Loki Was on Hard Mode Since Birth!

One Piece Chapter 1153 Review/Recap

Ever since the Straw Hats arrived in Elbaph, we’ve been hearing things nonstop about Loki. His own people consider him a menace and a disgrace to their country. His half-brother has spent years thinking that he killed their dad. Yet despite everything that’s been said of him, we don’t know anything about the real Loki or his past. As this chapter dives into the life of Harald and his son, we learn that no one seemed to love Loki from the moment he was born. Not even his own mother.

Recap

Born with the blood of the Ancient Giants and growing up with Dorry and Brogy as best friends, Harald was built different. His massive body, royal status, and monstrous strength, even by Giant standards, turned him into an arrogant, violent man. No one, not even his own people, could get him to listen to him. However, all that changed when he “rescued” a Giant woman named Ida from a circus. And SHE SLAPPED HIM FOR IT!

Ida was never being held captive. She was working at the circus as thanks for the kingdom rescuing her out at sea. And she proceeded to tell him off for thinking he was better than everyone else because he was lucky enough to be born the way he was and giving Giants a bad name!

Thanks to Ida giving him a reality check, Harald started to change his ways. He rebuilt and apologized to that kingdom he tore up and stopped looking down on other people, and instead started reaching out to them to show how friendly the Giants could be. And eventually, 81 years ago, Harald and Ida had their son, Hadrujin! However, the elders refused to recognize their marriage. Instead, they arranged for him to marry a woman named Estrid, who they deemed worthy of being his Queen. Then, 63 years ago, Estrid gave birth to Loki. But as soon as she saw his eyes…

Estrid was so freaked out, she threw Loki into the Underworld to die, saying that he would one day kill his father before falling ill. Yet Loki would crawl his way up the tree to the Sunland. From then on, every bad thing that happened in Elbaph was chalked up to the Curse of Loki.

Review

Before I get into my very strong feelings about the birth of Loki, there are a few things that I think need addressing.

Firstly, we have Ida, the mother of Hadrujin and Harald’s true wife and love. I’m not sure if its intentional, but it seems like the nicer a person is, the more conventionally attractive they appear, especially when they’re royalty. Yet Ida is an interesting subversion of this. She’s plainer-looking than the beautiful Estrid, yet as we see through her actions, her soul is beautiful. She was the first person to scold Harald for his bullying ways, and the look on his face was priceless. He genuinely didn’t realize how much of a jerk he was being, and his face screams “What did I do wrong?” It’s hilarious! She’s a good woman.

Loki’s Mom was a B****

In contrast, though, we have Estrid. I’m just going to say what most of the fandom is probably thinking: she’s a b****. She already rubbed me the wrong way by calling Ida “that eastern woman” and Hadrujin a bastard, but her remodeling Harald’s castle due to feng shui made it worse. The final nail in the coffin, though, was how she tried to kill her own son!

Admittedly, Loki’s eyes are creepy and off-putting at first, but once you get past that, they look cool! Regardless of what he may or may not end up doing, leaving him to die is just cruel. No wonder he grows up like he does. Plenty of people would act like that if their own mother didn’t love them!

Also, I would like to remind everyone that the only reason Loki was born was because the elders of Elbaph insisted Harald marry Estrid. They wanted a Prince with the blood of Ancient Giants, and they got one. In other words, this is all their fault! Like God punishing them for their backwards ways.

It’s sad that we have to wait another two weeks to see what happens next, but knowing Oda, he’ll come back with another fire chapter. If people didn’t feel sorry for Loki already, then they should now.

I Give “The Birth of Loki” a 4/5

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