@King-Cannon Unless the food was teleported, he should know who helped him. He has the reflexes and perception to notice something like that.
But he knowing or not is not important, us readers being informed is.
@King-Cannon Unless the food was teleported, he should know who helped him. He has the reflexes and perception to notice something like that.
But he knowing or not is not important, us readers being informed is.
I'm intrigued by the help because the most logical moment to reveal it is when the helper becomes relevant to the plot. If it's Kizaru, for instance, I expect Luffy to mention it before the big fight ("Why did you give me food?").
Likewise, I feel if it was Caribou or the Blackbeard Pirates, it would have been revealed together with their appearance, either just before or during it. I guess it could still be revealed at the start of next chapter if it's still covering the Blackbeards' actions, but I feel that does not work as good as a prelude to their presence revealed, and it's more likely they'll disappear until the end of the arc, when revealing it would have no impact anymore.
@Seafarer33 said in Chapter 1107: I've Been Looking For You!!:
Speaking of Blackbeard pirates, could it be they're here for the Seraphim ? Everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten about them with the bombing, but as fars as I remember they weren't left heavily guarded. Devon and Van Augur could have been around long enough to catch some information about the Pacifista chain of command and look whose impersonation did she just secure? The world's highest authority.
That's exactly what I think. The Blackbeard Pirates came for the Seraphim, and now they got the highest authority to order them around. Catarina Devon just needs to command them to obey Teach and his crew and ignore all other orders, and no one (except maybe Bonney, but restricted only to S-Bear) can outrank them.
I was forgetting that we still have one mystery left that could bring some surprise to the arc.
Who brought Luffy food? The most common suggestions I find are Caribou or Van Augur, followed by Luffy himself manifesting food out of his Nika powers.However, I feel if it was Caribou or Van Augur, the reveal would have preceeded or followed their reveal in 1107.
There's also the old but now far less likely possibility of it being Kizaru.
But who do you think it could be? And how could this reveal impact this arc?
@The-Franky-Tank In theory the marines should still be a major threat due to how stacked they were supposed to be. But with how Oda has downplayed Kizaru, Akainu kept glued to his office, and auxiliary forces like Vice-Admirals were pretty much reduced to jokes, it does feel the marines have become too weak to compare.
@Johnny-B-Decent I imagined things just fell into place. Since Teach had an eye on Winner island expecting one of the 3 captains to show up there, he probably kept watch over Egghead and Elbaf as well.
So, when things started to happen, started moving to gain something out of it. Now, their full game is still unknown, but they probably saw the big bad Elder and just waited for the opportunity to get that big prize.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1107: I've Been Looking For You!!:
Counterpoint on conscripts: Issho and Aramaki were new recruits.
Counter-counterpoint: Issho turned out to use his position to further his own agenda, and both him and Aramaki have broken hierarchy and defied orders.
When you think about it, the whole Warlord fiasco and formation of Cross Guild came from Issho's actions.
You just don't take a strong person and give them a high status expecting they will fall in line and embrace protocols. They may be strong, but they didn't rise on ranks naturally.
@Captain-M Conscripting inexperienced recruits is not the same as having experienced sailors, and building new ships can only go so fast.
The marines have been suffering terrible losses. Doflamingo's fall cut the government's source of Seastone. They were trying to negotiate with Orochi directly, but now Wano is free again.
Cross Guild was already threatening the morale of the marines, with Sengoku flat out saying they could become a major problem ahead.
Because of the Warlords, it's confirmed the marines lost two fleets (Buggy's and Weevil's) and suffered damage on a third (Hancock's). We don't know what happened to the fleet sent to capture Mihawk, but I doubt they fared way better.
And now in Egghead they are potentially losing dozens of ships and maybe even an Admiral.
Things are not looking good to the marine's naval forces. Yes, trhe World Government can still amass a fleet for some important battle, but that means the marines would be less and less present in outer seas. That makes pirates way stronger.
After Egghead, I feel the marines as a military force will be crippled. Not only they are losing a mega-Buster Call force, they lost at least two whole fleets and a partial one when they went after the Warlords. Yes, they’d still have powerhouses like the Admirals, but their vast fleet and weapons will be spent, which will make the seas pretty lawless.
