Warning, this is going to have a lot of spoilers. If you really don't wanna know any of this please leave right now.
Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, originally I did plan on doing an discussion about Wano Arc from One Piece. But I quickly realize that speaks for itself in a way I could never do justice. Also considering the madness that is Egghead Arc. I figured this would be a way more interesting story arc to talk about.
Egghead Arc
Manga chapters 1058-present
Anime episodes 1086-present
Recent chapter was Chapter 1114, a truly great chapter indeed
I felt this is majority what to discuss on the arc. I would even say one of the greatest arcs I had the pleasure of reading. I do plan to fully see it play out animated through the anime soon. Almost thirty years, One Piece is a surprisingly well written Shonen manga series. I couldn't be any happier to talk so much about it.
I really got so much to cover, this is going to be quite a lengthy One Piece blog to read. Maybe after fully taking the time to read it, you'll see why it's my favorite Shonen manga series ever!!! One Piece isn't rolling any punches, people are constantly getting sent flying as well as knock out. From start to finish, the entire story arc is really interesting stuff among the finest story telling I ever seen!!!
Of course we got to cover some events not happening at Egghead as well. I will see what I can do to prevent any confusion from happening. I will say even that stuff rather interesting. You really get to learn so much about the world. Some of the biggest mysteries ever actually got fully revealed too. This story arc is truly mind blowing at it's finest, really impressive work Mr. Oda.
All the major stuff that happened away from Egghead
I think I'll talk about the stuff happened away from Egghead first. In order to put my full attention into what actually happened at Egghead. There's a lot of flash backs that's critical to the story. We got to see a great deal of Dr. Vegapunk's past. He is based on one of the smartest men in history. Albert Einstein. Whom in real life had his brain taken out then preserved.
A lot of major stuff the World Government gotten was created by him. He also had connections to the Revolutionary Army, one of their biggest enemies in the world. Thus, you get to better understand things from both sides through his unique point of view. Up to a particular point, Dr. Vegapunk was a neutral character with some strong guilt.
Speaking of the Revolutionary Army, we also get to see Kuma's back story. Earlier in the story, he got introduced as one of the Seven Warlords back when that system still in effect. This also ties into his daughter Jewelry Bonney's past as well. She was one of the biggest rookies within the pirate world along with Luffy.
Sabo whose a huge name within the Revolutionary Army revealed more stuff from the holy land. I have to discuss a rather unexpected situation. King Cobra demanded an audience with the Five Elders. Things seem to be going fine until Im reveals themselves to King Cobra. All of a sudden, a private, nice conversation of a small group turns into a surprise assassination.
Sadly King Cobra, a decent king of his country died shortly afterwards. All six of these corrupt royals noticed a few unwanted visitors. Sabo and Wapol of all people witnessed the assassination of King Cobra. Wapol with Cobra's daughter Vivi are currently on the run. Neither of their kingdoms are safe anymore.
The Five Elders wiped out a different island completely with the Mother Flame. They still failed to take out their one target being Sabo. At that point in time, Sabo carefully arranged a call with the Revolutionary Army. He gets cut off before fully revealing a major secret the Five Elders been hiding. On and off we see Kuma not being himself traveling towards Egghead taking serious damage.
This island had an corrupt royal family that got prisoned by their own people. It's not clear at this present time other than Sabo if there's any other survivors. There's a huge chance it might just be Sabo. Which is kinda mess up to wipe out a country like that just to kill a man. It goes to show the Five Elders as well as Im are willing to do everything to prevent major secrets getting out.
Eventually Sabo does return to the Revolutionary Army. He has a private audience with both Dragon and Ivankov. He fully reveals everything he was going to say in that call. Now they know Im the actual head of the World Government. The Five Elders likely going to assume they all know about Im.
This will remove being captured off the table entirely. They will only be marked for death, they likely attempt using the Mother Flame on them in the near future. I know a lot of this is difficult to believe, we still haven't gotten to the truly heavy stuff right. We also see stuff with the Blackbeard Pirates that's also worth talking about.
