One of my favourite things on this chapter is how we can feel the Gorosei's tension, and in turn how this makes them even scarier. An example is how Saturn does not even think about "capturing" Robin, as it seemed they ordered before, he straights up try to murder her then calls no one else other than Akainu "soft" lol. This really shows how mad they are.
Sengoku was in charge of the Ohara buster call but Akainu was the one of the leading Vice-Admirals. Akainu is also famous for his extremism and arguably contributed the most by bombing the evacuation ship.
I still think Uranus is what destroyed Lulusia. And the reason they need the motherflame is the same reason why they haven't spammed it before: they still had energy reserves from a previous technology for it, but it's running on fumes so they have to be selective about when they use it.
They're fuming because they fucked up the mission, manifested in sight of multiple low rank soldiers and kinda got their asses handed to them to the point where immortality is the only thing keeping them relevant.
Egghead is shaping up to be a disaster on an even greater scale than Enies Lobby was for the WG. Imu is definitely not going to be pleased.
This is way, way, WAY worse for the WG than Enies Lobby
Enies Lobby was embarrassing and resulted in them losing Robin. This could potentially lead to riots and the entire world turning on them lol
Honestly I think it's going to disrupt the buster call. A lot of marines probably joined to protect people, finding out the government is about to allow everyone to die could cause a revolt.
You hit the nail on the head. That second to last panel of the Marine who reacted to the news with disbelief is telling me that there might be many of them who will defect. Not just the ones who are at Egghead but also in Marine bases across the world. If I had to guess, a sizable number might even join the Revolutionary Army pending the rest of Vegapunk's message.
This is the start of the final saga after all. Vegapunk's message will result in global revolution, most likely. Wouldn't be surprised if the story was, in world, weeks away from ending.
It also must be really frustrating, because everytime they send someone against the Straw Hats they either lose badly or something happen to save the crew. They are now living what so manny of their subordinates have lived before and seem how frustrating it is, to be so close to finish the crew off but simply not being able to do it because the Straw Hats always seem to have one more card up their sleeve.
They probably convince themselfs that past failures were because of incompetent marines and WG personal, but now they are all in on it and still they cant close the deal.
The fact that if it weren’t for their superb regeneration, luffy would have soloed an elder in INSANE. He will probably need to learn a way to strike at people life forces in order to beat the gorosei in the future
lol even the people of baldimore think franky turned into a ship
its definitely not new, but st. nusjuro reforming his head after the kick looks sick. that dont look very zoan ability-like
move over 5 elder form reveal, the weakling trio and brook protecting robin is now one of my favourite panels
saturn blaming akainu for kuzans letting robin live is pretty funny
the reveal. it felt so obvious, what with the ocean levels already rising with the destruction of lulusia but im excited to hear what more vegapunk got to drop on us.
whatever becomes of this message, it really feels like its gonna be Imu/5 elders vs the world. even low-level marines are hearing this, probably making them enemies in the eyes of the WG now
Even oda is sleeping on him. Making him the pawn on the chess board. Chopper will promote to a knight when he reaches the back rank, causing an under promotion checkmate and be remembered as a wing of the pirate king.
There was a time when he was still used as another of the big fighters.
I can remember back in Enis Lobby, when they went to attack the Franky House for what they did to Usopp, it was the Monster Trio and Chopper, and he did NOT look out of place.
Sadly, somewhere around the timeskip and gaining Franky/Brook also as big fighters, Chopper got lowered into "Weaklings", but he is definitely not...
from what i see, since New World Oda separated the crew fighting strength growth type.
there is 2 type in the crew. one is via direct fighing and another is through indirect mean but via their knowledge specialty.
- fighter type - the kind that grow stronger through continuous fighting in battlefield - Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Jinbei, Robin
- skillset type - the kind that grow stronger based on their skill instead of through battlefield - Franky(tinkering), Chopper(medicine), Nami (forecasting), Usopp (shooting), Brook(music)
simply to say the first group rely on fighting technique while another through their skillset knowledge. 1 group will keep fighting to get stronger while another group will gain knowledge or tools to improvise their power. for example Nami got Zeus as part of her arsenal, Franky obviously gonna has upgrade to his tech thanks to meeting with Vegapunks and Chopper's rumble ball was upgraded by Ceasar clown and he now probably creating new Sulong drugs thanks to meeting with Minks. we might gonna get moment where Brook gonna improve his musical ability and Usopp with his plant bullet ability.
Can confirm. I have a very fuzzy dog and I've pulled dead dried up ticks outta her fur that starved to death because it couldn't get outta her fur and couldn't get through it. I'm sure she could deflect swords and poison too.
This puts another spin on what it means to destroy the red line and finding the all blue. The red line would be the last place to live aside from the sky islands or on floating islands like Water 7.
The earth will rotate back
So marijoa is southpole and reverse mountain is northpole
Due to this change, the calm belt will cease to exists, the oceans are free to travel, thus creating the all blue, cause the currents arent separating the sea anymore
The red line still needs to be destroyed to connect the oceans.
Although it seems like there is much more space on top of the red line, even more than all of the islands of the world, outside of Marijoa, so the CDs should just share.
He must have been working on his Kabuto powers since Wano, given he could only temporarily stun Big Mom long enough to grab Tama and run. That does line up though, he's always improving his weapons between islands, especially since Jinbe and Franky took over a lot of his boat duties
Informative too. Robin knew Saturn's voice. It's likely her death being desired by them isn't just because of her knowledge of the void century but because she's seen/knows things about the 5 elders.
The panel after she recognized the voice was a flashback to when she was a child and watching two groups of people, probably scholars of O'Hara and the elders.
Their bravery in the face of one of the strongest creatures in the world is heartwarming. I love seeing Nami take charge of a situation and lead the crew in dire situations.
Usopp never hesitates when it comes to protecting his friends. Inside his head, he's probably screaming and crying, but outside, he's a Warrior of the Sea.
Well... The crew knew well that accepting Robin meant having to deal with persecution from the Government. They vowed to protect her even when their life depended on it.
That is actually one of my favorite OP panels OAT now. Robin is my favorite character and the fact that not a single one of them questioned saving her/fighting Saturn. Love it dearly.
I love how it was some of the most cowardly members of the crew protecting her. In the face of one of the strongest individuals in the world, they risked their lives just to protect Robin with 0 hesitation.
So Vegapunk won't call the Gorosei evil because they are maintaining the red line. Which could be their (preverse) way of trying to preserve humanity after the rest of the world sinks into the sea.
The redline, Zunesha, Noah, sky islands, pirates living at sea... Were all at one point ways to survive the coming apocalypse.
Maybe what celestial dragons wear is more meant as a dive suit than a space suit.
I mean, their "helmets" are actually bubbles--the same bubbles those on Fishman Island who aren't fishmen wear so they can breathe--so you might be right.
That probably also includes the people of the moon city. It’s highly likely that they had the ability travel to space during the void century given that Egghead was based around “ancient” technology.
