Chapter's out:
Chapter 1099: Pacifist
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It was cool seeing the islands he sent the Strawhats to! Seems he really did had a purpose in doing so.
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Not the most amazing chapter, but still a lot of fun and adventure. Now the flashback just needs to make us sad one more time before it ends.
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The Bonney/Conney reveal was a cheap trick in essence, but Oda makes the best of it by turning it into a good gag. This is how he excels at his craft: by using tropes in a way that makes them feel fresh.
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Have no doubt, this chapter was mostly checking boxes we already knew. Kuma as king, tyrant and pirate, which seemed to be his prior history, were actually just fleeting moments in his long life. Again, Oda twisting early facts into being less important than they seemed, while elevating small hints in importance. That's how he keeps mysteries floating for so long and yet manages to always surprise with the solutions.
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We seem to be nearing the end of the flashback, even the timeline doesn't allow for too much anymore. The chapter does not inform it, but it happens over a period of 2 years. We start at 6 years ago, with Bekori's attack (as informed last chapter), but end 4 years ago, with Punk Hazard's destruction. That means there's only 2 more years left before the flashback catches up to Luffy's journey.
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I particularly liked seeing Kuma visiting the islands he'd later send the Straw Hats to. While it's not shown, it carries some implications about why he chose to send the crew, and especially Luffy, to their destinations.
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I also liked seeing the Revolutionaries again.
My guesses for the next chapters:
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Ch 1100: Kuma's great tragedy. I think this will be the deal with the devil, Saturn. Bonney falls under government custody, and Kuma is forced to give up himself for her sake. Because of the numbering, I guess this chapter will also bring some massive revelation, be it about the Warlords, Nika, the Void Century or the Elders.
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Ch 1101: I think the flashback ends here. We get a flash-forward montage telling us the remainder of Kuma's and Bonney's lives over the last 4 years, then we resume action in Egghead near its end.
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Ch 1102: This one will close 2023. It's all in the present and I feel it may have one of the greatest cliffhangers we've seen in quite a while.
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@Logia Yes, that all but confirms that Kuma had personal experience with all the islands he would send the crew to years later.
It's very interesting that we still don't know the reason he chose Amazon Lily for Luffy, but this chapter implies heavily he was there and left with enough good outlook to send a helpless Luffy to a place where he would supposedly end up stranded in the Calm Belt and hunted by the local population. This heavily hints a connection between Kuma and Hancock.
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@Deicide Pretty sure the reason he choose to send Luffy to Amazon Lily was because it is in the calm belt... Maybe because the Kuja are big on haki too... Imagine if Hancock was the one who taught Luffy haki... hahahahaha
Obviously also because of what he had just done in Sabaody, he knew Hancock would be fond of him.
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@danie The thing is, Amazon Lily is seen by the world as hostile nation where no man can set foot, ruled by an unreasonable Warlord who hates men. Sending any man there would be killing or stranding him for life.
For Kuma to send Luffy there, he must have had more accurate knowledge about the island, and especially about Hancock, to have a fairly reasonable guess that Luffy would escape alive from the island.
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Oda making Kuma go to the islands where he would send the SH years later could be a hint his fruit can only send people to places the user has already been to. But even if that's not the implication, it's clear Oda wants to show Kuma was at least familiar with those places.
In this chapter we went to 6 out of the 9 places we saw him sending people to. Missing only Momoiro (easy to assume he visited it in his revolutionary years, it being Iva's kingdom), Namakura and Amazon Lily. So I wouldn't be surprised if Oda manages to squeeze those last two next. -
@Deicide I mean, i'm not denying that Kuma would personally know Hancock or whatever... I just don't think that would be necessary at that point considering what Luffy had just done and needed.
I doubt he intended for things to play out the way they did... I think he intended for the Kuja in general to help Luffy learn haki... Very amusing thought if you ask me.
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@danie said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
I just don't think that would be necessary at that point considering what Luffy had just done and needed.
I do think knowledge is necessary to explain Kuma's decision. While the idea that Kuma wanted Luffy to learn haki is valid and even probable, he also would need to have a reasonably enough perspective that the natives would eventually help Luffy. Or else he's just stranded in the Calm Belt, the most hostile sea in the world, even if he manages to survive the natives.
