Chapter 907: The Empty Throne

[FelRes]

@DynamiteShikoku:

Suddenly got this revelation : what if the 'rocks' will be featured in a new movie?

Oda did the same thing with shiki, he incorporate the char in the manga then use him as a char in the movie.

We already got so much in our plate to be deal with (kaidou, wano, RA, ryokugyu, etc) so introducing an ancient pirate crew to wreck things up might not be feasible. So Oda might introduce the crew in the manga just be used later in the movie.

I hope I'm wrong though cause i would love to see this crew in the manga.

I doubt it. I saw that mentioned elsewhere too, but did Shiki get a whole page of attention? I'm more partial to an alliance of crews rather than one crew. I don't see Big Mom being someone else's underling and she seemed pretty capable even when she was a kid.

[RyaPhoenix]

@Seafarer33:

Feeling at a loss here.

The "rocks" stuff is so elliptic that I first thought I had skipped a page. I …guess Big Mom and Kaido were once part of a same faction/alliance/crew ? And they fought Garp ? Gives me mixed feelings though, I both like and hate it when Oda drops mysterious stuff out of the blue that he may not address again for a year or so. Plus, it's another of those awkward situations where a major player is introduced and they're apparently so important that everyone has known about them for ages, yet I can't help but feel disturbed that we, the reader, never heard about it before.

The return of the grateful Celestial Dragon is a nice twist, but I'm sort of annoyed that he is another DonQuixote. Who exactly would he be to Doflamingo ? Uncle ? Cousin ? And, more importantly, where was he when the rest of his family went into exile ? I wouldn't have minded if he was from another entirely unconnected family, or even a relative of Saint Charlos.

Oh, and, CP0. Bah. I've seen enough of stoic Lucci for a lifetime, couldn't be more underwhelmed to be reminded that the secret-police-beyond-secret is CP9 with a new name...

This time it works in my opinion because whoever this captain and their rocks are, they haven't been active for over 40 years. It's not like the Emperors, who were active since the start of the series and we only learn about them about a third of the way through. It's like learning about parts of Roger's era, they don't really affect the current day so people aren't going to mention them unless it becomes pertinent to the situation.

[Crimz]

@RyaPhoenix:

Great juxtoposition between Donquixote Mjosguard and Donquixote Doflamingo. One sees himself as a god and would not change his ways no matter how much of the world he saw, one only saw part of the world and elected to change himself.

Goes to show it's about who you are and your decision, not what your blood is.

Wow thanks for opening my eyes. Oda is truly a genius, showing all these in different ways.

BTW at the helm of the celestial dragons are the 5 elder stars. So the 5 elder stars > celestial dragons? I'm abit confused.

[FelRes]

@Seafarer33:

Oh, and, CP0. Bah. I've seen enough of stoic Lucci for a lifetime, couldn't be more underwhelmed to be reminded that the secret-police-beyond-secret is CP9 with a new name…

CP0 isn't secret, but it does feel like something Oda made up because he wanted to keep Cipher Pol relevant somehow. I don't see where it even fits in the greater plot.

@Crimz:

Wow thanks for opening my eyes. Oda is truly a genius, showing all these in different ways.

BTW at the helm of the celestial dragons are the 5 elder stars. So the 5 elder stars > celestial dragons? I'm abit confused.

It's not hard, the Elder Stars are the top of the Celestial Dragon food chain. Course, they probably get pushed around by the rest of the Celestial Dragons too. I wanna see what the Viz version says though, should help clear up any ambiguity.

[Kishido]

So… Kaidou and Big Mom were in the same crew or who lost their captain? Strange page

And I hope Lucci and Co just act... After EL I thought they would give no shits about the WG

But still the whole chapter was hype... And can't wait for Sterry sitting on the throne and what the outcome will be...

But I LOLed at the warlords being able to take on 2 Yonkous + crew... Seriously?

PS
Still no post TS Borgard

[Thatanas]

@Kishido:

And I hope Lucci and Co just act… After EL I thought they would give no shits about the WG

World Nobles =/= World Government.

