Blackbeard Ups the Ante, Bye-Bye Shanks (One Piece)

Monkey D. Luffy picked a fight with one of the four pirate emperors and won. He beat Katakuri, Big Mom’s strongest crewmember, and amateur sugar cookie contest judge. His bounty is now over a billion. Where does Luffy go from here? Beating a Yonko, right? Wrong! …Nah, just kidding! Beating a Yonko is Luffy’s next feat. Maybe.

Is it possible Luffy will defeat an admiral first instead? Admiral Green Bull could tussle with Luffy, but I don’t think we’ll see a clear winner if it happens. And, don’t forget, Luffy has to reach Kaido. His subordinates, the tough ones like Jack, won’t make it easy. Safe to say Luffy and his allies will have to earn Kaido’s defeat. Heck, I bet Luffy will need to tag-team to defeat the Beasts Pirates Captain. Yep, based on the number of allies coming to Wano and it being Luffy’s first Yonku takedown, he’ll need help. LOTS of help. Luffy’s big one-vs-one Yonku fight won’t happen until he faces the final boss, Blackbeard. Speaking of Blackbeard…

The other biggest Pirate King contender will kill Shanks. Shocked, right? Probably not. Blackbeard killing Shanks theories are common. So, why am I bringing it up? Because Blackbeard now HAS to kill Shanks. And, it’s all Luffy’s fault.

Luffy and Blackbeard are mirrors of each other. Again, not shocking. Both are building power with the ultimate goal of obtaining the One Piece. Luffy achieves a feat, and here comes Blackbeard doing one as well. Now, both are considered high-level pirates. But Luffy picked a fight with a Yonku and won, and he’ll eventually defeat Kaido. What can Blackbeard do to surpass that? You guessed it, kill the fellow Yonku, Shanks. Why Shanks? Because Shanks is the only option. Luffy has dibs on Kaido and killing Big Mom, a Yonku already made a fool of by Luffy, isn’t big enough. It has to be Shanks. Plus, it makes his and Luffy’s destined fight work on an emotional, as well as, professional level (Blackbeard capturing Ace helps with that too).

So, goodbye Red-haired Shanks! And, cheer up. You’ll become the first mentor character in a shonen manga to die. Quite the accomplish—no? Oh, well…at least you’ll see Luffy before you die. Right, Oda? Oda?????