"My... son... lives... on."
- Despite Bardock's best efforts, he ends up helplessly unable to save himself or the entire Saiyan race from certain death.
- Even earlier, when Bardock assists the dying Toma in his last moments and then starts using the cloth he used to clean up Toma's blood from his face as a Tragic Keepsake headband. Following his death at Planet Vegeta’s destruction, said headband SOMEHOW managed to survive and float away into space, as if it was a final goodbye from Bardock himself.
- When Bardock and grown up Goku meet and talk to each other. In the dub, Goku tells his father it's not too late to have a change of heart and make a difference. While he didn't save himself or his home planet, Bardock managed to repent. This is even more moving because of Bardock's last words:Bardock: "My... son... lives... on."
- Bardock's final words to Goku in spirit as he heads towards Earth in the English dub is also one big tearjerker. The music didn't help:Bardock: "Kakarot, my son, thank you for helping me. You were right. It wasn't too late. I only wish I could have held you in my arms when I had the chance. Goodbye, my son."
- Grandpa Gohan finding Kakarot in the forest and giving him his name. More powerful in the Japanese version with the music and the narrator saying:Narrator: And the curtain opens on the grand adventure that is Dragon Ball.
- In the dub, when Vegeta learns of his planet's destruction, he declines to reply to the messenger and sits in shocked silence.
- "Hikari no Tabi"
, the Japanese ending theme for the special— a somber song about how a light representing hopes and dreams will always shine through time and space.- In this case, the "light" is Bardock's legacy: Kakarot himself, as we watch scenes from the original Dragon Ball and early Z showing his journey of growing from a child into a man, leading up to his ultimate showdown with Frieza.