[RyaPhoenix]

@Crimz:

Wow thanks for opening my eyes. Oda is truly a genius, showing all these in different ways.

BTW at the helm of the celestial dragons are the 5 elder stars. So the 5 elder stars > celestial dragons? I'm abit confused.

Five Elder Stars are head of Celestial Dragons, and are apart of them. So like Elder Stars come from the Celestial Dragons. Think of like a Prime Minister, he's a part of Parliament and picked by the majority of Parliament to rule. Except instead of one person, it's five.

[Kishido]

@Thatanas:

World Nobles =/= World Government.

Still they are trash even more

[Nubtro]

There are 2 logical reasons why BM wants (doesn´t care) that the Marines overheard the call:
(1) they can´t do anything to stop it given the circumstances, as pointed out by Garp
(2) she wants as many people as possible to know it was her killing Luffy to clean her tarnished sea cred

It´s a power play. What´s also great is that she gives Kaidou a heads up of both Luffy´s plan to wage war with Kaidou and her entering his territory. I wonder if she wants to go alone or bring her army along.
The Luffy alliance just lost its element of surprise and they´re clear underdogs now, which is great for the story.

BM is a true pirate outside of her tantrums.

[desa]

I would have expected Big Mom to have a more comfortable chair and it's weird to see her pull her tongue out like that just for talking.

So back in the days the Big Mom and Kaido got along. I guess they can talk about about the good old days like Whitebeard and Shanks did. Anyway I get the impression that she is just teasing when it comes to partnering up.

So who are the Rocks? Considering they talk about a lost captain it seems it was a crew but there is no way Big Mom would ever have accepted to be under someone. Maybe it was a group of independent monsters like the Phantom troops in HxH or the worst Generation right now(they would be the ones that had the most rocks or something).

Maybe the rocks got destroyed by an alliance between Big Mom and Kaido. After destroying them they split up the stones they got from them.The surprising part is that it was 40 years ago. Do we know how old Kaido is? Because even Big Mom would be 28.

I like the guy with the hat talking to Garp. He makes me think old timey detective.

So Stelly really received zero protocol from his predecessor.

I'm still unsure how to take the line about the elder stars.

Goddammit Carlos. You making the celestial dragons look like fools. Thankfully Doffly's cousin was here. I'm glad Otohime had such a positive influence on him. I kind of figured it was his dad that gave the signatures.

Also did Sai almost get Kanokuni destroyed? I would expect him to be more careful.

It seems every celestial have the same level of power over CP0 which I prefer.

I don't like Shanks being that special.

[RyaPhoenix]

I like how Kizaru and Sakazuki feel they only need to send Kizaru to Wano to keep things in check. Obviously they are apprehensive because they don't know what the fuck is going on in Wano, but I like that Oda is still portraying the Admirals as very strong people who can take on the Emperors. I feel like a lot of fans have been downplaying the Admirals recently, and saying they are weaker than the Emperors. If anything, I feel they are somewhat equal.

[smokingfrog]

Wow wow!
Great start to the Arc!
So now we already have the following powerful people all at the same location:
1. Garp
2. Shanks
3. Fujitora
4. Ryukugou
5. Dragon (incoming)
6. Akainu, kizaru and sengoku right next to marijoes
7. Sabo, cp0, celestial dragons, all the kings

Are we going to have a big ass Mexican stand off?
Surely dragon alone cannot handle all these guys, right? Surely?
Don't think shanks will help dragon.. doesn't look like he will be involved in any way with dragons revolution.

And BM & kaidou alliance against luffy? Wow.. luffy seriously needs help from the samurais doesn't he? Luffy was no where near to BM in a 1-v-1.
Also, what BM wants apart from luffy's head is surely the cloud homie?? Forgot his name. And we don't see any of her crew around her. I want to see what happened to them. And what happened to germa.

