I’ll just say this, after his fight with Killer, his new interaction with Drake in Chapter 1052, and with the new recontextualized perspective of his actions and thoughts during the raid, but also before that when Kaido first defeated his alliance. I now truly find Hawkins to be an extremely interesting character. I liked his attitude during the Killer fight and a little bit during his encounters with Law during Act 1, but not much more than that. Not even when he came face to face against Kizaru which I personally found a bit dull. Personally.
A man who had the power to see his own fate and lived his life being bounded by the results dictated on his cards without much thought, always taking the easy way out without taking unnecessary risks; who got to witness first hand the true determination of a conqueror like Kid and his crewmate Killer against all odds and in the face of death in the form of THE Yonko encompassing the embodiment of might.
The same Yonko he feared facing and made him submit, but now with regrets. Whether if out of shame, repentance, resentment, simple pride or all plus a newfound sense of entitlement and determination, he decided to finally face against his own demons and against his own fate, even when he could have switched sides like he used to do; to finally put up a fight against death itself. The words Killer told him during their fight now resonate even more.
He actually put his life on the line like the people he envied and betrayed in a now revealed to be an extremely dire situation that he was very aware of; and in my eyes, he gained some form of redemption and solace through it. In a way, he chose to not be a scummy rat switching sides like Apoo and gained a form of vindication.
I have a newfound respect for him, and again, he finally actually truly became an intriguing character beyond just having interesting powers. To me. Now I know he is implied to have died, and if he did, I’m all for it. I think it would be a good conclusion for a character that Oda didn’t originally planned.
*by RegulusBlue