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"You country bumpkin preacher" lmao
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@Deicide Right. Kuma would have to know about Hancock's past to think it a good idea to send him there... I guess i thought he would have caught wind of it somehow without becoming personally acquainted with her. Maybe he did, and that's why he decides to go there at some point. I don't see why Oda wouldn't show it this chapter if he went there to inquire about Bonney's disease.
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@danie The thing is how close to her chest Hancock keeps her secret. She's frightened to expose herself even to her people, to the point she made up a lie so anyone avoids looking at her back.
Outside of the very few people that know of her secret (her sisters, Gloriosa, Shakky, Rayleigh), only maybe some Celestial Dragons may be able to put 2 and 2 together if they reckognize Hancock or learn she has one of the devil fruits their former slaves ate.
And we don't know if she'd tell Kuma even if they got really friendly. I can see a scenario where she tells him if she learns of his past, but I can also see it likely that she could hide her past even then. However, if they did meet at some point, I could see Hancock saying how much she despises the Celestial Dragons, which would then give Kuma a reason to think Luffy would end up safe.
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I won't be surprised if Vegapunk harvested Kuma's stem cells and used it to cure Bonny, thus making her a living 'Buccaneer'.
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@Deicide Yeah, it's easier for me to imagine that Sengoku or Saturn let it slip to Kuma that Hancock like him was a slave... Kuma may have just gone to Amazon Lily for warlord business at some point like in Thriller Bark.
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Also, I think flashback will end in the next chapter and Kuma reaching Egghead will be the cliffhanger.
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Looks like Bonney really does having some fighting capability. Def will come in handy if she’s sailing with the Straw Hats.
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I was under the impression Sorbet Kingdom was in West Blue, because that's the sea where God Valley was.
Actually, I just found it's in South Blue. Which explains why Kuma arrived in Torino Kingdom first during his "pilgrimage", since it's also in South Blue.
On another note: I think Chapter 1100 is when we will see Saturn's words from the end of Ch 1094. "I gave you an order, Vegapunk. He must have no will left."
It's clear Bonney hated Vegapunk because she was completely unaware of what was happening. Kuma kept his pact secret so Bonney wouldn't blame herself. She believed her disease faded away at age 10, NOT by Vegapunk's doing.
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Man, what I would have given to have Oda add a thought bubble to Kuma at the last panel saying "He is such a dumbass".
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It would be cool to see next chapter a little part of the two years Kuma stayed guarding the Sunny. Really sets in stone how much the Strawhats depended on Kuma's help. He deserves a happy ending. Really wish Veagapunk can transfer his conscience to another body.
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@Chams-0 said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
It would be cool to see next chapter a little part of the two years Kuma stayed guarding the Sunny. Really sets in stone how much the Strawhats depended on Kuma's help. He deserves a happy ending. Really wish Veagapunk can transfer his conscience to another body.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it circled back to Kuma getting modified, and then walking with Doflamingo during Jaya, visiting Thriller Bark, visiting Sabaody, etc.
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@Chams-0 I think we may got something about that in 1101.
1100 is likely to focus on the emotional side of Kuma's decision, to make it heavy on the readers' shoulders. I'm not sure how Oda will portray the emotions in 1100, but I can imagine Kuma pretending that everything is right to Bonney, while we the readers know he just signed his death sentence. And then they are split as she's taken into custody, while Kuma promises they'll meet again.
Then 1101 has the flashback getting a flash-forward montage back to the present, similar to Ch 973 for Oden Flashback or Ch 398 for Robin. I imagine this would cover the slow process of transforming Kuma, Bonney's custody under the government, Bonney's escape, and new insights into old Kuma and Bonney moments we've seen before over the series.
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I would like to know why the deal changed and he had to be wiped. I get it on Saturn's part. Why just get clones when you can have the man himself be a slave.
On Kuma's part, can't him and Bonney just go on the run again? He seems so set on her having a life, so he would give up anything for her and not just continue to Nezuko her. Seems like this can be all there is, but there might be more. The dialogue from the end of 1094 obviously pops up in 1100 or 1101.
