@HeartOfDarkness:
I can't say I'm interested in writing paragraphs about "should be" or "if this so therefore that".
The final conflict of the entire series, and the earth-shattering revelation will not be "WG people are dicks". History was brought in. Concept of interpretation was brought in. Your interpretation of the plot still seems to be stuck at pre-Sabondy.
Luffy will not be doing the same thing as he has done in the story up until that point. The revelation has to be…...well a revelation. And it can't be a revelation when the main protag have already seen the corruption of the WG and have fought against them.
And then there is the fact that Ancient Kingdom itself wasn't entirely good by itself as consistently and constantly empathized power of the Ancient weapons. The whole void century conflict isn't going to come down to "AK good, WG bad". And this was plainly illustrated when Ray talks about seeing the world and coming to a different conclusion. Interpretation.
Now keeping with the series inheritance of will concept, it will come down to two characters from the same clan. Who, upon the revelation, will act on the Will according to their own beliefs and moral character. Thus Luffy representing the good side of AK and BB representing the bad side.
The final conflict between Luffy and BB is far more relevant and satisfying than whateve Imu is supposed to represent (who isn't even the first one to do so mind you).
And then there is the fact that a pirate series will have the final duel between pirates.
WG are important but BB is being build up as far more important as he ties into the D-clan plot-thread, AK-plot-thread, and One Piece-plot-thread.
Your interpretation of Sabaody is stuck pre-967. I never understood Sabaody to imply a moral ambiguity to the truth, but to the actions taken by the Roger Pirates. The prior 'too hasty' translation, implied to me rash action. We now know that not to be the case and 'too hasty' to have been an imprecise translation.
The Roger Pirates were 'too early', not 'too hasty.' We now know they chose not to act on the things they learned.
Rayleigh tells the Straw Hats that when they learn the truth, if they make it to Laugh Tale, they will have to decide whether the decision the Roger Pirates made was right or wrong for themselves. The decision they made was not to act. They decided to do nothing. Roger decided that it was too early - that the pieces were not in place. His decision was to disband his crew, turn himself in, and turn his small flame of life into a roaring fire. His response to the truth he learned, knowing that he was 'too early' to act on the truth, was to create the era of piracy. He chose not to reveal the truth, but to inspire others to seek it out for themselves. Was this the right or wrong choice? This implies not an ambiguity as to whether or not action based on the truth learned from Laugh Tale is justified, but whether the Roger Pirates were justified in not revealing the truth and delaying direct action. It asks whether the Roger Pirates should have done more or whether Roger's dying words to inspire a successor, entrusting fate to guide their arrival at the appointed time was the correct choice.
I have never expressed a belief that the Ancient Kingdom were good or that the truth revealed by the Real Poneglyph is merely that the 'world government are dicks who wiped out an ancient kingdom.' I have said, for a decade now, that Luffy wouldn't care about something so far in the past if it did not carry with it serious implications for the present and future. The scholars of Ohara were able to discover the name of the ancient kingdom and the fact that it was wiped out by the alliance of 20 Kings who would go on to form the World Government without the knowledge revealed on Laugh Tale. That is not the 'whole truth of the world,', only a small part of the truth. This part of the story has already been divulged to readers and was discovered by the scholars of Ohara.
We know the Ancient Kingdom created or possessed the Ancient weapons and deified them, naming them after gods. The construction / manipulation of world destroying power does not imply nobility. The 20 Kings united to defeat the ancient Kingdom and afterward ascend to Marijoa. At this time, one of the 20, the Nefertari monarch of the age, chose to remain in the world 'below' and not to live as gods over the world. This has some very interesting implications. Firstly, it implies that it was not morally unjust or at least was not perceived to be morally unjust for the 20 Kings to oppose the ancient civilization. We, as readers, are meant to understand that the Nefertari Monarch was likely morally inclined based on our familiarity with Vivi and Cobra. As such, it stands to reason that they were acting in good conscience when they united with the other kings to stand against the Ancient Civilization. It implies that whatever happened afterward upended their belief in the alliance. It also begs the question, to what source of power did these 20 Kings turn to destroy the ancient civilization if the three weapons are so insurmountable in scale and destructive capacity.
I also do not believe the D's to be descendants of the ancient kingdom because national allegiance has not been used to signify moral character in One Piece. There is no reason to believe a group of people whose only bond was nation of origin would demonstrate the same inheritable strength of will to be passed down through generations.
