Shanks vs Luffy, Usopp vs Loki and Blackbeard waiting for his turn to collect the strongest
mythical Zoan fruit.
Even though Wano is already one of my favourite arcs in all of One Piece, there has been no
other arc I have been as excited for and as anxious about as the legendary kingdom of
the mighty giants: Elbaf.
Because I'm convinced that it's not only gonna be the Straw Hat's next destination after
Wano, but also the most important arc for the endgame of One Piece after Laugh Tale
itself.
And today, I want to try and predict as well as I can, how all these epic events might
unfold themselves during the Elbaf arc.
Hi, my name is Manu and even though, as someone so obsessed with Japanese culture that I packed
my stuff and moved to Tokyo, I have been enjoying the ongoing Japan-inspired Wano Kuni arc a
lot, -- it has been going on for a while now.
To be precise, it started with chapter 909, back in July of 2018, which was 4 YEARS AGO!
I wasn't even thinking about doing Youtube then.
So as much as I'm enjoying, what I can just hope to be the actual climax of this arc at
the moment, I found it increadibly refreshing to look ahead and think about what the future
of one piece will bring.
And in that, hopefully not all-too distant future, I see a rocky island in the shadow
of a gigantic tree, inhabited by the most powerful mythical beings imaginable.
Cue epic viking music.
Instead of Japanese mythology, sakura trees and samurai, we'll have Nordic mythology,
snowy mountain peaks and vikings.
And just so you know, next to Japan of course, Norway has been my favorite place I’ve ever
lived.
And I honestly think Elbaf's layout will be heavily inspired by that.
With icy winds, long nights and banquets with a lot of alcohol, the most stunning place
I have ever laid eyes on are theso-called loften islands in the far north of Norway.
Please tell me that this doesn’t look exactly like what we've seen of Elbaf's coastline
so far.
If there is one place on earth I recommend you just have to see, it's this one.
Okay, so now that we have set the right mood, how likely is it that we will even go to elbaf.
After all, it hasn't been officially confirmed at all if we're actually gonna go there and
author Eiichiro Oda has to keep pushing back his goal for finishing One Piece as is.
So the only way for an Elbaf arc to exist is if it heavily contributes to the climax
of the series, pushes the story and development further and has a clear connection to Wano.
And for full disclosure, it is of course absolutely possible, that Elbaf will be skipped or just
be referenced in passing by Oda.
That being said, there is a really good reason, why me and large parts of the fandom find
that possibility unlikely and basically take a visit to Elbaf for granted: It has been
foreshadowed as far back as chapter 115, when the straw hats arrived on little garden, where
they met the giants Dory and Broggy.
[]
There are so many important character arcs, that are all bound to culminate into Elbaf.
At the center of it all is undoubtedly Usopp.
I have just recently made a full video on Usopp's character development and why Elbaf
will be his big arc.
So if you haven't seen it already, I strongly recommend you check that one out after.
But all you have to know for now, is that Usopp has been forging friendships with the
Giants of Elbaf trough-out the story, where he has gained their respect and loyalty, and
on more than one occasion, has promised to go to Elbaf one day to become a brave warrior
of the sea like his giant friends.
And don’t worry, I'll be telling you what I believe will happen with Usopp in just a
bit.
The other character that has major connections to the giants is none other than the Emperess
herself, Big Mom, who not only grew up on Elbaf, but who also has a crazy obsession
with integrating the giants into her ideal world, even though the giants despise her
for her actions as a child.[] But surprisingly enough, Big Mom isn't the
only emperor with ties to this island.
In my character analysis on Shanks, I explored the strong ties Shanks has to nordic mythology.
In fact, not only does he sail on a viking ship, but his entire character seems to be
inspired by the nordic god tyr.
In that video, I explore the idea, that Elbaf might in fact be under the protection of the
red hair pirates and since Wano will be the arc, where Luffy will finally rise into the
ranks of the Yonko, it is about time that he met his mentor again, now that he has become
the great pirate Shanks wanted him to be.
[shanks after WCI] Aside from these character arcs, it seems like ELbaf might be home to
the father tree Adam from which's wood the thousand sunny was made . It has been speculated
that this tree might be the main entrance to the sky islands, but no matter what it
will turn out to be, it will play some important role in the lore of the story, should it actually
be there.
If you watch carefully, in the next clip you can see something that looks suspiciously
like a giant tree trunk in the back.
[]
And this might be a bit of a stupid argument, but if Oda had planned to skip going to Elbaf
altogether, he surely would have shown it off to us in all its glory instead of shrouding
it in so much mystery and barely giving us a glimpse of its shoreline.
Oh and, we have this pretty telling cover spread of the straw hats as vikings.
So, with all that being said, I want to now share with you my time-line of all the things
that could and in my opinion should happen during the Elbaf arc.
And while I base all of this as well on everything that has been foreshadowed in the story, keep
in mind, that I could be completley wrong.
That being said, I do belive there is a pretty good chance a good chunk of this will happen
in some way or form.
So, After a long and gruesome battle, we finally depart Wano.
