Dang, the Egghead Arc Was Insane!

One Piece: Egghead Arc Review

It’s felt like an eternity thanks to all the breaks, but the Egghead Arc is finally over. And what an arc it turned out to be!

When it first started, the Egghead Arc was coming fresh off the heels of One Piece’s longest and most insane arc to date. Considering everything that happened in Wano, I thought that we would be in a little breather. Getting to meet Dr. Vegapunk was a big deal given his impact on world events, but it paled in comparison to the realization of where the Straw Hats would go next. After years of build-up and flashbacks, readers were finally going to get to see Elbaf! Next to Laugh Tale itself, no other location was as anticipated by fans, and it felt like we were finally closing in on it. All we had to was wait for the Straw Hats to make their inevitable escape!

I’m not sure if I can speak for anyone else, but I’m not ashamed to admit that Oda pulled the wool over my eyes.

With One Piece reportedly entering the beginning of its final saga, the series had to get a lot of things ready. And with so many characters and events taking place at once, it makes sense why Oda would want to get started ASAP. Things that he had been foreshadowing for years, even decades, had to be revealed. And most importantly, the series had to let us know just how high the stakes were. So much happened that I had to go back and review the entire arc and everything that happened in greater detail.

I’m RJ Writing Ink, and this is my look back at the triumphs and shortcomings of the Egghead Arc! Most of them will be triumphs, though!

Oda Worked Overtime to Get Everyone in Position, and it Shows

Even though the arc was officially focused on the events at Egghead Island, a significant chunk of it was spent looking at events taking place in the larger world. Koby’s capture and rescue from Beehive Island led to Garp taking his place. Two of the pirate crews that took part in events at Wano were beaten by Blackbeard and Shanks. And we saw first-hand the truth behind King Cobra’s assassination at the hands of Im and the Five Elders. And that’s just a handful of the things that happened abroad.

Its not out of the ordinary for Oda to spend chapters catching readers up on the world of One Piece at large. That’s part of what makes him so good at world-building. But with the series entering its final saga, Oda had to start getting everyone into position for what’s to come. That meant he had to cram as much as possible when he could while he could, making the arc feel a bit bloated as a whole.

There’s also another issue that affected pacing: the breaks. In recent years, Oda has gone on more and more breaks between chapters for his own health. Which is good. The last thing I want is for him to work himself into an early grave. However, it also means that an arc that could’ve been finished a long time ago got dragged out several extra months. I dont mind it, but I know other fans do. Between these two factors, it feels like the arc played out longer than anyone thought.

The Legacy of Ohara Lives On!

In hindsight, I think learning about what happened to Robin’s homeland of Ohara was a real turning point in the series. Thanks to that, we learned just how far the World Government would go to keep people from discovering the truth about the Void Century. But while everyone besides Robin seemingly died with Ohara, this arc revealed that the WG failed to destroy the real threat: the knowledge the country collected.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the scholars of Ohara, they managed to save most of their research and books for future generations. The Giants then retrieved everything and brought it back to Elbaf where the Five Elders couldn’t get to it, and later gave Vegapunk the chance to read everything for himself so he could pick up where they left off. In addition, we learned two important things: this event inspired Dragon to create the Revolutionary Army, and that Jaguar D. Saul was alive.

Hearing that everything that Ohara did had not been in vain brought tears of joy to my eyes. Not only did the knowledge of Robin’s homeland still exist, but her first and oldest friend was alive. And now both of them are waiting for her in Elbaf. As if we didn’t need any more reasons to look forward to Elbaf, now we can expect a happy reunion between Robin and Saul!

Kuma and Bonney Might Have the Saddest Backstories in the Series

One Piece has no shortage of characters with tragic backstories, but after what we learned about Bartholomew Kuma and Bonney, I think they have the saddest. Kuma was enslaved and orphaned as a child because of the “crimes” his race committed. He lost the love of his life and chose to raise her child-by-r word as his own daughter, only to learn she might die before she turned ten! And to top it off, the same monster responsible for her death used his daughter to blackmail into becoming a cyborg and slave before taking away his free will!