@access-timeco The punchbag part checks out, at least.
I do think there's a very likely chance that Saturn goes down with a combo duo-Nika attack from Bonney and Luffy, so I kinda agree.
Hey, it's not like Saturn has any reputation left to maintain at this point.
@Cockycent I do see Kizaru as the strongest enemy here, but while either Sanji or Luffy could be his opponent, I feel only Luffy works as Saturn's opponent.
We've seen the "weak boss" having his top fighter challenge Luffy before, but in this case, there's just a lot of connections between Bonney, Kuma, Saturn and Nika, and Saturn is still a threat (in theory) that could have his own brand of "magical power" (also theory). So, Luffy fighting him while he torments Bonney and Kuma could lead to us knowing more about the nature of Luffy's power, as well as work as a way of hyping whatever "magic" he uses as a warm-up to other Elders and Imu.
@Cockycent His fight will probably be good because at least he can vent his frustrations on someone he doesn't care about, while also giving time for Bonney and the others to escape.
@Gear-4-Sauce Well, she will join them at some point. Dunno if it's Elbaf, there was more setup for Egghead with the invasion of Amazon Lily, but she still has to leave the island and seek Luffy, if she's not already doing so. It's just a matter of when, not if.
Some quick comments:
I wonder where this "Sunny can't stop" sub-sub-sub-plot is going. Mark my words, Oda is going to turn this into something unexpected.
Also, since the ship can't stop, what happens to Zoro and Jinbe, who are nowhere near the ship's path?
The unofficial translation seemed like Zoro could have a hidden advantage ("You are not the one in control of this fight" or something like that), while the official makes it seem like Zoro is just pointing out that neither of them is in control of the fight's flow.
I previously predicted Lucci would fool Zoro into getting lost so he could rescue Yorki or free the Seraphim, but now it feels we are getting a real but quick fight with a definitive end ahead.
The G5 memes were right. Luffy is still smiling and doing gags even thought Vegapunk is dying, lol. I miss the old Luffy...
Saturn keeps being a failure of a villain. He doesn't feel threatening at all at this point. To me, he's the worst main villain we've got in the entire series. I'm sure he will pull some tricks in his fight, but due to the arc's nature, he will soon meet his swift defeat.
Oh, no! Vegapunk is dying. Anyway... Why should we be worried? Even if he dies (which everyone doubts, but it's possible), there's still three other Vegapunks with his memories (plus a 4th one, but that's a villain).
Sanji vs Kizaru is something that I always wanted to see but was losing hope it would really happen. I'm so excited for this. It's probably the thing that excites me the most for the remainder of Egghead.
AND THE STARS ENTER THE STAGE!
Unfortunately, this destroys my theory about the Blackbeard ship (thought there's still a tiny tiny tiny fragment of sliver of hope), but, hey, at least they came and they conquered this chapter.
I was always fascinated by Van Augur. And I was always and doubtless in the "Teach is the final villain" team. The Blackbeard Pirates are rising, while the World Government is crumbling on its own weight and incompetence.
It seems the redefining phase of the arc is almost over. Next chapters could still bring some twists and turns before the final fights begin, but the path now seems very straightforward. The arc is ending in around 20 chapters, maybe a bit less than that.
This was probably the best non-flashback non-cutaway chapter of Egghead so far. The arc still has a lot of problems (crew doing pretty much nothing, a pitiful villain, lukewarm tension, lots of off-screening), but at least it's tail end seems to be short and sweet.
@King-Cannon Yes, but his flashback takes over 50% of the volume, so I expected it to be referenced in the cover.
@Cockycent the thing is: that conflict with York was off-screened and ended up being just a side quest, while Bonney was away to witness Kuma’s memories, which makes 8 chapters of flashback possible.
In the end, Bonney being away ended up being way more important than all the death game shenanigans.
@Cockycent said in Official Egghead Thread:
Majority of the 1st 30 chapters went away from her and centered on him, his inventions, and CP0. The whole Seraphim debacle, Oda kept her out for most of it.