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@Cockycent
I think it will be something like this:- Kizaru arrives with marines and capture Kuma and Bonney
- Saturn talks to Kuma and Vegapunk and essentially says that the World Government won't accept their deal unless Kuma surrenders himself for experimentation
- Kuma agrees and Vegapunk is allowed to cure Bonney
- Bonney is taken under government custody to keep Kuma under control
- While Vegapunk develops the pacifistas, Kuma is given the Warlord title to mark him as a "government lapdog"
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
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By request, I'm bringing this over fro the spoiler thread:
The real world Buccaneers were free French hunters / sailors in the Caribbean. Between 1620 and 1630, theey were driven out of their homeland by the Spanish and gathered on Tortuga. They began raiding Spanish Galleons, which benefited England & France because it weakened their rival's power & wealth. Subsequently, the Buccaneers were then issued letters of marque by the English crown which sanctioned them as Privateers and joined by English, Welsh, and Dutch sailors formed a group called the Brethren of the Coast. Tortuga and Port Royal became the wealthiest ports in the Caribbean thanks in large part to the Buccaneers, by the 1680's, they began to fall out of favor with the European monarchies because they were considered too hard to control. Most spanish ports in the Caribbean had been depleted and their letters of marque were rescinded - which completed their decades long transition from hunters to ordinary pirates as the two terms became essentilly synonymous.
But there's a couple really interesting details:
The Buccaneers most prominently served the English crown - which historically used lion-based heraldry. In the OP world, World Gov ships carrying Celestial Dragons all feature lion figureheads. The Empty Throne also uses lion heads for armrests. While Imu's name suggests a partial Roman influence, Oda likes to mix and match. I wonder if perhaps the Buccaneers of the Void Century started out as nomadic hunters, but slowly transitioned into privateers / pirates in service of the Nerona crown.
There would be something particularly tragic abut Kuma, the last of his people, essentially being placed in the same position as was JoyBoy (theoretically) - a Buccaneer privateer serving Nerona Imu.100 years before the French Revolution, the Buccaneers sailed under the principle 'Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite'. Oda's drawing heavily from the French Revolution in the overarching conflict. The Buccaneers were sort of a spiritual precursor to the later revolt against the French crown in the same way that the Buccaneers of the Void Century (JoyBoy?) set the stage for both the Great Pirate Era and the revolution against the World Nobles. The Buccaneer period was the earliest phase of the Golden Age of Piracy which is the primary historical inspiration for the One Piece world as a whole.
Among the Brethren of the Coast's leaders were French Buccaneers Daniel Montbars (name inspired Montblanc Noland / Cricket), Francoi l'Ollonaise (name inspired Roronoa Zoro) and Welsh Privateer Henry Morgan. The latter is particularly interesting. While most of the Buccaneers lost their governmen sanctioned status, Henry Morgan was instead knighted by the English Crown and became lieutenant governor of Jamaica. In the early drafts of Romance Dawn, Oda referred to 'evil' self-serving pirates as Morganeers, inspired by Henry Morgan. The fact that he was allied with the Buccneers, but not one of them supports an existing theory I've had for a while that JoyBoy's downfall was ultimately caused by a betrayal / internal schism with another faction of 'evil' pirates who misused one of the Ancient Weapons (like Franky's ships against Tom), which Imu used to stoke fear and inspire 19 other kings to join his cause. This is even more fitting now that Oda's incorporating messianic imagery (the sun at the center of the cross in Kuma's church, which suggests JoyBoy was likely crucified). A 'Judas' among his inner circle, tempted with '30 pieces of silver' so to speak based on Henry Morgan in some capacity would fit with the history Oda seems to be drawing on.
My conclusion is essentially that:
-JoyBoy was a Buccaneer. His people started out as nomadic hunters, but slowly transitioned into piracy. They were sanctiond by the Nerona Dynasty. JoyBoy dreamed of sailing to the end of the sea / end of the Grand Line. He was likely a person like Roger and Luffy who cared little about things made of silver and gold and thus agreed to return whatever treasure was hidden on the final island to King Nerona Imu. Imu might be the actual devil in human form - or has completely succumbed to an awakened Devil Fruit embodying a primordial evil. The enemy of the sea, Imu can't conquer the Grand Line himself, so he needed JoyBoy to do it for him.
-JoyBoy saw the world and learned about the people's suffering. When he discovered the treasure, he refused to hand it over; Maybe because he realized Imu had wicked intentions. JoyBoy developed a vision for a world transformed, free of wicked and oppressive kings like Imu and the Donquixote and thus formed a coalition with friends and allies from throughout his voyage and thus became known as the world's first Pirate King.
