#(Aside from maybe Moria and Mihawk since. We don't know when they joined either)

[moongothic]

Just a quick thought but.

Considdering the WG created the Shichibukai System with the idea of having them be "pirates who crush other pirates"...

Okay so we unfortunately don't know when Moria joined the Shichibukai, if that was pre-Kaidou Clash or post-Kaidou Clash, info which would be very useful here but 🤷‍♂️. However we do know that Crocodile joined the Shichibukai before his clash with Whitebeard-- which is interesting, because Crocodile proceeded to get his ass kicked, but still retained his position. Keep in mind, the only reason the Government didn't get rid of Moria the second he lost to Luffy (a menace but still a rookie) was because they knew they needed every man they had available for the incoming war with Whitebeard. Had it not been for that they would've replaced Moria immidiately, and hey, they then did proceed to do that right after the war was over. So the fact they not only kept Crocodile despite getting his ass kicked, but kept him around for like 20~ish years is a bit wild

And that just makes me wonder... Is it possible the World Government could've ordered some of their newly recruited Shichibukai back in the day to go and try to take down the Yonkou on the WG's behalf?

Again, if we knew more about Moria here this would actually be easier to speculate about but since we don't know about his timeline, there's no way to fully tell for sure (btw yes his Wiki page claims he became a Shichibukai after fighting Kaidou, but since that was "revealed" in a trivia book, I would take it with a massive grain of salt)

But if the Yonkou Dethroning Attempts were orders from the WG, it'd actually explain the general attitude amongst the Shichibukai to not actually follow orders from the Government, since there'd be two whole survivors to tell the tale why you don't follow the Government's orders. (Which would also reframe why the Government Really Wanted Kuma to follow every single order given to him) It'd also reframe Crocodile's anger at the Government a little (since I'm sure the WG didn't give a shit about what had actually happened to him), as well as Moria's fury when Kuma showed up at Thriller Bark and Moria learned that the WG was assuming he was going to lose to the Strawhats, requiring back-up

It would also explain why Crocodile got to keep his position despite his defeat, because while Crocodile might've failed, they could still see him as useful as he had survived a clash against The Most Powerful Man In The World (same for Moria if he did go fight Kaidou under the Government's orders)

And man... Like the Shichibukai were framed as "Government bootlicking losers who had abandoned their pirating spirit" when they were first introduced, but as time has gone we have seen that some people took the position for protection. Hancock for to protect her people, Jinbei for the Sun Pirates to get pardoned... And with Kuma, it's just blackmail. It really would be sad if Crocodile (and maybe Moria too) got essentially groomed into the position as young pirates, given all these promises of things they'd be allowed to do/given if they follow orders, only to realize the Government sees them as nothing more than tools