No, it didn't. She was present for most of those chapters, only getting unconscious for a bit just before and during Luffy vs Lucci.
All the time, the story has been following her journey. She's the character introducing Egghead to Luffy, she's the one questioning Vegapunk, she's the one Vegapunk says he wants to give something, she finding Kuma's bubble is a big deal.
Vegapunk is important to the big picture, but the emotional arc here is all Bonney's/Kuma's. They are the ones the story begins hinting at and then halts so their past is told. It's to her that Nika's revelation is most important. Kuma and her are the biggest victims of Saturn's acts. It's for her and Kuma that Vegapunk goes out of the way to defy Saturn. Not to mention that Kuma is the character that was actually introduced hundreds of chapters ago and whose story has been teased for over a decade.
@Captain-M said in Vivre Card: One Piece Visual Dictionary:
There's no actual statement in the story that Luffy left exactly on his 17th birthday. He just waited til after he was 17 to get started. How much after, be it hours, days or months, is anyone's guess.
Frankly, considering how Luffy is, I doubt he'd wait almost one year (May to Feb) to leave. I figure he'd leave ASAP in his grand adventure he waited 10 years for.
Still, since the story does not outright says it, there's window for Luffy to have waited a bit... for reasons. I just don't think Oda really cares for those details.
It wouldn't make sense for Luffy to start his journey in Februrary, since he left in his 17th birthday, which is in May. He leaving in February would make Luffy 16 years old for pretty much the entire pre-timeskip journey.
However, I feel the birthdays are just Oda finding fun dates for each character, not something he really had in mind to matter in the story. I agree with @Captain-M in that trying to make the timeline fit into real dates is pointless and will most likely introduce inconsistencies. Just trying to fit the timeline into everyone's birthdays so their ages fit would make this effort a nightmare.
@Cockycent said in Official Egghead Thread:
I have to disagree about this arc being about just Bonney/Kuma. The centerpiece is VP/Saturn.
I can't agree with that. The arc starts with Bonney, her journey has been the most significant one, an entire 8-chapter flashback (1/5 of the arc) is for her and Kuma. Luffy's big G5's nature reveal was a Bonney moment. This is where the arc's heart lies.
Saturn's biggest emotional conflict is about Kuma's existence and how Saturn kept crawling back to ruin Kuma's life again and again. Compare Vegapunk's conflict with Saturn and it's way less personal. Saturn is coming to end Vegapunk because the later did something forbidden, and it's just it.
Vegapunk is a very simple character. He has depth, sure, but he's not the emotional center of the arc. It doesn't help that he has split himself into 7 so we could even see he dying (a 3rd time if we count Pythagoras and Shaka) and it wouldn't be that terrible since all other Vegapunks share his memories and knowledge.
And, should we move away from Egghead with things left unresolved, Vegapunk's story would be among many of those things. York's treason, Vegapunk's creations (Seraphim and Mother Flame) and even Vegapunk's fate would likely be among the many unresolved plot points carried to future arcs, while Kuma/Bonney's story is pretty much in the center of Egghead and has little to carry over for the future (which doesn't mean they wouldn't have future roles. what I mean is that the father/daughter story and their tormentor are all things that should be resolved here and now).
I just don't see in anyway how we would move away from Egghead resolving all of Vegapunk's issues but leaving the Kuma/Bonney story unresolved. And that shows how the later story is way more crucial to this particular arc than the former.
@ea77 I know Plastic Man, but there's a reason why he's relegated to humor and not used much outside of it. The guy is a tension killer.
At Marvel, Squirrel Girl has beaten Thanos, Galaktus and Doctor Doom. And that's the joke. It doesn't make her a great character template...
@hideoushorrendous said in Chapter 1106: On Your Side:
and nobody talks about the miracle reviving to 100% hp after he was at near death status
I really dislike how Luffy was tanking needless hits as if he wasn't near death at that point. Kaido hits him again, again, and again, with Luffy barely trying to dodge (unless the dodging was used for some joke), and it just don't feel like there's any stakes, because cartoon characters aren't really made for tension.
