Saturn Literally Gets Fired, and No One Cares

One Piece Chapter 1125 Review/Recap

Even as I write this and maintain my outward composure, on the inside, my mind is freaking out! The events of the Egghead Arc implied that not only is Im, the shadowy ruler of the World Government, immortal, but that the same goes for the Five Elders. Even when Luffy and Bonney hit Saturn so hard he was left in pieces, he kept coming back. But while the (presumably) opening chapter of the Elbaf Arc confirms that the Elders can’t die from old age, they’re not immortal. Case in point, for his monumental failures at Egghead, Saturn pays the ultimate price. At the same time, though, another group of characters manages to cheat death and render one of my biggest fears a moot point.

Recap

With the events at Egghead now over, all the World Government and Navy do is lick their wounds. They killed Vegapunk and secured the Mother Flame, but as Saturn states, they didn’t win. Thanks to Emeth, the Straw Hats, Bonney, Kuma, and the Giants got away and Vegapunk told the world about the apocalypse they’re facing.

Then, to add insult to injury, the Vegapunk’s last card gets played: their cloud factory activates, lifting Punk Records into the sky and away from Egghead. In addition, somehow the Satellites that apparently died are alive and form a new body to share for themselves.

They decide to keep Punk Records safe until the day everyone can access it.

In Mariejois, the Celestial Dragons are panicking over Vegapunk’s news, but all they care about is running out of food. The other Elders, though, are shocked when Figarland Garling strolls into their meeting room and says he’s replacing Saturn. And he’s not joking.

At Egghead, Saturn doubles over in pain as black flames ravage his body, courtesy of Im, who’s furious about Luffy’s escape. Saturn pleads for mercy, but it’s no use. His body withers and then, in an explosion of flame, is reduced to nothing but a skeleton!

Oh, and in the Kamabakka kingdom, the Revolutionaries realize they’re in a race against time. They have to end this war before the world destroys itself, trying to survive the coming armageddon as an age of chaos dawns.

Review

I’m sorry, WHAT? SATURN IS DEAD NOW? Akainu gets his top spot back on my list of most-hated characters in One Piece!

I don’t think any readers will cry over the death of Saturn. In a more just world, his crimes against the world and what he did to Bonney’s family and Vegapunk warrant death a hundred times over. However, I felt no satisfaction from seeing his violent and unbearably painful demise. Because as awful as Saturn was, his death reminded the readers that he was still a mere puppet, with Im being the one pulling the strings.

To its credit, this chapter confirmed a few things about the Five Elders. Firstly, learning that Saturn was alive when Emeth first attacked Mariejois 200 years ago means that the Five Elders have some form of immortality. At the very least, they don’t succumb to death by old age. However, Im grants this agelessness, and they can take it away whenever they want. Judging by the other Elder’s shocked looks at Garling’s appointment, that rarely happens, showing how badly Saturn messed up. However, that makes their, and by extension, Im’s, status as human beings sketchier than ever.

As for how the other Satellites survived, I’m not going to question it. Vegapunk had planned for them to have backups if something happened. I’m just glad they got Punk Records out of the World Government’s hands. That makes one of my big worries about the WG using it for evil moot. Small comfort, though, given what’s coming.

The end of the chapter says it all: order is dead and the world is engulfed by chaos. Finding the One Piece could save or destroy it, making the race for it more important than ever. And something tells me that the last clue to Laugh Tale is waiting in Elbaf.

I cannot lie: this chapter blew my mind. I knew we were going to be in for it when it came to the aftermath of Egghead, but I didn’t expect Oda to kill a major antagonist of the series like that! What a way to take us into Elbaf!

I Give “What Defines Death” a 5/5

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