Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2 is all but confirmed to see the return of Frieza in his magnificent golden form, but some fans may have noticed a small problem with this. In the lore of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Goku has already revived Frieza with the dragon balls to use as a personal training partner, resulting in Frieza being left to wander the earth alone after Goku defeats him again. This seems to clash directly with the events of Resurrection F, during which Frieza is resurrected by the remnants of his army and trains to exact his revenge on Goku.
Though it follows the story of the original Dragon Ball Z anime rather closely, the canon of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is different from the show in a few ways. Whether it is because of the inclusion of characters from Dragon Ball, the addition of original characters like Bonyu and other non-canon characters such as Android 21 and Mira, or simply minor story changes, Kakarot carves its own path through the well traveled lore of DBZ. With that in mind, there are bound to be a few changes made to Golden Frieza's story, but this seems rather drastic.
Resurrecting Frieza with the Dragon Balls
In the movie and anime adaptations of this arc, Frieza has remained dead since his defeat on Earth by Trunks at the start of the Cell Saga. It isn't until some of his henchmen wish him back to life with the Dragon Balls that he is able to return, and even after this it takes quite some time to piece him back together again. Frieza was cut into many pieces, and his henchman take it upon themselves to restore him to his final form using new, advanced technology capable of doing so.
In Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, however, Goku is able to resurrect Frieza with the Dragon Balls much earlier than this, and doing so causes him to revive into his first form, fully assembled and in no need of rejuvenation devices. Goku does battle with the tyrant, wins easily thanks to his access to Super Saiyan 3, and aloofly tells Frieza not to get into any trouble. From here, there seem to be two main ways Bandai Namco could take Frieza's story arc and lead him into becoming Golden Frieza, though one is clearly more satisfying than the other, it remains to be seen which it will take.
DBZ: Kakarot DLC 2 Separate From Canon
With the first DLC, players were able to access it at any point in the story after they beat the initial training match with Piccolo. Doing so would teleport the player to Beerus' planet, allowing them to train with Whis to unlock the Super Saiyan God form and reach max level. This even gave players access to Vegeta before he became available in the main story, and dedicated players could use a max level Super Saiyan God Prince of Saiyans in the Namek Saga against enemies if they put the time in.
This was explained to simply be set apart from the actual canon of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, instead taking part in either another time line or the distant future, the same justification for the complete lack of any kind of story. It is possible that DLC 2 could take the same path, allowing players to reach Super Saiyan Blue and fight Golden Frieza without even fighting Frieza on Namek first. If this were the case, it wouldn't matter that Frieza had already been revived, and fans would be forced to suspend their disbelief for the sake of playing the DLC.
Golden Frieza in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
On the other hand, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is in a unique position to contextualize Frieza's motive for returning and the intense training he underwent. In the original telling of this story, after being revived Frieza trains for four months before going to kill Goku. The only thing Frieza knows is that Goku managed to defeat Majin Buu, but that doesn't quite explain why Frieza trained until reaching a power level equivalent to that of a Super Saiyan Blue. If anything, it seems more coincidental that Golden Frieza just happened to be a match for the Super Saiyan Blue Saiyans.
Within the canon of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Frieza has seen the power of Super Saiyan 3 firsthand and has a better understanding of what Goku is capable of. Likewise, he was theoretically around when Goku and Vegeta unlocked Super Saiyan God, and would have a much better idea of how much he needed to train to beat them. Golden Frieza would be more than enough to handle Super Saiyan God Goku and Vegeta, so his surprise when the two unveil their Blue forms would be that much more meaningful.
DBZ: Kakarot DLC 2
Unfortunately, the latter explanation is far less likely than the former. It's probable that Bandai Namco will follow in the footsteps of DLC 1, making this adventure something completely separate from the main story rather than trying to tie in previous events from the game. As disappointing as this is, it will allow Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 to focus more on the gameplay aspects of the upcoming DLC, including the new Super Saiyan Blue forms, new attacks, and perhaps most importantly, the Golden Frieza boss battle mechanics. With any luck, this new boss will be as challenging as Beerus was.
Ultimately, there still isn't even a solid release date for DBZ: Kakarot DLC 2 yet, so fans shouldn't look too deep into these things. Technically speaking, Golden Frieza isn't even officially confirmed outside of scans showing Goku and Vegeta battling with Frieza's Army. The exact details of how Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 decide to handle the story of Golden Frieza will probably remain a mystery until the DLC itself releases, so until then fans should do everything they can to prepare for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2. This includes making sure at least Goku and Vegeta are max level and certain community boards are well rounded out.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.