@cavendishsama To me, there are only a few moments in that fight in which G5 feels like Luffy. When he pulls Bajrang Gun is one of those, but for most of the fight Luffy is taking hits because he's fooling around, while usual Luffy would be trying his darnest to avoid them. Kaido is constantly getting free hits on an already near-death Luffy, the only thing saving Luffy there is G5's absurd endurance.
@RomanceDawn said in Chapter 1106: On Your Side:
Being an animal or creature/Zoan I’m thinking the personality of the creature is influencing Luffy just a bit.
I actually hope this is the case and Luffy will at some point need to "conquer" Nika in order to better use G5 (or even to not have his own personality eventually overwritten).
@Captain-M I find this arc's structure too strange to be sure of any path. I could see some stuff being left for later, like the York and the Seraphim, but I feel the arc should at least have internal consistency and close up its main conflict, which is Bonney's and Kuma's story, and that would require Saturn's defeat. But I just don't see us defeating the main villain while leaving his forces behind, especially when Saturn has Kizaru as his bodyguard.
Oda plays freely with scale. When you think about it, being pierced by Saturn's leg should split Vegapunk in half...
For reference, notice in the Kuma panel adult Bonney in his arms, and compare her to Saturn's leg width.
I see two pathes ahead for Egghead. The long path and the shortcut. Which is which?
The shortcut was enabled by the giants arriving and makes the arc end abruptly while leaving a ton of unresolved stuff for later in the final saga. If so, Luffy and crew get some swift but minor victories and escape the island, leaving its spoils for the World Government. In the shortcut scenario, neither Saturn nor Kizaru are really defeated, and, while the heroes escape, York and the Seraphim are successfully rescued by the World Government, who now has the Mother Flame. If that's the path taken, the arc is going to end in around 10 chapters.
The long path is a bit more complicated. In this case, the villains turn the tide and stop the heroes from escaping. Lucci rescues York and the Seraphim, but they become more forces to be dealt with not in trhe future, but within Egghead itself. In the long path scenario, we have big final battles, and Saturn meets his defeat. This is a major blow to the WG, who loses a lot of firepower and is left more vulnerable than ever. In that the case, the next 10 or so chapters deal with the villains regaining the upper hand.
Which scenario to you think as more likely?
@Nectar said in Chapter 1106: On Your Side:
I think some fans overestimate how much they influence Oda, especially us non-Japanese fans. Oda's smart enough to not let the inmates run the asylum.
Frankly, any author that changes plans because a portion of the audience figure out or randomly guess a resolution is a very terrible storyteller. You can’t really lay out clues and be upset people figured them out, nor you can expect no one in millions of fans will ever guess an outcome. Changing things does not retroactively changes past build-up, you end up messing your whole story.
@Sengokusgoat said in Official Egghead Thread:
That fridge stuff seems somewhat nitpicky.
By themselves none of the issues are enough to make the arc bad. It's all of them together that do. THe fridge logic would be more bearable if there weren't so many idiot ball moments, and vice-versa. I just find the narrative very sloppy here. It feels like things happen just because the plot demands them, not because there's some internal logic that makes them organic to the plot.
@Sengokusgoat said in Official Egghead Thread:
A murder mystery with a resolution that is hard to pull off in a satisfying way (It was the character you forgot existed!)
How I hated that revelation. Oda essentially dropped no clues to solve the mystery, it was impossible to logically deduce the culprit. People essentially had to randomly guess whodunnit.
@Sengokusgoat said in Official Egghead Thread:
but the cutaways just have almost nothing to do with the actual arc
I say the Kid/Shanks and Cross Guild segments should have happened before Egghead started.
I'm still on the fence about the Law/Blackbeard and Garp/Koby segments wouldn't be better as a inter-arc event after Egghead, it will depend on what comes out of that Blackbeard ship and how it ties to those segments.
But the Sabo/Reverie segment does make a lot of sense to be placed there, as it's related to Egghead events indirectly and help explain a lot about the arc.
Still, that makes the 10-chapters cutaway (plus random scenes in other chapters) at least 2 chapters, and potentially 6 chapters, too long.
