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WANO COUNTRY
A LOOK BACK AND ONWARDS (THEORY)
One Piece is on break this week so I’m going to bring you guys a look back and theorize a few things I believe will transpire in Wano.
RECAP
Here we are, already a few chapters into the long awaited and foreshadowed arc, Wano Country. Let’s briefly recap what already happened this arc. We first see our first glimpse of Wano in chapter 909 “Seppuku.” The chapter shows us what the Strawhats that were a part of the Wano dispatch group from Zou are up to. We see that they are all in disguise trying to lay low and gather information and allies in their cause against the Shogun and Kaido. Of all the undercover roles of the Strawhats, the most interesting one is Robin’s. Robin is trying to get passed as a Geisha, trying to earn the right to get in a room with the Shogun himself. This will be a pivotal plot point in the arc. In chapter 910 “Onwards to Wano Country,” we go back to see the other half of the Strawhats on their way to Wano from Whole Cake Island. In classic One Piece fashion, this chapter portrayed a myriad of gorgeous panels giving that good old adventure feeling that I’ve missed from the series. It gave me Skypiea vibes. We end the chapter with the crew ending up split up with Luffy washed up on shore by himself coming in contact with unique creatures and a couple of bandits. He makes light work of them, as he should, and the chapter ends with the reveal that Basil Hawkins is aware of his presence. For chapter 912, check out the review I put out last week!
THEORY TIME
Alrighty then, where to start?!! I have a lot of speculations as to what I think will happen in Wano. I, like many other fans, have been waiting for this arc for years and to see it playing out is amazing. I’m going to try to organize my thoughts as best as I can, so please bear with me.
Zoro
I’ll get the obvious theories out of the way first. Last chapter revealed the Nidai Kitetsu, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. Zoro has Sandai Kitetsu, a lesser version of Nidai. I think you know where I’m going with this. Zoro will get a new sword this arc, possibly more than one. Shodai Kitetsu isn’t one of the 21 Great Grade swords so an upgrade to another cursed sword will be cool, and Luffy just so happens to be carrying it. I believe Shodai will break and Zoro will wield Nidai in its place.
The expectations for Zoro in this Wano arc are high: a land of Samurai, our vice-captain wanting to be the greatest swordsman in the world, we all want to see him kick ass and show us what he really has. Zoro has been on cruise control so far through the New World and I, like many other fans, believe this is the arc Zoro will show us everything he has. I believe Zoro will have 2 big opponents this arc. One will be one of Kaidos Calamities, and his final fight will be against none other than the Shogun of Wano. We find out the name of the Shogun is Kurozumi Orochi, which roughly translates to Blackheaded Serpent. Very spooky. This is going to get a little tin foily, so just hear me out. Shout out to the One Piece YouTube community for shedding light to this. It seems that Kurozumi Orochi is inspired by the name Yamata no Orochi, a Japanese mythological 8 headed Serpent or Dragon. Long story short, Yamata no Orochi and the storm God Susanoo had beef and Susanoo eventually defeats Orochi and cuts off one of the tails. A legendary sword comes out of the tail, Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Now, I believe that the Shogun will be wielding this sword, and I believe this sword is one of the 12 Supreme Grade swords, just like Mihawks. Here is where is may get even crazier. So Oda released a One Shot called Monsters before One Piece was released, and in this one shot, it told the story of a Ronin named Ryuma and in the end he confronted a Dragon and cut its head off. This Ryuma in Monsters and the Ryuma we meet at Thriller Bark who gave Zoro his sword Shisui, the legendary sword of Wano and also one of the 21 Great Grade swords, is the same person. So history may repeat itself with the successor of Ryumas sword defeating a man based off a mythical 8 headed Dragon. There has been a fan theory going around that Ryuma and Zoro may actually be related, but I’m not going to talk about that, we’ll find out sooner rather than later.
The Kozuki Clan
I’m very excited to see more of the Kozuki clan. As revealed on Zou, the Kozuki clan were the ones who created the poneglyphs. This is end of series, mystery revelation stuff that I’m dying for. I believe that during the Wano arc, there will be revelations about the void century. The way I believe the revelations will come is through a flashback, in similar fashion to what happened in Skypiea and the revelation of the Norland and Calgara backstory. This Kozuki clan backstory will potentially give us details as to why they decided to write the history of the ancient kingdom on these poneglyphs, in addition to their relationship with the fallen ancient kingdom. Possibly even another Joy Boy reference, like the one we got from the poneglyph in FIshmen Island. It may even span up until the relationship between Momonosuke’s father, Odin, and Roger.
The Worst Generation: The Supernova
Wano is harboring a bunch of Supernova. There are 8 Supernova involved in this arc Luffy, Zoro, Law, Drake, Kidd, Killer, Hawkins, and Apoo. It’s not crazy to assume that Capone and Urouge might also get involved as the arc continues. That would mean 10 of the 11 Supernova would all be in Wano, A Sabaody reunion if you will. The only one missing here is Bonnie and we know she is tied up with events in the Reverie with Kuma. Regardless of how many Supernova are present, it’s safe to theorize that these Supernova will come together by the end of Wano to take on Kaido and the Beast pirates. But how?
