Oh my god, who could have thought that Shamrock’s SWORD has Cererbus powers? Does that confirm Blackbeard isn't a Cerberus? And does Shanks may have some hidden power we never knew about?
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in this INCREDIBLE chapter because it looks like NO ONE is coming to help Loki, so we just have to discuss what is actually going to happen with the giant prince, PLUS, and I know you’ve all been waiting for this, we got the lore drop OF. THE. CENTURY!
With so much new mythology about the ancient wars and the former gods of the one piece world that has made me dig up super old theories about the Red Line and the gods of the one piece world. Whew! Was that enough for you?
Is your level of hype the same as mine right now? It’s crazy, but let’s start our discussion with some of the most shocking powers ever revealed in One Piece. Because as we see right here Shamrock pulls out his sword after being insulted by Loki and shows us that this is not just a normal sword.
Not at all. The sword is literally Cerberus. I don't think ANYONE saw that coming.
And at first glance, I’m sure every one probably thought back to other weapons we’ve seen with devil fruits. I’m talking about Funkfreed the elephant sword ****and Lassoo the cannon dog. Because that’s what it looks like right?
A sword that ate some sort of mythical Cerberus fruit? Well, after looking at everything we see here, I’m starting to think that this isn’t actually the same as the other devil fruit weapon combos and that it is actually something much scarier for the Straw Hats. Because just compare all these weapons' introductions here.
As you can see with Funkfreed and Lassoo, we are straight up told that these are devil fruit powers. But that’s strangely missing from the Cerberus introduction. So that was the first thing that got my mind thinking a bit.
But then was anyone else shocked when the three dog heads separated from its body and started acting on their own? Like, what? How is that even possible?
Because we’ve never seen anything like that from the other devil fruit weapon hybrids. Those one's always stayed connected. Just to be fair though, you could explain that this is possible because Shamrock’s sword ate a mythical fruit which gives it special powers, but I really don’t know here.
This seems like something completely different. So then you might be asking, well if it isn’t the sword’s powers then what is it? Well, I have some ideas here that could explain what we are seeing.
And let’s actually start with Gunko because as we learned in the last chapter, she ate the Aro Aro no mi, which confirmed that her powers weren’t some special yokai or demonic gift from Imu, but was an actual devil fruit. So based on that, I’d guess that Shamrock also has a devil fruit power that explains what we are seeing. So of course you might be wondering what fruit might that be?
Well, the one that fits best with a Cerberus power could be some sort of Mythical God of the Underworld devil fruit. Perhaps something like a Hades fruit or another ability along those lines if Oda wants to call it something else. Because in case you didn’t know, Cerberus is the guard dog of the underworld and the three headed monster basically serves the god of the underworld, Hades.
So it would make a lot of sense to me that if Shamrock has a God of the Underworld fruit then he could summon and command a creature like Cerberus. Along with some other wild abilities which we probably haven’t seen yet, but that’s just my idea for now, and I’d love to hear what you all think about it too. However, even if Shamrock doesn’t exactly have the Hades fruit, I do think he has some other devil fruit power for a few specific reasons.
Because there are some INSANE comparisons that we can now make between Shamrock and Shanks. And get out your notes here because you are going to want to remember this. Let’s start with the swords.
Because as we just said, Cerberus is the guardian of the underworld. Which is hilarious because Shamrock is a Holy Knight which seems like a wild contradiction. But let’s compare this to Shanks.
We know that the Red Hair Emperor’s sword is called Gryphon, and if you know your mythology then you should know that Gryphons were considered to be the guardians of Zeus and his treasure. So you have one sword related to the Greek God of the Underworld and another related to the Greek God of the Heavens. Also, Shamrock comes from the Holy Hand - which is basically considered to be heaven - and Shanks comes from the sea, which Shamrock considers to be the underworld.
So there are all sorts of inversions going on here. So based on that, you might think that I’m arguing that Shanks’ sword might also have some secret hidden abilities. Makes sense right, if we are comparing the brothers.
But I’m actually thinking this is more proof that Shanks is just a straight up haki god. Because we’ve seen many times throughout the story that clashes between main characters can come down to haki versus devil fruits. I mean just take Luffy and Blackbeard.
