Many people in the community have been wondering how it is that Wano is ending so soon? The final saga is about to begin. It seems like we are about to have a battle and there are also some loose ends. I’ve seen people saying “lazy writing” or “rushed ending”. I have to kindly disagree with that, but to each his own opinion. Nevertheless, the question is justified.
I think I have found the answer.
As I’m sure you all know, Oda uses symbolism, pattern repetition, and inversion as part of storytelling and worldbuilding. Over the years, the community has discovered many of these things, yet there are still many details that are overlooked.
I found quite a lot of connections and setups that tell us a lot about what is to come, because the things coming next all already happend once in the past in some way. By now, every reader should have realized that Oda plans his stuff ahead and likes to hide the devil in the detail. And I like to pay close attention. Everything that happends from now on has been setup for a while.
Story repetition and inversions
Oda also loves archetypes, symbolic storytelling and pattern repetition. If you analyze the current situation in the Wano and compare this with the chapters of Sabaody Arc, you will find that it is almost the identical situation with the same background events going on.
During Sabaody, we were introduced to the Worst Generation and the Worst Gen Trio. It was the beginning of a new era. The race to become the King of the Pirates. Doflamingo(Joker) said “we’re in the age of smiles”. A foreshadowing at that time with a double meaning.
We learned bits about Roger’s past, his era and the Void Century. Rayleigh said that the time of the upcoming generation (sprouts) is just starting.
The old era was just that, old. A new era was beginning.
In Wano, we learned about Roger’s past again. The Worst Generation meets again and ends the old era. A new era begins soon after the break in the manga, as announced by Oda. Endgame!
During Wano, the Worst Generation has ended the era of FAKE SMILE (forced emotions using fake devil fruits), now begins the REAL SMILE ERA, the era of the BOY FULL OF JOY & FREEDOM.
The Worst Generation defeated the Emperors who tried to be Joy Boy or tried to realize his dreams. New Emperors arrose.
- Big Mom tried to create a Kingdom that Joy Boy envisioned.
- Kaido tried to become Joy Boy himself.
But both are overwhelmed by grief, trauma and addiction. Lost souls living in the past.They are not authentic enough. They are not sufficiently monkey-like. Free from all burdens. Enlightened. Living in the present moment.
Both Arcs (Sabaody & Wano) represent the new beginning of a new era and the end of an old era.
Having originally entered the Grand Line at Reverse Mountain on the other side of the Red Line, this means that the crews have traveled half-way around the Grand Line to reach Sabaody. Sabaody therefore is the middle of the journey. Wano is located exactly on the other side of the planet.
Once again, the crew is standing near the Red Line. This time they are near the end of their journey and the final saga is about to start.
Long story short: We reached Sabaody again, symbolically speaking. Wano has a volcano, while Sabaody was formed by volanic activity. The other end of the world.
The old wise men
This good fella Rayleigh was in chains waiting for the right time to break out during Sabaody. Then he freed Camie the mermaid from her collar using flowing haki. Later in the story he teaches Haki to Luffy. In Udon, the old man is Hyogoro instead of Rayleigh. He teaches Luffy the same haki, which he then uses to break the collar, as Rayleigh did in Sabaody.
This time they free Kawamatsu (Fish-Man). Both Camie and Kawamatsu are outcasts in their respective arc because of their race.
Both the auction house and Udon are part of the underground network of which Kaido and Doffy are a part of/participate in.
Entrance
Luffy enters both islands filled with joy. He enjoys the time with his friends in the park of Sabaody and with Tama in Wano.
In both cases, the crew has to keep a low profile to avoid attracting attention. In both cases, the crew is somewhat separated when the Arc begins.
Of course, Luffy, the Boy full of Joy can’t keep his promise of staying low profile and destroys the illusionary hierarchy with all his might. He attacks a Tenryubito and ends the tyranny in Wano.
In both cases, someone with a higher legal status takes away someone else’s freedom (Tenryubito & Orochi). In both cases, the World Government is outraged.
They realize how dangerous Luffy is. A man who favors freedom and sovereignty is dangerous.
… and the inevitable happens. The Admirals arrive.
Kizaru accepts the order, Green Bull seems to act out of self-interest.
Sabaody is divided into groves, while Wano is divided into regions. Each place is unique.
After Kizaru enters the land, he destroys an entire grove for no reason whatsoever. The Marines tell him “Kizaru, aren’t you overdoing things a bit!?”
Green Bull did the opposite. The land of Udon is in a desolate state, due to the factories in Wano. He cleaned up the parasites (pirates) and gave the energy to the land. He created new vegetation in Udon. Just what Wano needs most now. Recovery!
By the way, guess who also made an appearance in both arcs. SWORD! Kizaru knew it. Queen too.
Lazy Kizaru seems to be late, the Navy is just losing the fight. He also seems to be a bit confused. He breaks things unnecessarily and is not focused on his mission. Accordingly, Sentomaru is a bit annoyed. Greenbull in Wano on the other hand, seems to have a plan. He is there before the navy and gives orders. He is the opposite of Kizaru (a common admiral pattern & inversion).
Reverse theme: Hawkins transfers pain from him to the straw men while Greenbull in Wano drains the energy from the enemies. Check out the hands. Kizaru, meanwhile, destroys half the environment as collateral damage while Greenbull rejuvenates/revitalizes the environment.
Vegapunk & SSG
Who is actually on the other side of Green Bull’s Den Den?
Is it possibly Sentomaru, just like during Sabaody? Kizaru and Sentomaru know Vegapunk. So do Fujitora and Green Bull it seems. Drake, who fought both during Sabaody and Wano, is also familiar with some of Vegapunk’s accomplishments.
Perhaps Vegapunk’s new creations are on the warships in Wano, with Sentomaru, who has ties to Vegapunk?
Odas next BIG Setup
In the background, Oda had gradually been hinting the upcoming Marineford war. Again and again we have received small hints. This buildup took years. However, if you read the manga weekly, you tend to forget these little details. Remember the scene at the end of the fight between Blackbeard and Ace? “a trigger or a very big incident in the coming future”.
There is a hat, ‘upside down’, with ‘smiles’ on it. Oda symbolism❤️
This is one of many big and important clues, but one that is quickly forgotten. We are currently in the same situation. Many things have happened at the Reverie, but we don’t know anything. Once again a ‘brother’ of Luffy seems to be involved. Blackbeard is on the move. The Revolutionary Army is involved. Im and ‘the great cleansing’.
In addition, in the last panel of 1053, Greenbull drops this line:“Well, we marines aren’t in such a good mood. Especially since the rest of the world is a real mess now”. At the bottom it says “the times are changing”.
All of this is part of a HUGE setup.
Last time when this type of setup was resolved, Marineford happened, Ace died, Whitebeard died.
Oda already said that the next war is gonna be huge. After the war in Marineford, the previously announced new era which met in Sabaody officially started then.
Blackbeard had gained much power during that time and Buggy became Warlord.Then let’s not forget about the timeskip that happened as a result of Sabaody and Marineford.
Right now during Wano, Buggy was promoted to Yonko.We also know that Blackbeard is on the move right now.
Things are happening in the background. I can’t stress this enough: this is a HUGE setup.The implications are tremendous.
During the last war, the Shichibukai were called to fight Whitebeard. But now, the Shichibukai no longer exist and have most likely been replaced with Vegapunk’s latest discoveries. Scary stuff!