So garp became known as the "hero" because he was involved in stopping the "rocks" rampage which involved both BM and kaidou? I hope we get a backstory soon.

I really liked Neptune's reaction. I would also have personally beat up that charloss shit. Good that the queen's sacrifice finally paid off.

[game2005]

@RyaPhoenix:

I like how Kizaru and Sakazuki feel they only need to send Kizaru to Wano to keep things in check. Obviously they are apprehensive because they don't know what the fuck is going on in Wano, but I like that Oda is still portraying the Admirals as very strong people who can take on the Emperors. I feel like a lot of fans have been downplaying the Admirals recently, and saying they are weaker than the Emperors. If anything, I feel they are somewhat equal.

Actually, Sakazuki told Kizaru to not be in rush to go to Wano.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Kishido:

So… Kaidou and Big Mom were in the same crew or who lost their captain? Strange page

And I hope Lucci and Co just act... After EL I thought they would give no shits about the WG

But still the whole chapter was hype... And can't wait for Sterry sitting on the throne and what the outcome will be...

But I LOLed at the warlords being able to take on 2 Yonkous + crew... Seriously?

PS
Still no post TS Borgard

We already saw Big Mom on her own in the flashbacks. Doubtful she would be part of another crew.

[HeartOfDarkness]

@RyaPhoenix:

It seems like Oda is setting up more parallels between Roger and Luffy. It looks like Roger also had to defeat a group of pirates or some incredibly strong crew to cement his claim as Pirate King. I always thought up until this point that Roger and Whitebeards time was sparse with pirates and that they kind of were the ones to establish the power of pirates in the world. But looks like just like Luffy has to, Roger had to take down the big guns of his era. Which is pretty cool, kind of makes the connection between them even closer. But it does make you wonder why Roger was the first Pirate King, if these supposed "Rocks" were incredibly powerful?

One Piece isn't a video game and isn't following "beat everyone to unlock this area/title" logic.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@RyaPhoenix:

I like how Kizaru and Sakazuki feel they only need to send Kizaru to Wano to keep things in check. Obviously they are apprehensive because they don't know what the fuck is going on in Wano, but I like that Oda is still portraying the Admirals as very strong people who can take on the Emperors. I feel like a lot of fans have been downplaying the Admirals recently, and saying they are weaker than the Emperors. If anything, I feel they are somewhat equal.

Sakazuki literally told Kizaru to stay put because he doesn't know how strong those Samurai are.

[Kishido]

@game2005:

Actually, Sakazuki told Kizaru to not be in rush to go to Wano.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

We already saw Big Mom on her own in the flashbacks. Doubtful she would be part of another crew.

The whole conversation with Garp was strange

[wolfwood]

No quicker way to settle an argument than a mace to the face.

[uniaka ikuzakas]

Oh this makes sense.

Say hello to Blackbeard pirates new allies, the 'ROCKS'. They lost their captain, so they have no leader.

This is why shanks is here, he knows blackbeard got the legendary crew of ''The ROCKS'' under him and he is so strong now, shanks is scared.

@RyaPhoenix:

Isn't most of his crew from Impel Down though? Aside from Lafitte, Van Auger, Burgess, and Doc Q the others were just prisoners that were recruited to join after killing the other Level 6 prisoners.

My bad, they are allies, not part of the main crew.

[RyaPhoenix]

@HeartOfDarkness:

One Piece isn't a video game and isn't following "beat everyone to unlock this area/title" logic.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Sakazuki literally told Kizaru to stay put because he doesn't know how strong those Samurai are.

It's been following that logic for quite a while now, to become the Pirate King you need to assert your dominance by taking down the other Emperors. Shanks aside, the other ones are on a collision course with Luffy.

Like I said, they're apprehensive, but they still believe they can go in and have a shot. Sakazuki is playing it safe because the samurai are a wild card of unknown potential, so you can't make a move without knowing about that wild card. Yet, Kizaru's actions show they believe they have that power, as long as they know all the players.

