The One Piece Thread: Gear 4th!!!

[Sacr3D]

20 years in the making...

[Wellman]

Not my favorite final attack but this chapter does sell the resolution quite well.

 

Spoiler

Don't fully get where Momo lands the island I guess it is the hole Law and Big Mom made several chapters back.

 

[Reticently]

Spoiler

So Kaido acted like a monster to force someone to come along and have to get strong enough to beat him, because it would take someone that strong to overturn the order of the world?  Except we know that Kaido acknowledges a few people who were already at that level, and they were all content to let Kaido keep on doing bad shit, so Idk.

 

Is Kaido supposed to be redeemable?  Like, I get the child soldier origin story leaving him fucked up, but the balance of what he went on to do is so much worse that I don't think his origin mitigates any of it.  But he probably isn't dead, and unlike Doflamingo prison isn't going to be able to hold him.  We do know he's tried to kill himself a few times, but he's never managed to find a way, and honestly that being how he goes out seems a little darker than OP usually rolls.

 

So... is someone going to come along and coup-de-grace Kaido while he's down?  There are a few people left standing that would both want revenge and are actually strong enough to harm him.  Aside from that- I have to recognize that this would be a really fucking opportune time Blackbeard to just pop up out of nowhere, and do to a wounded Kaido what he did to a dying Whitebeard...

 

Edited May 13 by Reticently

[Sacr3D]

Now that you guys mention it, I kinda don't get Kaido's motivations or why he's in wano yet.

[*.:White ShadoW:.*]

4 hours ago, Sacr3D said:

Now that you guys mention it, I kinda don't get Kaido's motivations or why he's in wano yet.

Spoiler

Kaido followed a "Might makes right" philosophy. After the countless wars he was made to fight in as a child soldier, as well as his subsequent betrayal by his own nation after all his sacrifices he essentially became a nihilist who believed that what constitutes right or wrong means nothing without the strength to back up your ideology.  This mentality was shown to be reinforced by Kurozumi, whose manipulations made him remain in Wano to fuel the events that lead to Oden's demise and Orochi's rise to power. I believe his suicidal tendencies rose from his acceptance that maybe this "Joyboy" of legend was just a myth and that he did live in a meaningless, unforgiving world after all... he sought meaning and in its absence developed a belief that the only thing that matters is power. 

 

He also didn't just attempt suicide directly, but also intentionally set up events to bring about his own potential defeat. He tested the mettle of Momonosuke during the attack of Oden's castle by throwing him off the balcony instead of easily snapping his neck, with the hopes that he could one day avenge his father. He even showed visible disappointment when Momo didn't show the same resolve his father did as Momo was instead bawling in fear. Same goes for when Kurozumi Higurashi used the Mane Mane no Mi to pretend to be Momo, or when the CP-0 agent interloped in his fight against Luffy. In both cases he killed them for ruining his dream.

 

This is why he was amassing and selling weapons to create a "world war" to end all wars. He felt that since there's nothing to stop him, there's no point for anything to remain anyway. At least he can enjoy potentially dying in a blaze of glory along the way.

As to why Kaido wasn't challenged by the other Yonko even though he showed that there were definitely contemporaries in his league, it boils down to character motivations— i.e. Dreams.

Whitebeard  never cared about ruling the seas, or One Piece, he achieved his dream which was to have a family and to protect his family. Once that was achieved Newgate didn't really care about saving anyone, unless they entered his zone of protection. The fact that he was also a member of the Rocks pirates also meant Kaido already had a mutual respect for him an knew his motivations. He was never the Joyboy he imagined.

 

Big Mom wanted to created a world where all races lived in peace and harmony, basically literally inheriting  the dream and ability from Mother Carmel to do so. She also was too avaricious to any hero and is too familiar with Kaido.

 

Now Shanks is the biggest contender, but as we've known from chapter 1 aka Romance Dawn, that he bet all his cards on Luffy being the heir apparent to fulfill Roger's dream. He probably predicted the events and just waited for them to come to fruition, hence why he looked at Luffy's bounty and proclaimed that they're now approaching the moment when they'll finally meet. Kaido puts Shanks in the same pantheon as Roger, Whitebeard, and his former captain Xebec D. Rocks, so it's interesting what his past interactions were like with him.
 

And now for my thoughts on this chapter:

 

Spoiler

Kaido may have lost in predictable fashion, but it still was nice and cathartic to see after so many years of hype. The Toon Force dragon-shaped hole Kaido created was also funny. That said I predictThe consequence of Luffy expending an ungodly amount of haki to both maintain Gear 5th and do his final attack might incredibly detrimental. Luffy might go into an Odin Sleep-like coma that lasts weeks or even months. This would at least give time for some long exposition regarding the blowback from the defeat of a Yonkou.

 

I also agree that  this is a perfect time for Svartbeard, especially since he's is the biggest opportunist out of any OP character. All the allies are weakened Kaido and Luffy will be vulnerable , plus there's a bunch of weapons and Smiles everywhere to plunder and even resell. 

 

 

 

That was more typing than I'm used to.

Edited May 13 by *.:White ShadoW:.*

[Wellman]

1050

 

Spoiler

Did Oda just kill off Kaido and Big Mom?

 

I mean they could survive but that scene showing them in the lava makes me wonder if it will happen.

 

[Reticently]

7 hours ago, Wellman said:

1050

 

  Hide contents

Did Oda just kill off Kaido and Big Mom?

 

I mean they could survive but that scene showing them in the lava makes me wonder if it will happen.

 

Spoiler

On the one hand, that answers my question about what to do with Kaido after he lost.

 

On the other hand, both of them getting driven down through the ground to metaphorical Hell seems a little much for something getting shown after the fact.  Especially in Big Mom's case.  Feels like an idea that Oda had only after the fights were already ended.