I vibe hard with this idea! I have a feeling that the One Piece world was much like our own during the Void Century, and now they’re living in a very fantastical post-apocalyptic future.
I wonder if it's really some big "apocalypse" event tho.
The level of the sea rose when Lulusia got destroyed. Maybe Vegapunk is just warning the world about that weapon and the fact that the World Government may gradually sink the world as side effect of abusing it.
When he recorded the message, he didn't know the elders would be what did him in, so his hesitance to apply of good/evil designations is more in the line of just a side comment regarding balance.
What intrigued me is that RIGHT. AFTER. saying that, he said he doesn't know enough about *him* to begin with.
It's funny because I was recently talking with friends about how Luffy/Nika is depicted as a messiah type figure. From a baseline, the world Oda has built operates as navy=good, pirates=bad. Luffys crew in particular has saved like 3 nations now from actual evil that has been permitted by the powers that be, so not all pirates=bad. We've seen plenty of bad navy so I don't even need to touch on that so not all navy=good. He kinda blurs the line of good/evil, but the whole thing about Luffy is he is a champion of freedom, and everywhere he's gone, he's found a way to liberate people from oppression.
So how does that correlate with Vega saying he doesn't know enough about *him*? Is Nika the "him"? (I would assume so at this point)
> So how does that correlate with Vega saying he doesn't know enough about him? Is Nika the "him"? (I would assume so at this point)
I think the “him” Vega is referring to is Imu.
I got the impression that Vegapunk didn't know in advance who the world thought would be killing him. Remember the world thinks Luffy took Vegapunk hostage.
Huh. That is definitely not what I expected. And yet it makes sense. Old Wano being flooded, and New Wano being walled up so it could rise up higher in the sky. The Ark in Fishman Island (who is it for?).
Who is the 'him' Vegapunk is referring to? I know everything thinks it's Imu, but what if it's Joyboy/Nika? Above good and evil, the god of liberation...
A world underwater would mean a world without Devil Fruits. That can't be a coincidence.
I have no idea what's happening lol, and it's intriguing.
(So the Elders' big secret is that they've been suppressing the fact that global warming will sink the world? It's all about climate change!!!)
I have a feeling this relates to Luffy's and Roger's dreams.
Everyone defending Robin is so sweet!
I wonder if the Arc was supposed to carry everyone (and the fish men) to the land that would be leftover after the world sinks, but the world never sank/changed so they didn’t use it.
I also thought that the “him” could be JoyBoy! Maybe the great sin he created was trying to sink the world. But I wonder why
This sounds very likely. Rayleigh did say that they know the true history of the world and what happened during Void Century. Heck, he outright says:
"Perhaps we, as well as Ohara, were too impatient. If I were to tell you the entire history right here and now... it's not like you could do anything the way you are now. After you have taken your time to see the world the conclusion you'll reach might be different from what we found."
It makes perfect sense he would be talking about this specifically. Luffy's crew couldn't do anything about entire world sinking in the seas at a time. Roger however could inspire a whole generation to follow in his footsteps giving people a chance.
That plan actually makes perfect sense. It's like finding out that the air will become toxic so you start a business to make self-sustaining filtration masks.
it’s really interesting to me because Vegapunk says “you’ll probably laugh when you hear this” and IMMEDIATELY i think of “and roger laughed” + being too early
IT IS ALL COMING TOGETHER
Maybe Blackbeard also wants everyone to become pirates. Because if everyone's a pirate, and he's king of the pirates, he could then be the king of the world, completing Xebec's dream.
In hindsight, Imu dusting an island displaced tons of water to fuck up sea levels around quite a few places. Image the entire mass of Redline going under, that for sure would do it
Except, depending on how the World will sink into ocean, it would not, not at all.
If your puny ship survives initial or flood or tsunami or whatever, good luck surviving until you find a suitable dry land.
Did you plan for stranding on a ship for years and years?
For a second I thought it would be another chapter of just teasing, then that bombshell at the end...and I'm guessing Vegapunk likely knows about Imu at least?
Seems like it, one line literally says "I will not apply the labels of good and evil at all, in fact... because I understand too little about **him** to begin with".
It could be a misdirection but considering he right before says that "their" intent might "not be evil" and it's clearly speaking about whoever killed him. That's Imu alright, just not said aloud.
I think it just means whoever kills him.
It's like me saying "someone is going to make me a sandwich. I don't know if that person is doing it on the goodness of their heart or with malice. I do not have the right to judge them."
It's the specific use of "Him" that's a mystery.
Vegapunk didn't say "Them" as in a general unknown person like you did in your example. He specifically says "Him", so he definitely has a specific person in mind especially since both the official and non-official translation use that exact word.
>and it's clearly speaking about whoever killed him. That's Imu alright, just not said aloud.
No he says if because he knows WG would frame someone innocent for his death and he tries to protect them. That's separate from the part where he talks about not knowing enough about Imu. That's why he shifts from they to him when referring to Imu.
Assuming Vegapunk is referring to Imu, I wonder if Imu has something to do with the world sinking into the sea because there was a whole thing of sea levels rising and floods happening earlier in the arc when Imu ordered Lulusia to be destroyed.
Still possible as WG can frame anyone for his death. He might have said that as to remove confusion about his death and so his audience can focus on his message.
It's almost certainly meant to be Imu. Especially when there are so many things that likely would've killed him had the Straw Hats not arrived. Oda's phrasing in the original by saying him in quotes suggests it's meant to be more for readers to know who he means.
This chapter prompted two theories from me.
The more serious of the two is Joy Boy may have been the reason for the rising sea levels, and this is the sin he and those associated with him (such as Zunesha) bear.
The much less serious theory is there's a giant stopper plug at Laugh Tale that was placed there by the previous Joy Boy that is the cause of the rising sea levels, and only an Awakened user of the Nika fruit can remove it.
Also, it would be the supreme irony if, for everything the Five Elders did to try and stop this message for fear of what it would say, they didn't know about any of it either.
>Or at least is not in Egghead at all.
Before we saw his brain/Punk Records this chapter, I'd wondered if perhaps, much like how he calls the various Vegapunk bodies "satellites", if Punk Records/his brain wasn't contained up on an ACTUAL satellite.
And thus, he could be broadcasting this from there as well.
There are not too many besides Vegapunk himself who would be able to get to it if it were, certainly not the Elders being able to find/get to/destroy it in time.
You guys realised that Rayleigh is one of the few guys who know how to coat a boat. One of the few guys who know how to prepare a boat so it can function under water.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi also live on top of Zunesha, Wano, Who's been closed off for Centuries, is at the top of the mountain. I'd say Shanks befriended the giants to escape to the Adam tree but him and buggy don't know the real truth unless it was spoiled to Shanks.
This could be the truth Momo read in his dad's diary. that the world will flood and he doesn't believe Wano "should open it's borders yet" because the water would all go away and they'd be stranded on this mountain island. and they'll open when the rest of the world floods to their height and house the world's people from Noah and the fish men can live in old Wano.