I previously talked a little about Emperor Blackbeard defeated Law. Believe it or not, the craziest with that crew gets even crazier. A little while ago, Emperor Blackbeard with some members of his crew. They attacked former warlord's Boa Hancock's island. Originally he came to steal her devil fruit. Which usually involves killing the previous devil fruit users in the process.
The World Government decided to try out it's new replacement for the Seven Warlords. In the form of the Seraphim that are modified clones of the former warlord members. Briefly we see three more of them elsewhere. Two of them previously ran into Emperor Blackbeard and former warlord Hancock. We later see them with two more clones at Egghead.
Koby from the marines with a little help from Silvers Rayleigh. The former first mate of the late pirate king. He later confessed in his current state, he couldn't beat Emperor Blackbeard. Koby was lucky that Emperor Blackbeard agreed to his deal by taking him instead. No one would ever thought things would get even crazier on Blackbeard's main island.
Members of SWORD, former marines that still operates like them. Which also removes needing permission from someone very high rank to take on an emperor. The main reason for this is to possibly prevent going to war with them. I will say this unit I actually do like a lot. They are mostly decent people separate from those of the corruption within the World Government.
Vice Admiral Garp aka Luffy's grandfather joins the unit on a dangerous rescue mission. They were able to rescue Koby from the Blackbeard pirates. As of right now it's unclear what Garp's fate is. He didn't go down without a fight. Little to no information given since we last seen Garp. Obviously this is going to be made public upsetting his grandson Luffy a lot.
This might even cause Luffy to go to war with the Blackbeard pirates. It's hard to say when Emperor Luffy going to find out. Especially the insane incident he's now involved in. Thanks to Cross Guild, the World Government already stretched thin since it's founding. Yes all of this happened away from the main event itself with none of it being even remotely boring.
Among the conclusion of Wano Arc, Luffy with two rival captains decided to set out to different islands. Keep in mind, Luffy just claimed Kaido's spot among the Four Emperors. By now you already know Luffy's crew head to Egghead. A quick spoiler ended up being the craziest among the three events.
One of his rivals, Law went to an island Emperor Blackbeard claimed. This quickly led to the two captains fighting. Maybe it's no surprise to me, Law loss that fight. His crew got defeated with his submarine destroyed. Law got forced away from the island, he may return to get revenge on em. He previously defeated a former emperor with another rival of theirs Kid.
Speaking of Kid, he went to the island where the giants came from. He ran straight into Emperor Shanks in a rather quick fight. Again I knew Shanks was going to defeat Kid easily. No one was expecting Kid to lose this badly. In just one move, Shanks took him and Killer out. His crew got defeated with the giants destroyed their ship.
Now we have two of Luffy's biggest rivals that all three shared the same bounty of 3 Billion each. We also get to see some stuff regarding Cross Guild. I previously discussed Cross Guild in a previous One Piece blog. I may link that blog here to save you time rereading that same information. Also doing this notably helps cutting the length of this blog down a bit too.
Since then, a little more go added to that. Buggy over a transponder snail stated he wanted to find the One Piece. Which quickly angered both Crocodile and Hawkeye, the true owners of Cross Guild. Obviously, those loyal to Buggy going to work even harder to help make that goal a reality. Which in turn could actually force a particular situation the World Government doesn't want.
Just imagine all four emperors for different reasons arrives at the island with the legendary treasure. All the chaos just knowing that alone is going to be close to impossible for the Five Elders to silence. We got some heavy stuff we still haven't gotten to regarding the Five Elders. Now this is the very kind of stuff that's difficult to believe.
Finally we get to talk about everything that happened at Egghead
I have to start from the beginning for the crew. They ran into these weaponized sea kings that protects Egghead from unwanted guest. This was a government island at the time they arrived. Thanks to the World Government itself, Dr. Vegapunk with his six satellites. Satellites in this case being his counterpart creations with different roles.
Ended up being surprising allies along with Sentomaru. We find out CP0 were tasked to assassinate Dr. Vegapunk and his counterparts. We also learned the modified clones act in a chain of command. The full lineup from lowest to highest gets revealed. The highest actually being Bonney herself, a move the Five Elders gotten further angry over.