Obviously, Luffy has some insane devil fruit powers, but in the end it will probably be his unbreakable will and haki that take down Blackbeard’s broken devil fruit powers. So I’m predicting the same for Shanks and Shamrock. If they do clash, which I really hope they do, then it will probably come down to Shanks’ top tier haki versus Shamrock’s dark devil fruit powers, whatever they turn out to be.
But while we’re talking about the Figarland family, can I just point out that all three of them use a very particular type of sword called a Saber? Which seems important to me because even Shanks who didn’t grow up with Garling chose to use a Saber. But the real interesting thing here is when we consider the other most important Saber in One Piece.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Of course that is the Saber of Xebec, which is Blackbeard’s flagship. And we all know by now that Blackbeard idolizes Rocks D.
Xebec, so I wonder if there is some deeper connection here between Rocks, Blackbeard, and the Figarlands. Maybe Rocks was a Figarland and also used a Saber? Or maybe just like how Shamrock has a Saber with weird powers, I wonder if Blackbeard’s strange body and abilities are similar.
So yes, I am theorizing that maybe Blackbeard was Rocks’ Saber that somehow turned into a human who is now wandering the seas as a Yonko. Insane, I know, but tha'ts just how this chapter has me feeling! So let me know how you all see that whole situation, but one thing that seems pretty much impossible now is that Blackbeard ate the Cerberus fruit.
And this has been a theory in the community for a long, long time. The idea goes that if Cerberus has three heads then it is possible for someone who ate the Cerberus fruit to eat three devil fruits. Which is why it was connected to Blackbead.
But that seems almost guaranteed to not be true now since we have a new Cerberus power introduced into the story, and I can't see Oda doing the same thing twice for such a major character. However, there is one thing that Shamrock told us in this chapter that really made me want to go and bang my head against the wall. Because right here Shamrock confirms that Shanks is indeed his younger twin brother and he also says that Shanks visited Mary Geoise one time.
And there’s a lot to break down here, but after finally seeming like the whole theory of Shanks talking with the Gorosei was dead, we now have to bring it back to life. Because we all just assumed with Shamrock’s introduction that it was him in this panel right here, but if Shanks did visit Mary Geoise one time then it is technically possible that this person was still Shanks… And it just made me groan a bit because I was so ready to move on from that debate. Now, there are actually some new context clues that we can add to this debate, Just think about it.
This person in this panel specifically wanted to talk to the Gorosei about a certain pirate. And if this is Shamrock, then I can’t really figure out which pirate he would want to talk about. Because based on his attitude, it seems like he doesn’t seem bothered by pirates and even considers Yonko like his brother lowly scum.
So which pirate could be so important that Shamrock would want to call a special meeting with the Gorosie? I’m not sure, which again points to this person being Shanks. Because Shanks DOES have a pirate that he has been trying to warn EVERYONE about throughout the story.
He warned Whitebeard about Teach. And even came to Mary Geoise to stop Blackbeard from continuing the war. So yeah, as much as I hate to say it, Shanks could still have some kind of partnership with the Gorosei.
But does that mean that Shanks knows something about Imu? That would be INSANE if he did! However, this could all just not be true at all because I also think it is likely that Roger actually told Shanks about his true family during his final words.
I mean, we’ve always wondered what made Shanks cry so hard when they separated, so maybe Roger told him the truth that he is actually the son of a Celestial Drgon and that Roger wanted him to go visit Mary Geoise at least once. Maybe he had some secret mission for Shanks based on something he learned at Laugh Tale, or maybe he just wanted Shanks to learn what his family was truly like. Either way, I hope you all are as excited as I am about the Figarland family drama because it seems like it will be a central conflict during the final saga involving some of the most powerful characters in the story.
Let’s swing this back to the chapter though because there was some INTENSE brutality going on here, and unfortunately Loki continues to be taking it all like he’s some sort of pinata for the Holy Knights. And wow, this was just so painful to see. At this point, I’m seriously worried that Loki isn't going to survive this encounter.