[Alucard_LX]

Absurdly good chapter. I have no idea how it's even possible to cram that much amazing stuff in, but that just goes to show that spending 20 years building a world really pays off.

[wolfwood]

You gotta appreciate how lackadaisical both Kaido and BM are about the prospect of death. It's like yeah yeah whatever mhmm you'll kill me yeah that's great how about next thursday

[RyaPhoenix]

@uniaka:

Oh this makes sense.

Say hello to Blackbeard pirates new fleet, the 'ROCKS'. Thye lost their captain, so they have no leader, and it was their era before roger.

This is why shanks is here, he knows blackbeard got the legendary crew of ''The ROCKS'' under him and he is so strong now, shanks is scared shitless.

Isn't most of his crew from Impel Down though? Aside from Lafitte, Van Auger, Burgess, and Doc Q the others were just prisoners that were recruited to join after killing the other Level 6 prisoners.

[Kaido King of the Beasts]

Hoo boy. I don't remember the last time I did so many double takes while reading a chapter. It's super cool getting looks at the highest affairs of the world. Kaido's and Big Mom's interaction got my mouth watering, and I'm super anxious to learn about Kaido's past. But Shanks! Man, the dude gets around! So much of the manga is spent focusing on Luffy building relationships and connections, and I'm glad to see the top pirates of the world having a similar kind of base.

Stelly is like that one kid who sees rules as invitations. That little bastard is almost making me anxious somehow, like I'm holding my breath until he finally does it and has some unimaginably horrible punishment happen to him.

As for the Shirahoshi scene…I found the beginning of it to be a little clunky. Like, I dunno, I understand that the point is that she's in a society where being kidnapped for a noble's desire is nothing to sneeze at, but the way it and CP-0's appearance was presented didn't carry much weight regardless of context. Thankfully I enjoyed it more as it went on; I genuinely felt Neptune's rage and of course Mjosgard's arrival was super neat! I hope we get to see more of him.

As for Rocks...well, the only thing that can come to mind is...

@Seafarer33:

The return of the grateful Celestial Dragon is a nice twist, but I'm sort of annoyed that he is another DonQuixote. Who exactly would he be to Doflamingo ? Uncle ? Cousin ? And, more importantly, where was he when the rest of his family went into exile ? I wouldn't have minded if he was from another entirely unconnected family, or even a relative of Saint Charlos.

It's worth noting that the World Nobles are only descended from 19 families. So not only are a lot of people related to each other, but they're probably inbred as fuck, lol.

@FelRes:

CP0 isn't secret, but it does feel like something Oda made up because he wanted to keep Cipher Pol relevant somehow. I don't see where it even fits in the greater plot.

They directly serve the World Nobles, so they'll be very relevant for the oncoming war with the Revolutionaries.

[lix]

Pardon my french, but FUCK me if this isn´t the hypest shit.

I´ve always heavily favored the transition chapters to the actual arcs and this is pretty much my favorite part of One Piece turned up to 10.

Kizaru being that easy-going about confronting both Big Mum, Kaidou and their crew is…weird. Either he´s insanely over-confident, or the Admirals are even more of a threat than I previously thought...also I feel like they´re over-estimating the power of the warlords, unless both Weevil and Hawkeye (the only one I personally can see being able to go toe to toe with a yonkou) are as strong as the Yonkou themselves, I don´t see how even all seven of them working perfectly fine together would be able to stop two Yonkous with their full crews going at it.

The "Rocks" (maybe "roux", as in "kings" since Oda has been going for french, lately? We´ll see, I guess…either way, the concept of Big Mom and Kaidou possibly having a past together maybe even a crew, is kinda hardcore. If that´s what the "rocks" is, I fully agree with the other guy who said it before...their captain might very well be the "Legend" Oda talked about and also the one Eye-Patch-Pirate that we were promised. Another guy talked about how this subject might be gone over in the next movie, which seems possible, but would be a serious waste, imo. Also, if Garp (who could´ve been an Admiral) really killed/defeated a captain who managed a crew with people like Kaidou and Big Mom in it, that would be yet another point that would make me rethink the actual (ugh, I hate that word) "powerlevel" of the Admirals.