This alone makes whoever giving em commands essentially neutral. A lot of major weaponry the World Government uses, we learn their origins here. This also plays into Kuma's role in several ways. He left behind through his devil fruit powers memories of the truth. Which was actually meant to be her tenth birthday present but Dr. Vegapunk didn't want her to have it at the time.
For a little while, we fully get to see Kuma's entire back story. By the end of this, she was left in heavy tears. Eventually a lot of marine battle ships surrounded the island. An marine admiral in this case being Kizaru was tasked to take on a similar mission that CP0 gotten. We also learned he wants to be loyal to the World Government but he's forced to possibly kill people he cared for.
This is very similar to former warlord Jimbei during the war at the Marineford. He wanted to be a warlord for his dream. But he really didn't want to go against former emperor Whitebeard. Whose being protecting Fishmen Island while asking for virtually nothing at all in the process. This is the same situation but instead of a pirate, it's a high ranking marine.
What I love so much about this arc is we fully get to see everyone's true loyalty. Virtually for some characters lines were being tested to a degree. All of that intention brings a more eye opening overall experience. All of a sudden, parts of this story felt more real than it ever had previously. Egghead Arc was the perfect arc to beginning the Final Saga with.
He didn't arrive alone, Saint Saturn whose a member of the Five Elders came to the island too. He does succeed in killing Dr. Vegapunk. However the scientist delivers a rather unpleasant surprise. Before that surprise starts, Saint Saturn summons the remaining four members of the Five Elders to Egghead. The island already on the verge of getting destroyed, the situation kept getting worst by the minute.
There was some betrayal on both sides as well. Stussy was revealed to be set in place by Dr. Vegapunk within the World Government. She operated as a member of CP0 as well as a key figure in the Underworld. She virtually was a spy gathering up information for him. Funny enough, the actual person she's cloned from still alive.
We briefly see her when asked if her son actually the child of the late Whitebeard. It's a small, brief moment that's somewhat interesting. She assists in her allies escaping Egghead. She willingly stays behind to make sure that happens, a little sad I know. The other major betrayal is even more surprising in comparison.
One of Vegapunk's satellites, York openly assists the World Government in their mission. She believed they going to be true to their word to allow her to survive. Many signs through out the story heavily suggests a betrayal of their own is coming her way. If everything were to go according to her plan that is, she's suppose to be on the Vegapunks making that laughable.
Dr. Vegapunk's brain acts as a storage for the entire island. This is essentially a super computer in human form. One of the best examples I can give is The Leader from Marvel comics. Due to his mutation, his brain acts more of a mental variation of the Hulk's powers. Both characters has a notably bigger head with an even bigger brain that's an scientist.
I know some people are wondering what was Vegapunk's surprise right? In the event of his death, a prerecord message playing on many transponder snails around the world plays. The Five Elders are very focus on stopping this broadcast. Most marines around the locations are off the island on many ships.
Only CP0, Admiral Kizaru and The Five Elders remain on the island. Saint Saturn previously issued something a little worst than a Buster Call. For those not familiar with the story I'll explain what exactly is a Buster Call. It's a signal for the World Government to wipe out an entire island by force. This previously happened to Robin's home island many years ago.
The actual destroying process involves several battle ships directly attacking the island. They were targeted for the same reason Dr. Vegapunk had to get assassinated for. In both situations, people wanted to know about the Void Century. However there's little to no solid information regarding it. Any known attempt to look into it, the World Government vaporizes it altogether.
Obviously this heavily implies how the World Government actually got formed through something horrible. Which also ties into the one throne that's suppose not to have anyone on as well. There's actually more battle ships tasked to destroy Egghead than a Buster Call. If a Buster Call already bad news than this goes way beyond that.
The Five Elders are pissed taking out many threats with ease. The Strawhat Pirates and what's left of Dr. Vegapunk stands directly against them. These old men are emperor level beings with very few people can face em. The same goes for Admiral Kizaru as well. There's other notable factors in play I haven't even mentioned yet.
Such as a particular pirate crew filled with giants came to Luffy's crew aid. There's a mysterious giant robot that was last activated during the Void Century moving around. Bonney is helping out against the World Government as well. Kuma does show up to protect her daughter from Saint Saturn. Officially The Five Elders wants Vegapunk, Luffy, Bonney and Kuma dead.
