Oda is laying the groundwork for the Biggest Flashback in One Piece
When Oda originally said that he plans to end One Piece in five years I, like many, had trouble imagining how that could be possible, however, with Chapter 1095 I can see why Oda said it.
I still don’t believe that 5 years prediction to be true but with the Egghead Island Arc, Oda has made so many things and so many characters I previously thought had no connection to one another related; and not just related but in such an organic and natural way that it doesn’t feel contrived in the slightest.
There is this thing called “The Six Degree of Separation”. It’s the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of “friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.
We knew for a long time that Dragon and Kuma have some connection, later revealed to be through the Revolutionary Army. We also knew that Vegapunk and Kuma had some connection to one another through the cyborg experimentation, so when it is revealed Dragon and Vegapunk have connection to another, it felt very natural and believable – it was an “easy pill to swallow”.
The same goes for so many things in this arc, like Saul, Ohara, Elbaf and their connection to Poneglyphs but if we were to list them all, we’d be here all day. What I wanted to talk about in this Post specifically is something we have been building up for a long, long time – the God Valley.
0. The Incident
We always knew the Incident at the God Valley was a big deal. It’s the place where Roger and Garp teamed up to defeat the Rocks Pirates which consisted of Rocks himself and several relevant characters, legends of their time, like Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom. However, as time passed, we learned more and more stuff about the incident and now, the event itself seems to be MUCH BIGGER deal than we previously thought; and trust me, we already thought it was pretty big.
It seems like the God Valley will serve as an “origin story” (a flashback) for multiple, highly prominent characters of great importance. In just a single Chapter, it already managed to emotionally destroy me with Kuma’s past, propelling him into easily being my favorite Warlord, so I won’t talk about him too much. I want to focus on other characters I believe will get their defining moments in this flashback.
1. Figarland Shanks
In the last decade, there has been a trend of One Piece movies revealing new, canon to the Manga information as a way to boost the ticket sales. Film Z revealed things like Kuzan’s new injuries; Stampede revealed the name of the final Island actually being “Laugh Tale”; and Movie Red took it to another level.
Note: This image isn’t actually drawn by Oda; it’s a fan re-draw of the sketches that were done by Oda. Every panel is exactly the same just drawn better.
Not only did it reveal a lot of information about the Red Hair Pirates but more importantly it revealed Shanks was found as a baby in a chest found on the God Valley and that he belongs to the Figarland Family. At the time, we didn’t know what that meant but now, it’s clearer by the Chapter with the reveal of Saint Garling Fingarland – Shanks’ dad.
There were always theories surrounding Shanks’ origins being those of Celestial Dragon due to his conversation with Gorosei and with Garling being revealed to be the newly introduced “God Knight” it’s all but confirmed. Granted, Garling isn’t exactly confirmed to be Shanks’ dad but the similarities in aesthetics is quite clear, and if you ask me, quite purposeful; and I’m not talking just about young Garling being the spitting image of Shanks, just with a different hairdo.
Even the sword he has, the way he poses himself and how he is drawn seems to be intentionally done to draw the parallels between the two. Now, the only thing left is for us to learn why Shanks was left in that chest, for Roger and Rayleigh to find, and I think Kuma’s flashback will do just that.
2. The Rocks Pirates
When we got Kaido’s flashback during the climax of Wano Arc, a lot of people were disappointed by how short it was. A lot of people, including me, also suggested that the reason for this decision was because his story is intrinsically tied into his time with Rocks Pirates and that what happened at the God Valley, and that we will get to see more of Kaido when we get to see the Rocks flashback – the very same flashback we are seeing right now.
There isn’t much I could add here other than I fully expect we learn:
- A bit more about Kaido,
- The debt he owes to Big Mom for giving him his Devil Fruit,
- About Whitebeard and why he joined the Rocks Pirates,
- And what Rock’s whole deal was – was he the Demon from the stories we heard of him or was he a more noble person, demonized by those who he opposed?
3. Monkeys
We always knew Garp was at the center of the events of God Valley; it’s how he got his moniker of “Hero of the Marines”; but what I am more interested in seeing is “why”? Why did Garp decide to defend the Celestial Dragons from Rocks, seeing what he thinks of them now… and where is Dragon in all of this?