Sterry and Charlos being ABSOLUTE wastes of living space is…expected. Unexpected, tho, was the Fishman-Island-Tenryuubito making a comeback as a good character (which I loved) and Lucci (on first glance, at least) being...well...a tool. Thought he might have changed, but maybe he´s still just out for blood and the Tenryuubito can give him just that. Also, I´d have loved to see Neptune go berserk. Rebecca and Sais reaction to Shirahoshis kidnapping were the only parts of this chapter that I didn´t really like. Of cause it was just Oda stalling for time, but still...after his experiences at Dressrosa and his initial characterization, I simply don´t buy Sai holding back Rebecca, when slavery is the danger at hand. Even in front of the Tenryuubito.
Oh, right. The kings and queens being just as helpless in front of the Tenryuubito as commoners is interesting, too. I thought at least kidnapping a royal in front of the others would be out of question, EVEN for them.
Also it´s good to know that the Five Elder Stars are above the Tenryuubito. Still wonder why they let them run amok like this, though, since so far, they don´t seem like…well, actual bad guys. More "for the sake of the greater good" - we even saw one of them crying when ordering the holocaust on Ohara.

Shanks continues to be the ab-so-lute baddest of all asses. Marching into Mariajoia during the Reverie, like that. I mean, sure, he´s a Yonkou, but with that level of security, it´s pretty much game over, even for him, if the Elder Stars decide to end him, right there, yet he stays cool as always.
It seems, that, while most big pirates and marines are feared, he´s the only character we met so far who´s respected by…well, everyone, really. Plus, I´m starting to feel like his connection with Blackbeard is MUCH deeper than just "he´s the only guy who hurt me to a point where I still feel it". So far, he went as far as meeting two of the absolute biggest powers of the world, just to talk about Teach.

Yeah…this wall of text has been necessary. I haven´t been as hyped for One Piece in years.

[Maju]

ok, what in the flying fuck?

seriously there's simply too much in this chapter, TOO MUCH i tell ya

[Kdom]

@Kishido:

The whole conversation with Garp was strange

For once, I think Mangastream translation makes more sense

@Ukimix:

And since Luffy is not yet a threat for her or for Kaido (or so they think) it seems BM wants not only Luffy's head but also something else.

I believe she wants the poneglyphs print back

Also I think that was the last cover story cover. Isn't it ?

[Kishido]

@Kdom:

For once, I think Mangastream translation makes more sense

It's the same for me… Dunno what they are talking about

[RyaPhoenix]

@Kdom:

For once, I think Mangastream translation makes more sense

I believe she wants the poneglyphs print back

Also I think that was the last cover story cover. Isn't it ?

It makes a little more sense, but doesn't clarify whether it was a crew or just an epithet for their generation. What doesn't make sense is Hina's line says "Even with their captain gone, they're still getting stronger." But what I don't get is if she's referring to Big Mom and Kaido, they're Emperors! They've been on top of their game for almost two decades now, why does their supposed captain matter in terms of their strength?

I guess we'll have to wait for the Viz translation to see.

[Yobiyopi]

It was nice seeing Momousagi there, sad she didnt end up as admiral. It seems that the Empty Throne is really influenced by Oda watching Game of Thrones, or a nice coincidence that he had planned since 1997. Also intrigued about who the "last" member of CP-0 is, since Spandam is not that tall.

[pRopaaNS]

The empty throne, the vacant leader role of "Rocks" and the certain pirate Shanks is going to talk to elders about… I feel like we're getting set up to introduce a powerful new character.

[RigaCrypto]

@RyaPhoenix:

It makes a little more sense, but doesn't clarify whether it was a crew or just an epithet for their generation. What doesn't make sense is Hina's line says "Even with their captain gone, they're still getting stronger." But what I don't get is if she's referring to Big Mom and Kaido, they're Emperors! They've been on top of their game for almost two decades now, why does their supposed captain matter in terms of their strength?