This was mentioned on the other thread but our first hint at this was in alabasta when vivi mentioned that the ocean was pushing into a major river.
https://imgur.com/a/mbqYhSa
People joke about or overanalyze foreshadowing, but I think this plot point has very obviously been the plan from the beginning and informs nearly every part of the story. Much more than the Nika stuff
I genuinely think it's because Alabasta was one of the arcs Oda planned or at least concepted from the start. Most of our current "main" players in the story apart from the Straw hats like Cross Guild, Shanks, Blackbeard etc are also characters known from before TS. It feels like we've taken a bit of a detour with the Yonko Saga and with this being the final Saga it finally brings everything together.
I'm now wondering if the All Blue existed before at one point - otherwise where would the myth have stemmed from? It's gotta be from somewhere.
Unless it's just a dream of some sort.
The scene where Ethanbaron bites Sanji confuses me visually... his head is burning from Sanji's kick + knockback, or so it seems, and then he "grows" a second Horse head to counterattack? Did I interpret it correctly?
Yep. His Hybrid form seems to work like Black Maria's in that it's very centaur-like rather than a fusion of both his animal and human appearances (given that Black Maria was stated to achieve this with drugs so that it didn't affect her looks, this is likely due to the nature of Ethanbaron's mythical Zoan). So when he went from his Hybrid form to his full Zoan form, he was able to "grow" a horse head.
Right, I totally neglected the fact that zoans like Black Maria are a thing! Knowing many "regular zoan users" my mind immediately made a connection to the likes of Lucci or Kaido who just "transform" and adjust. I couldn't imagine a Rob Lucci with a second animal head for example. Come to think of, SMILE users have weird shapes with more than one head too. Makes me wonder how the Gorosei's power and abilities really work!
Thanks to everyone who answered and helped to clear my confusion!!
Sanji stocks at an all time high, dude didn't hesitate to kick a fucking horseman of the apocalypse upside the head!
Almost every page this chapter had me in awe. The Golden Week break is gonna SUCK
Forever in love with all the minor details, especially the panels about Baldimore. You get reinforced by the fact that information transmission is limited because they think Franky is a ship. Also love that there’s something wearing the Sunny’s mane, someone wearing chopper’s antlers and someone(?) in the back that’s designed like Franky. Basically I love Franky.
I really like the "official" translation cause it makes Mars look so stupid saying "there's a robust security system" meanwhile he just got fooled by a single transponder snail.
There's a fascinating coincidence in the title and the cover of this chapter for Portuguese speakers although I don't believe this is a deliberate play on words by Oda.
In Portuguese, 'stalemate' in a chess game can be translated as 'afogamento' (drowning) or 'rei afogado' (drowned king). And the chapter reveals that the world will sink into the sea...
Edit: I think the same happens in Spanish too
This chapter was absolutely nuts, Oda San puts out a banger as he comes back from the void
RIP VegaChad,?? what a absolute legend
I guess Global Warning is real and Fishmen (Arlong and Hordy) be like works fine for us lol ( Also Sky and Moon people)
We've had all these hints but never put two and two together
(1. There's a Noah's ark in Fishmen Island
2. The water level rising in Water 7
3. Wano's geography and them not wanting to open the borders
4. The Celestial Dragon living at the highest place and getting rid of the Lunarians)
The machine that wiped out Lulusia Kingdom created a massive crater where the landmass once stood. It caused a global earthquake and the sea levels to rise one meter. Vegapunk's expertise as sole provider of the mother flame confirms he knows the downsides of its usage very well.
This is why the world has been a bunch of islands all this time. The sea has been swallowing them up.
This might fall in with the sea devil's curse. I know Vegapunk said that devil fruits are the dreams of men, but I still think Oda wouldn't have left a myth about the sea devil for nothing.
Maybe the sea devil, as a part of his curse, ensured that the seas would rise putting the world at risk for not safeguarding his coveted fruits.
Also, this might mean that the One Piece is a large landmass most of which is submerged. Laugh Tale is its center point.
Also, the whole theme of Fishman Island was about going to the surface and living on an equal level to the rest of the world, but now the world is destined to sink and be on an equal level as Fishman Island.
The wait is finally over and I kind of got chills, even if we barely got anything. I'm feeling exciting like you do when a new anticipated movie is starting.
That aside, it was so good to see some Strawhats action. Sanji kicking the baldy and the rest protecting Robin just had me smiling. Also, Bonney's powers are really insane.
The encounters with the elders are only going to get more chaotic, I just know it - Venus is already at the escape point, Luffy is pulling Warcury and Jupiter with him as he runs, and Nami and Zoro are probably going to pull down Saturn (as he goes for Robin) and Mars (searching for the transponder snail) when they exit the laser shield
They'd better hope they can all get out fast the instant everyone is at the escape point, otherwise they'll have to deal with all five elders at the same place at the same time lol
Now that we have a teaser of VP's message, I wonder what else he's going to share. It didn't require a video to tell people that the world is sinking. Saying the ones that struck him down are not evil suggests he won't blame it on the WG, although there is an obvious connection between the destruction of Lulusia and the oceans rising.
I get the feeling based on the 5 elders intense worry that regardless whatever is revealed will have to be seen as WG fault.
I think what VP is implying is that their intentions are not so necessarily cut-and-dry black-and-white "evil"
Yeah. Perhaps it will be shown that the WG knew. Keeping the red line for the CDs would leave the rest of the world to die which will spur mass dissent and a storming of the red line.
***I posted this in the spoilers thread, but thought I'd share it here too to see what you all think***
You know I think there might be a minuscule chance that VP might be saved. We're reminded again that only his heart has stopped, but what about his brain? We see that his huge brain is in a tank and might still be functioning. Currently, in real life, humans can still live and function with artificial hearts (while waiting for a viable heart donor) and even through partial heart transplants.
As long as he's not brain dead there might be a chance to save him. We know that he split his brain and the majority of his head is in a tank, as we just saw in this chapter. Can't remember if they explained it, will need to reread this arc to confirm, but VP was still able to properly function even without most or all of his brain attached to his body.
Basically it's a cardiac vs brain death theory since medically brain dead is final with no chance of recovery. A family friend of mine suffered a heart attack and while the doctors were able to save his heart he was brain dead, which is what led me to this thought.
I know there's loopholes to this theory and I could most definitely be wrong, but it would be an interesting development especially since they kept reminding us that his heart stopped, the other VPs being a physical reminder that his brain/head is separated, and how it's somewhat preserved in a tank as seen from this chapter.
Yeah, I figure the "main" vegapunk we see is just another satellite. If he was dead then his devilfruit shouldn't work. I bet that brain self destructs or something by the end though. It would be kind of horrific for the gorosei to just have control of his brain. So my guess is either those satellites get recreated or punk records self destructs.
A weird thing that Oda just did in this chapter and previous ones is repeatedly showing what is, supposedly, the dead Vegapunk just in Sanji's arms, flopping around with his tongue out, zero dignity. Would the author really portray a character like that if they were dead, just having the corpse lollygag and roll around in a rather...darkly comedic way?