The whole time I learned about what Kuma and Bonney went through, my default emotions were either unbelievable sadness or absolute rage at the unfairness of it all. I thought Akainu was the man I hated most in One Piece, but Jaygarcia Saturn made him pale in comparison. That only made it all the more satisfying when the father and daughter reunited, and with Luffy’s help, absolutely humiliated the demon several times over. At this point, though, I dont think death is a good enough punishment for what Saturn has done. Especially given what we learn about what they plan for the world.

The Five Elders and Im are a threat to all Life

We’ve known for a long time that the World Government and most of the Celestial Dragons are evil, but this arc brought them to a new low, even for them. Their destruction of Lulusia Kingdom wasn’t just genocide, but it caused sea levels to rise around the world. Now countless islands are in danger of being swallowed by the sea, and they dont care. As Vegapunk posthumously reveals, that’s because they were already in the process of doing this.

My jaw dropped when we first learned that the world of One Piece as we know it isn’t naturally occurring -made, but the result of a man-made disaster. During the Void Century, the founders of the World Government somehow sunk most of the world’s continents below the ocean. The “islands” we’ve seen are the mountaintops of those ancient continents. And the process is still ongoing. If Vegapunk’s correct, then soon, everything below the Red Line will sink into the depths of the sea.

I dont know how Oda does it, but he’s so good at making the most vile and disgusting villains possible. The ones controlling the world are actively trying to wipe out everyone below them, and they’ve been getting away with it for centuries. And now that Vegapunk has exposed the truth to everyone, what little semblance of order there is left will collapse. Not that that may matter, though, given what the World Government now has.

The Five Elders Now Have the Means to Destroy Everything

When Lulusia was destroyed, many fans suspected that the Gorosei and Im had one of the Ancient Weapons in their possession. Most likely Uranus, given how its the only one unaccounted for, with Shirahoshi the new Poseidon and Pluton hidden in Wano. It’s not stated directly, but the events of the arc all but confirm that theory to be accurate. Using a fraction of Vegapunk’s fuel source, the Mother Flame, they managed to power the Weapon enough to destroy a country. Now that they have York and the rest of the Mother Flame, they could power it forever. And now that the world knows the truth, they may decide to just drop all pretenses and be the monsters we already know they are.

This is speculation on my part, but imagine the worst-case scenario taking place. The Celestial Dragon’s Ancient Weapon is powered up by the Mother Flame, and they start using it indiscriminately. Every place we’ve ever seen in the series will be in danger. Not even the Revolutionary Army could stop something that powerful. In other words, the whole world may be doomed twice over.

Thankfully, hope is not lost.

Whoever Finds the One Piece Will Decide the Future of the World

As bleak as things seem, there’s still hope. Whatever the One Piece is, I think it might be the key to saving the world. At the very least, we know that it was something extremely valuable that the original Joyboy left behind for someone to find one day. Roger found it first, but for whatever reason, he was too early to use it. Thus, he chose to ensure that someone else would find it by starting the Great Pirate Era. And that someone is Luffy.

The writing is on the wall, and we all know it: Luffy is the second coming of Joyboy. He has the same powers and personality as the original Joyboy, and while he’s not at the same level of strength, he’s getting there. He’s capable of uniting people from all walks of life through his actions and has changed countless lives for the better already. He is likely the man that Joyboy is waiting to find the One Piece, and by doing so, he might end up saving the world.

It won’t be easy, though. It’s not guaranteed that Luffy is destined to find the One Piece. The other Yonko and other pirates are preparing to launch their own searches. In addition, the World Government might order the Marines to join the search in the hopes of getting it before anyone else does. Whether that happens or not is up in the air. One thing’s for sure, though: things are about to heat up more than ever.

And thus, we draw a curtain onto our time at Egghead. It wound up being way more fun than I thought it would be, but now, we’re headed to the place fans have wanted to see the most: Elbaf. Oda’s been building the place ever since Little Garden almost twenty years ago, and outside of flashbacks and brief glimpses, this will be our first look at the place. And I am SO HYPED!!!

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