Law and X Drake
Let’s start with the elephant in the room which is, where the hell is Law? He came to Zou with Zoro and the rest of the Strawhats, but his crew and himself are nowhere to be seen. We all know Law as a character who calculates and plans out things in order to succeed. I believe Law and Drake have been in contact for some time, plotting for these 2 years to eventually take down Kaido. Law and Drake’s relationship is interesting, ever since we saw Law’s backstory in the Dressrosa arc. In Law’s backstory, we saw a young Drake on the same island where Corazon ended up during and where Drake eventually got on a Marine ship and Law made his escape. It seems their roles in this story were meant to overlap at some point, and that point is this Wano conflict with Kaido. We know that Drake had some sort of issue with Kaido before the time skip since the first thing he did when he got to the New World was to get Kaido’s attention by attacking one of Kaido’s favorite islands. Later we find out that Drake is working for Kaido, and is a Headliner in his crew. The main question with Drake is why? Why did Drake want to confront Kaido? Why did he decide to go under Kaido? Is it because he realized just how powerful Kaido was and got scared? Or is there something more to it? I think there is something more for sure. Similar to Capone and the Big Mom Pirates, I believe Drake is trying to gain the trust of Kaido and the Beast pirates in order to gain leverage to eventually try to defeat him. BUT, I do believe that is only one part of a multi-step plan that Law came up with.
This theory I’m about to talk about has been out there for a while and I see some merit to it. The theory revolves around the idea that this Kaido conflict is an allegory to the Napoleon Bonaparte. For a brief history overview to help me tie this with One Piece, Napoleon and the French Empire had major influence over Spain. In short, there were two key battles that lead to the demise of Napoleon. The first was the battle of Trafalgar, a naval battle which involved the Spanish allies of France being defeated by Britain and her allies. The second major defeat that Napoleon faced was at the Battle of Waterloo. OKAY, DO YOU SEE HOW SPOOKY THIS IS? Laws full name is Trafalgar D Water Law!!!!! The first portion of his name symbolizes the events that transpired in Dressrosa, eliminating a key resource for Kaido, the artificial Devil Fruits. This Battle of Waterloo allegory has yet to take place and it is in my belief that this battle will be the climax of this Wano arc. It seems as if the character of Law has been built up or this sole purpose. Being the mastermind in a plot to defeat Kaido, part one of his plan was to destroy the smile factories, and part 2, in my opinion, is being executed in the shadows with X Drake. That being said, I theorize that by the end of this arc, Law will in fact die. From a story telling standpoint, his purpose would have been served and it would also show us the reader that going against someone like Kaido has consequences. I do believe that his death will be a self-sacrifice, hinted in Dressrosa. The Op Op no mi has the ability to grant someone immortality with the sacrifice of the user’s life. I believe either Law will use this power to somehow negate Kaidos so called immortality OR, use his ability to bring back a fallen comrade from death, that comrade being Luffy. Yes, I do believe that Luffy will die fighting Kaido and that Law will sacrifice himself to bring Luffy back.
How will they actually take down Kaido? I have no clue besides a multiple Supernova going against him at the same time. I do think that Marco will also show up. Will he even be defeated this arc? I honestly don’t know, and to be honest, I don’t think they will defeat Kaido. Kaido isn’t the only big threat on that island, he has his Calamities, and if they are anything like Katakuri, this is going to be one tough hole to dig out of.
Big Mom and Kaido
Big Mom and her crew will arrive at Wano at the climax of the arc. Even with all the planning, I do not believe that Kaido will fall this arc, they may give a major blow and crack the armor that is his Monstrous presence, but I see a massacre happening. Kaido will be too much for these fresh pirates to handle and their saving grace by coincidence will be Big Mom and her crew. Upon arrival, Kaido will change his attention to Big Mom and be furious. She came for Luffy, just as Kaido is in the process of dealing with Luffy. Strawhats and crew will use this as a chance to retreat and regroup.
How will the Arc End?
Piggybacking off the last part, I see Marco escorting the Strawhats away back to Whitebeards home village to recover from battle. Ace and Whitebeards graves are also in this village and a moment I’ve been waitingfor is to see is Luffy in front of Ace’s grave. By now seeing the full on wrath of two Yonkou, it’s a possibility that Luffy will realize that he isn’t strong enough as he’s admitted this to Big Mom and said that he will get stronger and come back to fight her. This island, this safe haven, under the shadow of the graves of Ace and Whitebeard, would be an opportune place to get stronger for Luffy and the crew.
Conclusion
I wanted to talk about so much more but I feel like I could go on for hours and hours. I hope you enjoyed this theory discussion and feel free to follow us on twitter and Instagram and let me know your theories! ….
.…TO BE CONTINUED X
~ S