Terrible Tambourine

Still fuming about Goku eating his fish, Yajirobe cooks up Cymbal's remains and devours the demon, declaring that he tastes like chicken. On Pilaf's airship, King Piccolo tries to contact Cymbal telepathically and receives only silence. Overcome with rage at losing another son, he screams at the Pilaf Gang for their lack of empathy.

Elsewhere, Tambourine tracks down Giran in a peaceful animal village. Despite Giran's attempts to fight back, including his signature Merry-Go-Round Gum technique, nothing works against the demon. Tambourine punches clean through Giran's body, killing him instantly. When a grateful bear approaches to thank Tambourine for stopping Giran's bullying, the demon slashes the father bear and tells the terrified cub that he killed Giran as a job, but the father was killed purely for entertainment.

Master Roshi, Tien Shinhan, and Chiaotzu take to the skies in a separate mission to collect Dragon Balls before Piccolo can. They locate one frozen in an iceberg, which Tien shatters with a powerful energy blast. Meanwhile, Tambourine stumbles upon Kame House and attacks Yamcha. Just as Tambourine prepares to deliver a killing blow, King Piccolo contacts him telepathically with news of Cymbal's death and orders him to abandon Yamcha and destroy whoever killed his brother.

Tambourine's murder of Giran is one of the most visceral kills in the saga, made worse by his casual cruelty toward the innocent animals afterward. The scene establishes Tambourine as a sadistic predator who enjoys killing beyond his orders.

Yamcha's narrow escape from death, saved only because King Piccolo redirected Tambourine, is a stroke of pure luck. Roshi's team successfully recovering Dragon Balls in the background creates a parallel race against Piccolo's forces, putting the heroes at two balls to Piccolo's one.

This episode splits the story into three simultaneous threads: Goku and Yajirobe awaiting Tambourine's arrival, Roshi's team racing for Dragon Balls, and Tambourine systematically crossing names off his kill list. King Piccolo's decision to redirect Tambourine toward Cymbal's killer sets up the long-awaited rematch between Goku and the demon who took everything from him.