@Cockycent:
So they failed trying? She is considered a letdown because Oda hasn't used her yet? If she stopped Brook, would he have not still gotten the rubbings? Was Brook not stopped anyway and escaped? Was the bomb not gonna go off and despite anyone's efforts, the SH get away?
It's really the same sentiment with people not liking that Sanji vs Page 1 wasn't shown. It's not meant to be yet. With all of these characters making attempts and failing, you don't feel that there's something up? Is Smoothie not meant for something else, so in the future we can judge it with a full understanding of Oda's choice to not apply her?
Lets play it out. Smoothie has a full battle with Brook, what changes for Brook not to make it back with the rubbing? Smoothie puts all her efforts in during the wedding, does the bomb explosion not go off? In a Sanji heavy arc that has to balance the MC as well, where does an effort from Smoothie change what happens in that arc drastically? If the alternative doesn't change the arc, where is the letdown?
How can a character be a letdown when you never seen them really being used? I understand if Oda used her 2 arcs from now and it's so lame that you have to think the exact same moment could've been used in a prior arc.
My speculation is that due to being a Sweet Commander, she is held to a standard that if she doesn't provide enough power scaling material, she agitates power scalers. Like there's no legitimate alternative for this amount of angst for that character. She couldn't drastically change anything in that arc and even you said that it's her inaction. She hasn't done anything. How can I feel a way, unless it's about power levels? I'm just not wired that way to think not getting on-panel power scaling material is the end of the world
Smoothie could have stopped Brook from getting the poneglyph copy. Judging from the size of the sketchings, it seems that Brook needed some time to make copies. Time that Smoothie let him have by waiting outside like an idiot. Plus, how could she know that the intruder did not have an ability that allowed him to enter and leave the treasure room at will.
That was extremely incompetent and her actions would have had the direct result of having the Straw Hats fail in one of their missions, getting a copy of the glyph.
Fact of the matter, Smoothie has been given enough screentime for us to compare her to other competent characters.
Smoothie, a sweet commander, ran away from Big Mom like she's goddamned fodder, while guys like Perospero and Pudding took the lead in dealing with her rampage.
Katakuri made an effort to capture the Ship to ensure that the intruders would not escape just in case, while Smoothie was bust acting like a fodder.
Oven ensured that all the Mirrors were discarded so that He, and the rest would know exactly where Luffy would come from.
Perospero hardened the Straw Hat ship to prevent it from escaping. Streussen(barely a character) used his fruit to prevent massive casualties.
The Book guy, single-handedly captured and imprisoned Luffy and he was the one commanding the troops. Not Smoothie, but Book guy was acting as more of a commander.
If Streussen can make an impact on the story, WHY couldn't Smoothie? I am judging her based on the story and not my understanding of author intentions. In the story, Smoothie is the most useless "Top-level" character in One Piece. Even Pearl was more useful.
My main point is that most of these actions were not based on strength or battle prowess. Instead they were the actions of experienced and competent characters that deserve to call themselves the upper crust of an Emperor's crew.