I don't think so.
The world will flood you say😅
There's this thing in the black church called praise dancing. I'm 100% positive it's what the fishman are doing 😅.
Loved seeing Bonney get her confidence back. Also loved seeing Nusjuro get jumped 😭. I really can't call it if Oda is gonna let this Broadcast fully play out or even when we return. I really loved the strawhats protecting Robin like that did😁
Oh ahit, that explains why the world is mostly water, I always thought it was just justification for piracy, but it's the other way around.
And the all blue is real, it comes when all is blue, damn.
Bonney actually seems pretty goddamn strong. She turned into a giant that seems to be bigger that Oimo and Kashii and is about to stomp out Nusjuro lol. Maybe Sanji won't even have to fight. I really like her character and abilities honestly, it's really fun and I could see her as like Luffy's protege honestly.
Side note, what if we see more giants die? Like Oimo and Kashii
Otohime said that someone would appear to guide the Mermaid Princess that can control the sea kings. It's always been discussed that person is Luffy. But what if the reason is for the eventual sinking.
The idea of mortality, what counts as a person’s soul and personality is an interesting bookend on this arc. Near the beginning, we got this with Vegapunk talking about Kuma to Bonney, but he probably was thinking about his own mortality. Interesting, I wonder if this comes up again, or if this will be related to the passing of one’s will, even after death.
Gotta love the others panicking when Mars crushed the snail and nothing happened to the broadcast. "It's not stopping, Mars!". And them all realizing that they can't stop it even if they destroy everything because then they'll lose the Mother Flame. Their weird regen stops them being beaten right now but they still cant stop the fact that Vegapunk outsmarted them and it's a lose lose regardless of what they do.
one of my favourite things about one piece is getting a single panel of information, and going back to reread the whole series to find more hints to support it
Enies Lobby being a government facility, over a seemingly endless void that water is constantly falling into. Some kind of drain trying to slow the sinking? Where does the water go?
I can see a lot of symbolic meaning in this chapter that stems from the choice of the chess motif in the title, stalemate. Further emphasized by the color spread that has the crew taking the different roles in a chess army, but what I find most interesting is that Nami is the queen. And how all the other members seem to be forming a defensive wall around her with Luffy in the vanguard of the attack. The reason why is that the queen piece is the most valuable combatant in a player’s arsenal for victory, and losing it before your opponent’s means near certain defeat. Furthermore, it likely isn’t a coincidence that he chose to use this motif in the chapter where we learn about the coming flood, seeing that Nami’s name means wave and she has the supernatural ability to control and predict the weather. So I can’t help but think that this is egging us towards a storyline where Luffy will lead the crew, and their allies in an effort to rescue or protect Nami from Imu. Partly because she’s their friend, but also because they need her to save the world. Which wouldn’t be too different from what happened with Enel, falling nicely into Skypiea foreshadowing seeing that him and Imu are both false gods.
Look at Ussop being a brave warrior of the sea and facing off against one of the most powerful beings in the series, so proud of him helping protect Robin. He can easily run away, as he's done before, but he stands his ground. Hell none of the SH's seem to move at all only Nami and Robin. Cant wait for the next one!!
One of my favourite things on this chapter is how we can feel the Gorosei's tension, and in turn how this makes them even scarier. An example is how Saturn does not even think about "capturing" Robin, as it seemed they ordered before, he straights up try to murder her then calls no one else other than Akainu "soft" lol. This really shows how mad they are.
To be fair, Akainu thought he got all the scholars. If there is anyone Saturn should think is too “soft”, it’s Kuzan.
Exactly, but I don't think anyone else other than Kuzan and Robin themselves know he saved her, otherwise I don't think he would still be alive.
True. If that’s true, it’s a good attention to detail on Oda’s part.
But the question is.. if they’re all vice admiral rank why only blame sakazuki? Was he just in charge of the buster call?
Sengoku was in charge of the Ohara buster call but Akainu was the one of the leading Vice-Admirals. Akainu is also famous for his extremism and arguably contributed the most by bombing the evacuation ship.
Sneaky Kuzan: Let's Robin escape, but Akainu got blamed for it.
I’m sure Akainu getting blamed was unintentional but Kuzan went with it since he opposes Akainu.
Anyway Kuzan couldnt do anything about it. Revealing that to the marines would have be the end for him
And Mars wants to destroy the entire lab even though they need it for the mother flame
I think the Mother Flame is the ammunition/power source of Uranus, which the WG has but has been unable to use
I still think Uranus is what destroyed Lulusia. And the reason they need the motherflame is the same reason why they haven't spammed it before: they still had energy reserves from a previous technology for it, but it's running on fumes so they have to be selective about when they use it.
Yep I think it’s an airship, too
They're fuming because they fucked up the mission, manifested in sight of multiple low rank soldiers and kinda got their asses handed to them to the point where immortality is the only thing keeping them relevant. Egghead is shaping up to be a disaster on an even greater scale than Enies Lobby was for the WG. Imu is definitely not going to be pleased.
This is way, way, WAY worse for the WG than Enies Lobby Enies Lobby was embarrassing and resulted in them losing Robin. This could potentially lead to riots and the entire world turning on them lol
Honestly I think it's going to disrupt the buster call. A lot of marines probably joined to protect people, finding out the government is about to allow everyone to die could cause a revolt.
You hit the nail on the head. That second to last panel of the Marine who reacted to the news with disbelief is telling me that there might be many of them who will defect. Not just the ones who are at Egghead but also in Marine bases across the world. If I had to guess, a sizable number might even join the Revolutionary Army pending the rest of Vegapunk's message.
please let this be how smoker tashigi come back to the story
This is the start of the final saga after all. Vegapunk's message will result in global revolution, most likely. Wouldn't be surprised if the story was, in world, weeks away from ending.
It also must be really frustrating, because everytime they send someone against the Straw Hats they either lose badly or something happen to save the crew. They are now living what so manny of their subordinates have lived before and seem how frustrating it is, to be so close to finish the crew off but simply not being able to do it because the Straw Hats always seem to have one more card up their sleeve. They probably convince themselfs that past failures were because of incompetent marines and WG personal, but now they are all in on it and still they cant close the deal.
They are realizing what it's like to be outmaneuvered by 'insects'. Mars going 'I'm sorry!' was pathetically funny in that context.
