The classic narrative countdown returns.
Alabasta’s hidden bomb, Doflamingo’s string cage closing in on Dressrosa, Onigashima floating towards the Flower Capital. Almost, if not, all of One Piece’s major arcs have a something or someone creating a sense of urgency for our beloved Straw Hat Crew, while at the same time, raising the suspense for the reader as high as it’ll go until the arc’s climax concludes. Classic Oda. Classic storytelling.
And just like with most of One Piece’s previous arcs, I think it’s safe to say we’re past Egghead Arc’s halfway point. Just how far we are to the finish is anyone’s guess. And, since I’m anyone, I’ll guess we have between 10 – 25 more chapters left before we pass the climax. NOT finish the arc, but simply the Five Elders are defeated or delayed and Dr. Vegapunk’s message is delivered throughout the world. Basically, it’s gonna be awhile before Egghead wraps up, Y’all.
With the revelation Saint Saturn is UPS Same Day summoning the other four Elders to Egghead in order to stop Vegapunk’s transmission, I now understand why Oda has Dorry and Brogy making their way to Luffy who was having little trouble dealing with both Kizaru and Saturn. Five Elders plus Kizaru means there has to be at least six opponents fighting them. And among the Five Elders, at least one of them is heading straight for the Labophase to stop the transmission at its source. And it just so happens Zoro is still up there. Yeah. I think we all know where this is going. Lucci is the appetizer and one of the Five Elders (Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro?) is the main course.
Might as well go deeper into battle match-ups. Here’s who I think is fighting who:
- Luffy VS Saint Saturn
- Zoro VS Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro
- Sanji VS Kizaru (Both will eventually return to the batttlefield.)
- Dorry VS Elder
- Brogy VS Elder
- Ancient Robot VS Elder (Yeah, you heard me.)
Keep in mind, even I don’t think it’s going down exactly like this. This is just my best guess given what I currently know. There’re still the Seraphim, Jimbei, and even the Thousand Sunny to take into account. Seriously, if the Thousand Sunny doesn’t fall on one of the Elders I’ll be sorely disappointed.
It’s crazy how putting this confrontation with the Five Elders on a government island with workers who are long gone clears the area for Oda to go hog wild with this battle. No Civilians + Giant People, Demons, and a God = Mass Destruction. I wouldn’t be surprised if Godzilla and Kong both showed up just for the hell of it.
Here’s another thing Oda’s been leading up to, but I didn’t understand why until now: Saturn’s devil fruit name and beast mode. This is it. The Five Elders reuniting on Egghead is when Oda drops ALL of their devil fruit names and we see their full-on beast modes in all their glory. It’s now or never! Those grumpy old men aren’t messing around. Just like with Sabo and King Cobra learning of Im’s existence, they will give it their all to prevent the truth from surfacing. All hell will break loose. And, I for one, couldn’t be more excited!
This was a good chapter! Sure, it sucks we don’t get to hear Dr. Vegapunk snitching on the World Government immediately, but the action we’re about to see in the meantime will help ease the pain. “Pain.” What a first-world problem thing for me to say. Anyway, I’ll see Y’all next time, if possible. I got a trip to France coming up and my hot model lover who loves anime and manga wants to stay longer than a week. Why must I continue to suffer?!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 