@King:
See, about the Vinsmokes, I didn't mention them until now because there was something fishy about the notion of them attempting a coup, mainly because Judge appears to be genuinely interested in having Big Mom as an ally.
Thinking about it, I can't think of any advantages from Judge rebelling against Big Mom. It's not like she has any resources he's interested on besides her own power. Her army is mostly her own family, so he can't take that over either. It's possible that he would try to take over if something happened to Big Mom, but it would be a case of opportunism instead of a scheme, and he would fight Capone for it.
As such, I doubt he is in cahoots with Capone, who does appear to have an actual plan. I also wonder if Capone has a powerful ally within him that would make this plan of his more credible. Jinbe has also been quiet for a while too.
I had a whole elaborate post planned explaining my theory and evidence in-depth until the site decided to apparently be insufferable and not keep track of everything typed out. But basically, I strongly believe that the Vinsmokes' true plan is to actually use the marriage to usurp Big Mom's power in a coup by being commissioned as a militia by the Marines/World Government (which governments frequently do in real life) in exchange for being allowed to rule over North Blue again without any resistance from the World Government (even if they have a Yonko as backup, trying to take over North Blue would basically be declaring war). And Judge bragging to Sanji about how the marriage is about gaining Big Mom's power to rule over North Blue again is him lying in order to keep Sanji in line as a tool by thinking that the marriage is the key to preserving peace for his loved ones while it will ironically promote violence in the immediate vicinity in a tragic fashion. Germa 66's origins
Also, while I have no evidence to share about the Vinsmokes and Bege having ever made contact, Bege is actually recruiting allies to help him with his coup. I at first interpreted Bege's "way out" as remarking on how Pekoms could have remained on Zou to live a quaint life with Big Mom thinking thinking that he's dead. But the "way out" might actually be an offer to join Capone (and presumably forces he's already in league with like the Vinsmokes) to overthrow Big Mom at the wedding, hence why Pekoms immediately responded with telling him to not underestimate Big Mom and falling in line with how fiercely loyal he is towards her. I wouldn't be surprised if he also eventually offers Caesar this same option since he has to figure into all of this chaos somehow, although Perospero is conspicuously absent from his post which could let Caesar cook up his own shenanigans.
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And keep in mind how he REALLY wanted the marriage to happen when he blackmailed Sanji into coming along. I doubt that Oda writing Capone to be the one to do that, especially when I don't see Capone caring enough to go through so much trouble just to follow orders from a person he's inevitably going to betray, is a mere coincidence. Similar twists like this have occurred with Kuro turning out to be a pirate and planning Kaya's seat for years, and the CP9 agents being undercover as Galley-La workers for years in order to steal Pluton from Iceberg. Oda did a damn good job of hiding their connections to being corrupt (sure, it's easy to say that Kuro being a jerk made it easy to tell that he would be an antagonist, but it's still a legitimate surprise that he was a pirate who staged his butler act for years. And CP9 disguised their victims as their own corpses lol). When it comes to plot-twists like these, Oda doesn't really build up substantial evidence to make you suspect these characters. These are twists more just for shock factor and elaboration you probably never would have thought of, but make sense in the grand scheme of the stakes and character insight.
@allbluebro:
I agree, but she did get stabbed in the heart even if it just scratched it.
Bege is an evil pos and won't become an straw hat ally, and Big Mom is NOT going to have a happy ending.
Okay then lol, sorry for the misunderstanding. But I'm talking about actually getting stabbed in a vital spot full force with gore, not just a graze. Oda can be extremely dark when it comes to plot subjects and flashbacks, but having gory imagery on the other hand is what isn't his style.
It's always possible for Bege to pull a Crocodile in the future due to being one of the Worst Generation, thus being a relevant recurring character presumably for the rest of the series. He's definitely scum, but has the one redeeming trait of having affection for his son (which I expect to be used against him in some sort of hostage situation).
And Big Mom most likely will get a happy ending. There's no way she's getting defeated by Luffy in this arc. Don't get me wrong, all of the messed up stuff she's been doing is coming to a stop for sure. Bit she actually has morally ambiguous characterization qualities that make it possible for her to get redemption, especially after she gets backstabbed and the Straw Hats have to cure her illness (why else is Chopper, the doctor of the Straw Hats, in this arc?).
@S.C.:
To me, the most likely outcome I see of this is a grudging "I'll let you have a head start to get out my territory, Straw Hat" kind of thing. You have brought up this sickness, but unless it so drastically changed her personality into being a monstrous control freak, a so-called happy ending for her would be rather jarring.
You would be surprised about how being grateful to former enemies who ended up curing your illness (that you probably weren't even aware of), saving your life from a coup, and saving your kingdom during your deranged amnesiac rampage can do for your perspective. Oda's been building up how surprisingly "fair" she can be with letting opposition slide and advocating people to be selfish for a reason, along with subtly respecting Luffy's resolve here and there like how a supervillain sometimes enjoys seeing how their nemesis can overcome the traps that have been laid out for them. I don't see this ending on bad terms. Maybe a comedic retreat like when Garp chased the Straw Hats out of Water 7 after she finds out that they stole her Road Poneglyph script. But not without their tenuous relationship reaching some sort of understanding. Especially with how I expect Luffy to play some sort of game with her like the one she gave Jimbei.