Summary
The Elbaf arc ofOne Piecehas been the most hyped story arc of the series by far, since the build-up to it began as early as Little Garden. As of the time of writing, this arc is well underway, with the Straw Hats coming together to face off against the forces of the Gods Knights, who are almost certainly the main villains on this island. Though the battle has started, Elbaf seems to be moving at a rapid pace.
As such, due to the sheer importance of this island bothfrom a strategic and geographical perspective, it seems that the events that unfold here will shake the foundations of theOne Pieceworld. This is why there is a rather large contingent of fans who believe that, following the close of this arc, there will be yet another time skip that will set the board for the Final War to take place, so let’s see how this could be.
Another Time Skip May Be On The Horizon
Why This Makes Sense
One Piecehas been sailing on for quite a while now, with the story officially having entered its much-awaited Final Saga as of the start of the Elbaf arc. Due to this, much of the pieces of the world are starting to come together asthe biggest players all make themselves knownand move into place for the Final War, which will shake the world. One of the biggest reasons why the series has reached the Final Saga has to do with the official debut of the Gods Knights.
Their introduction in the Elbaf arc as the island’s main antagonists is incredibly important, since it marks the beginning of the Final War. Dragon even stated that the Revolutionary Army will truly be brought into the main conflict once the Gods Knights make their move. Such an action finally shows that the World Government is preparing their forces for something big.
Our real battle will start when they mobilize the Gods Knights.
So, how does this ensure that there will be yet another time skip at the end of Elbaf? Well, to start, one of the stand-out moments from Chapter 1146 of the manga revealed an insane detail, which was themysterious healing ability of Gunko. After Usopp struck her with a powerful attack, much of her body was destroyed, though it barely did anything to her as she was able to reform herself through a mysterious regeneration ability, showing that she sustained no damage at all.
This shows that there is much more to this elusive force of the World Government than what people had believed previously. Everyone knew that they would be strong, but being completely impervious to damage wasn’t on anyone’s mind, which is eerily similar to what happened during the events of Sabaody before the first time skip. Here, the Straw Hats properly faced an Admiral for the first time, who was wreaking havoc on every member of the Worst Generation simultaneously due to his overpowered Logia Devil Fruit abilities, which no one had an answer for at that point in the story.
This was one of the chief reasons why the time skip happened at all, since Luffy and the others needed to train their Haki to its fullest in order to stand up tothose with Logia powers, as well as the strongest characters in the world in general. As it stands, there is currently no way to counter the regeneration abilities of the Gods Knights, so it could be that Oda is subtly hinting at the fact that a similar time skip awaits the heroes at the end of Elbaf.
This is so that the heroes would properly train and gather their strength to face the challenges of the Final War, of which the Gods Knights are but a single part, since they aren’t strong enough right now. It’s implied that these mysterious powers are granted to them by Imu, and the Gorosei themselves also possess these regenerative powers, but to a far greater degree, as was seen on Egghead. Despite Luffy being unmatched with his Gear 5 powers, he has no proper way to counter such a broken ability and harm the Elders for good.
In the end, a strong Devil Fruit power isn’t enough to conquer these seas! Because only Haki… can transcend all!
This is why the Straw Hats need to undergo further training before the Final War starts. Despite this regenerative power seeming like far too specific of a reason for this, the main point here is thatthe Final War is going to be the toughest testfor everyone in the world and there will surely be even more powers or characters who are far stronger than even the Gods Knights, and the way the standings are right now, it seems that the heroes have no real way to hurt them.
What’s even more damning is the fact that, despite being the most important crew in the franchise, the Straw Hats only have four members who can use Haki effectively. While these will be the characters who will take the brunt of the combat scenarios, the others will still need some proficiency with Haki, and a time skip is the perfect time for them to learn this power.
Loki’s First Appearance
One Piece, Chapter 1130, “The Accursed Prince”
At this point, almost everyone knows about the importance of the strategic locations of all the former Roger Pirates that we have met so far in the series. Essentially, each of the members of this legendary crew whom the Straw Hats have met so far has had a massive impact on their story; Shanks being the one to inspire Luffy’s pirate journey, Crocus giving them the knowledge of Log Poses and getting them started on the Grand Line, andRayleigh being the one to train Luffyto master Haki to face the New World.
Following this trend, it’s clear to see that Scopper will have a very similar role as well in helping the Straw Hats on their journey in some way. Being present at God Valley and having faced the Gods Knights before, some fans believe that Scopper will be the primary mentor to the Straw Hats in the second time skip, properly training them to master every facet of Haki and giving them the knowledge on how to counter Imu’s mysterious powers. Plus, he will also likely reveal the details of Rocks and the God Valley Incident.
If Elbaf is still intact by the time you’re leaving this island, come and see me again.
On the other hand, the story has pretty much confirmed Loki’s innocence in killing his father and has also implied his inevitable turn to the side of the heroes. A time skip would be perfect at the end of Elbaf because itwould also build up Loki’s strengthand perhaps even his Haki to be on a similar level to Luffy’s in order for him to become the leader of the Giants in the Final War.
In this time, Loki and Luffy’s friendship would also grow, making them kindred allies who will fight together against the forces of evil. This is implied in the Elbaf mural as well, and seeing as how Loki met defeat at the hands of Shanks despite having one of the world’s strongest Devil Fruits, it implies that he has much more to learn in terms of Haki too, so a time skip would provide the perfect opportunity for all of these story threads to be tied.
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One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
