So when we arrived at Egghead, we all assumed that this was going to be a Franky-centric arc, given that up until this point, he’s been studying the work of Vegapunk. However, it was kind of disappointing to find out that he seemed to take a backseat in favor of (really great and powerful) connections to Robin and Luffy’s stories in the form of the second Ohara flashback and the lore behind Devil Fruits.
BUT, what if I told you that this is still going to be a Franky-centric arc, in a more direct way than you think?
The whole series so far has been about the new guard of the Worst Generation inheriting the will of the Old Guard of Pirates and leaders of the world. So it stands to reason that each of the Straw Hats and their dreams are tied to inheriting specific kinds of Wills. Luffy, for example, inherits Roger/Ace’s, and subsequently we find out that it’s tied to Joy Boy; Robin inherits Olvia and Saul’s wills, which are tied to Ohara, Zoro has Kuina’s which is more directly tied to the Shimotsukis, etc.
So what about Franky? Franky’s already inheriting Tom’s will, having built a dream ship he loves for the future Pirate King. But what if he inherits Vegapunk’s will in this arc?
Vegapunk’s dreams are for Free Energy and Free Knowledge to exist among the world. And in order to achieve this, he’s asked Luffy to take him off Egghead Island. Why? He suspects that the Government plans to kill him because his dreams have brought him too close to understanding the Ancient History of the world that the Government so desperately wants to keep hidden. But here’s the thing. In Chapter 1064, Satellite Shaka tells Dragon that “being a genius means being able to see even what your own future contains…”
Here’s where my theory comes into play: I don’t think Vegapunk makes it off Egghead Island.
CP0 will very much mortally wound Vegapunk, and he will physically be unable to join the Straw Hats on the journey to Elbaf (I imagine he will instruct them to go there and give Nami a log pose for it). BUT, being the genius that he is, he HAD A BACKUP PLAN.
A BACKUP PLAN, IN THE FORM OF BARTHOLOMEW KUMA.
Kuma and Vegapunk, very early on, cut a deal for the sake of his daughter Bonney’s future, that he would allow himself to be transformed into a cyborg and become mindless, SO THAT VEGAPUNK COULD UPLOAD HIMSELF INTO KUMA AS A FAILSAFE. If Vegapunk did this, he would not only become a brilliant genius, but an absolute UNIT capable of fending off his foes. That’s why Kuma is paw-pawing himself to Egghead.
However, because Kuma is so incredibly damaged and/or he doesn’t make it in time Vegapunk is unable to upload himself to Kuma in time. SO WHO’S THE NEXT BEST CYBORG?
OUR DEAR BOI FRANKY.
Franky directly inherits Vegapunk’s will for Free Energy and Knowledge by connecting himself to Punk Records and allowing Vegapunk’s consciousness to be uploaded into Franky’s systems. However, I doubt Vegapunk’s genius will totally overtake Franky’s, so I think Vegapunk will almost act like this virtual assistant to Franky.
ADDITIONALLY, “Frankapunk” now gains control over the 6 Satellites to interact with and utilize as research and defense satlllites, which makes total sense, because what in his origin story was he building?
BATTLE FRANKIES. In this way, Vegapunk’s satellites become a spiritual successor to Franky’s Battle Frankies, and they would be machines that Franky could really take pride in.
So yeah, that’s my thought about how Franky might inherit Vegapunk’s will. We’ll see if it happens, and the evidence is definitely there to support it!
*Theory by TheDPurcell
