First of all, I'll admit that the guessing line was uncalled for. Not because nobody was guessing, but because everybody was guessing. Including me. Sorry. That's why it's called speculation. Trying to predict Oda's future behavior is always bound to be wild guessing. Now I hope that we can have a good discussion without getting heated or having any more mudslinging.
@blym:
Dum dee dum. Don't be so hasty.
Momonga said this, "It's not the best of situations, but…according to the treaty the government have with the Kuja, we are not permitted to stray within three kilometres of the isle of women." as well as "This compulsory assembly of the Shichibukai is an absolute order of the World Government!!! If you refuse to attend, the treaty is void!! Your Shichibukai status will be revoked!!!"
Nyon had this to say, "If you lose your title and we become just a country of pirates...there'd be deaths!!"
Nowhere in the manga does it state that the WG will attack Amazon Lily if Hancock loses her Shichibukai status. Amazon Lily will just be labelled a country of pirates. This gives the bounty hunters incentive to hunt down the Amazon pirate crew. It doesn't mean 2 countries will go to war when a peace treaty expires. You can have strained relations, the marines can now attack the Amazon pirate ship, but the WG doesn't have to attack Amazon Lily. And you still haven't argued how the WG would choose to hunt Amazon Lily, nothing more than an island of pirates then, since Hancock is no longer at the helm, over other pirate crews. This, when they have a war going with Whitebeard. If the WG wants to deal with Hancock, they hunt the Straw Hats, not Amazon Lily. As such, it is very possible that Hancock joins the Straw Hats partly due to her wish to protect her kingdom. Which is not in any way similar to how Franky joined; he joined partly due to his family wishes to protect him by sending him with the Straw Hats.
@stephen:
Nyon: You do nyot understand!
This island is protected by your "Seven Armed Seas" title.
In ages past, the Calm Belt acted as a powerful barrier
that kept us from externyal enyemies.
But no longer. With the nyew boating technology of the central men,
they have become able to reach us whenever they please.
Because you are a Seven Armed Sea,
the Kuja can live on piracy,
and they will nyot invade our isle.
If you lose your title, and we return to a
simple pillaging nyation, it will lead to catastrophe!!!
We have children and elderly on this island!!
This passage from Stephen's translation illustrates my point. Notice the strategic use of invade.
The WG didn't make veiled threats to all of the other pirate crews that they're could go after. I don't think they'll go easy on someone who has betrayed them.
@blym:
So if someone who's pro-Hancock joining makes a less than ideal argument, that means that Hancock is unlikely to join? People miss the fact that she's an empress herself (though i won't say the best), its entirely possible that she is disgusted by the WG's draconian rule, which is supported by the fact that Hancock hates the WG. Hell, she could join because she wanted to be appreciated as just herself, not as an empress, not as a pretty-face, not to be ordered around like a slave; to be free. Can't the Straw Hat family do that? Not grand enough? Chopper's dream was to see the world. Usopp just wanted to be a brave warrior of the sea.
Somebody makes a bad argument for Hancock's dream. I argued it would be bad for her to join for that reason. She seems to pretty much enjoying having screaming fans, and being seen as pretty, unless your position is that that's all an act. I'm not really getting a "princess locked in a tower dreaming of the world outside" vibe from her.
@blym:
Excuse me, who brought up Zoro, and that the crew already had a haki user? You did! I even highlighted that! Just because you cann't see Hancock contributing to the running of the ship, she can't join? Usopp firing the cannons when needed is a skill? Yet if Hancock fights off pirate crews from the ship it cannot be considered a skill? What's Zoro's skill then? First mate? You have to be kidding, because I see Sanji as the man with a plan! Brooke's skill? Since when is music crucial to sailing? Even Chopper joined because Luffy wanted a transforming reindeer! I don't understand why crewmembers have to fill an important role to join the Straw Hats when you have so many examples to the contrary. Why can't Hancock simply enjoy herself on the ship like the rest of them and defend the Straw Hats when the time comes?
Zoro is the exception to an otherwise unbroken rule. Yes, Firing the cannons is Ussop's skill. The reason this doesn't seem important is because Oda has chosen to not include many sea battles in the manga. We had an example when he fired the Gaon cannon at the flying fish riders. Although it's not a clear-cut issue, one can make a case for Zoro being the first mate. He inforced the leadership of the Captain in Water 7, and took responsibility at the end of Thriller Bark.