! @Dahaka.:
! > I don't think she will storm Wano either, because she's going to be busy fixing the mess after Luffy and Vinsmokes. However, I also don't think Kaido is going to be dealt with on Wano. IMO the final battle will move to the next arc where BM and Kaido will meet their demise(kinda like W7 -> EL). BM gets get her arc with Germa, Kaido gets arc his with samurai, and then they clash in the third one. Everything about those two is so symmetrical that it just seems like a way to go. I mean, Oda has been developing their plotlines side by side, while Shanks and BB are basically left out. Everything screams to me that they are going down together.
! I can't see Kaido not falling in Wano. I understand what the point you're trying to make with how the Big Mom and Kaido threats are intertwined. But that doesn't mean they have to go down at the same time, it only means they have to interact in some fashion. The degree to which that leads can very on a whole spectrum. At least one of them has to fall at the end of this saga, but it doesn't have to be both or at the same time. It could also be consecutively in two arcs that are right next to each other.
! However, the inspiration and theming for Kaido fits SO MUCH that falling anywhere else would be out of place and underwhelming. His Devil Fruit is most likely an eastern dragon Mythical Zoan. That fits right in with Wano Country being based on Feudal Japan history and folklore. He has a dragon tattoo, fu manchu mustache, and wears a shimenawa belt. All of those are directly inspired by eastern customs. His design is a giant oni similar to Oars and Oars Jr. That fits right in with how the big bad of the Momotaro myth, one of the most well-known myths in Japan, is an oni king. And Momotaro has various references in One Piece, such as with the Admiral codenames deriving from the main animal characters. Kaido killed Oden, Momo's father, and Momo specifically remembers Kaido's taunts towards his father. That and the promise Luffy made about beating Kaido are way too thematically prevalent to be as narratively satisfying in a place other than Wano. It would be like if Arlong narrowly escaped from Arlong Park and got defeated in Loguetown or Reverse Mountain despite all of the narrative buildup and character investment towards the cast in Cocoyashi Village being victims and part of Nami's flashback (and we're definitely getting a flashback that shows off the past of the samurai and Kaido's invasion/interrogation). Not to mention all of the forces and big names that Luffy has been building up to ally with him in Wano Country.
! All of this build-up amounting to Kaido's downfall happening elsewhere would be be very underwhelming if he happens to escape, to say the least. Just because Kaido and Big Mom's plots are developed side-by-side does not mean they have to fall together at the end. Especially when it's Kaido specifically who is portrayed as the true biggest threat while Big Mom's kind of a sideshow. A very powerful and intimidating force. But still a sideshow compared to how Kaido has been built up as this absolute fiendish monster with a savage crew that finds any excuse to destroy and crucify without mercy, committing freaking suicide as a hobby, and wanting to start up a world war. I argue that Oda is evidently building up to Kaido himself being the climax rather than a Beast Pirates versus Big Mom Pirates showdown in this respect.
! I still expect the two factions to interact in some form or fashion. But a full-on war or fight is out of the realm of possibility in my eyes. And Luffy having to rely on another Yonko either as an ally or a third-party force to take down another would just be seriously underwhelming. Luffy is certainly not going to beat all four of the Yonko, but he needs to defeat at least one besides Blackbeard at the end of the series (who will be above a Yonko title at that point as a final contender for Pirate King). He should have the credit of defeating Kaido through his own forces, especially after that promise he made to Momo.
! > With 20 chapters left that is exactly what is going to happen. They will ruin the wedding, take Sanji after he deals with his fmaily drama, take Jinbe and the poneglpyh and then gtfo. Oda has put ZERO emphasis on how messed up Totland is. He just showed us how everything works and that is it. There is no drama coming from Totland's state. The only emotional hook we have now is Pudding, but she's still kind of a mystery so anything can happen. Her plotline will surely not lead to some save the totland scenario. At the very best, it's going to turn into save pudding plot, which can be resolved by simply making her not do anything stupid or taking her with them. The creatures from the book will just create chaos, that is it. Oda won't be putting focus on an almost exact same idea he drawn two arcs ago.
! He showed us that Big Mom throws away her ex-husbands and has them killed if they tried to talk, so add Pound (who is Lola's father) to the list of people the Straw Hats have bonded with this arc alongside Pudding. He's showing us right now how she oppresses the children she selects for marriage by treating them like dolls and not giving them any say. She has a whole library full of imprisoned rare creatures. She has some sort of disdain for Giants in a supposed paradise of racial harmony, although that's a subject we barely know about so we shouldn't jump to conclusions about that. And she makes everybody who lives in Totland voluntarily give away pieces of their lifespan or else they get thrown out into the dangers of the New World. I've actually gone on point in chapter threads to defend how the soul tax isn't a bad thing in and of itself depending on how its applied with fair enough rules, but I can definitely see Oda having all of the souls return to the citizens at the end of the arc in a similar fashion to the shadows in Thriller Bark. Especially since Brook can manipulate souls, as we saw in the latest chapter.