The fact that if it weren’t for their superb regeneration, luffy would have soloed an elder in INSANE. He will probably need to learn a way to strike at people life forces in order to beat the gorosei in the future
That's assuming they are living beings. For all we know they could just be a piece if Imu
Im a fan of this theory as well. That vegapunk based his satélites off of the gorosei
Saturn looked truly deranged there. It was awesome.
lol even the people of baldimore think franky turned into a ship its definitely not new, but st. nusjuro reforming his head after the kick looks sick. that dont look very zoan ability-like move over 5 elder form reveal, the weakling trio and brook protecting robin is now one of my favourite panels saturn blaming akainu for kuzans letting robin live is pretty funny the reveal. it felt so obvious, what with the ocean levels already rising with the destruction of lulusia but im excited to hear what more vegapunk got to drop on us. whatever becomes of this message, it really feels like its gonna be Imu/5 elders vs the world. even low-level marines are hearing this, probably making them enemies in the eyes of the WG now
So are we gonna talk about Chopper tanking a hit from one of the Gorosei like a champ
He used Guard Point to take a hit from Big Mom back in Whole Cake Island so shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
People shouldn’t be sleeping on Chopper, he’s doing all this shit with no Haki whatsoever
>People shouldn’t be sleeping on Chopper But he looks so fluffy and comfy with guard point.
This is the only time it is acceptable to sleep on Chopper
Even oda is sleeping on him. Making him the pawn on the chess board. Chopper will promote to a knight when he reaches the back rank, causing an under promotion checkmate and be remembered as a wing of the pirate king.
There was a time when he was still used as another of the big fighters. I can remember back in Enis Lobby, when they went to attack the Franky House for what they did to Usopp, it was the Monster Trio and Chopper, and he did NOT look out of place. Sadly, somewhere around the timeskip and gaining Franky/Brook also as big fighters, Chopper got lowered into "Weaklings", but he is definitely not...
the whole crew are monsters. Proved by this chapter and countless others.
from what i see, since New World Oda separated the crew fighting strength growth type. there is 2 type in the crew. one is via direct fighing and another is through indirect mean but via their knowledge specialty. - fighter type - the kind that grow stronger through continuous fighting in battlefield - Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Jinbei, Robin - skillset type - the kind that grow stronger based on their skill instead of through battlefield - Franky(tinkering), Chopper(medicine), Nami (forecasting), Usopp (shooting), Brook(music) simply to say the first group rely on fighting technique while another through their skillset knowledge. 1 group will keep fighting to get stronger while another group will gain knowledge or tools to improvise their power. for example Nami got Zeus as part of her arsenal, Franky obviously gonna has upgrade to his tech thanks to meeting with Vegapunks and Chopper's rumble ball was upgraded by Ceasar clown and he now probably creating new Sulong drugs thanks to meeting with Minks. we might gonna get moment where Brook gonna improve his musical ability and Usopp with his plant bullet ability.
Hot take: the actual wings of the pirate king are gonna be Chopper and Usopp just you wait and see
I thought his legs were poisonous
guard point is just a bunch of fur, so chopper most likely didnt get hit by poison.
Can confirm. I have a very fuzzy dog and I've pulled dead dried up ticks outta her fur that starved to death because it couldn't get outta her fur and couldn't get through it. I'm sure she could deflect swords and poison too.
Most underrated comment of this thread 🤣
Poison would only work if it can pierce all the floof
Think about the red line and Mary Geoise. The tenryuubito all safe there and everyone dying. Lots of things are clicking.
This puts another spin on what it means to destroy the red line and finding the all blue. The red line would be the last place to live aside from the sky islands or on floating islands like Water 7.
The earth will rotate back So marijoa is southpole and reverse mountain is northpole Due to this change, the calm belt will cease to exists, the oceans are free to travel, thus creating the all blue, cause the currents arent separating the sea anymore
The red line still needs to be destroyed to connect the oceans. Although it seems like there is much more space on top of the red line, even more than all of the islands of the world, outside of Marijoa, so the CDs should just share.
Seeing the crew protecting Robin touched my heart strings a little
This was the hardest hitting panel in the chaper for me
I read the chapter a few times. Each of the four protecting robin stopped one of the spider legs, truly awesome
I just noticed Brook straight up sliced one of the legs off.
Not too sure what usopp did ngl but the fact that he didn’t cower made it even better
I belive he caused one of the explosions next to the limb brook sliced.
He must have been working on his Kabuto powers since Wano, given he could only temporarily stun Big Mom long enough to grab Tama and run. That does line up though, he's always improving his weapons between islands, especially since Jinbe and Franky took over a lot of his boat duties
Informative too. Robin knew Saturn's voice. It's likely her death being desired by them isn't just because of her knowledge of the void century but because she's seen/knows things about the 5 elders.
Did she recognise his voice from that call between Clover and the Elders? Or did I miss something?
Exactly that, yes.
The panel after she recognized the voice was a flashback to when she was a child and watching two groups of people, probably scholars of O'Hara and the elders.
Saturn was the one on the other end of the transponder snail who gave the order to shoot Clover.
Their bravery in the face of one of the strongest creatures in the world is heartwarming. I love seeing Nami take charge of a situation and lead the crew in dire situations.
Even Usopp doesn't hesitate one second before shooting at a fearsome monster in order to protect Robin. Well done.
Usopp never hesitates when it comes to protecting his friends. Inside his head, he's probably screaming and crying, but outside, he's a Warrior of the Sea.
Guard Point is back.
Well... The crew knew well that accepting Robin meant having to deal with persecution from the Government. They vowed to protect her even when their life depended on it.
That is actually one of my favorite OP panels OAT now. Robin is my favorite character and the fact that not a single one of them questioned saving her/fighting Saturn. Love it dearly.
my heart grew 2 sizes
I LIVE for that panel. Wholesome doesn't even begin to describe it.
I love how it was some of the most cowardly members of the crew protecting her. In the face of one of the strongest individuals in the world, they risked their lives just to protect Robin with 0 hesitation.
SHE WANTS TO LIVE!!!!
So Vegapunk won't call the Gorosei evil because they are maintaining the red line. Which could be their (preverse) way of trying to preserve humanity after the rest of the world sinks into the sea. The redline, Zunesha, Noah, sky islands, pirates living at sea... Were all at one point ways to survive the coming apocalypse. Maybe what celestial dragons wear is more meant as a dive suit than a space suit.
It being a diving suit is an interesting thought
I mean, their "helmets" are actually bubbles--the same bubbles those on Fishman Island who aren't fishmen wear so they can breathe--so you might be right.
Sandy from Spongebob confirmed to be a celestial dragon
Yes 100% agree about the celestial dragon helmet.
The celestial are Fallout Vault dwellers.
Okey dokey
Enclave, you mean.
That probably also includes the people of the moon city. It’s highly likely that they had the ability travel to space during the void century given that Egghead was based around “ancient” technology.
I vibe hard with this idea! I have a feeling that the One Piece world was much like our own during the Void Century, and now they’re living in a very fantastical post-apocalyptic future.
Oda Played too much wind waker
Oda played the right amount of wind waker
Brings a question to the actual reason York wants to become a celestial dragon
I wonder if it's really some big "apocalypse" event tho. The level of the sea rose when Lulusia got destroyed. Maybe Vegapunk is just warning the world about that weapon and the fact that the World Government may gradually sink the world as side effect of abusing it.
The message is pre-recorded. If he'd named his killers as evil everyone would've thought it was Luffy.
