But I understand that some of you will not think of it that way.
- Cell also told Piccolo that the time machine was already set to the date it arrived. That also doesn`t make sense. It would make more sense if Cell simply chose the date (it shouldn`t be that hard, Cell looks smart). I regard this also as a plothole since there is no logic in Trunks programming the machine to go to that specific point in time.
- When Trunks arrived in the Future to kill the androids and Cell, going by my theory, since everything is the same, except for Trunks being there, there should also be another Trunks there, the one that Cell killed. This however, I can explain. Trunks had no reason to not go back to exactly the same moment in time and the exact same space that Trunks (that was in timeline 2) went back to. The date and everything was probably already programmed in both time machines since they are essentially the same. Since they couldn`t appear both that the same time and place, only one Trunks appeared, the one shown in the story that killed 17, 18 and Cell.
In short... This theory is not perfect...That is impossible to do. But to me is the most logical one, as long as we accept the inconsistencies as simple plotholes, like the ones that exist in the rest of the story. Therefore, I notice this plotholes but I ignore them, just like the topic says
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