@Saturnchild no one will have your answer, as it wasn’t shown in the manga.
She got injured during the cutaway scenes in Egghead. Before that, as the Seraphim were hunting everyone, Robin, Chopper and Atlas were safe and heading to Labophase’s basement, where York was.
S-Snake was heading towards the tower/floor where Sanji, Nami and Brook were fighting S-Shark. S-Hawk was also heading there, followed by Zoro and Kaku. We know Kaku was injured fighting two Seraphim alone, so Zoro presumably got lost while Kaku ended up against both S-Snake and S-Hawk.
With all Seraphim busy, and Robin moving away from where they presumably were, I deduce Robin was injured by York when she and the others arrived in the basement. It could’ve been a trap by York, or maybe it hints at York having powers.
I recommend reading Chapters 1075-1078 and try to come with your own conclusions.
@Nectar You may be right, but it's weird that Oda has to spend over a year solely in world building. It really feels like Egghead could have been way shorter if that was the sole objective.
While I see many praising Egghead, I feel it's actually been one of the worst arcs in One Piece, save for two portions of it: the cutaway scenes and Kuma's flashback.
Those are great, and it's ironic for me to praise the cutaways, since I was not a fan when they happened. It's simple to understand my shift: when the cutaways happened, I was very interested in the main story and had big expectations out of it, so cutting away to unrelated stuff for so long felt punishing. But when we returned from them, the main story became a mess. In comparison to that mess, the cutaways are actually fine. Garp's assault on Hachinosu is cool. Sabo's reverie flashback was great. I have less good will toward the Kid/SHanks and Cross Guild segments, but they at least were short.
Likewise, Kuma's flashback was a very strong piece of storytelling. Oda took some risks in there, and he delivered a shockingly tragic story. 10/10.
But ignoring those parts, Egghead itself is plagued with problems. There's a lot of fridge logic and idiot ball issues in it.
Fridge Logic is when a story seems fine in the surface, but if you are paying attention you start seeing some logic problems in it. For instance, the rules for Pacifista command are a total mess and keep changing all the time. There are two instances in which the villains have to get control from someone higher in hierarchy by beating that person unconscious. But there are also two instances in which the heroes could do so (with Lucci and York) and that rule is just forgotten. Also, Egghead's location makes no damn sense. Are you telling me the Government allowed its main scientist to set up shop right in the middle of Wano, Hachinosu and Elbaf with no issue? A place its enemies could attack in hours, but the WG itself would take days to reach?
And then we get the idiot balls. That's when a character who should know better must act take an idiotic decision just so the plot can advance in certain ways. For instance, the heroes having Rob Lucci completely free right in their middle like he was a honorbound ally. And let me not go into the villains... Saturn has been an incompetent fool. In the span of five chapters or so he made more mistakes than anyone should be allowed. Not binding captured devil fruit users in seastone, not verifying if his safety measures were really installed...
There's also a not small gripe in that the Straw Hats themselves have done practically nothing the entire arc. They spent most of the story watching things in monitors, wandering corridors or carrying cargo. Their only victory was off-screened and depended on plot saving them. Even Luffy has mostly wandered from place to place fighting battles that just weren't entertaining. Oh, he fights Lucci, but Lucci is not defeated. He fights Kizaru, but it just leaves Kizaru stunned a bit.
So, when I read Ch 1106 and Saturn is fooled AGAIN, and the Pacifistas turned sides AGAIN, and Luffy gets into G5 so soon AGAIN, and the Straw Hats do nothing AGAIN, and the plot brings help to save the day AGAIN, it just struck me: I'm not entertained.
@Captain-M There's some weird stuff on how this arc was done. It's possible, but so weird, if the heroes just fight their way off and escape.
I could see the arc ending with a ton of unresolved stuff that will make sense later in the final saga. But, at the same time, it doesn't feel like that's a great resolution. Will we beat Saturn so Bonney and Kuma get justice, or will we just bail?
I seriously can't tell, and this wouldn't be the first nor second time in this arc shifts in unexpected ways. I'm still pissed off for the Labophase off-screen resolution, and then when we returned a lot of people were certain the arc would soon end with the heroes escaping soon after Ch 1089.