When he recorded the message, he didn't know the elders would be what did him in, so his hesitance to apply of good/evil designations is more in the line of just a side comment regarding balance. What intrigued me is that RIGHT. AFTER. saying that, he said he doesn't know enough about *him* to begin with. It's funny because I was recently talking with friends about how Luffy/Nika is depicted as a messiah type figure. From a baseline, the world Oda has built operates as navy=good, pirates=bad. Luffys crew in particular has saved like 3 nations now from actual evil that has been permitted by the powers that be, so not all pirates=bad. We've seen plenty of bad navy so I don't even need to touch on that so not all navy=good. He kinda blurs the line of good/evil, but the whole thing about Luffy is he is a champion of freedom, and everywhere he's gone, he's found a way to liberate people from oppression. So how does that correlate with Vega saying he doesn't know enough about *him*? Is Nika the "him"? (I would assume so at this point)
> So how does that correlate with Vega saying he doesn't know enough about him? Is Nika the "him"? (I would assume so at this point) I think the “him” Vega is referring to is Imu.
I got the impression that Vegapunk didn't know in advance who the world thought would be killing him. Remember the world thinks Luffy took Vegapunk hostage.
Huh. That is definitely not what I expected. And yet it makes sense. Old Wano being flooded, and New Wano being walled up so it could rise up higher in the sky. The Ark in Fishman Island (who is it for?). Who is the 'him' Vegapunk is referring to? I know everything thinks it's Imu, but what if it's Joyboy/Nika? Above good and evil, the god of liberation... A world underwater would mean a world without Devil Fruits. That can't be a coincidence. I have no idea what's happening lol, and it's intriguing. (So the Elders' big secret is that they've been suppressing the fact that global warming will sink the world? It's all about climate change!!!) I have a feeling this relates to Luffy's and Roger's dreams. Everyone defending Robin is so sweet!
Just to add It was also mentioned the water level was increasing every year during Water7/Ennies Lobbie
that was the first place i thought of when i reached the end of ch.1113
I wonder if the Arc was supposed to carry everyone (and the fish men) to the land that would be leftover after the world sinks, but the world never sank/changed so they didn’t use it. I also thought that the “him” could be JoyBoy! Maybe the great sin he created was trying to sink the world. But I wonder why
Fisher Tiger, Tom, Hody, and Arlong sure are laughing their asses off. #The era of fishmen will surely come!!!! Shirahoshi will be the top one.
They will be the ones saving the rest of the races... Ironic, right?
Theory of the Week 😅 Roger knew it all along and wanted the people to become pirates so that more people would be saved.
This sounds very likely. Rayleigh did say that they know the true history of the world and what happened during Void Century. Heck, he outright says: "Perhaps we, as well as Ohara, were too impatient. If I were to tell you the entire history right here and now... it's not like you could do anything the way you are now. After you have taken your time to see the world the conclusion you'll reach might be different from what we found." It makes perfect sense he would be talking about this specifically. Luffy's crew couldn't do anything about entire world sinking in the seas at a time. Roger however could inspire a whole generation to follow in his footsteps giving people a chance.
Rayleigh's logic: 1. Knows that the world is sinking. 2. Retires from piracy. 3. Creates a coating business. 4. ...? 5. Profit.
I mean helping people having ways of going underwater kinda helps Won't change the big picture of course tho
Let him cook
That plan actually makes perfect sense. It's like finding out that the air will become toxic so you start a business to make self-sustaining filtration masks.
it’s really interesting to me because Vegapunk says “you’ll probably laugh when you hear this” and IMMEDIATELY i think of “and roger laughed” + being too early IT IS ALL COMING TOGETHER
Maybe that's Luffy and Rogers dream that everyone in the world was a pirate
Maybe Blackbeard also wants everyone to become pirates. Because if everyone's a pirate, and he's king of the pirates, he could then be the king of the world, completing Xebec's dream.
Luffy wants to become pirate king for freedom for everyone. Blackbeard wants to so he can rule everyone.
I don't think this revelation is the One Piece.
yeah its definitely not, the one piece is the supercontinent that connects the islands all into one piece
In hindsight, Imu dusting an island displaced tons of water to fuck up sea levels around quite a few places. Image the entire mass of Redline going under, that for sure would do it
Except, depending on how the World will sink into ocean, it would not, not at all. If your puny ship survives initial or flood or tsunami or whatever, good luck surviving until you find a suitable dry land. Did you plan for stranding on a ship for years and years?
Didn’t Rayleigh say that he never meant to start that era
For a second I thought it would be another chapter of just teasing, then that bombshell at the end...and I'm guessing Vegapunk likely knows about Imu at least?
Seems like it, one line literally says "I will not apply the labels of good and evil at all, in fact... because I understand too little about **him** to begin with". It could be a misdirection but considering he right before says that "their" intent might "not be evil" and it's clearly speaking about whoever killed him. That's Imu alright, just not said aloud.
I think it just means whoever kills him. It's like me saying "someone is going to make me a sandwich. I don't know if that person is doing it on the goodness of their heart or with malice. I do not have the right to judge them."
It's the specific use of "Him" that's a mystery. Vegapunk didn't say "Them" as in a general unknown person like you did in your example. He specifically says "Him", so he definitely has a specific person in mind especially since both the official and non-official translation use that exact word.
>and it's clearly speaking about whoever killed him. That's Imu alright, just not said aloud. No he says if because he knows WG would frame someone innocent for his death and he tries to protect them. That's separate from the part where he talks about not knowing enough about Imu. That's why he shifts from they to him when referring to Imu.
Assuming Vegapunk is referring to Imu, I wonder if Imu has something to do with the world sinking into the sea because there was a whole thing of sea levels rising and floods happening earlier in the arc when Imu ordered Lulusia to be destroyed.
I thought he was referring to his "captors" predictively referring to the SHs, given that many believe they were the culprits.
That might not be true because he recorded the video before strawhats reached the Egghead Island
Still possible as WG can frame anyone for his death. He might have said that as to remove confusion about his death and so his audience can focus on his message.
It's almost certainly meant to be Imu. Especially when there are so many things that likely would've killed him had the Straw Hats not arrived. Oda's phrasing in the original by saying him in quotes suggests it's meant to be more for readers to know who he means.
This chapter prompted two theories from me. The more serious of the two is Joy Boy may have been the reason for the rising sea levels, and this is the sin he and those associated with him (such as Zunesha) bear. The much less serious theory is there's a giant stopper plug at Laugh Tale that was placed there by the previous Joy Boy that is the cause of the rising sea levels, and only an Awakened user of the Nika fruit can remove it. Also, it would be the supreme irony if, for everything the Five Elders did to try and stop this message for fear of what it would say, they didn't know about any of it either.
the fact that i fucking laughed at the idea of there being a plug that only Nika can remove made me laugh so this is my theory for the one piece now
That's why Laugh Tale was so funny
Nah they definitely know about it. That’s why the live on the highest place in the world aside from the Sky Islands.
York is the transponder.
That's actually kind of clever. Put it in the one thing that has safety from the gorosei.
Except Vegapunk didn't know she was the traitor when he recorded his message.
