#Elbaf theories

[wesleysniperking]

Omg y’all. I know some people aren’t religious. And I’m not pushing anything onto anybody. But I just discovered something that stopped me in my tracks. This actually isn’t even really new to any Usopp fan, at least on Reddit 🤷🏽‍♀️ .

It’s another Elbaf theory (more so a connection).

Beware of spoilers!

So, I don’t know if Oda is a religious person, or even knows the story of David and Goliath. He very well might simply be irreligious. And as my sister put it, the best stories told by anybody are unknowingly from inspired by the bible. Oda has named some characters and things that come exclusively from the Bible.

But it has just hit me that Usopp is the David from David and Goliath. Okay, y’all have probably heard that (if you know you know). When some people have stated their Usopp Elbaf theory some have referenced David and Goliath. But get this…

NOT ONLY DOES DAVID FIGHT GOLIATH WITH A SLING, but what is significant is that David was also a shepherd. What do shepherd’s do? They take care of and guard sheep!

And Merry, her design and theme was that of a sheep! And y’all know how badly Usopp fought for her. He was willing to challenge his own captain over her, and that took guts and a strong asf conviction.

Of course of course, Usopp saw himself in Merry. He thought that if the crew could easily discard Merry they’d do the same to him. But that still doesn’t necessarily discredit my idea.

Usopp still fought for Merry because she had life, and was nakama. Like a true shepherd.

This is a passage in regards to the David parallel I’m trying for:

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

David is pretty much saying that he’d fight tooth and nail for any of his sheep, and Usopp did so for Merry. And if I want to get a little punny here, sheep does sound like ship. And with this same conviction David was willing to fight Goliath.

But in all seriousness, there are a few parallels that I just can’t stop thinking about.

I asked my mother about the biblical figure David. And she told that he started out as this small shepherd boy and grew up to be king. Now Usopp isn’t a king. BUT 1) I know he’ll eventually become the king of shooters AND 2) during the Enies Lobby arc and Thriller Bark arc he donned the Sogeking persona. So, like David he did become a king, temporarily (and will STILL become a king). I know it doesn’t sound quite clear. But I think y’all know what I’m trying to say.

(Edit: Actually, there was an opportunity for David to become a king earlier than he did because he’d been chosen to become king from birth, but he opted to wait since he very well did have the earlier opportunity to slay Saul and take the throne…but he didn’t. Like Usopp wasn’t ready to take the Sogeking/Sniperking throne just yet).

Therefore, I must reason with myself. With Usopp being such a king during the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arc, and being right about Merry, I think the only reason why he apologized was to be humbled. I think that’s one of the only ways I can put it since I’m not truly certain if Usopp needed to apologize but we’ll save that for another day, or get over it.

Yet, I go back to David’s story, and I think about what happened after he became king. He became very problematic. Messing around with married women and what have you. So, Usopp needed to showcase humility. And Usopp did so by wholeheartedly apologizing to Luffy and the crew after leaving and rejoining the Straw Hats. Usopp can’t be too big headed.

Also, another thing I gathered was that David is known as the warrior king in the Bible. This aligns with Usopp’s dream and ideal: to become a brave warrior of the sea.

God chose David because he had a good heart. Don’t get me wrong, Usopp has his flaws (who doesn’t?). But that doesn’t mean he isn’t compassionate. He was willing to go to considerable lengths to have Kuro’s crew NOT touch the village. Despite not having 8,000 men to back him up, Usopp was willing to fight alone. He was adamant in saving the village with or without Luffy, Zoro, and Nami. Like David’s faith in God, Usopp’s conviction (the impossible an afterthought) gave him the faith to make the decision alone. The decision to fight with only his wit, determination, and superb marksmanship.

Therefore, Usopp has a good heart. He is the chosen one in his own way, simply because he’s just a normal person continuously underestimated because of his lack of physical strength.

Moving onto my next point.

