Dragon Ball plotholes and your theories!

[TobyS]

My understanding is that once Trunks has punched through into a new timeline he can travel up and down from the time he first went there to anywhere in the future or at least the equivalent present.

Creating the alt TL serves to avoid paradoxes but once it's created he can go back there without making new timelines.

The redundant timelines thing doesn't fit with what Toriyama/Bulma intended.

Bulma after realising that it created a TL got Trunks to go ahead with the mission anyway "because there deserved to be a universe where Son didn't die/androids didn't fuck shit up" (not those exact words) creating redundant timelines of alternate wrecked futures that lost their Trunks would be creating more net suffering than they solved. It wasn't in the spirit of the mission and I doubt Toriyama had that in mind.

[AnimeMaakuo]

Close.

Timeline 3: Trunks has returned after 3 years, they defeat the androids, and he returns back to his timeline creating...

Timeline 4: Trunks returns to his timeline where he stops the androids. Later in this timeline, Cell kill Trunks and steals his time machine creating...

Timeline 5: This timeline is nearly identical to Timeline 1. Bulma, Trunks, and Gohan manage to survive the onslaught. Trunks grows up and travels back in time to the year 764 creating...

Timeline 6: He defeats Mecha Freeza, and warns Goku and the others of the impending android threat. Trunks goes back to his timeline creating...

Timeline 7: Seeing that nothing happens, Trunks waits 8 months and goes back in time creating...

Timeline 8: This is where they fight the new androids, and later Cell. Trunks eventually returns to the future creating...

Timeline 9: In this timeline, Trunks is strong enough to defeat the Androids, and eventually Cell when he shows up to take his time machine.

Timeline 10: Trunks then goes back in time to the year 763 to tell Goku and the others that he defeated the androids.

It wouldn't make any sense to have only four timelines. The whole idea is that all timelines extend at the same rate, but at different positions. For example, if Trunks waits 8 months in his original timeline, 8 months pass from where he left in the newly created timeline.

But even desirecampbell's version doesn't work that way. Trunks returns to his future for only eight months, but three years pass in the newly created timeline before he returns.

That's what I meant. My mistake. It was late, lol.

[Bussani]

My understanding is that once Trunks has punched through into a new timeline he can travel up and down from the time he first went there to anywhere in the future or at least the equivalent present.

Creating the alt TL serves to avoid paradoxes but once it's created he can go back there without making new timelines.

That's what the Daizenshuu and I go with. Other than that it's identical to desirecampbell's version.

Timeline 1: Goku dies of heart virus, androids wreck everything, Trunks goes back in time and creates timeline 2.

Timeline 2: Trunks kills Freeza, warns Goku about the androids, returns three years later to help out. They somehow find a way to defeat the androids (the Daizenshuu suggests that Trunks finds blueprints for a shutdown controller), and Trunks returns to timeline 1, deactivating and destroying the androids there. Timeline 1 Cell then kills him, steals his time machine, and creates timeline 3.

Timeline 3: Just like in desirecampbell's version, it's identical to timeline 1. Trunks travels back to warn Goku.

Timeline 4: The one the story follows. Trunks defeats Freeza, warns Goku, comes back three years later. In other words, it's identical to timeline 2--up until Cell appears, that is. Eventually Gohan beats Cell, and Trunks goes back to timeline 3 where he defeats #17, #18, and Cell.

As you can probably see, these exact timelines are present in desirecampbell's version, too. The only timelines missing are the ones that didn't add anything in the first place--the leftovers that Trunks never returns to.