ahill1 said:
I think mentioning Piccolo there would be a bit redundant, right? There'd be no point in saying "even for the man who beat Freeza and even for you who can do the same thing, Piccolo" if Piccolo is weaker than Trunks.
Then he wouldn't even bring that feat up, if it wasn't there to hype up the androids.
Both Kami and Tenshinhan hype up Trunks' feat and power, while Piccolo is completely ignored for the rest of the saga until he fuses and
only then he is treated as a SSJ powerhouse.
These kinds of blatant power comparison, are what really matters, not a character comparing the power of android in the middle of a fight, prophesized to have killed them, to a completely unrelated fighter like Freeza or Trunks, when the said android cannot even be sensed.
The Super Saiyan power is still treated as a big deal at the time, so for Piccolo, somebody supposedly stronger than ''Trunks arc.'' Super Saiyan Trunks(even though a power difference between the Trunks arc. and Android arc. Trunks it's completely unsupported), to be ignored after beating up Dr.Gero, while Trunks' power and feat of killing Freeza is brought up multiple times, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The initial androids and Piccolo's power are also never brought up, while Trunks and Freeza are used as a measuring stick multiple times.
I'll just say it this way:The characters don't think the way you do.
The ''we'' is repeated several times in that same context and it includes the likes of Gohan and Krillin.
Even if you want to ignore the context, there are multiple ways for Piccolo to expect the androids to be able to beat Trunks without actually being stronger than him, including absorbing his ki.
What was PIccolo supposed to do with sick Goku?He didn't even know, why is Goku even like that.
Yeah, it wouldn't make sense to mention Piccolo. He's standing right there and he obviously didn't take on Freeza and Cold.
The scene is just there to tell us that the Super Saiyans can't beat the Androids, so Kami will have to merge with Piccolo. There's no reason to assume it means Freeza>Piccolo because that's going out of context. Piccolo never fought Freeza, but that's not the same as saying he couldn't beat Freeza.
Trunks not gaining any power requires Goku to not be much different than he was 3 yrs before, and for Vegeta to not be much different than Yardrat Goku. If that were the case, then Piccolo saying Vegeta "might've surpassed Goku" is such a pointless statement. It's supposed to indicate that Vegeta could be the strongest now that he's a Super Saiyan, but why would that matter if Goku spent 3 yrs doing nothing to become better?
Like I've said above, for Piccolo to be completely ignored in the favor of Trunks and Freeza, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The scene is there to tell that, but a feat like that, if a huge power bloat like what you suggest was true, wouldn't be worth bringing up anymore, if even Piccolo could crush Freeza at that point.
It isn't a pointless statement, because Goku's Super Saiyan power is treated as their main key in defeating the androids, that much is made clear later on and Vegeta just went after the androids.
Free Ukraine 