Ever heard of the term the lamb of god? If not, I understand. But the lamb of god represents sacrifice. In Christianity this is the belief as implied in the Bible. And Merry, the ship Usopp fought so hard to save, sacrificed herself! She sacrificed herself to save Luffy and the crew! So that the Straw Hats could live!

I got this from journallive.com:

To be called a Lamb of God means that God gave Jesus to be killed like a lamb for our sins so we could live forever.” The majority of Old Testament passages that mention “lamb” refer to a sacrifice (85 out of 96). As a nation, Israel began its history by putting lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintels of each house.

The Strawhats aren’t immortal but we all know they’ll have a long lasting legacy. Merry is one of the reasons why they were able to move onto the New World (even if she wouldn’t be there with them), and live out their dreams. Back to the the David parallel, it’s significant to realize that Merry saved the crew mainly because of Usopp’s care. If he hadn’t taken care of Merry, Merry wouldn’t have developed a spirit. Merry wouldn’t have saved the crew. Simple.

It kinda makes me tear up just thinking about it. But like Christ, Merry sacrificed herself to save those she cared about. She sailed away with the crew one last time before she died to save them.

I understand if anyone reading this may debunk my words simply because they think I’m reading too much into things. But I don’t think I am, because like any Usopp fan, I think his actions during Water 7 hold a lot of meaning. Some say he did some stupid stuff in the Water 7 arc because of a stupid boat. But it wasn’t that.

So, how does this tie into Elbaf?

Well, a user on TikTok (m05s_3nergy) theorized that when the crew are in Elbaf, there will be a moment where they’ll encounter a formidable foe, and before the crew (or Luffy or another crewmate) step in, Usopp would step forward and let them know that he’ll deal with the enemy himself, and to move on without him.

Now, it’s up to anyone at this point to explore the possibility of him biting the dust or not.

One of the things I can conclude about each theory is that they all sound really cool, and I really do hope that Usopp will get a moment that’s similar to one of them. To have a David and Goliath moment isn’t as far-fetched as some would think because the most obvious parallel is less subtle than some think. Usopp admires the Elbaf giants and he’ll eventually be in the land of giants (Elbaf has been confirmed 👀). With Luffy’s track record they’ll come across trouble quickly, and as found in most of the arcs, a LOT will be going on. How can Usopp not have a moment to shine? When David dealt with Goliath it took smarts. He acquired 5 stones and with his faith in God, he was able to defeat Goliath.

Before anyone thinks that the Franky-Egghead hype and Zoro-Wano hype is what Usopp-Elbaf hype is. I think you’re mistaken. Since Little Garden, Usopp and Elbaf have been associated.

Usopp has befriended 5 (or was it 6?) giants from Elbaf. I can ramble on some more. But I’ll stop here. I just wanted to talk about the David and Goliath parallels and religious themes.

I might make a video on this very topic. There’s more research I need to do. And many more parallels I must make. So stay tuned.

Related link here

Conclusion:

Usopp = David

Slingshot = Sling

Goliath/Philistines = Formidable opponent/admiral/Evil Elbaf giant

Israelites = Strawhats and Elbaf dwellers

One person already beat me to it when it came to my David being a shepherd parallel: https://www.reddit.com/r/WildAnimeTheories/s/Pi1h3PhNuN

The user expands on other theories I find valid as well. They’re worth reading.

Reddit users just love the David and Goliath parallels:

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/4jciG5CbiD

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/G8UNHHox2Z

3: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/F9XOlBV2st

4: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/vs0zolxht6

5: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/OB5WlCEjVZ

6: https://www.reddit.com/r/Piratefolk/s/zjqJPslEsp

7: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/VRfJoJCPJg (this post makes more connections).

8: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/7gNionwEhO

9: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/IbupOpfYwO

10: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/8iNZsaQpfE

11: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/7akm49XfYK

12: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/mpDbdWCOar

13: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/P0GW2ZZiun

14: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/6s9IdE1Tec

15: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/iJDeiyvmrc

16: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/s/Dh4XYYToxj

Many more theories and links I’ll provide in another post.

