Mammoth Base Opera Castle

Goodnight, sweet prince—erm—king.

Gum-Gum Gonna miss ya, Cobra Commander. Or should I say Cobra D. Commander? The Nefeltari Royal Family carry the D. name. Princess D. Vivi being so important to the series is making more and more sense. I’m guessing she’s the one who will unite the Pro-Luffy kingdoms in revolt against the World Government. Oda’s definitely gonna do some sort of badass parallel between Vivi and her descendant, Queen Lily.

Queen Lily, what a homie! She’s responsible for the spread of Ponegiffs around the world. Her actions sparked of revolution 800 years in the making. Yeah, she outplayed King Imu. Not by winning, Imu won that war. But by sowing the seeds of the World Government’s downfall for future generations to, um, harvest? Cultivate? Grow? I’m not a farmer, Y’all. You get what I’m saying, I think.

Watch out for falling lore!

King Nefeltari Cobra fed us hungry One Piece nerds well this chapter. No Void Century information, of course (probably get that on Laugh Tale), but we get a little more info about the formation of the World Government 800 years ago. My question is: Why is Cobra Commander bringing this up now? Sure, there’s definitely something fishy going on given what he knows about the beginnings of the WG, but what’s motivating him to confront the Elder Stars? Could his declining health put him in a do or die mental state in regards to learning the truth before dying? Could Monkey D. Luffy’s actions be another? Hmm…

Here’s another question: Who are the Elder Stars? If the 19 Celestial Dragon families are supposed to be equal, aren’t having five CDs ruling the World Government a direct violation of that rule? That is IF they’re Celestial Dragons at all. The Elder Stars’ backstory must be linked to very formation of the World Government. I wonder if we’ll at least get more on their origin during the flashback. Especially, with Saint Saturn on his way to Egghead.

Demolish the Celestial Monarchy! We want a democracy!

Things are heating up between the World Government and Revolutionary Army. The R.A. destroying the Celestial Dragons’ food supply while declaring war is a smart move. Just giving those elitist, tax exempt bastards a taste of wanting for bare necessities is something short of impossible without some of the strongest Revolutionaries working together. And good on them for freeing as many slaves as they can too! Where’s their Nobel Prize, huh?

We get confirmation Jabra and the rest of Lucci’s CP9 crew we haven’t seen lately are also members of CP0. Not sure why they’re there. They’re just standing around giving commentary. That’s what happens sometimes. Someone gets promoted and they do as little work as possible. Cipher Pol bastards!

I guess Buggy’s Cross Guild really is becoming a Warlord crew.

Cross Guild needs heavy hitters if it wants to compete against Shanks, Blackbeard, and Luffy’s crews’ in reaching Laugh Tale first. Not to say Buggy, Sir Crocodile and Mihawk aren’t already a powerful “team” but Oda’s seems to be setting up all the major pirates to be in the race for One Piece, either still in the running or failing to achieve it. Gecko Moria’s given. He’s got nowhere else to go. I was hesitant about Boa Hancock joining but if Crocodile wants to establish a nation where they’re safe from the World Government then I can see the Snake Princess joining for that reason. Edward Weevil’s a wildcard. Especially since he’s been captured by the Navy, but who knows? If he escapes his travels could lead him to Cross Guild.

Still not convinced Blackbeard’s tenth captain, Kuzan, is completely on ole Teach’s side.

I just feel like it’d take more than Blackbeard’s conversation to bring a former admiral over to the dark side. Either Kuzan’s leaving out a very important detail that caused him to waver during or after his match with Akainu or he’s simply doing things his own way AKA being a Sword agent. Seriously. Wouldn’t there be more panic from the Navy if Kuzan really joined the Blackbeard Pirates? Some scene with Fleet Admiral Akainu cursing him or the Elder Stars wanting him dead? Nope, Oda’s never shown the big dogs talking about it. Yeah, there’s more going on here we don’t know. And something tells me Kuzan isn’t making it out of this series alive.

Remember when I basically said last chapter only Kuzan and Blackbeard had enough power and narrative prowess to kill Garp? I’m not saying is a done deal but the death flag is a flappin’ in the wind. Would Kuzan kill Garp? Maybe not, but he could unintendedly distract Garp long enough for the other Blackbeard captains to come in a do the deed. Captain Kid, defeated. Captain Law, defeated. If not outright killed, then defeated could be on Vice Admiral Garp’s menu. Not to mention, the Blackbeard Pirates inevitable release of a Garp diss track with their new album releasing soon. How they got Timberland to produce it I’ll never know.