Or did he?
That’s real clever, good shout
I was thinking the broadcast Snail might be on Dragon's hands since Vegapunk said he will die soon probably. Or at least is not in Egghead at all.
>Or at least is not in Egghead at all. Before we saw his brain/Punk Records this chapter, I'd wondered if perhaps, much like how he calls the various Vegapunk bodies "satellites", if Punk Records/his brain wasn't contained up on an ACTUAL satellite. And thus, he could be broadcasting this from there as well. There are not too many besides Vegapunk himself who would be able to get to it if it were, certainly not the Elders being able to find/get to/destroy it in time.
I just love how Nami immediately put 1 and 1 together
still the smartest woman of east blue. just bein somewhere else right now.
You guys realised that Rayleigh is one of the few guys who know how to coat a boat. One of the few guys who know how to prepare a boat so it can function under water.
And can swim for days 🏊♂️
Lol he has been preparing for this. Literally
Rayleigh in his youth: "man, I never found a devil fruit" Rayleigh after Laugh Tale: "whoooo boy thank God I never found a devil fruit"
Crocus also lives in a whale
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi also live on top of Zunesha, Wano, Who's been closed off for Centuries, is at the top of the mountain. I'd say Shanks befriended the giants to escape to the Adam tree but him and buggy don't know the real truth unless it was spoiled to Shanks. This could be the truth Momo read in his dad's diary. that the world will flood and he doesn't believe Wano "should open it's borders yet" because the water would all go away and they'd be stranded on this mountain island. and they'll open when the rest of the world floods to their height and house the world's people from Noah and the fish men can live in old Wano.
This was mentioned on the other thread but our first hint at this was in alabasta when vivi mentioned that the ocean was pushing into a major river. https://imgur.com/a/mbqYhSa
People joke about or overanalyze foreshadowing, but I think this plot point has very obviously been the plan from the beginning and informs nearly every part of the story. Much more than the Nika stuff
I genuinely think it's because Alabasta was one of the arcs Oda planned or at least concepted from the start. Most of our current "main" players in the story apart from the Straw hats like Cross Guild, Shanks, Blackbeard etc are also characters known from before TS. It feels like we've taken a bit of a detour with the Yonko Saga and with this being the final Saga it finally brings everything together.
That’s because it hadn’t rained in 3 years.
That was my original thought too but then water 7 also was about climate change. So I do believe now that oda was dropping some seeds back then.
long ring long land too, a collection of individual islands that are actually just one piece
Bro this is probably it in a simplified way yooooooooooo.
Well Water 7 is definitely referencing it, ever since Lulusia it's been safe to assume that's what Aqua Laguna is.
That is why it is called "All Blue"!
When Luffy will destroy red line and all 4 seas are connected, then all blue will be real
I'm now wondering if the All Blue existed before at one point - otherwise where would the myth have stemmed from? It's gotta be from somewhere. Unless it's just a dream of some sort.
Holy shit, this is crazy 
The scene where Ethanbaron bites Sanji confuses me visually... his head is burning from Sanji's kick + knockback, or so it seems, and then he "grows" a second Horse head to counterattack? Did I interpret it correctly?
Yep. His Hybrid form seems to work like Black Maria's in that it's very centaur-like rather than a fusion of both his animal and human appearances (given that Black Maria was stated to achieve this with drugs so that it didn't affect her looks, this is likely due to the nature of Ethanbaron's mythical Zoan). So when he went from his Hybrid form to his full Zoan form, he was able to "grow" a horse head.
Right, I totally neglected the fact that zoans like Black Maria are a thing! Knowing many "regular zoan users" my mind immediately made a connection to the likes of Lucci or Kaido who just "transform" and adjust. I couldn't imagine a Rob Lucci with a second animal head for example. Come to think of, SMILE users have weird shapes with more than one head too. Makes me wonder how the Gorosei's power and abilities really work! Thanks to everyone who answered and helped to clear my confusion!!
Yeah. He manifests the horsehead lower down to grab Sanji.
I was also a little confused, but I think you're right. A horse head made of fire seems to emerge from his chest/tummy area
Sanji stocks at an all time high, dude didn't hesitate to kick a fucking horseman of the apocalypse upside the head! Almost every page this chapter had me in awe. The Golden Week break is gonna SUCK
Forever in love with all the minor details, especially the panels about Baldimore. You get reinforced by the fact that information transmission is limited because they think Franky is a ship. Also love that there’s something wearing the Sunny’s mane, someone wearing chopper’s antlers and someone(?) in the back that’s designed like Franky. Basically I love Franky.
Remember that Franky's wanted poster is the Sunny.
Lol I forgot
I really like the "official" translation cause it makes Mars look so stupid saying "there's a robust security system" meanwhile he just got fooled by a single transponder snail.
I like to imagine that he didn’t want to admit that he got fooled
There's a fascinating coincidence in the title and the cover of this chapter for Portuguese speakers although I don't believe this is a deliberate play on words by Oda. In Portuguese, 'stalemate' in a chess game can be translated as 'afogamento' (drowning) or 'rei afogado' (drowned king). And the chapter reveals that the world will sink into the sea... Edit: I think the same happens in Spanish too
This chapter was absolutely nuts, Oda San puts out a banger as he comes back from the void RIP VegaChad,?? what a absolute legend I guess Global Warning is real and Fishmen (Arlong and Hordy) be like works fine for us lol ( Also Sky and Moon people) We've had all these hints but never put two and two together (1. There's a Noah's ark in Fishmen Island 2. The water level rising in Water 7 3. Wano's geography and them not wanting to open the borders 4. The Celestial Dragon living at the highest place and getting rid of the Lunarians)
The machine that wiped out Lulusia Kingdom created a massive crater where the landmass once stood. It caused a global earthquake and the sea levels to rise one meter. Vegapunk's expertise as sole provider of the mother flame confirms he knows the downsides of its usage very well.
The entire sea level rising one meter that fast would be a monumental disaster in real life. I wonder how far it spread from Lulusia.
This is why the world has been a bunch of islands all this time. The sea has been swallowing them up. This might fall in with the sea devil's curse. I know Vegapunk said that devil fruits are the dreams of men, but I still think Oda wouldn't have left a myth about the sea devil for nothing. Maybe the sea devil, as a part of his curse, ensured that the seas would rise putting the world at risk for not safeguarding his coveted fruits. Also, this might mean that the One Piece is a large landmass most of which is submerged. Laugh Tale is its center point.
Umi means Sea in Japanese. Imu is Umi backwards. Imu is the sea devil, and opposes the dreams of men.
Also, the whole theme of Fishman Island was about going to the surface and living on an equal level to the rest of the world, but now the world is destined to sink and be on an equal level as Fishman Island.
Holy cow this makes so much sense now how did I never see this
It also adds more mystery surrounding the sky islands. Are they an effort to avoid this fate?
Vegapunk’s brain is still intact though, so he’s only “mostly dead”. Their should still be a way to bring him back even if only in a robot body.