I guess we'll have to wait for the Viz translation to see.

From my point of view she could be refering to :
1. The remains of Whitebeard crew … at some point they may have been in another crew alongside WB.
2. The prisoners from Impel Down who are in BB's crew ... i think BB especially looked for them in level 6 knowing that they were part of a crew in the last age and wants to rebuild it somehow - "even with their captain gone" could mean that they lost their captain long ago and still don't recognize BB as a new captain ... yet.
3. The Sun Pirates ? Maybe they learned Jimbe joined SH or they are talking about Fisher Tiger.
4. The "legend" Oda was talking about that would come up in the upcoming chapters.

5. Or the former crew that included BM and Kaido ... that is a scary scenario.

[Coookie]

@Kdom:

I believe she wants the poneglyphs print back

She should be unaware that the Straw Hats took the rubbings. I was thinking she's talking about Zeus.

[RigaCrypto]

@Coookie:

She should be unaware that the Straw Hats took the rubbings. I was thinking she's talking about Zeus.

Yeah, Definitely about Zeus. Why should she want the rubbings back … she can just destroy them along with the SH's.

[SuburbanErrorist]

I think maybe the Rocks refer to the strongest pirates?

The crew that lost their leader sounds like Whitebeards

[Tayshaun]

Good to great chapter with load of characters and info. But boy, ending each chapter with a cliff hanger (and filling it with information) that is not going to be resolved for months/ years sure feels like a cheap trick. I do understand it once, not every single time.

Also, CP0 doesn't make sense. Aren't they supposed to be (were presented as) a formidable force? Lucci was stomped (in what probably is still the best fight ever in OP) by Luffy 500 chapter ago, pre time skip, pre everything. What's the point is bringing CP9 back with a new name?

[CongoJack]

I get the sinking feeling that, about 5 years in, Oda realized he couldn't make all famous pirates from now on having been a part of of the same Gol D. Roger pirate crew. That's when he realized that he had to expand the backstory to the crew before Roger and possibly even further, although up until this point Roger's works and his death were the clearcut start to the whole age of pirates thing. Mind you, that shift in scope would have taken place before there even was any mentioning of the concept of the four emperors or the world balance, concepts which by themselves point to a sudden larger scope in his writing.

Around that time he came up with the 800 years hidden century shenanigans, making sure he went back far enough in time to not back himself in a corner again - by giving him an ample time frame to fill if he so needed at any later point. Now he makes use of this time frame by filling it with what my guess would be is another legendary pirate crew that was the real deal before Roger - yet a crew that was not mentioned, even as legend or tale or anything, during the past 15 years of One Piece. I'm betting on the lack of mentioning being totally disproportionate to the great deeds they, and especially their captain, have achieved in their time.

My money also goes to this new, unknown captain being the one that inspired Roger to go adventuring and live the free life - because you know he did. Just as you very well know he is going to be a 'D.'.

I'm just not sure if I like this development, it asks a lot of my suspension of disbelief that no one the Strawhats met during their journey, as well as Robin, the history buff or Shanks or Rayleigh would have said anything about two of the Emperors working together 40 years ago.

[Maju]

@kouch_lee:

The Rocks? Who lost their captain? That threw me off balance.

Someone on the spoiler thread mentioned that it could've been a name instead, like "Roux". Could it be one of those really-hard-to-translate-until-we-get-more-context situations?

doubt it since rock/lock and roux ,at least with the french pronunciation , are nothing alike phonetically

@ArseneWenger:

None of Big Mom's backstory implies that she would ever agree to be part of any crew where she isn't the boss.
And surprised that Shanks himself made the decision to go see the Gorosei.

