Thread by @Herms98

May 3rd, Age 763: after 130 days spent idling around Capsule Corp, the Namekians’ dragon balls revive. Kuririn’s spirit is returned to Earth and resurrected, but Goku opts out of a free ride home, so that he can continue training with Pybara. #HistoryofEver

With one wish still free, Bulma resurrects Yamcha. Now they can live happily ever after! Another full (Namekian) year later on September 10th, Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu are revived, and the Namekians depart for a new vaguely Namek-y planet. Now they can live happily ever after!

It’s not all good news in 763 though: sometime during this year, a time machine arrives from an alternate timeline, and a big cicada monster crawls out and burrows underground. Around this same time, Kami starts feeling real uneasy, but he can’t quite put his finger on why…

The wishing logistics are spelled out by the narrator in the manga, while in the anime we get to see it happening. Notably, the significance of the 130 day recharge period is unexplained in the manga, with the anime adding that it’s the length of a Namekian year.

Speaking of logistics, if you’re wondering how all the Namekians can hang out at Capsule Corp, keep in mind that there was only about 100 of them (even fewer now, since Tsuno’s village wasn’t revived). Obviously the late Great Elder was big on family planning.

Another detail that’s easy to forget: all of the Namekians on Namek at this time are the Great Elder’s children (Dende notes that he’s the 108th). Not grandchildren/descendants/etc, but direct offspring. So Muri, Nail, and Dende are all brothers.

Precisely why this should be is never addressed. Apparently it’s just their custom for only the Great Elder to lay eggs, ant queen style. Which means presumably Muri takes on this duty now as new Great Elder, unless he decides to let others have a crack at it.

In the manga, Ginyu is never seen again after he hops off in his new frog form. The anime adds filler of him briefly switching bodies with Bulma, then later getting zapped to Earth along with everyone else, where he settles down…a thread the DBS anime picks up on

While investigating Cell’s time machine, Trunks says that it arrived four years ago, a year before he first came to warn everyone about the androids. Kami notes how he’s been feeling uneasy these last four years, but naturally he didn’t bother to tell anyone about it until now.

Trunks wonders if Cell’s arrival is what caused the timeline to diverge so much from the history he knew…though frankly it’s hard to see how Cell sitting around underground would lead to 16’s presence (for instance). But more on this later, I suppose.

Cell says the time machine was preset to arrive in this time. Piccolo guesses that Trunks wanted to come tell everyone he had defeated the androids. Even if that’s true…why come a full year before his initial warning? Seems like that would lead to a rather awkward conversation.

(Viz has Piccolo say “three years ago”, when of course it should be four. In Japanese he just vaguely says この時代/“this era”. But there’s reason for Viz’s confusion, namely…)

Another loose end: Cell says his development underground takes three years, so why did he only come out now? Seems like it would’ve been easier to nab 17+18 while they’re still at Gero’s lab. Unless Gero only completed them in 767?

(Based on Piccolo’s question, it does seem like Toriyama maybe forgot Cell game 4 years ago rather than 3. Yep, we really are entering into a troublesome phase of the series, timeline-wise. Oh well.)

The dates for the wishing sessions are from the Daizenshuu 7 timeline, and come from adding 130 days twice-over to December 24th, the date it gives Namek’s destruction. The timeline dates Cell’s arrive to “sometime in Age 763”, but places it after the Garlic Jr stuff in October

On Tuesday: bad moon rising!

Thanks as always to @Terez27 for making the clips