-JoyBoy began assembling the tools needed to 'turn the world upside down' including the Ancient Weapons, but was ultimately betrayed by an allied Pirate, potentially even someone from within his own crew who succumbed to Imu's temptation. One of the Ancient weapons was misused - maybe the one used to destroy Lulusia & Enies Lobby. This was the catalys for the global war which resulted in JoyBoy's ultimate defeat.
-Maybe JoyBoy turned himself over for execution / crucifiction (the Romans used crucifiction and Imu is fittingly named after Nero) to ensure his final plan went off without a hitch. Lily, unbeknownst to Imu to have been a friend / part of JoyBoy's crew, used her access to scatter the Poneglyphs throughout the world. I'm thinking she had Kuma's Devil Fruit as it's the only way shipping 30 giant stone monoliths to all of JoyBoy's allies / Imu's enemies could possibly be construed as a blunder. Unless she was just supposed to guard them - and didn't, allowing them to be stolen. In any case, this part of the story seems to have also been inspired by a Pirate Legend as well; Olivier Levaseur's cryptogram, tossed from the execution scaffold, which supposedly revealed the location of his treasure.
-The rest of the buccaneers were considered guilty by association with JoyBoy. The World Government considered Gol D. Roger's family and friends to all be equally guilty for his crimes, so genocide against JoyBoy's race seems pretty much par for the course. Ironically, after the Void Century was erased, the Buccaneers and the rest of the world don't even remember the 'crime' against the world for which the World Government claims justifies their persecution.
Kuma being drawn back into Imu's service as a privateer would thus be all the more tragic.
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The interesting question we need to ask is why the machiavelian plotting is necesary in this case? Kuma already agreed to allow Vegapunk to make the Pacafista based on his likeness. How they're ultimately used is a matter between Vegapunk and Saturn.
While they're patternd on Kuma, his agreeing to be lobotimized and turned into a weapon himself seems like a separate matter. While I agree that as you said, Bonney's cure is likely to be used as leverage to coerce Kuma, turning the Pacafista into mindless killing machines is above his paygrade so to speak. The World Government could coerce Vegapunk to turn them into weapons of war entirely inepenent of Kuma's own personal wishes - and I'm not really sure what he could personally do about it even if he retained his humanity.
Essentially, the World Government already had everything they need to make the army of clone Kuma-bots as soon as he gave Vegapunk permition to use his DNA.
The only reason to draw Kuma himself into the process seems to be spite / resentment toward the Buccaneers and a desire to make Kuma suffer. At least as far as I can tell. It's not like turning Kuma into a mindless slave helps the optics of the Pacafista being used as weapons.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Jimbei, Carrot, Vivi, Smoker
"ONE PIECE, IT EXISTS" - The Great Pirate Edward Newgate
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@StrawHatJedi said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
The only reason to draw Kuma himself into the process seems to be spite / resentment toward the Buccaneers and a desire to make Kuma suffer.
I think it's exactly this, plus Saturn's desire to erase the knowledge of Nika from the world, since he heard Kuma saying Nika's name in God Valley.
Ch 908 has some insight into it: Lindbergh says Kuma was punished "to show that even the hardiest man will turn out like that if they should defy the gods".
The Celestial Dragons are just pure evil, petty evil. Saturn is no different.
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I'm glad to see Oda's break treated him well after the last chapter, because this one is not only completely finished, I'd say it's one of the cleanest looking we've seen in a while. The lines seem very sharp relative to the sketchiness that's become a trademark of the last few years. There's areas of roughness, sure, but I think most of the chapter is high quality work. I wonder if Oda came to some kind of realisation or new technique to even out the process, or if he's simply pushed himself extra hard because he feels like he needs to make up for the state of the last one.
Either way, this is a fairly transitional chapter when you get down to it, ticking off the boxes we knew needed to be ticked and filling in blank space in the timeline. No shock that Kuma traded himself for Bonney in a deal with Vegapunk, nor that his tyrant epithet was propaganda or that he stumbled onto the throne accidentally after confronting Becori. Predictable or not, these developments needed to be shown (in part because not all the casual readers are going to remember the vague statements about Kuma's past from hundreds of chapters ago that the hardcore fans had used to piece together their existing ideas of his history through implication) and we actually get through them pretty quick, hopefully to set up this flashback's next big gut punch for chapter 1100.