! There's plenty of things that are wrong with Totland. It's just that the theme of this arc is how it's a paradise that is sustained with an infrastructure of corruption, which is why it might not seem to be a major theme. Think of how peaceful Dressrosa seemed at first as a similar "paradise". The drama is just more centric around the Charlotte Family rather than the actual citizens (which is adds as a point towards my latter argument of Big Mom being a mixed bag of morality, because she at least cares about her citizens and racial prosperity to a perverse degree). And then there's Pekoms, who the Straw Hats have also made friends with and has shown to be grateful to them for saving the Minks. But he's also still loyal to Big Mom, as well as having a shady past with Pedro. Do you really think this past has been built-up just so Pekoms can be left on an island with his boss in a deranged state where everybody might get killed from Big Mom's chaos? Because she's definitely going to have another illness fit for sure, and probably over not eating wedding cake. And, as weird as this may sound, while Pudding certainly feels oppressed by her mother and hates her for the current situation, I doubt that she would appreciate seeing her destroy the country with citizens she cares about, as well as not wanting to see her mother in such a fragile state despite her conflicted feelings about her. The last part is interesting to note because while some of Big Mom's children are willing to go against her wishes, they don't actually seem to outright hate her and want to see her dead/defeated either. Including Lola. Who should arguably have the most reason to hate Linlin, yet claims that the Straw Hats can rely on her for help. There's definitely something mysterious going on there, and it just adds more fuel to the fire that despite current hostility, Big Mom is not a completely irredeemable figure despite how atrocious some of her crimes are.
! And that isn't even getting into all of the conflict with Jimbei and Fishman Island. We've been getting buildup for the payoff of Jimbei joining, the Fishman Island bombs going off, and Luffy/Jimbei convincing Big Mom to let go of Fishman Island as territory for years. Jimbei is absolutely not going to leave while Linlin still has control over Fishman Island. And she's only going to relinquish control either willingly or if she's defeated, and we know the latter's impossible. Are you seriously going to argue that all of this build-up is amounting to having to wait until after Wano Country for Jimbei to join the crew and for Luffy to get some sort of satisfying confrontation with Big Mom? I'm not buying that at all. Especially when Luffy needs to build up as many forces to take on Kaido at Wano Country as he can right now, and having a Shichibukai join his crew before them would be a perfect addition towards winning that conflict.
! > Luffy leaving WCI on good terms with BM - that idea died the moment we found out BM hates Lola. The beef between Big Mom and him won't end this arc, that much I'm certain of. It's just going to escalate even further, which will lead to BM going after Luffy soon after the arc's finale, making the stakes go even higher. If Big Mom is kept in the current story, and not delayed until Elbaf, there is no need for resolution this arc, because the stakes can move on to the next one, and the arc can serve as a build up, not climax. As I have said, Oda has been developing both BM and Kaido side by side for a reason. He's been putting focus via Zoro on how problematic getting in conflict with two yonko could be. Luffy ending up on an island with two emperors going after him - that's where Oda is heading in my opinion. There is abslutely no reason to stick Luffy's and BM's conflict in the middle of "Kaido saga" if her role is not going to be essential to it.
! It didn't die when Big Mom hated Lola. Nobody should have ever expected her Vivre Card to be a get out of jail free card, it would've been way too easy lol. Just because Big Mom's a homicidal jerk doesn't mean she can't be negotiated with, as we've already seen several times. And I completely expect Big Mom's anger and the tension between her and the Straw Hats to escalate. That much is obvious.
! What you're leaving out are the crucial plot elements of how a coup is being built up from Bege (and possible the Vinsmokes as a plot-twist). As well as the fact that Big Mom has an illness. An illness related to food. In the same arc that the doctor and cook of the Straw Hats are around. And how as a villain, she's a whole mixed bag of ethics ranging from negative, to ambivalent, to positive. When Oda typically writes his main arc antagonists, they have little-to-no positive traits whatsoever. He makes you hate them at every single instance he can get. Big Mom strangely doesn't follow that pattern, and I extremely doubt that's a coincidence. Sure, she hates Lola and the Straw Hats now, but being saved from betrayal and almost destroying her kingdom and family from an illness with amnesiac effects can make her quite grateful. That and her penchant for liking to play games makes it totally possible that she can be convinced to turn over her corruption for the better.
! You're insinuating that the only way Luffy and Big Mom's role in the Kaido saga is essential is if she goes down, sen though there are plenty of other possibilities that she can contribute. So I disagree with that idea. Big Mom not getting defeated this arc and Luffy narrowly escaping AFTER the wedding business and her inevitable rampage is settled or making some sort of truce/alliance with Big Mom is a great way to have build-up for the hype of Wano being the climax of this saga. Because Luffy narrowly got away from being annihilated by a Yonko crew due to being ill-prepared in both forces and individual strength.
! Big Mom can live to see another day in Elbaf, but several plot threads in Totland (the Vinsmoke hijinks, Fishman Island's protection, Pudding, Lola, Pekoms, Big Mom's illness, at least some of Big Mom's corruption, etc) need to be settled now. They're made relevant because of this wedding specifically and are not going to hold nearly as much weight or interest if they happen in other circumstances. Things have progressed way too far and been built up for Totland specifically to just push off for another day at another island. Whether that's Elbaf or a showdown between Big Mom and Kaido. Not every little thing has to be dealt with Big Mom, but several major things require immediate attention for sure that running away after the wedding is not going to provide. And Oda is not going to have the Straw Hats run off while innocent people's lives are endangered from a delirious Big Mom rampage, as seen with how they decided to support the Tontattas despite having no obligation to as well as Luffy at least indirectly saving every arc island population until now. Stopping now out of complete selfishness would be in supremely bad taste.
@King:
Three of the Road Poneglyphs have conveniently been found as the Straw Hats progressed to new island. The fourth one with an unknown location as of the moment is not going to make them backtrack, and the New World is not a sandbox game. That was only for Roger's time. And that's why the final island at the end of the New World is irrelevant, ironically, because it would only tell them to backtrack.