Egghead is filled with some truly amazing technology. It's almost like Futurama or The Jetsons there. It's not what you expect from many marine locations we previously seen. Most weaponized sea kings got taken out. The same goes for the other Pacifista units. The modified clones are currently trapped. Even if they were activated, if Bonney gives em an order.
No one has higher command to them than her. Therefore, she would have to be either get knocked out or killed. Which would be suddenly bad for everyone else on the island. Just imagine having four modified clones, an admiral and the Five Elders. Simply doing the math, we got a total of possibly ten emperor level characters.
Now that would be simply too much for everyone else to handle. If that were the case, obviously their story would've ended there. Thankfully Mr. Oda didn't go into that direction. It's almost the situation of nearly everyone fighting Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen. In this particular case, Admiral Kizaru taking a nap yes even during the madness going on.
The Five Elders are virtually rampaging the island in anger. It's almost as if hell itself opened. Considering Saint Saturn used a particular method that could've been described as Satanism. I guess that wouldn't be too far from the truth. They are desperately trying to stop the broadcast. I am loving this chaos Dr. Vegapunk is causing them.
I probably should also mention the Five Elders all have mythical Zoan devil fruit powers. All of which pulled from a few mythologies mostly Japanese mythology. The giants are dealing with the many marine ships around the island. The two captains directly assist with Emperor Luffy. Officially attacking an Celestial Dragon also leads to a Buster Call as well.
Even their chosen method to escape is rather questionable at best. Zoro fought Rob Lucci a long time before he eventually wins. Two of the Vegapunks got killed off. Shaka acted as a leader among the other Vegapunks. Pyhagoras got killed by S-Snake, one of the modified clones. Three out of seven Vegapunks are killed off.
As stated earlier, Vegapunk's brain operates as the world's greatest computer. Mentally the scientist still alive, they didn't fully assassinate him yet. Three of the remaining Vegapunks assisting the Strawhat Pirates to escape. Regardless how this plays out, York going to get the bad end of the stick. I won't even think sorry for her either, she deserves it.
She was the one responsible for killing Shaka after all. Whose among my favorite Vegapunks. She quickly became my least favorite, such a spoiled brat she is. One recurring theme within One Piece is traitors always get something terrible to happen to them. Currently we got Lucci, an admiral and the Five Elders standing in the crew's way to escape.
It's kinda funny both Luffy's rivals got destroyed by the other two emperors. Emperor Luffy survives a much worst event than both of them. I also need to point out, some members of the Blackbeard Pirates witness the Egghead incident to a degree. Also this weird guy that's secretly traveled with the Strawhat Pirates willing to give some dangerous information to Emperor Blackbeard.
I do mean dangerous information, we got a few ancient weapons in play. We don't know if they agreed to him to their captain or not. Assuming if they do, I felt the story arc after the next one being the island of the giants. We're going into a truly epic conclusion. Emperor Blackbeard could tasked his crew, an army at this point to find these ancient weapons for him.
We do know Wano and Fishman Island has two confirmed ancient weapon locations. Yamato whose Kaido's daughter but refers to as a he or rather as Oden. Yamato's gender isn't fully revealed at this time. However parts of what Yamato's going through at Wano through cover art arcs. Mostly helps give us a rough idea when he may finally join up with Luffy's crew.
Obviously, the Blackbeard Pirates got their eyes closely on Luffy's crew. Emperor Blackbeard knows it's a matter of time before the two captains face each other for the same exact dream. A good amount of this I really didn't even see coming. We went from the usual kind of chaos the crew goes through. Right into a very vastly different situation altogether.
This is likely going to end up like Big Cake Arc. Where the actual strongest enemy being former emperor Big Mom couldn't be defeated by the crew or their allies. Although along with former emperor Kaido, she later gotten defeated. In this case, I don't think any of the Five Elders going down. I do expect Admiral Kizaru going to get defeated by Luffy.
