You don’t get much lower than the bottom of a cliff!
Nico Robin wanted to die when at her lowest point. Loki just straight-up tried to commit suicide. This is some serious self-loathing here. It’s no wonder when your own mother called you a monster and wanted you dead. I don’t think Queen Estrid called Loki by his name once before she died! Strike One!
Abandonment issues. Loki’s father, King Harald, constantly leaving on diplomatic missions and repairing relations between Elbaph villages didn’t help either. Did he ever play with Loki? Did they ever do anything together as a family? Sometimes a parent is just a dick and sometimes they’re well-meaning but grossly negligent. In Loki’s case, he got both. Strike Two!
Loki being the curse of Elbaph. Let me go on record saying I think that whole “curse” talk is eight-legged horseshit!
Yeah, I know One Piece is a world where dreams turned into magical fruits that give you superpowers and giant kids drew a mural of someone’s prediction of the final arc of the series. Guess what? I don’t care! I still think it was nonsense drummed up by some gold digging Miss Cleo (Remember her?) inflating her self-importance.
I will applause Oda for keeping whether or not Loki’s curse is real ambiguous. In any case, many Elbaph citizens believed it and that didn’t help his reputation at all. Strike Three!
So, what does this lonely, miserable kid called a monster/cursed do? Lash out! Not because he’s “cursed”, but because he’s angry at the world and himself. All that said, I’m interested in learning how his meeting(s) with Rocks D. Xebec changes Loki’s outlook on life—for better or worse.
Oh? Did I forget to mention Rocks D. Xebec finally made his non-silhouetted reveal in the manga? Yep, we’re finally introduced to who could be one of the strongest pirates in One Piece history. What was Rocks doing at that Reverie? Why does he want to meet with Harald, who was also at the Reverie? Hmm…
Rocks probably knows Elbaph isn’t part of the World Government. And if Blackbeard’s trying to finish what his father started in trying to takeover the world, he’s gonna need allies. Powerful allies.
Or, maybe Rocks wants something that’s on Elbaph at that time—like a Road Ponegiff?!
Or…Rocks just likes big ass trees. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
This was a good chapter! Yeah, it’s another of Oda’s tragic childhood flashbacks, but it’s well-done. I’m excited to learn what happens next, not only to Loki, but Rocks, Ida, and Harald. This is the most I’ve been interested in Elbaph since Robin reunited with Saul. No wonder Oda constantly writes about characters with bummer backstories, non-democratic governments, and misogamy. Kids just love it!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 