todays DBS e60 got me thinking about the alternate timelines, so i did some research and put together the information. if anyone has any ideas on where it is flawed or where the 5th timeline comes from, thatd be awesome
even if this theory is not perfectly accurate, i think you'll get the main idea of how alternate timelines are created
to start, think about time travel outside dragonball. you cant go back in time and kill your parents before you were born. bc then you wouldnt exist. so lets start by saying if you travel back in time, you create a new timeline. in dragonball, it does let people travel back and forth between 2 timeslines as lone as they dont travel back further on the 2nd trip than they traveled on the first trip. if they did, it would probably create a new one
so its best to start looking at it from trunks perspective. he causes 2 timelines. and you will see cell does also
everythign is the same in all timelines until after freiza. then things are different for the 4 timeslines im going to describe (i dont know where the fifth came from... im guessing in super something happened?)
timeline 1: unseen timeline
timeline 2: cells timeline
timeline 3: trunks timeline where the z fighters are dead
timeline 4: the main timeline we know
lets start in timeline 2 which you we will call cell's timeline since he eventually time travels out of it, creating timeline 3. in timeline 2, goku dies of the heart disease. the androids kill all the other z fighters except gohan and trunks. gohan battles for over 10 years but is eventually killed. trunks cant beat them, so he travels back in time creating timeline 1. he gives goku the medicine to prevent goku from dying of the heart disease in timeline 1. he returns to timeline 2, but then travels back to the unseen timeline 1 again, but at a later date than the first time he went there, so it doesnt create a new timeline. he helps them beat the androids there. probably gets instructions on how they were built. he then goes back to timeline 2 and beats the androids. trunks tries to travel back in time to timeline 1 to tell the people in timeline 1 that he beat the androids. but cell kills him in timeline 2. cell then takes the time machine and travels back in time himself, creating timeline 3.
so far, most the good guys are alive in unseen timeline 1. all are dead in timeline 2.
in timeline 3, cell digs in the ground to recharge. this is the timeline we know as trunks timeline. goku also dies here of the heart disease since trunks only gave him the medicine in timeline 1. the androids kill all the z fighters, except gohan and trunks. gohan battles them for many years, but then is killed. so like timeline 2, its left on just trunks. just like the timeline 2 version of him did, he travels back in time. but heres the catch which causes timeline 4...
as a refresher, in timeline 2, there was no cell in the ground. so when he traveled back, he created timeline 1. we are now discussing trunks in timeline 3. this one differs from timeline 1 because cell is in the ground in 3. therefore, when he goes back in time, he cant go back to timeline 1 where theres no cell in the ground. instead, him traveling backwards in time causes a 4th timeline. the 4th is the main z fighter timeline we know. trunks goes back to timeline 3 and kill the androids there. he also kills cell there. thankfully, or else cell could have left 3 and caused a 5th.
so in timeline 3, everyone but trunks is dead. in timeline 4, everyone is alive and trunks gave goku the medicine, so he wont die of the heart disease down the road
even if this theory is not perfectly accurate, i think you'll get the main idea of how alternate timelines are created
to start, think about time travel outside dragonball. you cant go back in time and kill your parents before you were born. bc then you wouldnt exist. so lets start by saying if you travel back in time, you create a new timeline. in dragonball, it does let people travel back and forth between 2 timeslines as lone as they dont travel back further on the 2nd trip than they traveled on the first trip. if they did, it would probably create a new one
so its best to start looking at it from trunks perspective. he causes 2 timelines. and you will see cell does also
everythign is the same in all timelines until after freiza. then things are different for the 4 timeslines im going to describe (i dont know where the fifth came from... im guessing in super something happened?)
timeline 1: unseen timeline
timeline 2: cells timeline
timeline 3: trunks timeline where the z fighters are dead
timeline 4: the main timeline we know
lets start in timeline 2 which you we will call cell's timeline since he eventually time travels out of it, creating timeline 3. in timeline 2, goku dies of the heart disease. the androids kill all the other z fighters except gohan and trunks. gohan battles for over 10 years but is eventually killed. trunks cant beat them, so he travels back in time creating timeline 1. he gives goku the medicine to prevent goku from dying of the heart disease in timeline 1. he returns to timeline 2, but then travels back to the unseen timeline 1 again, but at a later date than the first time he went there, so it doesnt create a new timeline. he helps them beat the androids there. probably gets instructions on how they were built. he then goes back to timeline 2 and beats the androids. trunks tries to travel back in time to timeline 1 to tell the people in timeline 1 that he beat the androids. but cell kills him in timeline 2. cell then takes the time machine and travels back in time himself, creating timeline 3.
so far, most the good guys are alive in unseen timeline 1. all are dead in timeline 2.
in timeline 3, cell digs in the ground to recharge. this is the timeline we know as trunks timeline. goku also dies here of the heart disease since trunks only gave him the medicine in timeline 1. the androids kill all the z fighters, except gohan and trunks. gohan battles them for many years, but then is killed. so like timeline 2, its left on just trunks. just like the timeline 2 version of him did, he travels back in time. but heres the catch which causes timeline 4...
as a refresher, in timeline 2, there was no cell in the ground. so when he traveled back, he created timeline 1. we are now discussing trunks in timeline 3. this one differs from timeline 1 because cell is in the ground in 3. therefore, when he goes back in time, he cant go back to timeline 1 where theres no cell in the ground. instead, him traveling backwards in time causes a 4th timeline. the 4th is the main z fighter timeline we know. trunks goes back to timeline 3 and kill the androids there. he also kills cell there. thankfully, or else cell could have left 3 and caused a 5th.
so in timeline 3, everyone but trunks is dead. in timeline 4, everyone is alive and trunks gave goku the medicine, so he wont die of the heart disease down the road