I feel we could still have the villains pulling out some serious guns to turn the tide in their favor again. There's enough threats remaining to provide match-ups for each crewmate and then some (9 vice-admirals, 4 Seraphim, York, Kizaru, Saturn, potentially the Blackbeard ship...). I'm not saying we will get that, thought, I'm just pointing out there are still too many elements in this arc to consider it near its end.
@blue-san said in Chapter 1106: On Your Side:
Guys you realize we are fast approaching 50 chapters of Egghead arc.
And the Straw Hats have practically done nothing in the entire arc.
@All-Fiction Why would they fight a huge marine force for Vegapunk?
@kevo_koma said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
But I just don't see Oda reusing Marco again for a long time.
Neither do I. I think Marco will just go help Weevil, no proof needed, because Weevil saved Sphynx in his absence.
It's just that the scene does work as setup for Marco appearing, thus people have some basis to speculate on.
@kevo_koma said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
How do hancock, Marco, Dragon and Barto even get to Egghead island.
Ironically, Marco actually has a fair bit of setting up, as we saw him in the previous day while Ms. Buckin was trying to convince him to seek Vegapunk to confirm Weevil's heritage.
I don't think it's him, thought, it's just that there is a hook that makes it possible for him to be going to Egghead for his own reasons as well as enough time to supposedly allow his arrival now.
@The-Light-of-Shandora Dragon would need literal long-distance teleportation at this point, since we saw him in Kamabakka while Kuma was already arriving in Egghead.
Even before we got confirmation he had not moved yet, it was hard to believe Dragon could arrive faster than Kuma.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
I wouldn't put money on your pet theory (sorry!)
No problem! I'm not looking for validation, just discussion. I'm always after new ideas to consider.
About the consequences of characters appearing, I agree that it would be strange for some characters to appear and then just leave at the end of the arc.
I didn't explore my favored scenairo too much, but the way I see it, it's Hancock staying with Luffy (because she needs to leave her homeland) and the others going their way because they came here for their own reasons and their original purpose (bring Hancock to Egghead and nullify Vegapunk's threat) is fulfilled, so they celebrate from afar and wave goodbye as the ships take their separate ways.
Changing subject a little bit, something that's bothering me is where the story goes if the newcomers are indeed the Blackbeard Pirates. Laffite and Devon by themselves wouldn't start attacking a marine ship before moving closer to Egghead, they'd use stealth to their advantage. So I assume it's the entire or most of the crew arriving.
But wouldn't that radically change the arc? Blackbeard would either replace the Straw Hats as the "heroes" of the arc, or replace Saturn and Kizaru as the main villains. Or even both, by first saving them day and then ruining it. Either way, the arc's themes so far, centered on Kuma/Bonney/Vegapunk, are kinda lost.
So, despite Blackbeard being the most likely answer, there's this matter of potential arc derailment.
@cavendishsama Wow, I wonder if that's intentional or an oversight, lol. Thought maybe it means it happened after the 4th day of Reverie, when the Charlos incident happened.
@cavendishsama said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
Also Leo appeared during Bege's cover story
I don't remember if he's there or just the rest of the Tontatta Pirates crew. That story happens during the Reverie, after all (Bege was seeking Thriller Bark but couldn't cross the Red Line because of all the marine vessels guarding it, so he makes a stop at Dressrosa, starting the whole adventure).
@cavendishsama The thing about the Grand Fleet is that at the same time they have all the resources to find and gather around Luffy, but on the other hand there has been no setup (that I can see) in this arc for them to gather here and now.
For instance, in Wano, the newspapers were telling about Luffy being in Wano and Big Mom going there after him for weeks before the Onigashima raid, and the Grand Fleet didn't gather. Notice that by the time of the raid, the Reverie was over by a whole week.
Then Luffy's Vivre Card almost disappears, and we spend one week "and a few days" in Wano, plus 6+ days at sea, and at no point it feels like the Grand Fleet made any move.
And the news on Egghead were out the same morning the siege began.
