A shadow of a mysterious man appeared at the end of chapter 1124.
A popular option is that it could be Scopper Gaban and today, I will discuss how it could be him.
The main reasoning behind this idea is that Luffy already interacted with most of Roger’s crewmates.
● Roger started the Great Age of Pirates and made Luffy become a pirate.
● Shanks stole the fruit that Luffy ate.
● Rayleigh trained Luffy & pushed him to fight freely.
● Oden, through Yamato, brought Joy Boy back.
Luffy met the right hand of the Pirate King and was trained by him.
It is now time for him to meet the left hand of the Pirate King.
The reasoning can also be illustrated with how Egghead mirrored the Sabaody arc:
● In Sabaody, Luffy was too weak and his crew was annihilated because of Kizaru, Sentomaru and Kuma.
● In Egghead, Luffy surpassed them all and could escape the island safely.
● After Sabaody, Luffy met Rayleigh and was trained by him.
● After Egghead, Luffy may meet Gaban.
Either Gaban will help Luffy, or Gaban will help Luffy which will also mirror the role of Gaban/Rayleigh.
This can also be explained with the fact that Gold is 1st, Silver is 2nd and Copper is 3rd.
● Gold Roger appeared 1st in the story and was the reason that Luffy became a pirate.
● Silvers Rayleigh appeared 2nd, in Sabaody, and helped Luffy.
● Scopper Gaban may appear 3rd in Elbaf and have a role in Elbaf.
Gaban is now old and his hair is probably gray, like Rayleigh’s. A popular theory is that Gaban is probably the man who was seen talking to Crocus in this cover page.
The colored version of this page painted the hair in blonde but it could be a mistake.
Given this, Gaban would perfectly fit the silhouette saw in the shadow at the end of Chapter 1124.
Elbaf is a viking-related island and the axe was one of the most common weapons used by Viking warriors.
Oda even drew Luffy as a viking and he drew him with an axe.
It would be fitting for the axe fighter of the Roger crew to be the one welcoming the Straw Hats in Elbaf!
*Theory by Pringles__