One Piece Chapter 1161 Review/Recap
The God Valley Incident, AKA the Trojan War of the One Piece world. We now know that this war between the Rocks and the Roger Pirates, the Marines, and the God’s Knights was part of an elaborate trap for Rocks. The Celestial Dragons wanted to wipe out his family and kill him in the process. Officially, though, this started because all the pirates wanted to rescue their beloved Shakky. And none was more determined than Rayleigh, who realized that not going after her was a huge mistake. Which is why the God Valley Incident is more than just a major historical event; it’s also a love story.
Also, Garp stans are going to get ton of mileage out of what happens!
Recap
The island of God Valley has become an island of nightmares. The Celestial Dragons are trying to flee to safety. The God’s Knights are killing anyone who isn’t doing what they say. The Marines are trying to get ahold of the situation, Kuma and Ivankov are making their move, and the pirates are fighting everyone, including each other! It’s chaos!
And amidst all this, Dragon is spotted by one of the Knights and is almost killed. It’s only thanks to Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido (and Shiki) showing up that he’s able to survive. And then he sees his dad show up and start fighting all of them. Sadly, he’s unable to retrieve Shamrock, but he is able to save Shanks, who hit his head on the ground. The pirates run from Garp, who just shrugs off all their attacks like the beast he is!
The fighting eventually makes it to the center of the island, with the Rocks and Roger Pirates coming in from both sides to rescue Shakky. She had already taken out her guards and was about to make her escape when Sommers arrived. However, instead of moving her, he decides, “screw it. I’m just gonna kill her so no one wins.” Right before he can lay a finger on her, Rayleigh swoops in and yeets him away like he’s nothing! Now safe thanks to the man she loves, Shakky breaks down and starts crying, prompting Roger and Scopper to do the same before declaring their intention to get away.
Recap
Wow, what a chapter. I’m starting to understand why the World Government wanted to cover up the God Valley Incident afterwards. And to think that Dragon, Ginny, Kuma, and Ivankov were caught up in the middle of all this and survived.
We all knew that something would happen that would keep Dragon from saving both Shanks and his brother. What was surprising, though, was that the only reason Dragon survived was due to fate being at work or pure dumb luck. As sad as it is knowing he could only save Shanks, I still think he should be proud of this fact. Thanks to him, Shanks would basically be adopted by Roger and his crew. Roger is a far better father figure than Garlin could ever be. And thanks to that, Shanks was able to return the favor by saving Dragon’s own son years later, setting the entire story in motion. Talk about karma!
The most surprising thing, though, has to be seeing Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom all running away from Garp. I’ve seen people joke about how weak it makes the future Yonko look, but think of it this way: they had yet to reach their peaks and weren’t as strong as we would see in the future. What was even more exciting is the fact that Garp, in or near his prime, was able to tank Big Mom’s attacks. It just goes to show you how great the gap that Luffy’s generation has to overcome is. They’re close, but not quite there. At least we see proof that the God’s Knights can be beaten.
God’s Knights Still Suck
Speaking of the God’s Knights, this and the previous chapter do a good job of reminding us of how they’re the worst. It was bad enough seeing that coldly killing all those innocent people. But they reach another low when we saw Sommers beat up Shakky while spouting that sexist garbage. If they think a woman who can stand up for herself isn’t beautiful, they don’t know what beauty is. I’m so glad that Rayleigh put him in his place.
Speaking of which, Rayleigh and Shakky’s reunion might be one of the few net positives of the God Valley Incident. I know it’s cliché to see a woman get rescued by the man she loves, and that someone might consider it out of date, but it works. And seeing Roger and Gaban crying tears of joy for their friend is honestly pretty wholesome. Knowing Roger, as soon as they escape, he’ll want them to get married on the Jackson so they can celebrate. And so he can officiate it.
It’s pretty obvious by now that Oda intends to tell us everything that happens at God Valley, and I cannot wait to see what happens.