Supposed Plot Hole: In ch 800, Akainu implied that the Gorosei were the puppets of Tenryubito. In this chapter, it is being said that Gorosei are the leaders of tenryubito.

no,in this chapter it's said that they are the leader of the world

basically, the tenryuubito has not "real" power….they don't directly decide anything but they have the power to do and ask for anything they want...

take it as a mom and her spoiler child...she is the one in command, she tooks all the decisions not her 5 years old brat....but if the kid wanna go to the park, they are gonna go there, because she clearly can't say them "no"

@jajejijoju:

Are the "rocks" the pirate crew Linlin and Kaidou once a part of?

nah, in linlin's flashback is stated clear that she directly funded the big mom pirates with streusend

the rocks were probably the dominant force before garp took down their captain, then came the era of roger, shiki and whitebeard, with garp fighting toe to toe with an ascending roger…after the king fell, big mom gathered powr and somewhere between then and now kaidou also slowly got to his seat as a yonkou while gettinf defeated, imprisoned and tortured multiple times in the process.

i suppose the debt kaidou has to linlin is that he was saved one of those times by her.@DynamiteShikoku:

Suddenly got this revelation : what if the 'rocks' will be featured in a new movie?

Oda did the same thing with shiki, he incorporate the char in the manga then use him as a char in the movie.

We already got so much in our plate to be deal with (kaidou, wano, RA, ryokugyu, etc) so introducing an ancient pirate crew to wreck things up might not be feasible. So Oda might introduce the crew in the manga just be used later in the movie.

I hope I'm wrong though cause i would love to see this crew in the manga.

while it's possible, oda already teased a lot of time ago that " a past legend would make his move", and he was talking about the manga, not about a movie.@Ukimix:

Also BM wants to be listen talking to Kaido… hmmmm

two possible explanation..maybe 3

-they know the main part of the foprces are guarding the reverie right now

• they know the marines wont intervene to protect a non WG island
• they really don't care that much about the marines,much like shanks back in the day told that if they wanted to stop him, they just had to try@FelRes:

CP0 isn't secret, but it does feel like something Oda made up because he wanted to keep Cipher Pol relevant somehow. I don't see where it even fits in the greater plot.

It's not hard, the Elder Stars are the top of the Celestial Dragon food chain. Course, they probably get pushed around by the rest of the Celestial Dragons too. I wanna see what the Viz version says though, should help clear up any ambiguity.

cp0 is there probably because the tenryuubito needed some kinf of physical force that was 24h at their disposal and wasn't just stupid fodder guards…the marines usually do their job, they are not always serving them

[AkumaMiltos]

Wait, I'm confused..What is Hina talking about?
"Even though they lost their captain, their power is still growing"
Kaidou and Big Mom's captain? Roger? :blink:

[Watch-man]

I want to buy this arc.

In volume format.

Right NOW !

Awesome.

I wonder why Shanks is so respected by everyone. He seems to have a lot of interest in keeping world Balanced.

Sengoku respects him, 5 Elders respect him, Whitebeard respected him, Mihawk respects Shanks..

Shanks should get a box from Oda "Most Respected Pirate in the World" :blink:

[SuburbanErrorist]

Theres a real high chance that Shanks may have been a CD

[wolfwood]

I suppose it's already been speculated but could the rock pirate captain have been that joyboy fellow?

[King Cannon]

@Kdom:

I believe she wants the poneglyphs print back

Also I think that was the last cover story cover. Isn't it ?

I think she might be talking about Brook himself.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@SuburbanErrorist:

Theres a real high chance that Shanks may have been a CD

Nah. His hometown is some sort of West Blue village or town that specializes in making sake.

[KageKageKing]

Leaked footage of the Rocks.

!

[SirCaesar]

@Coookie:

She should be unaware that the Straw Hats took the rubbings. I was thinking she's talking about Zeus.

Brulee knew. She knows.

[Captain M]

@wolfwood:

I suppose it's already been speculated but could the rock pirate captain have been that joyboy fellow?

Joyboy would have to be practically immortal to be written about on a Poneglyph and also alive to challenge Garp. It's not impossible, but it's not likely.