So, for the Grand Fleet to appear now, they'd need to start moving days ago. Unless Oda decides to make everything a happy coincidence, we just didn't see any events leading up to it.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
Plus, Vegapunk's got whatever teleportation thing he used in his introduction, the one that got him stuck half in the ancient robot and then took him straight back to Labophase, so the dude maybe had an exit strategy to justify the risks.
Oooooh, good point! I need to remember that!
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
but I'm curious to see where the issue with the ship sliding is meant to be going
I think it's just a gag for gag's sake. A light moment amid all the urgency. I'll be very surprised if suddenly the Sunny falls off the clouds, lol.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
But by who?
I made my analysis of candidates in the Egghead thread. Check it out! I'd love to see other opinions!
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1105: The Height of Folly:
Reading the takes on the various OP subreddits about this chapter after the scan release was, honestly, kinda depressing.
To me, the weirdest is people who have a certain idea and are not willing to apply any logic to it. Like someone who insisted to me that the one sinking the marine ship was the Iron Giant. When I pointed out it made no sense, the robot was in the island, it would need to get up, go past the entire blockade unnoticed, and target that lonely ship far away first, the reply was: "So? You don't know if the robot can teleport or go invisible!"
Also, the ammount of people who bring candidates out of nowhere, like Neo MADS "coming to save fellow scientists". When you point out that neither Judge nor Caesar would risk fighting a marine armada for so little, or that they just saved the workers, so there's no reason to move towards Egghead anymore, they come with weird answers like: "they want to see Vegapunk suffer"... ugh...
Not to mention all the people convinced Dragon is coming, despite he being in Kamabakka, on the other side of the Red Line, just minutes ago in-story.
Despite that, I've been searching for good analysis of candidates, hoping there's some good takes there.
Interesting tidbit by @sandman in Twitter:
"《Lost in translation》 Kizaru's speech is usually relaxed even when he fought Rayleigh, but this week his line “Go” sounds so serious in JP chapter. Also, the sfx of Doll hearing his words is used when someone stiffens her body in surprise or fear, showing Kizaru's resolve."
A possibility I didn't consider in my early analysis is Sabo, Karasu and maybe a few other RA members like Lindbergh.
I guess they could fly fast from Kamabakka. Maybe Dragon sent them after Sabo's debriefing because he was worried about Vegapunk, not especifically to follow Kuma.
However, I still find it far-fetched because Kuma had a big advantage and just arrived. I doubt they'd be so fast as to be arriving right now, minutes after Kuma. If they were coming, it would still take them a few hours.
@Shiebs If it's really the Blackbeard pirates, maybe Devon and Laffite called the others, and they are all arriving now.
@Johnny-B-Decent Good thing that's not Rayleigh's function here, then.
I don't expect him to leave the ship at all. He came to see his adoptive almost-daughter setting off safely.
There are some expecting Rayleigh to die here, but I don't think that will happen either. I just think he and his crew will be doing some pressure on the marine ships while the Straw Hats handle the main threats.
Who’s coming? The totally scientific and unquestionable chances, by me (warning: may be unscientific and questionable):
But “most likely” is not always “correct”. Reality and fiction often defy odds.
Putting the Revolutionaries so low may seem strange: they are related to Kuma, they were in the flashback, they are in this arc...
I myself thought they'd come when Egghead started. BUT Dragon, Ivankov and Morley were still in Kamabakka this morning, after the battle started...
Kuma has the fastest traveling ability we know of, and he's taken several hours to reach Egghead since leaving Mary Geoise at some point yesterday. Egghead is days away by ship, and at least hours even if you fly really fast. There's no way the RA could be attacking marine ships
In short, the RA are the one group that the story explicitly forbid from being already near Egghead.
All other not-mentioned candidates fall on the same 0.1%. Law? Kid? They have their own crews to reassemble and don't even have ships right now.
No one that's merely reacting to the news can arrive in time either. The newspaper came out this very morning!
For anyone to arrive now, they'd need to have left for Egghead previously for their own reasons. And the farther they were, the earlier they had to start moving.
So, Cross Guild... They are surely part of this arc. They are probably mobilizing for something. But nothing so far links them to Egghead, and we saw them still in Karaibari Island the day prior. There's a tiny chance they could be coming, but they lack any reason to do so.