I mean sure he’s super tough and he has been hyped up by everybody, but this attack was devastating. However, there’s still obviously hope that Loki survives. Shamrock basically challenges the giant prince to come fight him later which I feel like we just have to see at this point.
Plus, do you really think that after all the hype that Oda would just kill Loki while he is tied to the tree? I personally just can’t see it. However, leaving Loki alive might turn out to be a huge mistake for the Holy Knights, and this seems to be a bit of a theme with them.
Don’t you think they are being kinda careless? I mean, we learned later in the chapter that they left the castle guards alive, which just sounds dumb right? Wouldn’t they want to kill the guards so no one could reveal their presence here on the island?
Seems like a really poor strategic choice, if you ask me. But whatever they were thinking, they are clearly moving onto the next stage of their plan which seems to be kidnapping and holding the children of Elbaf as hostages in order to get the giants to do what they want. And to do this, they are apparently calling in another Holy Knight, and I’m just so curious who it will be.
Could it be one of these many other possible Holy Knights here that we see next to Garling during the God Valley flashback? Or since this was a long time ago, will there be some newer Holy Knights that will be revealed? I don’t know about you all, but I’m super excited to learn more about them and their powers.
Let’s bring this back to Loki though because now that he is apparently alone, we need to discuss what exactly is going to be his role in the rest of the arc if he does stay alive. And one idea I have here could explain why Loki is chained to this exact spot. Because last chapter Loki said something that really caught my attention.
He said that he “could not move from this spot”. And it got me thinking, is he just talking about being tied up? Or is there more to why he is chained up exactly here?
And with all the weird timeline stuff going on with the gap between when King Harald died and the time Shanks captured Loki, I am starting to think that Loki might have not been captured at all. Let me explain, because just imagine the time line for a moment. There are eight years where we don’t know what Loki is doing.
He could have stayed on Elbaf after killing his father, but I think it is more likely he went out to sea which is how he earned his special bounty. But if that’s the case, why did it take Shanks so long to capture him? Surely he would have heard about King Harald’s death, right?
Well, the idea I had is what if Loki and Shanks actually made a deal instead? Because we know that the Roger Pirates have been protecting the path to the One Piece, waiting for the right person to show up. We also know that Loki wants to be the Sun God and he might even know something special about the one piece treasure.
We also assume that the fourth Road Poneglyph is here on Elbaf, so I’m wondering if Loki made a deal with Shanks to come back to Elbaf and protect the final Road Poneglyph by - and you are going to laugh at this - by sitting in front of the entrance to the Road Poneglyph. You heard me right, I’m speculating that Loki is literally sitting in front of a tunnel or cave that leads to the final Road Poneglyph. Which sounds hilarious, right?
But what better way to protect it than by placing a monstrous fighter right in front of the entrance? It's not just a random idea either because I do have some more evidence here. If you remember the first Road Poneglyph we found on Zou was also kept in a secret tunnel inside of a massive tree, so that would fit nicely with this idea of the final Road Poneglyph also being hidden inside a tree.
On top of that, Shanks also visited Loki recently, so perhaps Shanks wanted to get a copy of the Poneglyph since he is finally ready to find the One Piece. What's really interesting though is that I’ve always been a bit bothered that Loki doesn’t try to just break off parts of the Adam tree to get free. I mean, sure we know Seastone makes him weaker, but it doesn’t make him completely useless.
We even saw Luffy running around and doing tons of stuff with Seastone on while in prison in Wano, so you’re telling me this monster of a giant can’t break off some bark. Sounds a little suspect if you ask me, especially after this chapter when we have Franky casually talking about taking pieces of the Adam tree and selling it out in the world. To tie this all together though, if Loki is protecting the final Road Poneglyph, he could also be the Man Marked by Flames.
His eyes are covered after all, so maybe his eyes were burned some time in his life. That wouldn’t exactly explain the other rumors about the man marked by flames, but I’m sure you can imagine that those rumors could have been made while Loki was out at sea. So yeah, I do think there is some serious potential to this theory with Loki hiding the final Road Poneglyph.