[MagneticMonkey]

@wolfwood:

You gotta appreciate how lackadaisical both Kaido and BM are about the prospect of death. It's like yeah yeah whatever mhmm you'll kill me yeah that's great how about next thursday

They know what Oda knows. Nobody ever dies so it's whatever :)

[kouch_lee]

@wolfwood:

I suppose it's already been speculated but could the rock pirate captain have been that joyboy fellow?

But wasn't Joyboy from the Void Century? He left his "apology" written on a poneglyph.

Man, this is giving me a headache. . .

. . .but it's also super exciting.

I don't think it makes much sense to talk about a possible past captain to both Big Mom and Kaidou after they've become such big deals over the past decades. "Even though they lost their captain, they're not any weaker!". Like, if that was a recent occurence, I'd say, "Ok". But it happened 40 years ago apparently, and they've become captains themselves, and established as 2 of the 4 emperors of the pirate world.

That's like saying "Even though Shanks and Blackbeard lost their captain (Roger), they're not any weaker!". It'd be kinda weird, I think.

[KageKageKing]

@Kishido:

But I LOLed at the warlords being able to take on 2 Yonkous + crew… Seriously?

It was Warlords+Admirals against 2 Youkous.

[Ukimix]

@Maju:

two possible explanation..maybe 3

-they know the main part of the foprces are guarding the reverie right now

• they know the marines wont intervene to protect a non WG island
• they really don't care that much about the marines,much like shanks back in the day told that if they wanted to stop him, they just had to try

Yeap, they may think Marine won't (be able to) intervene, but why to let them know about their conversation? Because the soldier shows surprised they could decrypt it. As it was said above, maybe BM has a big ego and she wants the world to know she will be the one defeating Luffy, the 'fifth' yonkou who took a ride into her territory.

Anyway Sakasuki and Garp think the same way about Kaido and BM: "Let them do". It's the best they can do for now.

[King Cannon]

@CongoJack:

I get the sinking feeling that, about 5 years in, Oda realized he couldn't make all famous pirates from now on having been a part of of the same Gol D. Roger pirate crew. That's when he realized that he had to expand the backstory to the crew before Roger and possibly even further, although up until this point Roger's works and his death were the clearcut start to the whole age of pirates thing. Mind you, that shift in scope would have taken place before there even was any mentioning of the concept of the four emperors or the world balance, concepts which by themselves point to a sudden larger scope in his writing.

Around that time he came up with the 800 years hidden century shenanigans, making sure he went back far enough in time to not back himself in a corner again - by giving him an ample time frame to fill if he so needed at any later point. Now he makes use of this time frame by filling it with what my guess would be is another legendary pirate crew that was the real deal before Roger - yet a crew that was not mentioned, even as legend or tale or anything, during the past 15 years of One Piece. I'm betting on the lack of mentioning being totally disproportionate to the great deeds they, and especially their captain, have achieved in their time.

My money also goes to this new, unknown captain being the one that inspired Roger to go adventuring and live the free life - because you know he did. Just as you very well know he is going to be a 'D.'.

I'm just not sure if I like this development, it asks a lot of my suspension of disbelief that no one the Strawhats met during their journey, as well as Robin, the history buff or Shanks or Rayleigh would have said anything about two of the Emperors working together 40 years ago.

They're irrelevant currently. The current age is shaped by Roger, and Whitebeard to a lesser extent. Most legends they hear are going to center in those guys.

Even Garp was surprised Hina knew about it. It's a thing from his time.

[Captain M]

Okay, so we've known for a while that Big Mom was a big name in piracy before Roger, so it's not totally out of the blue, but I'm not sure how I feel about Rocks only now becoming a thing. Seems a bit late in the game to be getting another mysterious group/force/individual of historical note, at least without a bit more lore tying to tie them into what we already have. The vagueness of it all - just when we're starting to get concrete details abot so many other things - is infuriating!

But that's easy to forgive in favour of every other goddamn thing in the chapter. Holy shit! If the design of the Empty Throne actually is the foreshadowing it seems to be, this is _huge_​.