Bonney getting her Devil Fruit at random at this point is certainly a surprise. I wonder if there'll be an SBS answer for how it ended up in the hands of a girl who can't go outside. Or will it just be a mystery forever like Robin and her Devil Fruit.
The misdirect gag between Bonney's aging and Conny's appearance is fun, and I was almost not expecting to see an explanation for Bonney being able to impersonate her so easily at the Reverie, but it also feels a bit like evidence of a changed plan. Wouldn't shock me if there was an early outline somewhere that made Bonney an actual part of the royal family (perhaps Ginny was originally a local, some distant relation of Bulldog who was enslaved after a cruel twist of fate) and Oda decided to go another way when he reached the point of actually doing the flashback and mapping it out event by event. But it still fits together as what it is, this is just me as a writer trying to dissect things.
Could Bonney learning to base her elderly form on Conny be the origin of her distorted futures? It would explain her being able to take on Kuma's physique despite the lack of blood connection.
There are some awesome continuity callouts in Kuma's piracy montage, from the islands he scattered the Strawhats to, to Abdulla and Jeet, to the Revolutionary Army regional commanders showing up again. And of course references to the purging of Grey Terminal and the explosion at Punk Hazard around the chapter. It's also cool seeing Egghead before Vegapunk made it into Egghead. Can you believe the difference in less than seven years?
Vegapunk is frighteningly naive in his ideas about how the clone soldiers will be used by the Government, but it tracks with how we know him in the present as well. it's hard to say what Kuma's read on the old scientist is in this scene, especially the panel at the bottom right of page 16, where he looks surprised and concerned by Vegapunk's declaration of "mighty warriors from the future." I think Kuma has seen enough that he understands how the World Government would use things like that, but for Bonney's sake (who we already know matters more to him than the Revolutionaries' cause) he can't say no. So he justifies. He falls back on Dragon insisting Vegapunk's intentions are good (and hey, he was cool about the Buccaneer thing). He hopes against hope something good actually will be made from the clone soldiers. He trusts himself to deal with the fallout if it goes wrong and take the burden on his own shoulders, as he did with the ousting and return of Becori.
Unfortunately, we know it won't be that easy. Saturn is set to take away Kuma's mind and rob him of the chance to set right the abuse of his clones. That makes me think that part of Kuma's agenda when he's on Egghead and at least partly in control will be to destroy as many Pacifistas as he can, or at least the facilities that make them, to put an end to his own misuse. The Seraphim are likely to be salvaged, as the World Government's endgame weapons, but the annihilation of the regular cyborgs would be a huge blow.
I don't think we're quite close enough to the end here to wrap up the flashback for 1100, nor is it really positioned for a huge lore bomb like some are hoping for. I think the big thing next week is just going to be the tragic but inevitable betrayal of Kuma that makes him what he is. This is also potentially the end of volume 108, but I want to see where 1100 leaves us before I put any final bets in on that front.
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@Captain-M said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
Can you believe the difference in less than seven years?
Just four years, actually. Caesar blew up Punk Hazard four years ago, and that's what forced Vegapunk to relocate.
We are only two years before the start of Luffy's journey, we never got a flashback so close to the present than that, except as part of the final stretch's fast-forward montage.
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
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In the Japanese chapter, Oda used a special font when Dragon told Kuma,
“Let the winds of fate take you wherever they will.”
This font has been used in important scenes. Oda might be implying here that Dragon is a wind-wind DF user, as many fans expected.
Scottish anthropologist James Fraser said, "of all natural phenomena, it is wind that makes us feel most helpless. -
I wonder if Dragon's DF is paramecia, logia or zoan.
I don't want a mythic zoan just because it's overused at this point.
Logia would be cool, I guess. But isn't it kinda too similar to Caesar's gas fruit? Wind is just gas in movement.
Now, a Paramecia wind fruit would be cool while not feeling that special, and it became my favorite option. We need some more regular DFs in the story. Not everyone should be a mythic beast or elemental force...
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@Captain-M Yes, the chapter covers 2 years of Kuma's life, from 6 years ago (last chapter's info when Bekori returned) to 4 years ago (Punk Hazard's incident). Which means Bonney is 8 now.
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@Deicide said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
Logia would be cool, I guess. But isn't it kinda too similar to Caesar's gas fruit? Wind is just gas in movement.
I think that's the wrong way to look at it... A wind logia would just be very destructive as wind is in its extreme. A good fit for Dragon if you ask me.