Usopp fan club (feel free to join)

#WaitTillElbaf

usopp fan art credit: msprinklez (@danbooru)

[raconteur-wanpi]

none of this makes sense honestly and I had an actual fever while making it

[minniiaa]

This might sound pretty silly, but in ending of chapter 1124, there's a mysterious silhouette character in Elbaf. I couldn't help but kinda got a strong feeling, if he could be responsible for rescuing Law and Bepo?🤔

Its just a small theory, it'll be cool if it did happen. So far we still don't know mysterious man in the silhouette except he likes to drink.

Absolutely not silly and y otally a possibility! I’ve seen theories floating around that the figure is actually Scooper Gaban of the Roger Pirates (see below comparison photos which do look pretty similar). Could just be a coincidence, but with Oda, you never know!

Whoever it is, I hope your theory is right and they are indeed the one who saved Law and Bepo so we finally get to see our favorite emo doctor and his fluffy bff again! I need to see Law’s pretty face again and real solid confirmation he’s alive and well. (I mean he’s probably not WELL, but when has Law ever been?)

[elimaybeafish]

HELLO HERES SOME QUICK ELBAF CRACK POT THEORIES WITH ME ELI

The fits gonna go hard

I imagine they gonna give Luffy the clothes of nika (just imagine any Norse god fit would work)

Nika (aka JOYboy and Luffy) is a balder Reference

4. balder died due to LOKI and mistletoe

5.Loki’s with the world government

[trinityalps]

Red Line?

Ok so the red line is an artificially created continent. At some point it will break ... its assumed that luffy and co must destroy red line (create all blue, reunite laboon, etc) but maybe the serpent thrashing onto land represents... like the WG's attempt at recreating something like Poseidon? unclear. Also seems like Fenrir = WG attempts at recreating pluton.

@brambleclaw33 bc youre my favorite now <3

[cardboard-writer]

If the robot awakens in response to Joyboy, does that mean that 200 years when it rampaged there was someone else who managed to awaken the DF?

Or is there something else that can activate the robot?

That robot for sure is going to be a part of Elbaf.

[krongulous]

ELBAF PREDICTIONS, from someone currently in Zou #lol:

The villains in this arc will be Gods Knights, from the image shown here at least 9 are shown, though there could be more, this is based on the fact that rn the gorosei are tailing the strawhats at Egghead, so when they eventually escape to Elbaf, the knights will probably be sent after them.

Assuming 9 is the limit though I’ll send some quick match ups: Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, Jinbe, Franky, Usopp, Urouge, Enel, Gedatsu. Why these two out of nowhere?

Well I dont think the arc will be entirely focused on the giants, moreso this is gonna be an arc focusing on three characters, Gedatsu, Enel and Urouge

The three of them represent different parts of the sky islands lore, Gedatsu represents the destruction of Birka, being one of the few survivors

Enels focus will be an origin story of sorts, basically being about how he found the devil fruit and how he got to the sky islands, as you’ll note his lack of wings (this could just be due to the symbols on his back however)

And finally urouge, who I feel will also be tied to Birka in some way. I see a lot of people mistake him for being Shandian, however I don’t think this is the case, as his younger form is shown having a hairstyle only skypieans have. It’s also safe to say in this arc we’ll actually learn the name of his devil fruit.

If I had to throw a quick Oda esque-backstory out there: Urouge was there when Enel took over Birka, made Gedatsu and the rest of the priests work under him and finally destroy it when he saw it as no longer useful, and SOMEHOW survive and probably find a devil fruit afterwards.

Now why would they be at Elbaf?