But all that might not even matter because this chapter finally confirmed that Loki’s last chance of getting help is not going to work out at all. And honestly, what I’m going to talk about next might have made me even more hyped than anything else from this chapter. Because at this point I feel like I am the number one Scopper Gaban fan!
I’ve literally been preaching that he has to come back into the story for months, and now, ladies and gentlemen, I think we are finally one step away from his true reveal. That’s because just as Luffy is talking about the Roger pirates and them being a family, this man right here ****approaches the castle. Which just seems like a not so subtle hint about this man’s true identity.
And man, I am so excited. Scopper is the last major member of the Roger pirates who Luffy hasn’t interacted with, and based on the previous Roger pirates like Shanks, Rayleigh, and even Buggy, Scopper should play a HUGE role in Luffy’s growth as a character and fighter. So yeah, I’m super excited to see where this whole section goes.
But since it is now confirmed that he is going towards the castle, then I really don’t know what is going to happen to Loki. I had previously speculated that this mystery man might be the one to come clash with Shamrock and Gunko to save Loki or at this point just heal the giant prince. But that clearly isn’t happening, so perhaps this man will warn Luffy and the others that Loki is in danger and then they will all go down there together to save the cursed prince?
That makes sense too, but I have to admit there was one thing from this chapter that made me a bit disappointed. And this is a small thing, and I’m not really all that mad about it, but it all comes down to the fact that Luffy is now aware there is someone who looks like Shanks wandering around Elbaf. And it’s not even really a mystery because they literally talk about the fact that maybe Shanks has a brother who is here.
So fo course now Luffy is going to be on high alert for something weird going on. And that completely ruins any chance that Luffy might think Shanks is Shamrock. Like, there is no chance this happens now, right?
This was honestly one of the most interesting questions relating to Luffy that I had for the near future of the arc, but now it seems impossible. So yeah, a minor thing but definitely something that ended a potentially interesting scenario. That being said, I do think we need to point out one major flaw for Luffy here.
And that is his blind devotion towards Shanks. We’ve seen it twice now where people are talking bad about Shanks and Luffy instantly jumps to his mentor’s defense. Which is great and all, but it just makes me wonder: What happens if Shanks is not the knight in shining armor that Luffy believes him to be?
Will Luffy accept that his mentor can do evil? Or will Luffy just always think that Shanks is right? For example, just take what happened with Luffy’s number one fan boy Bartolomeo in chapter one thousand one hundred twenty six.
Because here Yasopp basically wipes out Barto’s crew, and while we don’t know if they survived, I have to imagine that Luffy ordinarily wouldn’t like that someone attacked his friend. So what if he learns that it was Shanks’ crew that potentially killed them? Would he be angry?
Or would he look past it because it was Shanks and his buddies? I don’t know, but it is a really interesting dilemma to consider. Because obviously Luffy would eventually figure out if the Red Hair pirates were truly evil or even just a rival threat and he needed to fight them, but if it takes him some time to figure this out it could cause major problems and potentially fatal losses while he figures it out.
But I’m sure you all are tired of waiting because I’ve avoided talking about the wild lore reveals at the end of the chapter for long enough. So let’s dive into the history, and honestly, I’m a bit intimidated by all this because THIS. WAS.
DEEP! And it all starts when Ripley is showing Franky around the Adam tree, and the cyborg stops at a mural on one part of the Adam Tree. What’s fascinating is that this mural was drawn during the Void Century, and the lore we get just from this image alone is INSANE!
I am really curious what you all think here because there is so much to analyze and speculate. And one cool thing about this is that this mural is basically one of the few confirmed sources from the Void Century that we can actually understand, alongside the mural on the moon that we saw in Enel’s cover story. Before we start breaking this down though, let's also bring in the Harley mythology that Saul showed to Robin at the end of the chapter.
Because what Franky saw is just the tip of a MASSIVE iceberg. And this is something we wondered about: would Robin be able to read the Harley mythology text? Like is it written in the same language as the Poneglyphs or some other ancient language?
But it turns out to be written in just a common language that the giants and I’m assuming other people can read. Which is incredible! Because honestly, I was expecting to see what usually happens when we find a poneglyph.
