- Hello, and welcome to the Grand Line Review,
your source for everything One Piece.
And today, we are going to examine one of the most enduring
mysteries that this series has ever offered us.
One that has affected the world
in ways we cannot yet even comprehend,
being of course The Void Century.
Although, this time period is still far
from a complete question mark to us
and as readers and watchers, over the course of one piece,
we have been granted several tantalizing insights.
So, here is everything we know about The Void Century.
The Void Century represents a complete gap in recorded
history said to have occurred roughly eight to 900 years ago
in the modern timeline.
I should say at this stage that The Void Century
may also be known by other terms such as the Blank Century,
if you watch the Funimation subs or even the 100-Year Void,
which is the official VIZ Manga translation.
It doesn't quite have that same
sort of snappy oomph though.
But this was a very formative time for the world
and its events are not shrouded in secrecy
by sheer accident like say some kind of historical mishap.
Rather, these records and events have been deliberately
expunged and even destroyed by the current ruling body
of the planet, being the World Government.
who rather conveniently appear to have formed immediately
after the conclusion of The Void Century.
A weird coincidence there, hey.
And you know what else is a weird coincidence,
you all of a sudden having the desire
to subscribe to the Grand Line Review.
mostly because doing so would grant you
regular One Piece content uploaded
straight into your YouTube feed
and perhaps even the answer to life,
the universe and just everything.
That is the phenomenal potential of this button.
but despite the World Government's best efforts,
they was certainly not able to completely wipe the century
away because logs of it do still exist
in the form of 30 Poneglyphs scattered throughout the world.
and nine Poneglyphs in particular,
which are collectively labeled as the Rio Poneglyph,
contain the lost history of this world.
Although, allegedly one does require the information
from all nine to hold a complete picture.
A task, which is pretty difficult to say the least,
because not only are these Poneglyphs hidden exceptionally
well throughout the One Piece planet,
primarily within the Grand Line and the new world,
but they also happen to be written in the ancient language.
Something that 900 years on has been forgotten by the world
at large and in fact, Nico Robin is said to be the only
person currently alive, who is able to read it.
Although, there are other potential and unconfirmed methods
to extract Poneglyphs information.
Such as those who possess the very vaguely defined
ability to hear the voice of all things,
or by a member of the Three-Eye Tribe
achieving an awakening.
Both of these methods, once again,
are highly speculative though,
but in regards to other Poneglyphs,
they also serve a grand purpose in providing information
and even the location of the three ancient weapons.
All of which are heavily implied
to be a key aspect of The Void Century.
And this whole idea is used by the World Government as the
primary reasoning behind forbidding the study of this time
period, due to the fear of these weapons being revived
and throwing the world into turmoil.
But exactly how much truth is in that thought?
Well, we'll find out shortly.
Although, as a result of more recent times,
we do at least now know where Poneglyphs came from,
to begin with.
As they appear to have been constructed on Wano,
meaning that this Island of isolated samurai likely played
a very key role in the events of The Void Century,
which is also implied to have been the reasoning behind
their modern day isolationist policy.
Basically, something happened during this mysterious time
period that caused Wano to shut itself off from the world.
Although none of it's currently living residents
have any idea why.
But in that respect Wano would almost certainly be connected
to one of the most intriguing aspects of The Void Century,
which is the existence of the Great Kingdom.
Now, prior to the planet being ruled over
by the World Government,
the Great Kingdom was said to be the dominant body
and this kingdom was first brought to our attention
by a certain Professor Clover.
Who led a band of scholars secretly studying
The Void Century on the Island of Ohara.
And the amount of information this group of people managed
to uncover is pretty staggering.
And they even came to form their own hypothesis regarding
why the World Government engaged in this course of action.
As such in the words of Professor Clover,
"It appears they once had enormous power," but all
information about this kingdom has been relentlessly erased.
It is probable, these people understood they would be
destroyed by this Alliance of nations
later called the World Government.
And as such, they carved the truth of their existence
onto pieces of stone, which survive to this day.
Without a doubt, the so-called ancient weapons
could destroy this world.
However, more importantly,
history will reveal that the very existence
and idea of this kingdom is in fact what the World
Government finds most threatening.
We still don't know the nature of this threat,
but the key is the ancient kingdom and its name is...
And then Clover was unfortunately promptly shot
before he could state the name.
Afterwards, the entire Island of Ohara was destroyed
and it's people mercilessly massacred in a genocide.
There was, but one survivor, a young girl named Nico Robin,
who carries the inherited will of this land along with her.
But unfortunately, she was not privy to the conclusion that
Professor Clover and the other scholars came to.
But this act by the World Government does essentially prove
Clover's hypothesis because they were afraid to even have
the name of this kingdom stated aloud.
So, the World Government and I suppose the Five Elder Stars
in particular hold a deeply rooted fear,
not just of history and legacy being revealed,
but of the discovery of a basic idea,
which is just fascinating.
And a lot of this is going to be intrinsically linked
to a key event that occurred during The Void Century,
which is known currently to us as The Great War.
And of course, as you would expect,
the Great Kingdom made up one side of this conflict
and they were opposed by various smaller kingdoms.
In fact, 20 monarchies around the world
joined forces to create The Ancient Alliance,
which included some very familiar names,
such as the Nefetari, clan of Alabasta
and the Donquixote line, who ruled over Dressrosa.
And with their combined might,
the 20 kingdoms would appear to have proven victorious,
managing to overthrow the Great Kingdom
and pave the way for the world as we know it today.
Because after the conclusion of this war
and thus The Void Century,
these kingdoms would stay together
and form the World Government with each kingdom's royalty
being invited to live on the exclusive land
of Mary Geoise and become world nobles.
An offer that we know the Donquixote ancestors
took up thus leading
to the Riku dynasty inheriting Dresrosa.