For Gedatsu I can just see it being a coincidence, he tunnelled too far with his mole buddy and ended up at Elbaf with Goro and wacky hi-jinx ensue where chopper remembers Gedatsu blah blah blah but they’re over it

With Enel I can see him finally coming back down to earth to meet with Luffy, and when luffy wants to fight him, he instead makes peace with him, knowing his limits, he wants to ally with luffy instead since the murals on the moon had interested him so much, that he figured the blue sea below the skies had the answers

For Urouge though? I have three ideas:

A: he could want to ALLY with luffy, as he followed him to Elbaf to ask if he could join his grand fleet and help him claim the one piece, with him being forced to partner with Enel as they fight gods knights

B: he could be the actual villain of the arc, dispatching of one of Gods knights in the middle of a fight and forcing Luffy and Enel to team up to defeat him

Or finally C: Enels the real villain who gets rid of gods knights and makes luffy form an alliance with urouge and Gedatsu to defeat Enel, “for Birka!” Or whatever

Whatever the outcome of this is though, it will end with luffy having gained a new ally, and I think the outcome is set in stone by this point:

Robin will find the final road poneglyph here and after the battle, preparation for the final battle at Laughtale is set in motion, the grand fleet are called to Elbaf to prepare and a massive final party is had the night before they finally set off towards Laughtale.

Or it could be nothing like this and I essentially wrote a fanfic for nothing

[onepieceofthoughts]

now i feel like elbaph has too much oxygen for the average person which can breakdown a person’s body but im not sure i would think saul is being affected by this but he’s a giant and he should be fine unless its a you have to grow up there to not feel the effects but i feel like the the oxygen levels are crazy high

[namisweatheria]

It's funny, I saw a post earlier about the different kinds of arcs One Piece has and theories on what kind of arc Elbaf will be, and while I disagreed with basically everything it said in a very quibbling semantics way, it got me thinking....

Egghead has a lot in common with mini set-up arcs like Amazon Lily and Zou, doesn't it? Which would be a really exciting way to think of it....

Centered around an emotional tragedy that already happened in the past, connecting it with major aspects of the rest of the series, there's a challenge to overcome that isn't the typical beating-down-the-oppressor fight, bringing along a female character from it to the next arc.... people going to great lengths to hide the truth... Hidden alliances...

I wonder if Elbaf will have a unique, kind of calamitous structure that ends in a great escape, like Marineford and Whole Cake Island, the arcs that followed the mini arcs did. Perhaps a terrible self-sacrificial death as well....

It would make some sense, right? I think there's something they have to face here, something that challenges the way the Strawhats operate, or Luffy specifically, before they can move on to the final arc within the final saga. I wonder what it is...

[wesleysniperking]

Ahhh. ☺️ I’ve been looking at Usopp vids on YouTube to get me out of Usopp fan angst. And this video really didn’t disappoint.

Truly.

The individual who created the video made all good points as to what Usopp represents and why he is a needed Straw Hat. It made me like the long-nosed sniper even more.

If you’re looking for some simple (not-so-long) YouTube videos that provide character analysis for One Piece characters, PK Buggy is where it’s at. He did a good job with the video.

Usopp may be a scaredy cat but when it comes to fighting for those he loves and wants to wholeheartedly protect, with heavy conviction, then dang it! Usopp is even more invincible than the D in Luffy’s name.

If you’re an Usopp fan just know you aren’t alone.

Why did Wano give Usopp haters so much ammo? Before Nami’s firm resolve in defending Luffy’s honor scene, Usopp did it first! Ugh! 🤬 But apparently selling fake toad cream and not wanting to see a friend get their head literally bashed into the wall is an effin’ dealbreaker!!!!! Wano is my least favorite arc because of all the Usopp hate. Like, how can I be so hyped up for the next arc when the Usopp slander continues?

BUT I must wait for Elbaf. I can. I will.

And if Oda pulls the rug right from under Usopp fans, or moves the finish line again when it comes to Usopp’s time to shine once more I’m going to make a documentary about being an Usopp fan, and how Elbaf hurt so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!!!!! Heck, Usopp-fans might have to come together and make our own fan-funded Usopp Elbaf anime movie or somethin’.