Shanks. The chances are slightly higher.
He was in Elbaf, which is somewhat near. He has the resources to know a marine fleet was on the move beforehand. But, aside from that, he feels alien to Egghead's events. I doubt Luffy and Shanks are set to meet now.
It's weird to put Marco and Buckin above all previous candidates... But Buckin is related to MADS and Vegapunk, and she was trying to convince Marco to ask Vegapunk to prove Weevil was blood-related to Whitebeard. They could be coming to Egghead for their own reasons.
What makes me doubt Marco and Buckin as the newcomers is that... it's kind of an empty reveal. It's like: "Oh, it's them... yawn...". Also, it's a repeated beat because something similar already happened in Wano.
I think Marco will go save Weevil without needing proof of his lineage.
Now, that's at the same time likely and unlikely. It's possible because they can locate Luffy at any time through Vivre Card. Also, they are said to cause a major incident at some point. But there's two problems:
First, aside from Leo and Sai in the Reverie, almost a month ago, there's been no setup for the Grand Fleet to show up in Egghead.
Second, why would they appear now of all times? Like I said before, they can't be reacting to the news, it would take them days to assemble here.
And there was no call by the Straw Hats, nor any particularly worrying sign in the Vivre Card for them to mobilize.
To me, it was more likely for them to appear in Wano than Egghead, since the news on Luffy being in Wano while Big Mom hunted him were out weeks before the raid.
So, in short, while there's enough ways for the Fleet to assemble with Luffy, there hasn't been any good reasons for them to do so now out of all times.
If we analyze Egghead arc on its own, the greatest piece of setup for anyone to appear now is in Ch 1079. What's there?
Well, that's when we see the evacuation ship being boarded by the island's workers and technicians, while as Blackbeard ship looms in the distance, watching, waiting... It's no coincidence that the "someone is coming" was heralded by the escape ship being saved...
As such, whoever is coming must be related to that Blackbeard ship. The ship is obviously no longer right next to Egghead, or the marines would've seen it earlier. It clearly went away, probably to avoid the marine fleet.
So, which groups have access to a Blackbeard ship?
The Blackbeard Pirates are the obvious answer, of course. They are nearby, and last day we saw all of them but two, Laffite and Devon, occupied by their own stuff. But those two could be in the ship and warned the others, giving them enough time to arrive now...
So, the Blackbeard Pirates are the most likely answer, but not the only one.
Why? Because there's another group that may have access to a Blackbeard ship... And it's a group related to Luffy, that appeared beforehand in this arc while discussing the threat of Egghead's weapons.
Yes, I know, I know. I'm biased, ok, but bear with me. The last possibility, and my bet, is Boa Hancock, Rayleigh, and their close relatives (Shakky, Nyon, Sandersonia, Marigold).
Why would they have moved to Egghead beforehand? Because Hancock needs to leave her island but wants to keep it as safe as possible, and the biggest threat to it is Vegapunk's creations.
And how the heck could they be using a Blackbeard ship? Well, Blackbeard may have only partially accepted Koby's offer. He exchanged 800 marines for Koby, but still left Amazon Lily in a marine battleship, leaving his own ship behind.
I explain it in more detail in a reddit post, but the TLDR is:
Hancock & co had reasons to go to Egghead before they knew Luffy would be there.
Blackbeard left a ship behind in Amazon Lily and Rayleigh, crafty as he is, came with the plan to use it.
As such, that Blackbeard ship we saw near Egghead yesterday? That was Hancock & co arriving. They intercepted the escape ship and questioned the workers. Hancock left for the island upon learning Luffy is there. The others kept their distance, but remained nearby.
The one helping Luffy is Salome, Hancock's snake. Hancock herself is in the island right now. And, when the marines came to kill the refuges, Rayleigh and co decided it was time to get involved.
If that's so, they'll make their presence known very soon.
As such, this ship scouted the island yesterday, then must have distanced itself (probably to avoid being seen by the fleet) and is probably returning to Egghead now, maybe not alone anymore.