Emperor Luffy is simply too much for the marine admiral to handle. No body even came close to Luffy in taking him on. Assuming Zoro defeated Rob Lucci as his main victory. The monster trio within the Strawhat Pirates, a fact some people starting to ignore. Sanji the weakest of the trio usually defeats the third strongest enemy.
Surprisingly he haven't defeated anyone in this arc. Zoro defeats the second strongest in this case likely being Lucci. Luffy defeating Kizaru would help complete the somewhat incomplete pattern. Everyone working so hard to survive, they are used to being in such crazy situations. None of them compares to the Egghead incident.
The actual arrogance from some people comes into play. The usual Shonen power scaling structure. Obviously the main characters starts from the bottom with a few starting a little weaker than expected. Each major arc, the power scaling of characters increases. It starts a little in the beginning to help get readers into the story more.
Eventually, the power increase within the arcs starts getting notably bigger. The point I'm trying to make is the main antagonist Luffy defeats usually the strongest in that arc. If he can't defeat the actual strongest, he will instead defeat the strongest enemy he can defeat. Which is rare when that happens within the story.
This also means if Admiral Kizaru ends up taking that spot for Egghead Arc. He essentially would be more powerful than Kaido in Wano in theory. Considering what both characters brings to the table. A lot of them quickly states stuff like "Oh there's no way Kizaru stronger than Kaido!!!" Officially going by the actual story, it does confirm by that structure alone that Kizaru actually stronger than him.
I know this could be still seen as a little early to reveal my thoughts on majority of Egghead Arc. There's so much in the manga that's not even animated yet. Funimation dub wise, Egghead Arc would be Season 15 on record. Who knows this event may or may not get coverage to some degree. Either outcome isn't favorable the World Government.
Keep in mind, this is the first arc where Luffy being an emperor too. The entire story about his journey to becoming the King of the Pirates. It's a story I can heavily represent for many years to come. We might be going from major victories of beating a big name characters to surviving events like this. Ever since Big Cake Arc, Luffy's milestones are constantly getting bigger as the story goes on.
Quick thoughts on the possible aftermath
I strongly believe Luffy with his crew going to get quite scary increase in their bounties. Possibly due to the fact, the Five Elders wants Luffy dead. Just imagine his bounty simply goes up after confirming he ran into his father, Dragon. Oh the World Government would be beyond piss at Luffy. As if they aren't already from the many things he's done in a few years.
His bounty could even get increased knowing het met up with his father. If I had to do an educated guess how high Luffy's bounty going to. I would say roughly 3.7. billion bounty. I felt trying to do that with the other three emperors will be trickier to do. I will quickly list those possible future bounties down below...
1. Shanks' new bounty
$4.3 billion bounty
2. Blackbeard's new bounty
$4.1 billion bounty
3. Buggy's new bounty
$3.9 billion bounty
Keep in mind, Buggy does little to nothing. His bounty constantly getting scary high over this deception by Cross Guild. Shanks' bounty not going up much since he recently defeated Kid. Who had 3 billion bounty on his head with a massive gap in strength. Blackbeard's bounty should be even closer to Shanks' for many reasons.
Emperor Blackbeard defeated Law whose also had 3 billion bounty on his head. His crew kept gaining devil fruit powers while murdering the previous users. His crew took down Vice Admiral Garp. Whose bounty in Cross Guild would be equal to his grandson Luffy's previous 3 billion bounty. Also Saint Saturn noticed some of them were close by the Egghead Incident.
We will learn a lot more about the Void Century right up to the end. At some point, every member of Luffy's crew will achieve their dreams. The World Government going to attempt cause Hell to Luffy's crew. But in truth, the actual hell they're facing forced their attention to be a bit shattered at best. The beginning of a war with the Revolutionary Army going to start soon.
I figured following the next arc possibly could be the island where it all ends. Keep in mind, the way One Piece tells it's story expect a few years at best. The upcoming arc should be around Zou Arc maybe longer in length. There's always a chance the marines force them to leave again. We gotten some crazy arcs in a row, we do need this essential calmer arc.