Although the Nefertari clan would refuse this offer,
which is why they still retain control
over Alabaster to this day.
And as for why that is, it's a bit of a tricky thing.
Alabaster in particular sits in a very, very strange place
when it comes to this whole Void Century business.
Because as stated before, they were one of the founding
parties that opposed the Great Kingdom.
At the same time, though, the nation of Alabaster appears
to have been trusted with a Poneglyphs detailing
the location of the ancient weapon pluton.
Which would imply that they may have had something
of a sneaky Alliance or at least a friendly relationship
with the Great Kingdom.
The theory being that if Alabaster was a true World
Government loyalist nation, then this simply would
have been handed over to the World Government,
who would still to this day have control over Pluton.
Something that they were actively seeking,
as we saw during the Water 7 Saga.
And Alabaster is not the only speculated ally
of the Great Kingdom,
because we also have the civilization of Shandora,
who were given a Poneglyphs to guard
containing the location of the ancient weapon Poseidon.
And this stone was of course housed
in the Golden City of Shandora, which apparently collapsed
as a result of the great war.
However, its inhabitants still continue to protect it
for the next 800 years.
Even once it was blasted up into Skypea
via the Knockup Stream.
The Great Kingdom is not the only renowned name in
The Void Century though and we do know of at least two
living beings from this time period.
The first of which is known only to us as Joy Boy and thus
far his story is known to us is primarily linked
to the aforementioned ancient weapon Poseidon.
Although, this does appear to be something of a tragic tale
with Joy Boy being forced to break his promise to the
ancient residents of Fish-Man Island
for as of yet unknown reasons.
But this whole affair does also involve the massive
construct that is the Noah and assumably involves the plan
to migrate the Fish-Man Island race to the surface world.
And here we're going to have a brief spoiler warning,
if you are not caught up with the Manga, by which I mean
Act III of one at the time of this recording.
Then please do skip to this time in the video.
we're going to be very brief here but we do have some
massive information nonetheless, so go on and do your thing,
but for every one else who is caught up
or simply just doesn't care.
Well, then here we go.
Rather, shockingly, Joy Boy is far,
far more connected to this world
and indeed this story then Fish-Man Island
would have conveyed to us at the time.
And at this stage, he has been confirmed to us to have been
the individual who left the "treasure" behind on Laugh Tale,
which has now become known as the one piece.
The fact is that the Pirate King Gol D. Roger and his crew
were well aware of having pieced together the history of the
world through the various Poneglyphs and upon discovering
this treasure, they simply laughed.
But speaking of (mumbles) it would not be a band of scholars
who uncovered the true depth of The Void Century,
but rather a band of misfit pirates led by Gol D. Roger.
During their journey, they discovered everything there is to
know about The Void Century, but came to the conclusion that
there was nothing they could do about this information,
Not yet anyway.
In fact, when Nico Robin confronted Silvers Rayleigh,
the first meet of the Roger Pirates,
he had this to say on the matter of The Void Century,
"Don't get ahead of yourself, take it one step at a time.
It would seem that we and those of Ohara were too hasty.
Even if I told you everything right now,
there is nothing that you could do about it.
You will see everything one day and the answer you arrive at
may be quite different from ours.
Which does paint a quite a bleak picture of the journey of
the Roger Pirates, going to all of that trouble to uncover
everything and ultimately being completely unable to do
anything because even the pirate King was powerless against
the winds of fate that began blowing
during The Void Century.
Which undoubtedly a major factor in why Roger did what he
did by turning himself into the marines
and starting the golden age of piracy,
very sneakily calling attention to The Void Century
by promising a grand treasure.
And this is a legacy that still very much continues to this
day, because one of the major thing that we have not
discussed yet is the important link between The void Century
and those who are subject to the Will of D because whilst
we do not know exactly how yet, these figures are the key
pillars of fate and inherited Will.
Perhaps even being the descendants of the people of
the Great Kingdom itself.
But there is something incredibly and undeniably special
about them as was made clear with the
final words of White Beard, "You can sever their bloodlines,
but their flames will never be extinguished.
It has been passed down like this since the ancient times.
Some day, one will arise, who will challenge the world
and shoulder centuries of history.
You and the World Government fear the great war that
will come to this world one day.
I'm not interested in the treasure, but when it is found,
the whole world will be turned upside down
and someone will find it, that day will come.
The one piece does exist."
Which is very, very intriguing
because that now makes clear that the events
of The Void Century don't just have insightful bearing
on how we got where we are in this timeline,
but also how we are going to proceed in the future.
The concept of a great war was not something that was
fought and won or fought and lost depending on your
perspective all those centuries ago.
But it is in fact, something that is coming to this planet
with the resurgence of the information lost
in The Void Century.
Now earlier on in the video, I mentioned that when you have
at least two figures who lived through The Void Century.
The first of which was of course, Joy Boy,
but the second is a much more familiar person being
Kozuki Toki, who was able to travel into the comparatively
more modern times through the use of the Toki Toki no Mi.
So, she came all the way from The Void Century having been
born roughly 830 years prior to the present day with the one
clear mission of wanting to visit Warner.
And whilst Toki was very clearly aware of profound
information or at least what Odin knew.
It is currently unknown how much more insight she actually
has into the time period that she came from.
Making her the latest in a long line of delicious sub
mysteries regarding The Void Century, all of which have the
amazing ability to just spark curiosity and the desire to
learn more as well as remain invested in one piece as a
whole because in the great words of Professor Clover,
"The past belongs to all mankind.
No one has the power to suppress the desire to learn about
a history that is not yet known."
And that would be everything we know about The Void Century.
But what do you guys think?
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But for now, this has been the Grand Line Review
and I'll see you next time.