One Piece Chapter 1126 Review/Recap
When I first read the leaks for this week’s chapter of One Piece, I had to double-check on Reddit to make sure they were accurate. As trustworthy as people like PewPiece and Redon are, I still had difficulty believing what happened. Specifically, I couldn’t believe what the leaks said that Shanks did. Then again, I should’ve remembered that in the previous arc, we saw Shanks almost single-handedly destroy the Kid Pirates. He may be a nice guy and Luffy’s mentor/father figure, but Shanks can be ruthless when he wants!
And that’s only covering a third of what happened here!
Recap
A month ago, Bartolomeo and his pirates raided the island of Gratel in Shanks’ territory and burned his flag. However, that proved to be a massive mistake, as in the present day, the Red-Haired Pirates have the Barto Club beaten and at their mercy. Barto’s on his knees apologizing and begging for forgiveness, and the Red-Haired decide to let things slide, on one condition!
They have a month to make sure that Luffy drinks this deadly poison…so Barto drinks it himself.
It’s a good thing it was a bluff, though, and Shanks was just testing them. But they still burned his flag, so Yassop sinks their ship; it’s unknown if there are any survivors.
At Pirate Island, Blackbeard’s finally returns and is furious to learn that Koby (and Moriah) got away. However, he lightens up when Kuzan reveals he got Garp.
In addition, they also have Pudding as their prisoner, Augur and Devon are returning with Caribou, and Lafitte is keeping an eye on the Red Port. With the Revolutionaries stopping any food from getting inside, Blackbeard thinks it’s the perfect time to pull off their plan.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat and Giant Pirates continue celebrating their escape from Egghead. However, when they wake up two days later, they have yet to arrive at Elbaf, and the Sunny is gone. And Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper along with her!
When Nami wakes up, she’s in this place that looks like it’s made out of LEGOs and wearing this Viking outfit.
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
Review
Of all the ways we could segue into the Elbaf Arc, seeing Shanks go full gangster wasn’t on my list. Then again, neither was seeing Saturn bite the big one, but I’m not complaining about that!
It took me a few seconds to remember that the Barto club had burned Shanks’ flag, and for good reason. That happened in a cover story seven years ago, so it’s nice to see it pay off after all this time. More importantly, Shanks’ secret test of character for Barto was terrifying but also necessary. If Barto had been willing to give Luffy the poison or lie about it, Shanks likely would’ve killed him then and there. And while their survival is in doubt, the Barto Club’s stocks just increased significantly!
Speaking of survival, this chapter confirmed that Garp is alive but now a prisoner of the Blackbeard Pirates. Imagine the uproar if Blackbeard decided to execute him in a dark reversal of Roger’s own fate! Worse, him having Pudding means he could gain the means to read the Poneglyphs. Most importantly, though, the theory that Blackbeard plans to infiltrate Mariejois has some merit. And disguising Devon as Saturn to get the crew inside is a good plan, even if we know it’s doomed to fail. That said, I’m still hoping to see if Teach can pull off raiding the “Holy Land” of the Celestial Dragons.
As for what’s happening to the Straw Hats, I’m lost. There’s a fan theory that it has something to do with Vivi since the missing crew knew her from their time together, but I’m not sure. For all we know, this could be another detour, but I’m hoping it’s not; Oda has made us wait long enough as it is for Elbaf! And with Nami waking up in a house made of LEGOs, my curiosity will make it hard to wait for next week. I must have answers!
Also, is it just me, or doesn’t it feel weird that only a month has passed since in-universe since the events of the Straw Hats’ Grand Fleet story? If the events with Barto happen in the present, that means the Whole Cake, Wano Country, and Egghead Arcs took place over a very short timeframe!
