Luffy has often called Law his friend and even implied he’s a member of his crew, which has been a running joke ever since the two formed an alliance on Punk Hazard. Of course, Law has always responded with frustration, but this is a case of Law protesting too much. The truth is, Law and Luffy have become friends even if Law refuses to admit to the existence of this bond. Law fully intended to die on Dressrosa in bringing down Doflamingo, so although he proposed the alliance on the basis that together he and Luffy would take down Kaido, this was never his real goal.
Once Doflamingo was defeated, if he were entirely self-serving, Law could have broken ties with the Straw Hats, but is now keeping his word in seeing through the plan to take down Kaido to the end, despite the fact Luffy has also incurred the wrath of Big Mom, making the mission much more dangerous. While I don’t believe Law will join the Straw Hat Pirates, I do think he and Kinemon occupy a special place as permanent allies and though they may part ways with the Straw Hats at the end of the Wano arc, I suspect both will be present for the final war to fight alongside the Straw Hats in the endgame of the series.
I really enjoy the rivalry between Luffy, Law, and Kid, which in this chapter veers into childish territory as the three challenge each other not to flinch while Big Mom attacks. This continues the trend of the first mate being the most responsible member of the crew with Zoro yelling from the sideline.
While I’m not particularly interested in the power-scaling debate, I do think Oda has done a good job here of showing the Straw Hats grow stronger at a reasonable pace. Luffy has certainly become more powerful in his voyage through the New World and has learned advanced techniques from both allies like Hyogoro and adversaries like Katakuri. Yet, Oda has shown restraint here in that there still remains a significant power differential between the Worst Generation Captains and the Emperors.
As such, I still believe, despite their combined strength, Luffy, Law, Kid, Killer, and Zoro are outmatched by Big Mom and Kaido. In keeping with Toki’s prophecy, I believe four more allies will at some point step in to turn the odds in Luffy’s favor. Yamato and Marco seem like strong candidates and I still believe Momonosuke will play a critical role in liberating Wano, finally living up to the legacy of his father Kozuki Oden.
Full Video Review:
*Theory by StrawHatJedi