Caesar's gas logia was more versatile...Not limited to simple destruction.
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@Deicide The one thing all logias have in common is that they produce their element... They can also manipulate it in addition to becoming it. Just seems better all around.
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I think Dragon is probably a wind / air logia. It's similar to Caesar, but just seems more fitting to me. I know it's widely predicted, but it's also heavily hinted.
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@Deicide said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
We are only two years before the start of Luffy's journey, we never got a flashback so close to the present than that, except as part of the final stretch's fast-forward montage.
It's actually concurrent with Ace meeting Tama and Yamato.
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In this case, I actually think the flashback could run concurrent with events we've seen. Kuma still had his memories until Sabaody. It was between scattering the Straw Hats and Marineford that the last piece of himself was extracted.
I may be wrong, but it still seemed that there was at least some degree of foreknowledge on Kuma's part which brought him to the Straw Hats on Sabaody. But maybe not. Maybe it was just fate which allowed him to be in the right place at the right time to save Luffy.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Jimbei, Carrot, Vivi, Smoker
"ONE PIECE, IT EXISTS" - The Great Pirate Edward Newgate
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@StrawHatJedi said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
In this case, I actually think the flashback could run concurrent with events we've seen. Kuma still had his memories until Sabaody. It was between scattering the Straw Hats and Marineford that the last piece of himself was extracted.
I may be wrong, but it still seemed that there was at least some degree of foreknowledge on Kuma's part which brought him to the Straw Hats on Sabaody. But maybe not. Maybe it was just fate which allowed him to be in the right place at the right time to save Luffy.
And that maybe Kuma hears about Luffy after he got his first bounty and analyzes him in such a way that he connects him with Nika. And that he saved him for that reason in addition to being Dragon's son.
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You know, I really think we're going to revisit Sabaody from Kuma's perspective; Not only did he rescue the Straw Hats, but Bonney was on the island at the same time - and I have to imagine Kuma saw her.
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Did doctor shithead really just say that he's been keeping a functional cure for it under wraps. Was it the wrong color? Jesus christ.
Also that panel of Dragon being so nonchalant about Iva getting put in jail just cracks me up. Like btw your life long friend is in hell, nice weather were having huh.
The little moments with Bonney and the grand-pa royals were cute, if maybe a little rushed. And the house he carried her around in was adorable.
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I choose to believe that it's Foxy and not someone with the same haircut.
I won't let reality get in the way of such a funny thing to imagine.
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You know who hate this flashback, Dragon.
He hasn’t looked this bad since Blackbeard told him to get out of Town.And as a Blackbeard hater who can’t stand him for having no Feats, I think that’s his greatest Feat.
No but seriously, somebody tell Dragon to do something, he can’t live off that Loguetown instruction forever.
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@Deicide said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
We are only two years before the start of Luffy's journey, we never got a flashback so close to the present than that, except as part of the final stretch's fast-forward montage.
Ace meeting Tama and Yamato was already mentioned, but we also got Carrot's brief flashback when she was trained by pedro. We didn't get an exact year but she didn't look too different from how she does in the present day where she's 15, so it likely happened at somepoint in the last two years which would make it the most recent.
And technically, Luffy's flashback ends at the day that he set off in chapter 1, so Luffy's flashback is the closest a flashback got to the present day by literally ending where the series started.
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@black-leg-jex We also got Jack's attack on Zou which had happenend just 2 weeks ago at that point.
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On the topic of Dragon doing stuff that has come and gone through the discussions lately, I read an enlightening post a little bit back that went along the lines of "it's not reasonable to expect characters to know what genre of story they're in."
We know that One Piece is an action shonen with a YA target audience that is going to reward bold action, big risks and facing million to one odds with success. We're also experiencing the world over the shoulder of the story's protagonist, who has plot armour against extreme failures and consequences except where there's a growth opportunity with a way to survive and recover (which is a normal and expected thing for a protagonist to have in almost all kinds of stories, despite how the term has been stigmatised in online discourse). We get all the cases where the impossible is done and things are forced to work out.
But if the world extends beyond the page, how many of the same gambles by pirates who aren't the main character do you think flame out, get crushed by authority, end in death and go unremembered by history? To Dragon, this isn't a story, it's just the world he lives in. He doesn't know about the roles or tropes that guarantee protection by the narrative and it would be weird for any character who isn't actively breaking the fourth wall to be able to weaponise those kinds of things.