Right before all the biggest chaos unfolds within the story. Obviously more about the Revolutionary Army as well as the giants will be revealed. Vegapunk's death marks the final straw for them. The final section of the Final Saga is going to be a very difficult one to predict as well to follow long term. Even if you took hours just carefully looking over every detail, it's going to be quite over whelming.
I could see a few massive wars happening during the conclusion. Both of them are incredibly obvious from the very start. By this point late into the story, you should be quite used to seeing how wars plays out. Usually we get one of them at a time going on. Now try to imagine the author has to kept switching points of views between two critical wars happening at the same time!!!
I do see the ending of the story coming. No one ever expected it to be this long. But in it's defense, I never gotten this interested into a story prior or ever since. Although I do enjoy stuff like Berserk, Claymore, Hell's Paradise and Chainsaw Man. There's still so much story telling left. One Piece is constantly breaking new ground.
Even after One Piece finishes, I highly doubt any current Shonen stories could match it's legacy in years. One Piece is a really great story that's virtually has everything plus more going for it. Honestly, it's locked in place among my Top 5 Favorite Manga Series. One Piece is legendary in ways the world doesn't even fully begin to realize.
Sadly I am expecting bad news with Garp. Either he's dead that's going to trigger a war or he survives but gets forced to leave the marines. After all, he wasn't suppose to take part in that rescue mission to save Koby. Regardless if he survives or dies, SWORD may assist Luffy against Blackbeard. Not only that his entire fleet likely going to show up with other allies they have.
We got two massive wars coming our way. The fate of the world hangs in the balance. I do strongly believe the actual ending to the story is going to be so amazingly well written. Virtually everything prior and that comes after can't even begin to rival it's greatness. Honestly, I do think Buggy going to lose his emperor position soon.
Very likely going to be a set up as an arrangement with Crocodile. Hawkeye himself made it crystal clear, he doesn't want to become an emperor. Crocodile so happened to share the same dream as Luffy and Blackbeard respectively. This turn of events could cost Crocodile losing Buggy's supporters. I don't think it would prevent him from achieving his goals.
The world is already in the verge to change even before Luffy became an emperor. it will keep changing right up to the ending into something truly beautiful. I don't think Kuma going to survive. Which would be sad considering what he gave up to make sure his daughter would survive. I do think he still got one major role left to play before his demise.
Not only that, if they chosen to destroy the modified clones. This further going to cause panic within the World Government too. They don't want to be on the bad end of the balance within the Great Three Powers. Losing their greatest asset being Dr. Vegapunk himself is a major loss to them. We don't know if they plan to replace em in the event they got destroyed.
Even if they had some sort of a backup plan. Mostly likely being abuse usage of the Mother Flame. Otherwise, I don't think with the major stuff coming their way. They would have enough time to properly replace em. Which isn't great for both upcoming wars. It's safe to say the World Government almost vulnerable enough to fall soon.
They also had to risk not using any Pacifista units until they figured a way to reprogram their chain of command. Otherwise, one order from Bonney would be too big of a threat for them to ignore. The Mother Flame was the one thing the Five Elders wanted from the island. Other than termination of Vegapunk with all his satellites.
The way I imagine the next arcs is possibly two maybe three arcs are left. One being the full ending arc showing how everyone's stories ends. Which I think is going to be rather interesting. Despite things, One Piece is taking it's sweet time to finish. I'm glad they are allowing the author to write the story how he wants to instead of rushing him like several authors.
The later causes some big name manga series to start not being as good with parts of the story either missing or causes some JJK bs moments to happen. Yes I'm not happy about some character's deaths there. The sudden change to get the manga stories to be shorter is backfiring on them. Maybe the companies should allow them some room to work instead of putting more pressure on em.
One Piece is a weekly manga series. A lot more chapters within a year possibly than those that does monthly. Which usually is one chapter for an month. If doing the math that's an average of twelve chapters a year monthly. Which further makes One Piece truly stands out the chapters comes out as often they do.
At the same time remains such a very great story. Some other notable great manga series like Hunter x Hunter and Berserk often kept going through hiatus periods. Also One Piece never falls to deliver after notable longer break periods either. This is a true statement of greatness. This might be controversial for me to say, One Piece is way better than Dragon Ball!!!