Anywho, I’m making a full summary and list of all of the Usopp-centric Elbaf theories I’ve found on the web (YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and etc)! They’re always so interesting to read and watch and (most likely) better than what we’ll get in canon. So, the post will be up soon.

Wait till Elbaf, y’all!

[zibus]

Since it seems that Egghead is coming to a close soon(ish?), I've been thinking about what themes from the arc might be able to clue us in to what's coming for Elbaf (and perhaps the rest of the Final Saga). Oda often uses a short arc to set up not just the plot, but also themes for the saga to come. My favorite example is Long Ring Long Land planting the seeds of "what if we lost a crew member" before Water 7 and Ennnies Lobby.

In addition, all of the post-timeskip arcs have had important parallel themes and often plot payoffs to pre-skip arcs. Fishman Island -> East Blue (specifically Arlong Park). Dressrossa -> Alabasta(warlord takeover) & Skypia(Noland & being forgotten). Whole Cake -> Water 7/Ennies Lobby. Wano -> Thriller Bark is the weakest, but all of the ideas of night and Luffy bringing the dawn is super prevalent, Moria is the first person to give us details about Kaido, and we meet Rayuma's zombie.

So following that parallel, the Final Saga parallels Summit War, which, duh. But still, maybe we can pull some information and thoughts other than that there will be a war at the end of it.

Looking at Egghead, there's a big theme of hidden identities. There's some of this with Kuma, but of course its most prevalent with the Vegapunks. Each of the satellites can be thought of as a "mask" of Vegapunk's, and Vegapunk himself is revealed to be an ally when we probably expected him to be antagonistic. There are traitors on both sides with Stussy and York.

This idea of identity is also closely tied to loyalty. Vegapunk's disloyalty to the World Government vs. Kizaru. Stussy vs. York. Kuma's (and the Pacifistas') loyalty towards Bonney. Off the island itself, you get Aikanu vs. Garp and their loyalties, as well as the idea of Sword as a special force within the Navy.

Looking at Marineford, we get a lot about sacrifice with Whitebeard, Oars, and Ace. This is tied to the pacing of the torch from the old era to the new, with Blackbeard sweeping in to claim the top spot from Whitebeard. We also get a ton about family, especially found family and Luffy's family with Garp and Ace (and Sabo). And, of course, there's the war.

So how might these themes and ideas play out in Elbaf?

Well with the themes of identities, we've been told the current prince of the Elbaf giants is named Loki, obviously named after the god of trickery and lies from Norse myth which the Elbaf giants are heavily inspired by. The only other thing we know about Prince Loki is that he fell in love with Charlotte Lola but she turned him down. The presence of Loki, combined with the theme of hidden identities tells me all is not as it seems on Elbaf. When we arrive, someone or someones are not going to be who they say they are. Most likely there will be something related to Loki himself, but there's another possibility.

This idea is not original to me, but besides Loki, who's the most iconic Norse god? Thor, the god of lightning. And which character we haven't seen in a while has the powers of lightning? Enel. We know he's coming back after his cover story on the moon. Perhaps rather than seeing his return, Enel will already be on Elbaf with an assumed identity, ready to wreck havoc once again.

But there are other very important characters on Elbaf, and the most significant one is, of course, Shanks. Assuming Oda doesn't go out of his way to save the reunion for Laughtale, its hard to see how Luffy and Shanks don't meet on Elbaf. Luffy has finally reached Shanks level by becoming a fellow Emperor, and so its time to return the straw hat as promised.

On the level of hidden identities, I don't subscribe to the evil!Shanks theories, but I definitely think we will learn a lot about him. I think Shanks definitely needs to become a much more complex and morally nuanced character. If Shanks is a Celestial Dragon by blood as many suspect, I think that would be a great stepping stone.