From Dragon's perspective, things like Tiger's attack on Marie Geoise are unbelievable and unlikely, and you'd be playing some desperate odds to expect it to work twice. Playing it smart over a long time, building your army, picking your battles, acting like a general instead of a friend and taking hard personal losses on the chin while putting the larger cause first, none of these are wrong choices. Hell, put Dragon and his long term perspective pragmatism in a Game of Thrones type story and he'd be looking great right now. But we can't expect him to know that's not where he is.
It's tragic more than anything, to make all the right moves in just the wrong story. And I can see the frustration to a point, but I have a hard time reading it as a personal failing on Dragon's part.
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@black-leg-jex said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
And technically, Luffy's flashback ends at the day that he set off in chapter 1, so Luffy's flashback is the closest a flashback got to the present day by literally ending where the series started.
That was part of the flash-forward montage.
@black-leg-jex said in Chapter 1099: Pacifist:
Ace meeting Tama and Yamato was already mentioned
Ok, I didn't account for that, but those flashbacks are kinda different in length and nature to the big ones.
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@Captain-M Yeah, people forget the kinds of unbelievable coincidences that allow Luffy to triumph over impossible odds. Not everyone can count on a ship coming back to life and self-steering itself to the rescue, or expect some Pirate Empress to fall in love with them, or ate the fated Sun God Devil Fruit without knowing it.
Luffy is unbelievably lucky, no matter how you strike it. Just the amount of coincidences and fortuitous events that allowed him to save Robin in Enies Lobby is astounding.
Dragon's actions are perfectly rational, and for all we know, for every Fisher Tiger that manages to break into and out of Mary Geoise, there may be dozens or hundreds that failed.
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The guiding hand of fate has been frequently highlighted as a driving force in Luffy's journey, which can seem like deus ex machina for some of the concidences that perfectly worked out in the Straw Hat's favor, but Oda also spelled it out really early on in the story as a key theme he was going to explore, so I think it works out.
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I do think there will be some very important differences between Luffy and Dragon which explains why Nika chose him and not his father. Luffy's the world's warrior of liberation. Why a pirate and not the lead revolutionary? Why's Luffy the protagonist? If the whole journey only serves to convince Luffy to join his father's cause, it would sort of beg the question why the story hasn't been following Dragon instead. He didn't even need the True History to recognize the inherent evil of the World Government.
Those are all rhetorical questions of course as I'm sure Oda thought all this through. I tend to think Dragon might represent the counterpart to Akainu - an 'ends justify the means' philosophy, which may be evident in his lack of intent to even attempt rescuing Ivankov or Ginny. At the same time, the Revs did try very hard to recover Kuma from Marijoa, so I'm not saying they're heartless. They're just more pragmatic than the Straw Hats. That's not an inherent flaw. I think where it could create a wider divide with the Straw Hats is when it comes to military tactics and dispensation of justice.
Oda seems to be drawing pretty heavily from the French Revolution, notorious for its violent reign of terror. The grievances of the third estate were more than justified, but the revolutionaries crossed the line from seeking justice to enacting a form of class vengeance against the aristocracy which ultimately served to undermine their own campaign for liberty and democoracy. We've seen rumblings of this with the death of Nefeltari Cobra - an honorable king and a good man. Yet after centuries of brutal oppression, the world is ready to errupt - seen in their celebration of Cobra's death.
While Dragon acknowledged that Cobra was indeed a good man, he and Sabo seem perfectly content to allow this resentful and angry spirit to fuel their revolt against the world governmnt. Again, I'm not saying their grievances are wrong or their cause itself isn't just, but history shows us that the way victory is achieved matters. We've seen Oda frequently emphasize the destructive cycle of hatred and revenge precipitated by those who exceed the quest for justice and isntead pursue a form of class or corporate vengeance; Fishman Island (Hody), Wano (Kurozumi Clan / Orochi & Kanjuro), Donquixote Homing / Flamingo etc.
Whether Dragon & Sabo are willing to go to such extremes themselves or are perhaps naive in their willingness to allow such dangerous factions to fuel their cause, but in either case, I think the Straw Hats by contrast will be more equipped to temper the radical voices which threaten to destabilize the world in the wake of the war against the Celestial Dragons.
