The End, The Beginning

Annin explains why the furnace cannot be destroyed: without it, spirits would lose access to the afterlife, and evil souls already contained would break free and ravage the Earth. She initially fights Goku to prevent him from interfering, growing to giant size and attacking with sword-like feathers, but Goku proves too strong for her. When Annin notices that Goku carries the Bansho Fan, she realizes there may be another way. The furnace is not malfunctioning; it has a leak that is causing the flames to escape to Fire Mountain. If the leak can be sealed, the fire will stop without harming the spirit realm.

The repair requires two things: shell fragments from a Fire-Eater and honey from special bees. By remarkable fortune, Chi-Chi has both. She picked up Fire-Eater shell fragments during their visit to Mount Kiwi, and Grandma Hakkake gave her a jar of rare honey at Mount Frappe. With Annin lifting the furnace pot and the Bansho Fan providing a corridor of cool air, Goku descends into the blazing furnace and manages to seal the hole. He barely makes it out alive, and Chi-Chi rushes to embrace him. The scene shifts to Fire Mountain, where the flames have finally died down. The Ox-King emerges with the wedding dress intact. With the crisis resolved, Goku and Chi-Chi proceed with their wedding and are married at last. The final Dragon Ball episode closes with Fortuneteller Baba peering into the future and blocking the viewer's gaze, teasing that Goku's greatest adventures are still ahead.

The resolution brings together every element from the Bansho Fan quest in a satisfying payoff. The Fire-Eater shells from Mount Kiwi and the honey from Grandma Hakkake, both seemingly inconsequential pickups, turn out to be exactly what is needed. Annin's shift from opponent to ally happens naturally once she sees a solution that does not compromise the afterlife. Goku's descent into the furnace is a genuinely dangerous moment, and Chi-Chi's embrace when he emerges is the emotional climax. The Ox-King surviving with the wedding dress intact resolves the arc's central stakes. Goku and Chi-Chi's wedding is brief but heartfelt, closing the original Dragon Ball series on a note of new beginnings.

The final episode of Dragon Ball wraps up every loose thread from the filler arc while pointing toward the future. Fortuneteller Baba breaking the fourth wall to tease upcoming adventures is the last image of the series, and she is the final character shown on screen. The Japanese version's narrator says the next story begins five years from now, while the English dub directly promotes Dragon Ball Z. This is Goku's last use of the Power Pole in the main series and the last appearance of the teen versions of Goku and Chi-Chi. A new chapter, and a new series, awaits.