On the level of families, Shanks is Luffy's truest father figure, so much so that Luffy has barely given his biological father two thoughts. Given what we've learned about Vegapunk's connection to the Revolutionary Army, and that Saul has almost certainly taken the remnants of Ohara's research to Elbaf, my harebrained prediction is that Dragon and co will arrive on Elbaf as well. If Bonney & Kuma travel with the Strawhats and Nika for a while, that would give the RA even more reason to visit. My prediction is we get some juicy parallels between and completely new understandings of Luffy's two fathers, as well as continued development of the found family themes present throughout the entire story so far.

On the level of sacrifice, I'm really torn. Shanks has already sacrificed so much for Luffy. Having him make a full sacrifice either in Elbaf or soon after seems not exactly Oda's style. On the other hand, Shanks is the last original Emperor. If we're truly going to usher in a new era, can Shanks be there at the top? We've been preparing for a Blackbeard v. Shanks rematch since at least Marineford. Having that promise fulfilled here would be extra poetic. And having Teach take down Luffy's mentor would make him Luffy's greatest enemy in a way no other villain has been. Even if it's not Shanks, I'm convinced there will need a big sacrifice to finally pave the way for Luffy's new era of freedom.

There's so much more that could be said about all the story threads coming to a head at Elbaf. Obviously Usopp's storyline is coming to a head. He will definitely become a brave warrior of the sea, and perhaps supplant Prince Loki to finally become God Usopp. He will definitely lead an army of 80,000. Big Mom will probably return, or at the very least we will learn how she gained Mother Caramel's devil fruit powers - which will probably tell us how Blackbeard and co do it as well. Robin will find the final Road Poneglyph and probably the first big clues of the Void Century/Will of D. from the Ohara research. The Strawhat Grand Fleet will arrive, if not at Elbaf specifically definitely soon after - just as Whitebeard's allies came to Marineford.

(Oooo! just had a thought. Will the Strawhat fleet arrive from the sky instead of beneath the ocean? That would be heckin rad.)

But this post is already absurdly long. Hope you enjoyed my rambles, and we'll see how much about Elbaf I get right!

[kipecastro]

NEW CHAPTER OF ONE PIECE IS OUT AND I'M FREAKING OUT!!

I have some things to comment on. First:

WHAT DID THEY DO WITH USOPP?! His... clothes...

Geez... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated.

GO TO SHIT LUFFY, YOU LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

🛐💖🛐💖

They mentioned the Sun God, but it doesn't seem like they were referring to Luffy or his Nika form... It seems to be someone else...

Loki maybe? Prince of Elbaf, inspired by the cunning trickster who had the ability to change his shape... Hmmmmmm?!!! I don't know, but I've always been a little afraid of this Loki guy, as well as of what the country of Elbaf would be like.

Since Dressrosa I have been thinking about the problems with the kingdom of Elbaf, as well as the possibility of bad governance by the royals.

I remember very well how Hajrudin seemed quite motivated to have the Ace fruit because, according to him, "he could become the king of the Giants" or "the strongest giant" Why would he want something like that? Is the warriors' home not as good as it seems? Maybe he needed a fruit to confront someone? Who knows... this current arc will explain things better...

[elimaybeafish]

HERE ARE SOME 3 THREAT ONE PIECE CRACK POT THEORIES WITH ME ELI

1.IMU IS LOKIS KID. WHEN THEY TOOK DOWN JOYBOY IT WAS RAGNOROCK BUT ERASED IT

2. AND BALDER (luffy/joyboy) CAME BACK AND THE WOLFS THAT EAT THE MOON AND SUN

And if your like “if that’s true why is the world gov not with elbaf”

First of shut second off

3. Loki was impsoned when the gods found out (btw it was probably lokis ancestor or him in disguise(cause Loki dose that a lot) so it just repeating history

4. IMU = GOD OF NORSE UNDER WORLD (ALL THE DEMONS) LOKIS DAUGHTER, HEL

[kyle-the-monkey]

So I'm going to put out some of @capsgirl19's Norse Pagan One Piece musings before we both look like hacks when they start getting confirmed on Elbaf.

