Elbaf Arc - Blog Posts

I am far from immune to his aura.

major spoilers for one piece manga chapter 1138

so, looking at the mural at the end of the chapter we've got a lot of things that are familiar

but i was thinking. kouzuki toki said a prophecy right before she died that has similar wording to the story of the three worlds

i know that it's likely this prophecy has been fulfilled at the end of wano, but i wondered if maybe it was referring to the third world as well.

from what i interpret of the mural, each world is the three times the sun god appeared. first, the fruit was formed from the wishes of the slaves who desired freedom - since vegapunk said that devil fruits come from wishes or dreams. second, joyboy appeared and gathered people, and they fought against what we now know as the world government before they rose the water levels. and finally, luffy appears.

toki was born 830 years ago, i think, which would put her at the end of the void century, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say she knows about all of this. the nine shadows/the unbidden shadows could be luffy's crew..?

idk. i could be completely wrong, but i wanted to point it out. food for thought.

I know we're all super focused on the God Knights and everything going to absolute hell on Elbaf right now but if we could circle back for one quick moment..!

Loki has a friend(?) he talked to while he was locked up?? And we still don’t know who it is ?? (Or at the very least I sure as hell don’t)

Let us re-examine these panels

Firstly, Loki has a cold resistant Den Den. Who gave it to him? It couldn’t have been the locals since yknow *gestures vaguely* they can’t stand his ass and I highly doubt he had it on him when he got locked up. We can also safely rule out the friend since Loki says they’ve never met face to face.

Secondly, this mystery person seems quite polite and uncertain. Wanting to make sure they’re not bothering with their call despite this clearly not being their first conversation. Loki is quite happy to have someone to talk to clearly (he clearly loves his forest friends but good conversationalist they do not make). He also states they’ve been friends for a while (which could mean anything since we now know how not great Loki is with time especially if this person is a human).

Thirdly, this traumatic experience mystery friend face. We don’t have to clues right now to figure it out nor can we guess since we don’t have the character's age to tie it to something we already know. Whatever it was it still scares them terribly. It even bothers Omen Of Disaster Loki so it must have been serious.

Of course he does say he’d would have shut shit down because he’s Loki! And the newly named Shaggy (a nickname on Loki's part or a real name 🤔🤔) rebukes that idea. Loki calls them weak, stating that shooting to kill is the only way to guarantee one's safety, showing mercy gives them a chance at revenge! Gee, I wonder who that awfully specific concept could be talking about!

That display of cruelly and aggression does not throw Shaggy off even slightly, instead choosing to thank his friend and remark that they’ve noticed the kindness that leaks beneath all that anger and hate the accursed prince barks out. This sets Loki off, quickly starting a one-sided shouting match about how he is not kind! Not even slightly! The very idea is sickening and disrespectful! Never dare to speak to him like that ever again! Just you wait until he is free, he’ll show everyone!

Shaggy's response to this is very telling. Not fear, no ellipses, just a calm ‘Please don’t shout.’ It’s the first part of the conversation where there is no hesitation on Shaggy's part.

I know people believe Shaggy is Gaban and while I could also see that happening ig I really don’t think he’d talk/act like this. We also don’t know if Shaggy is even a guy because while the Den Den does have a beard of some sort it could very well just be a snail that doesn’t change faces (also woman can have beards!!). If I had to pick a pre-existing character for it to be I might pick Saul (kind king that he is) or Kiringham (came for the mission, stayed for the conversation).

There are also no current hints on species, the chances of it being a giant are pretty slim but not impossible (also I really like the idea of Loki having a little buddy).

In conclusion:

Come forward and speak the whole class bestie, I promise we won’t jump you!!

And just when I thought the parallels between Loki and Luffy would stop...

I think Oda is setting up King Harald as a red herring for the "he was actually evil and all giants on elbaph are fools except loki" twist but in reality he wasn't evil either, he just got brainwashed by the world government/holy knights/celestial dragons for many MANY years without realising it

Oda has already established that the wg owns the propaganda and is doing everything it can to suppress and manipulate information. But he hasn't actually shown what a constant stream of propaganda can do to a person. How it can change and radicalise someone to the point of becoming unrecognisable. How a person can change their entire world view if they're trapped in a bubble designed to change their core beliefs. How even your closest loved ones can't get through to you if you're in too deep.

The only person who could've possibly witnessed all of this development is Loki. Who in the end had to make an incredibly hard choice.

this was not the plan

y'know when you make a plan and you're about to execute that plan but then stuff happens and all of sudden you have to upload doodles instead of a finished drawing?

Yeah, me neither. Didn't draw art for it, but Chapter 1138 murdered me. It was so beautiful. I love One Piece so much

the no good, very bad prince rises ❄️

I love them more than anything in the world

Elbaf: