My brother and I have both been longtime readers of the series and have been chatting about some things recently that may be of interest to those of you One Piece theorists out there. Oda has spent the entire series peppering chapters with details that initially seem minor but ultimately are the key to the end of the series. Two of the most important arcs in One Piece are the Gray Terminal arc (Volume 60) and the Levely arc (Volume 90). Readers can breeze past these, but I can tell you there's a lot of great content that I think you should pay attention to.
Keep in mind that while some of this is theory, I back everything up with facts you can find throughout the manga of One Piece. I hope you can go back and do some digging yourself to see where I'm coming from. Here's a bulleted list:
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We're already fully aware of the significance of the Empty Throne. The tiny gold dots on top represent the islands in the Grand Line and the World Government's symbol represents the Road Poneglyphs/One Piece. But what about the moss-covered swords?
- SIDE NOTE: The swords likely represent the fallen pirates and ambitious men attempting to sit atop the throne. Luffy could eventually sit there, but I don't think he'll stay long because it's not his motivation.
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The Five Elder Stars know the truth of their world and want to keep their New World Order (post-Void Century) in place. They are aware that the world is being shaken up by a few major players. To quote the wielder of Shodai Kitetsu, "The world's equilibrium cannot be maintained forever. The time has come for a great cleansing." But what is this great cleansing they speak of?
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Let's jump back to Luffy's past. The holocaust at Gray Terminal remains among one of the more terrible things caused by the Celestial Dragons. They wipe out thousands of citizens in a "great cleansing"—a genocide. Monkey D. Dragon makes sure to mention that what's happening in his homeland is a microcosm of society. If this is the case, does that mean that the Five Elder Stars are planning a mass extinction event?
- SIDE NOTE: Dragon's home is Goa Kingdom, but he chose to have his son in the rural Windmill Village. Could he have been in hiding? Why? Does it have to do with the Will of D?
- SIDE NOTE: This was perpetrated by Saint Jalmac, who seemed different from other Celestial Dragons because of his square bubble (is that a status symbol?). The Celestial Dragons have shown that they don't give a flying fuck about the lives of any common folk, so what's stopping them from erasing everything and starting over again?
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Tying back to the idea of a mass extinction is the fact that the entire One Piece world is underwater. I don't think it was always this way (Pangaea castle, hint hint). Noah's ark was found in Fishman Island and that may have been the vessel that allowed the species of the world to survive such a purge.
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The First 20 were 20 bloodlines that made it through an initial purge—potentially aboard Noah. The Nefertari family and the Doflamingo family are both part of the First 20, but their families abdicated the throne for a normal life. Why is this? Because they saw the evils of the world and still are aware of them.
- SIDE NOTE: Even now, Cobra may have figured something out. The Five Elder Stars are onto him. Imu makes careful note not to tear up Vivi's photo, for some reason…
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Imu is the Illuminati pulling the strings behind the scenes to maintain current hegemony. Very few people can see behind the curtain. Imu has taken a sword to the photos of Shirahoshi, Blackbeard, and Luffy. Why is this? Because they're the three most dangerous forces that threaten the current world order.
- Shirahoshi is Poseidon. She controls Sea Kings. How might these come into play during a great flood?
- Blackbeard's hobby is studying history and he clearly knows the truth of the world. He wants to destroy the current world order to build his own. He knows about the truth of the moon (if you've seen what it did to the Minks…and why did Eneru want to go back to his "home"?)
- Luffy is Dragon's son. The Will of D.
- SIDE NOTE: Are Imu's butterflies real? Or are they an ability for reconnaissance like Karasu's crows?
Of course, this is Oda's social commentary for climate change and the threat of WWIII. A story like this could only have come out of Japan, as they received first-hand experience with the terrors of technology and war.
Secondarily, Luffy has a lot of contenders for his final opponent: Akainu, Blackbeard, Garp, Dragon, Shanks… but his final opponent in One Piece may actually be his brother Ace. I'll explain.
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Remember when the boys toasted sake cups and shared their dreams? Sabo wanted to see the world and write a book. Ace wanted to become a great pirate and make the whole world know his name. But Luffy's goal isn't shown. Smart readers can infer what Luffy really said.
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His goal has always been to surpass his brothers. Luffy even states this as an adult once Ace is freed from the scaffolding. Thus, Luffy's goals are to become the pirate king and write a book about the islands he's visited. To surpass them at what they want to do. Of course, he will do this. But he will have to fight against his brothers first.
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Akainu and Blackbeard are obvious villains, as they took the life of Luffy's brother. Ace was the most important person in the world to Luffy. But the reappearance of Moria on Pirate Island is ominous and Sabo speaking about dying during Levely doesn't bode well for him in the future.
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Luffy will gain better use of fire in the Wano arc (he's been developing this ability since he unlocked Gear 2). Even though Luffy doesn't have a fire Logia, Oda has hinted that characters can utilize various elemental abilities. Sanji, Doflamingo, Katakuri, and Luffy all use fire. Brook uses ice. The Mink Tribe uses electricity. Et cetera.
- Luffy has the arms but he needs the firepower if he truly wants his punches to be stronger than pistols.
- SIDE NOTE: Oda even has a random soldier make the distinction between "fire" during the Paramount War.
- SIDE NOTE 2: Watch out for "Red-Haired Luffy." This can be a homophone for "Crimson God Luffy" in Japanese, too. Just saying.
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The Blackbeard Pirates killed Absalom for his DF ability and will kill Moria for his. Blackbeard is currently leaving his base, likely to Whitebeard's grave to revive them for his crew, and then to Levely to take down the Navy. He wants a New World Order.
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Blackbeard loves antagonizing Luffy and sees him as a cute weakling with guts (and secretly, he's always felt like Luffy is a threat but would never show cowardice as the bully). In part 1, Teach wanted to take Luffy's head in order to set his plan in motion. Simultaneously, Teach has always wanted to have Ace join his crew and that plan hasn't changed in the New World. What better way to squash Luffy than to revive his dead brothers as crewmates?
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Thus, Luffy will finally be forced to overcome both Ace and Sabo.
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Finally—Gold Roger. Garp says that whenever Roger's friends were threatened, he turned into a demon. Imagine the kind of demon Luffy will become. They say he makes an appearance on a full moon. I wonder how Eneru's changed since too.