Ussop is very Loki-like, he's a trickster and a liar and I'm almost sure that Impact Wolf is made of Mistletoe. What does this mean considering that there is an actual Giant ruling Elbaf named Loki? No idea, maybe it's got something to do with "Utgard Loki"? He seems to be the figure where all my Norse Pagan friends go "Yeah we don't know what the hell is going on with that guy."

Nami is deeply Freya-coded association with Gold, cats and is best friends with the Straw Hats resident Loki-esque guy. Plus the shit with Absolom trying to trick her into marrying him, a thing that apparently is pretty common for Freya. (This has gotten @capsgirl19 to begin to theorize that Nami's got a secret twin brother somewhere ala Freyer, so we'll add that to the list of called shots.)

Also depending on how inspired by Norse culture Elbaf is one of the giants might make a comment about how smart it is that the Straw Hats let a woman handle all their money matters.

Lastly (and most obviously because this is the one I actually see people talk about because the parallels are kind of impossible to ignore) Shanks is Tyr this one doesn't even need much explaining if you have even a passing knowledge of Tyr as a figure, he's a God of War who's all about keeping the peace, he's sacrificed his arm to a beast for the good of the world. (Which makes me wonder whether that makes The Sea Beast that took his arm Fenrir or Luffy himself since he's the one he technically "gave" it to)

Anyways none of this was very coherent, and maybe all of it has been theorized in exhaustive detail at this point but the two of us have been talking about the Norse themes in one piece basically since I told them that the Giants were vikings.

@capsgirl19 feel free to add any more coherent thoughts on this but I wanted to write this down somewhere before the new chapter dropped on Thursday.

[tae-rambles]

since this is the end of the Egghead arc and we're heading to Elbaf, here are some of my predictions, hopes, expectations and just general thoughts and feelings i have for the next arc:

firstly, i'm not sure what exactly to expect for Usopp during the Elbaf arc but i have very high hopes for it

next, something that is pretty much guaranteed is Robin's reunion with Saul and her seeing the books from Ohara. i'm so hyped for it and i expect it to hit me in the feels. i also wonder if Robin chooses to read some of the books. on one hand, her reading them would be like paying respect to the scholars' efforts to save them. on the other, however, Robin wants to discover the truth by sailing with the Strawhats ( - she rejected Rayleigh's offer to tell her in Sabaody). yes, the scholars' research isn't complete and so she would still have to reach Laugh Tale to learn the whole truth, but we also know that perspective matters ( - Rayleigh said she might arrive at a different conclusion than the Roger Pirates did) and learning incomplete truths might affect it. so what i think she's going to do is only look into the legends about Nika since she heard Vegapunk declare that Luffy's new form resembles the Sun God and she wants to help her captain. which leads me to my other prediction:

Luffy will learn about Nika and the truth about his devil fruit. he will be opposed to it at first because he's Monkey D Luffy, the man who will become the King of the Pirates, he's not a god nor a hero, dammit! but will relent in favor of learning more about his abilities to become stronger. he may also undergo a mini training arc similar to his time in the Udon prison in Wano.

next, what i hope to see is the dumbass captain trio reunion. i loved their dynamic in Wano, it was so fun! but this time, the atmosphere will be much different. (yes, i believe Kid is alive, this is One Piece we're talking about.) i have some thoughts about that:

the answer to how Bepo and Law would end up on Elbaf is simple - it's the closest location to Winner Island that the log pose points to. (my other theory is Bepo took them to Zou since Zunesha was last seen at Wano and i wouldn't be surprised if they left in the direction to Laugh Tale to prepare for the final war or something idk) they would be welcomed and taken care of at Elbaf since Law was said to be one of the two who defeated Big Mom, the Elbafians' sworn enemy. when he sees Luffy again, Law can ask him to team up against Blackbeard and to get his crew back if they were captured. i'm hoping he simply asks for help instead of forming a formal alliance because it would imply that Law officially accepts Luffy as his friend ( - which Luffy realizes because he's observant like that). but it would also make sense for Law to not demand they call it an alliance since, from Law's perspective, as Blackbeard put it, he can't call himself a pirate captain without a ship and a crew so he's not in a position to form alliances. Luffy will of course agree because they're friends and he will do anything for his friends.