Luffy has defeated Kaido and established himself as an emperor, and the borders of Wano have
finally been opened.
With the monster trio incapable of doing anything for a while after their big fights, it was
the straw hat grand fleet that had come to their help, when it looked like both Luffy
and Kaido were about to be disposed off.
This could either be by the world government or Blackbeard.
This way the crew is saved and Wano is able to start rebuilding itself.
Now, While the grand fleet had sworn their loyalty to luffy, most of them are actually
loyal to Usopp as well.
And with the big 3 knocked out for a while, Usopp finds himself in command by accident
as substitute captain, starting off his arc by fulfilling two of his lies: Leading thousands
of men and being a captain.
However, since it was by accident, Usopp will probably do a bad job of leading at first.
After arriving on Elbaf, I can see the first half of the arc focusing on the culture of
the giants and the issues of their nation.
During Whole Cake island, Prince Loki seems to have been set up as the main villain here.
Loki, who we know from nordic mythology as a trickster and manipulator, has somehow managed
to take control of the giants, possibly getting rid of Dory and Broggy and has even convinced
them to forget their hatred of Big Mom and made them allow him to marry Lola, though
she refused in the end.
Now Loki is confronted by another trickster and manipulator.
Usopp, who has gained respect and loyalty among many of the elbaf giants.
Both of them might be quite similar in terms of their personality, but while Usopp values
bravery and wants to be like the giants, Loki mostly values himself.
At this point it would be a waste, if Oda didn't give Usopp a Mjolnir-like hammer, to
parallel Thor and Loki.
[usopp hammer attacks]
Soon, Usopp tries to expose Loki's trickery, possibly triggered by the arrival of Big Mom,
siding with Loki and maybe Lola, who Big Mom will try to marry off once again.
Usopp counts on the other straw hats to stop Loki, which doesn't happen with Luffy, Zoro
and Sanji out of the game.
So, finally, after seeing the giants suffer and being begged by Nami to help Lola, he
ends up doing the right thing, taking matters into his own hands and challenging Loki to
a duel.
Now we have the classic theme of David with his slingshot vs. the giant Goliath.
The fight itself goes on just as you imagine: Usopp will try using tricks, hammers, dials,
and even Observation Haki against Loki, but despite a few minor successes, nothing really
works.
He’s a giant, after all.
Finally, Loki hurts Usopp so badly, that he almost wins the fight.
And in combination with Usopp’s previous failure as a leader, this pushes him into
despair.
This is where Usopp's conquerors Haki kicks in, something that I discussed in detail in
the previous video.
Using Conqueror’s Haki, Usopp knocks down the Giant Prince of Elbaf, terrifying all
those watching, and earning the respect of the Giants, who will call him ‘a Brave Warrior
of the Sea’.
A tale so epic, that it’s only worthy of such a legendary figure as God Usopp.
And thus another lie has come true, Usopp having conquerors haki.
Not only does he liberate the giants of Elbaf, but he also gains the right to lead the grand
fleet and the giants, numbering 8000 men into battle behind Luffy at the end of the story.
And most importantyl he convices everyone to subscribe to this channel.
A true legend.
This is where the second half of the arc begins.
Luffy and the others just got back on their in time feet to witness Usopp's victory.
Amid the celebrations, a ship arrives at the harbour.
A viking ship.
Luffy turns around and sees Shanks and his men walking towards them.
Luffy starts grinning and runs towards shanks, shouting and waving, but the emperor just
pulls out his sword with a stern face and prepares to attack Luffy.
Confused by this, Luffy keeps running and only in the last moment reacts to Shank's
attack.
The sky splits above elbaf- and suddenly Shanks smiles.
He puts his arm around Luffy and congratulates him on his accomplishments in Wano.
As it turns out, he is the protector of Elbaf and thanks Usopp for taking care of things
in his stead.
That night the straw hats and red hair pirates have their first big banquet together, Luffy
and Shanks now on one level with each other.
During the festivities, a dark shape walks into town.
As he reaches the fires, we can see his face.
[mihawk arrives on shanks island] It's Mihawk, who has sought out his old rival after the
abandonment of the warlord system together with Perona, who bring news, that Blackbeard
is on his way to Elbaf and will arrive in a few days.
As if this news didn't matter at all, Shanks invites Mihawk to drink and while persona
reunites with Zoro, he reveals that he is in possession of the last road poneglyph and
challenges Luffy to a davie back fight for it, to test his strength and that of his crew.
We then get a number of contests between the straw hats and the red hair pirates, where
each of them shows off their skills and proves their worth, including the long-awaited match
between Zoro and Mihawk.
After teaching everyone new ticks and techniques, Shanks and the others push luffy to leave
the island before Blackbeard arrive.
In order to give Luffy a head-start for Laugh Tale, but also as the Patreon of Elbaf, he
will stay and face the man who gave him his scar.
Probably things will turn out quite differently, but I hope you enjoyed this version of events
nonetheless.
You should click here if you want to learn more about Usopp's role in Elbaf and why he
might unlock conquerors haki.