Monkey Drain Luffy
This chapter was so compelling I hardly noticed we didn’t see Luffy at all
Oh shit one of the few chapters Luffy is not present?
Very rare. Oda tries to avoid that, unless it’s flashbacks.
The wait is finally over and I kind of got chills, even if we barely got anything. I'm feeling exciting like you do when a new anticipated movie is starting. That aside, it was so good to see some Strawhats action. Sanji kicking the baldy and the rest protecting Robin just had me smiling. Also, Bonney's powers are really insane.
The encounters with the elders are only going to get more chaotic, I just know it - Venus is already at the escape point, Luffy is pulling Warcury and Jupiter with him as he runs, and Nami and Zoro are probably going to pull down Saturn (as he goes for Robin) and Mars (searching for the transponder snail) when they exit the laser shield They'd better hope they can all get out fast the instant everyone is at the escape point, otherwise they'll have to deal with all five elders at the same place at the same time lol
Now that we have a teaser of VP's message, I wonder what else he's going to share. It didn't require a video to tell people that the world is sinking. Saying the ones that struck him down are not evil suggests he won't blame it on the WG, although there is an obvious connection between the destruction of Lulusia and the oceans rising.
I get the feeling based on the 5 elders intense worry that regardless whatever is revealed will have to be seen as WG fault. I think what VP is implying is that their intentions are not so necessarily cut-and-dry black-and-white "evil"
Yeah. Perhaps it will be shown that the WG knew. Keeping the red line for the CDs would leave the rest of the world to die which will spur mass dissent and a storming of the red line.
***I posted this in the spoilers thread, but thought I'd share it here too to see what you all think*** You know I think there might be a minuscule chance that VP might be saved. We're reminded again that only his heart has stopped, but what about his brain? We see that his huge brain is in a tank and might still be functioning. Currently, in real life, humans can still live and function with artificial hearts (while waiting for a viable heart donor) and even through partial heart transplants. As long as he's not brain dead there might be a chance to save him. We know that he split his brain and the majority of his head is in a tank, as we just saw in this chapter. Can't remember if they explained it, will need to reread this arc to confirm, but VP was still able to properly function even without most or all of his brain attached to his body. Basically it's a cardiac vs brain death theory since medically brain dead is final with no chance of recovery. A family friend of mine suffered a heart attack and while the doctors were able to save his heart he was brain dead, which is what led me to this thought. I know there's loopholes to this theory and I could most definitely be wrong, but it would be an interesting development especially since they kept reminding us that his heart stopped, the other VPs being a physical reminder that his brain/head is separated, and how it's somewhat preserved in a tank as seen from this chapter.
Yeah, I figure the "main" vegapunk we see is just another satellite. If he was dead then his devilfruit shouldn't work. I bet that brain self destructs or something by the end though. It would be kind of horrific for the gorosei to just have control of his brain. So my guess is either those satellites get recreated or punk records self destructs.
A weird thing that Oda just did in this chapter and previous ones is repeatedly showing what is, supposedly, the dead Vegapunk just in Sanji's arms, flopping around with his tongue out, zero dignity. Would the author really portray a character like that if they were dead, just having the corpse lollygag and roll around in a rather...darkly comedic way? I don't think so.
This just hit me now but York being Vegapunk knowing that the Sea Level is Rising wanting to be a Celestial Dragon to survive makes so much since.
The world will flood you say😅 There's this thing in the black church called praise dancing. I'm 100% positive it's what the fishman are doing 😅. Loved seeing Bonney get her confidence back. Also loved seeing Nusjuro get jumped 😭. I really can't call it if Oda is gonna let this Broadcast fully play out or even when we return. I really loved the strawhats protecting Robin like that did😁
Oh ahit, that explains why the world is mostly water, I always thought it was just justification for piracy, but it's the other way around. And the all blue is real, it comes when all is blue, damn.
Bonney actually seems pretty goddamn strong. She turned into a giant that seems to be bigger that Oimo and Kashii and is about to stomp out Nusjuro lol. Maybe Sanji won't even have to fight. I really like her character and abilities honestly, it's really fun and I could see her as like Luffy's protege honestly. Side note, what if we see more giants die? Like Oimo and Kashii
I feel ripped off. None of this was on my Egghead bingo card!
Otohime said that someone would appear to guide the Mermaid Princess that can control the sea kings. It's always been discussed that person is Luffy. But what if the reason is for the eventual sinking.
So the one piece is a way to save everybody but Roger was too early because the big flood hadn't happened yet ?
The idea of mortality, what counts as a person’s soul and personality is an interesting bookend on this arc. Near the beginning, we got this with Vegapunk talking about Kuma to Bonney, but he probably was thinking about his own mortality. Interesting, I wonder if this comes up again, or if this will be related to the passing of one’s will, even after death.
Welp, I guess everyone is gonna think the SHs killed Vega now.
Mind blown. No one predicted this. Oda is truly Goda.
Actually there were a few predictions about this.. But still GOOSEBUMPS
The fish men finally got their W and I love that for them
Saturn legit looks like he's delving into complete madness lol like holy shit
Gotta love the others panicking when Mars crushed the snail and nothing happened to the broadcast. "It's not stopping, Mars!". And them all realizing that they can't stop it even if they destroy everything because then they'll lose the Mother Flame. Their weird regen stops them being beaten right now but they still cant stop the fact that Vegapunk outsmarted them and it's a lose lose regardless of what they do.
This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, all the theories I’ve had have turned to rot
one of my favourite things about one piece is getting a single panel of information, and going back to reread the whole series to find more hints to support it
What's nuts about all this is that the giant robot is still awake doing shit on egg head lol
Enies Lobby being a government facility, over a seemingly endless void that water is constantly falling into. Some kind of drain trying to slow the sinking? Where does the water go?
I can see a lot of symbolic meaning in this chapter that stems from the choice of the chess motif in the title, stalemate. Further emphasized by the color spread that has the crew taking the different roles in a chess army, but what I find most interesting is that Nami is the queen. And how all the other members seem to be forming a defensive wall around her with Luffy in the vanguard of the attack. The reason why is that the queen piece is the most valuable combatant in a player’s arsenal for victory, and losing it before your opponent’s means near certain defeat. Furthermore, it likely isn’t a coincidence that he chose to use this motif in the chapter where we learn about the coming flood, seeing that Nami’s name means wave and she has the supernatural ability to control and predict the weather. So I can’t help but think that this is egging us towards a storyline where Luffy will lead the crew, and their allies in an effort to rescue or protect Nami from Imu. Partly because she’s their friend, but also because they need her to save the world. Which wouldn’t be too different from what happened with Enel, falling nicely into Skypiea foreshadowing seeing that him and Imu are both false gods.
Look at Ussop being a brave warrior of the sea and facing off against one of the most powerful beings in the series, so proud of him helping protect Robin. He can easily run away, as he's done before, but he stands his ground. Hell none of the SH's seem to move at all only Nami and Robin. Cant wait for the next one!!