Further, the idea that the ancient kingdom were good guys wiped out by the evil 20 Kings is simplistic and not at all in line with the manner in which Oda writes conflict. I believe both sides were just people. Given the information we presently have available, it's my belief that the Ancient Kingdom were a group of technologically advanced people who created /possessed something three great powers they called weapons and named after gods. Other nations feared this power and united in opposition under the banner of 20 Kings. Oda writes manipulative villains who exploit conflict toward their own end. Often the warring factions are both morally complex. Sir Crocodile manipulated the conflict between Alabasta royal guard and rebel factions in pursuit of his own goal, Pluton. Eneru manipulated the war between the Shadnorans and Skypieans in order to build Maxim and set off for Endless Varse. Teach manipulated the battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines to steal Whitebeard's devil fruit, recruit Impel Down Prisoners, and declare himself one of the Four Emperors. We've seen this pattern time and again - and I think it stands to reason the true history represents a similar manipulation. I believe there was a growing conflict between these two groups which was manipulated, that the twenty kings turned to someone / something they didn't understand to gain the power to triumph over the ancient kingdom, but it came at a terrible cost. The Nefertari Monarch, recognizing this, chose not to ascend to Marijoa, while the other nineteen families chose to live as gods over the world, granted power. I believe the magnitude of this conflict is not yet fully understood - that it pertains to the absence of the celestial objects seen orbiting the earth in Clover's lab, the curse placed on Zunesha, etc. I also think that the truth cannot be spoken into the world without incurring some type of effect. "Hold the truth in your heart. Keep your mouth silent. We are the ones who weave history." - This is the message from the Poneglyph on Skypiea. The Five Elders allow Clover to speak and explain his theory right until the moment he is about to speak the name of the ancient kingdom, at which point they order his immediate execution. When Oden begins to speak of the promised day aloud, Toki covers his mouth.
My belief in regard to the D's is that they were simply a group of friends, like the Straw Hats or Roger Pirates who sailed the seas, united only by friendship and shared ideals - that they visited places around the world and made many friends. Joy Boy is either the name of the group or the leader of the group. They tried to stop the conflict, but failed. I believe the Kozuki originator of the Poneglyphs was part of this group and thus a D. in all but name. Recognizing that their time has come to an end, they devise a means to preserve the message for the future, believing someone will one day rise up to shoulder the burden of history and right this ancient wrong. They were labeled devils by the new gods of the world. The sun was setting on their era, but the moon would rise to light the way in the night as adventurers in pursuit of impossible dreams set out to sea, guided by fate, expressing the immutable hunger for freedom held deep in the heart of man, until one day, someone is able to court the favor of those same friends entrusted with protecting the written truth (poneglyphs) and those capable of deciphering them, the Kozuki Clan, capable of surviving the rigors of a journey across the Grand Line to reach the impossible island Laugh Tale.
It's in the lyrics to Bink's Sake, a song sung by Toki, born in the void century, to young Momo and Hiyori aboard Roger's ship in 967.
Read the lyrics to Binks' Sake:
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meetagain!
But don't look so down, For tomorrow nightthe moon will also rise!
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
Let's all sing it with a Don! A song ofthe waves
Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'lljust be bones
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funnyTraveling tale!
Now compare these words to the scene where Roger's crew discovers One Piece and Roger remarks upon Joy Boy's funny tale. It seems to me that even Bink's Sake is a song about Joy Boy's adventures.
So this group of friends / adventurers, failed in their efforts to prevent the rise of this dark force and the fall of night disband. "waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again," but they take the name D. which looks like a smile and a half moon and is the initial of the word 'devil', the name by which they are now called by the new false gods, "bud don't look so down, for tomorrow night the moon will also rise!"
And there, the moon, the symbol of hope in One Piece. Oda tracked the lunar calendar for the adventures all the way through Skypiea. The societies entrusted with Poneglyphs, specifically Road Poneglyphs, have all had strong association with the moon. The clans of Wano, aside from Kurozumi all have names which derive from 'moon'; Kozuki - Light Moon, Amatsuki - Heavenly moon, Shimotsuki - Frost Moon; The Minks true form is revealed by the full moon and they await the New Dawn. The Fishmen live in the dark abyss and wait for the day they can walk the 'Path toward the sun.' The people of the sky also believed in the power of the moon as the Endless Varse. We don't yet know if this is specific to Bilka, but it is my belief there is a connection between these people and Elbaf.
The alternative I see is that the Ancient Kingdom was no kingdom at all, but a group of adventurers, falsely labeled by history - that the person who constructed Pluton was an analogue to Franky who built weapons not with malicious intent, but purely for the joy of invention. I don't however, believe this to be the case because the ancient kingdom called the weapons by the name of gods. Deifying such destructive power does not imply noble intent. It isn't much different from the Celestial Dragons calling themselves gods. I just thought I'd include this alternative for the sake of discussion, but it's not something I believe to be the case given the information presently available. I think the more likely case given the type of conflicts Oda writes is that the predecessors to the D's were an independent group to this conflict that failed to prevent what happened, but succeeded in preserving the treasure and the truth for a future successor to succeed where they could not. Their friends and their descendants around the world have guarded the treasure and the path to reach it for centuries in unified belief that the right person will someday rise up.
Teach is a challenge to this belief, but does not represent a thematic antithesis.