Usually Robin will just read it and maybe, MAAAAYYYBEE make a comment or two. But no, this time we get to see with our very own eyes what is in this book and boy is it spicy. Because not only does she confirm what Jarul told us about there being two ancient wars, but we get to see the EXACT words in the Harley text!
But enough of the extra details. I know you all are waiting to so let's talk about all this juicy lore. And matching the three Harley chapters with the mural that Franky was looking at we get a breathtaking picture of what might have actually happened during the two ancient wars.
First we have two sides of the mural: a right and a left side. And if you remember that Japanese start reading on the right, so unless we are told otherwise, we can assume that the right side of the mural matches up with the First World text from the mythology. So some of the things we see here are obviously we have a Serpent of Hell which looks like it is rising out of the earth all the way on the right side.
It also looks like this kingdom of people was highly advanced with all the technology and skyscapers there. So was this the time of the technologically advanced ancient kingdom that Vegapunk told us about? If so, then what was the so called Forbidden Sun that the humans took that made the gods so mad?
Just throwing out some ideas to everyone here that could mean something like the Eternal Flame Energy source or it could be the true source of devil fruit powers. Like just take for example all these star ball things we see the people carrying. Could those represent the people’s desires turning into devil fruits?
Just an idea, but it could also just be a major energy source to power all of their technology and maybe that’s what lets them launch this flying ship that we can see here between the fires. The text also tells us that the enslaved people prayed and the Sun God Nika appeared. Which made all of this made these monsters not happy at all, and it seems like they wiped out the world.
Possibly one of those great calamities we have discussed previously. Then moving to the left half of the mural and the Second World, I think this one is very clearly showing the time of the Void Century. It looks exactly what we imagine Joy Boy's allies were like.
There are of course the giants, the merfolk, many tribes of humans, sky people, the minks, and even a giant robot similar to Emeth. So to me this whole second world is the conflict between Joy Boy and someone else. I'm not sure who this giant winged monster is on the left.
Maybe Imu? Or maybe someone else? But in the end, the text tells us that humanity killed the sun and ascended to divinity.
And you all can let me know what you think, but to me this is clearly talking about the Twenty Kingdoms defeating Joy Boy and then moving up to Mary Geoise to become the Celestial Drgons. Which seems to have made the Sea God, which to me seems to be Poseidon, very angry and perhaps that is what caused the flooding of the world. And wow, has your imagination exploded yet?
Because there is just so much here and we haven’t even touched on the Third World text yet. Let's do that now though because as we are told this is most likely talking about the current age with the Sun returning and a New Dawn. And this to me is foreshadowing Luffy and the time after the final battle when he will bring the new dawn and true peace to the world.
That's been what's he's done to almost every island he visits all throughout the story. But man there is so much lore going on in this chapter. But the one thing that blew my mind the most is that almost everything from the First and Second World texts can actually be directly linked to the lyrics of Binks Sake.
Yeah, that’s right. It was all there all along! So time to bust out those lyrics if you haven’t read them in a while or you can check out my full deep dive into the Binks Sake lyrics.
Even with everything we just discussed though, there is so much more to talk about here. Like who are the demons and monsters? Could the Serpent of Hell have been turned into the Red Line?
What does it mean when it repeats the line about never meeting again? And where in the world does Imu fit into all of this? ?
? Well, I’m going to need some more time to break down all of this, so look out for another video in a few days where I will give my full analysis of all this ancient mythology. And I’m really curious if you all have any cool ideas as well, so please make sure to share down below.
However, one thing I am super proud about is that many of my recent theories about the ancient world have actually been somewhat true. Seriously, I talked about the two different eras, the fall of the Lunarians, the ancient gods of the one piece world, and so much more that fits into all the mythology we just learned. And while it certainly isn’t one hundred percent accurate, I was shocked that so much of it fits perfectly to what we learned in this chapter.
So if you want to see all of those theories in one place, you can check out this video right here. As always though, Shanks so much for watching, and in particular Shanks to all the Patrons you can see on screen. Every month you make it possible to do even more amazing projects, so thanks again, and I hope to see you all in the next one.