there are two options for how Kid gets onto the island. either Dive turns out to be a half-fishman (a theory i believe) and it's her who saves the crew but it would be hard for her to do it alone, especially with her small stature. the second option, is that a/some giant(s) take pity on the Kid Pirates and save them in secret as a thank you for defeating Big Mom. however, i'm not sure how the interaction with Luffy would go. Kid will be even more pissed at Shanks and surely desire revenge (on Dorry and Broggy, too). and although Luffy did express his desire to fight Shanks, there are no bad feelings between them - quite the opposite. so yeah, i'm nervous to see how that's gonna go

other than that, i'm hoping for all the Strawhats to do some battling since Elbaf is the land of warriors which is a great opportunity to train

i'm also hoping we get a flashback to the night on Egghead so we get to know what happened and how Robin got so injured (my guess is she fought a seraphim but i want to know the details!)

i also want to know where's Stussy but i hope that will be covered in ch 1124

and just to cover all my bases: Bonney will join the Straw Hat Pirates (trust me, Oda told me so)

that's all that comes to mind right now. sorry if it's too incoherent and rambly but that's the nature of this blog (tae-rambles) so... eh?

[krongulous]

Yk besides the fact he’s just a giant, I feel like Hajrudin and to an extent, Stansen are gonna have a role to play in one piece soon, in Elbaf most likely, but if not now then in a future arc.

For starters, Hajrudins crew are all potentially heavy hitters, the only giants in the entire grand fleet and on top of that, all have the loftiest of aspirations of living up to the heights of the original giant pirates.

In fact, they’re the only crew in the fleet besides the strawhats who have a real ambition besides just serving Luffy, Sai had something to drive for but he achieved that in Dreasrosa, Bartos happy to just serve Luffy become the king, whilst Cavendish, Ideo, Leo, Orlumbus and Sai are all indebted so Luffy.

in fact Ideo, Leo, Orlumbus and Sai didn’t even have plans to be pirates going into dressrosa.

So Hajrudin has plans, why does that make him special? Well him and his crew have been subtly built up throughout the story for years before and after Dressrosa.

For starters, when the strawhats were in Sabaody and freed the slaves from the auction house, a giant, later shown to be Stansen, had a line stating that one day he would repay the strawhats for granting his freedom.

So great, he’s probably gonna have a one off line at the final war right? I don’t think so.

Going back to Hajrudin, Stansen most definitely told his friends about the strawhats, and now that they’re fully fledged members of the fleet, Stansen will probably get his chance of paying his debt, most likely with the help of the crew.

Not just that but there’s been a lot of subtle hints towards their return since this.

Hajrudin and Gerd were featured prominently in Big Moms flashback, along with cameos from Stansen, Road and Goldberg, and as big mom was exiled, we see a shot of Hajrudin staring off in the horizon as she leaves.

Going on from this, when we see the aftermath of the Ohara buster call, Hajrudin, Gerd and Goldberg specifically are the giants we see retrieving the books

it could’ve easily been a few fodder giants, but having it be these three makes me think Oda has something planned for Hajrduins crew, and I think Elbaf is the place for this to happen. Like no shit, land of the giants for starters, but the giants in one piece are ones for preserving history, so if a threat of Imus super mega fuck off death ball hits the island, you know the giants won’t take it lying down. I think this is where we’ll see Stansens debt get repaid, the crew is gonna get the strawhats out of a hairy situation and help them keep fighting whatever battle they’re in the middle of, and this is when Luffy will finally accept the toast the fleet gave to him all the way back in dressrosa