One Piece Ending – Analysis

Where Will the Next Arc Take Place

Since Zou ended we have gotten 2 Arcs that focus on one of the East Blue Straw Hat. Whole Cake Island is obviously “Sanji’s Arc”. It revolved around him heavily (even parts of Zou) and he was the main driving focus. Oda also famously said “2017 is the year of Sanji” so I don’t need to further explain this.

Now Wano is a bit harder to “prove” but it’s “Zoro’s Arc”. Of course Zoro hasn’t had even half of the importance in Wano that Sanji had in Whole Cake Island BUT Wano is the culmination of the “4 Emperors Saga”, the whole Arc cannot revolve around just Zoro. Wano Is already 130+ Chapters long, and counting, while Whoel Cake Island was around 80 Chapters. So instead, Zoro has had a big focus on himself throughout the arc but he wasn’t the driving force of it. He is very battle-heavy character so he got a lot of action and we even got a hint of his lineage with Shimotsuki Ushimaru (who I believe is his Grandfather) as well as Shimotsuki Ryuma, the Sword-God.

So, we are 2/4 and we are left with Usopp and Nami. And what is the Island that Straw Hats wanted to visit even before Wano was ever mentioned (Little Garden) for the first time? Which Island can incorporate one more before-mentioned group? That’s right. It’s Elbaf!

Elbaf was mentioned as early as Little Garden and I don’t doubt for a second that we are getting this Arc, especially since its importance has recently been reestablished with Big Mom’s backstory as well as the re-formation of “New Giant Warrior Pirates” under Hajrudin who is part of Straw Hat Grand Fleet. It checks all the boxes, and of course this will be “Usopp’s Arc”. Usopp has been talking about being a “Brave Warrior of the Sea” and wanting to visit Elbaf for so long that I don’t see this not happening.

This arc will be catalyst for many things that came before as well as a jumping off point for the things to come:

• First, we got Big Mom’s defeat. Her defeat will have the similar effect on Elbaf as Doflamingo’s defeat had on Zou. Straw Hat’s will be hailed as “Saviors” or something along those lines. This will already establish Straw Hats to be on good terms with the Giants (not to mention Giant Pirates that are under Straw Hat Grand Fleet).

• Second, Once Luffy defeats Kaido we are going to see Straw Hats sail to Elbaf and meet with Red Hair Pirates. Luffy will finally be able to prove Shanks that they are equals and returns the straw hat. Why would Shanks be on Elbaf? Well many speculate Elbaf is his territory due to his “Red Force” ship which looks a lot like its Viking Inspired just like Elbaf is inspired by Nordic Mythology (Prince Loki and etc.). Besides, it fits really well with the story.

• Third, this also works nice for Usopp. Not only is he going to fulfill his dream of visiting Elbaf, and maybe (probably) become brave warrior of the sea, but he will finally be able to confront his father Yasopp who is in Shanks’ crew. Elbaf, Yasopp and Brave Warrior of the Seas, these are the things that will “allow” Elbaf to be Usopp’s Arc.

The Setup for the Future Arc

So far the arc seems pretty straightforward, too straightforward for a One Piece arc. Each of the arcs post time-skip seems to mirror the formula of the pre time-skip:

• Arlong Park – Fishman Island
• Alabasta Saga – Dresrossa Saga
• Jaya – Zou
• Skypiea – Whole Cake Island
• Wano – Water 7

And Elbaf will be post time-skip equivalent of Thriller Bark. It will be smaller, self-contained arc which will serve as an interlude between Wano and the next big Arc with something big happening at the end. Where Thriller Bark ends in the defeat of one Warlord and arrival of another, Elbaf will end with the “defeat” of one Yonko, Shanks, and arrival of another, Marshall “Blackbeard” D. Teach.

We know that Shanks and Blackbeard have a serious beef. The origin of this beef is unknown to us but we know it’s serious enough for Shanks to warn Whitebeard about him. So after Luffy and Shanks have their little Davy Back fight I believe Blackbeard will makes his move. He will clash with Shanks once again and defeat him, possibly even kill him. Why? Well after Wano, Luffy’s Bounty will skyrocket and it doesn’t matter if you lowball it or highball it (2.5B or 5B) it will still be higher than Blackbeard’s and for Blackbeard to be considered as a serious contender for One Piece he needs to boost that bounty of his (2.2B) up. He needs to do something as equally impressive as Luffy defeating Kaido. What better way to do so than to also defeat a Yonko.

This is what will be the end of the Yonko. All of the previous generation of Yonko (Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido and Shanks) will be dealt with and only 2 Contenders will be left, Luffy and Blackbeard, The New Generation, The Worst Generation. This is where the race for One Piece will start after, I assume, Blackbeard either steals the 4 Road Poneglyph rubbings from Straw Hats or has his own way of finding One Piece.

Blackbeard is an opportunist and someone who likes taking shortcuts. It’s entirely possible he will reap the benefits from someone else’s efforts.

So in this arc, The Elbaf Arc (90-100 Chapters), we can cover:

1. “Usopp’s Arc” – Elbaf and the giants, Brave Warrior of the Sea, Yasopp
2. Last Road Poneglyph – Last Piece of the Puzzle before we set of for Laugh Tale
3. Shanks and Red-Hair Pirates – Luffy and Shank’s Reunion, Red-Hair Pirates in action
4. Blackbeard Pirates – Removing Shanks and his crew from the Endgame