Four Words: God Valley Battle Royale
One Piece Chapter 1162 Review/Recap
Despite everyone believing that there would be no new chapter this week, Oda managed to pull it off. His dedication to his story is impressive; concerning, but impressive. After reading this chapter, though, I can understand why he was so eager to want to get it out. The God Valley Incident manages to get even crazier and crazier by the minute, and it might be about to hit its climax. If we thought the Five Elders transformation on Egghead Island was scary, then what Rocks faces at God Valley is flat-out terrifying!
Recap
The chaos in God Valley continues! With Rayleigh having saved Shakky, the two lovers run for it while the other pirates start going after the remaining treasure. In the midst of the chaos, Kuma and Ivankov get their hands on the Paw-Paw Fruit, only for Big Mom to snatch the fruit that turns someone into a dragon. She wanted to give it to her son Katakuri, but Kaido grabbed and ate it first.
Garp, meanwhile, comes across the bodies of the slain citizens and slaves of God Valley and is rightfully horrified, unaware of what was happening. Kuma, meanwhile, starts helping people escape the island with his new powers.
Meanwhile, Rocks manages to save his wife and son, only for them to be pursued by Garling and the demonized members of the Davy Clan. Eris gets Rocks to let her escape on her own, telling him to meet her in Lulusia. Reluctantly, Rocks lets her go on ahead and proceeds to beat Garling and the others’ faces in.
While everything else is going on, Imu speaks to Saturn, who tells him that things are not going to plan. Deciding enough is enough, Imu takes control of Saturn and has him turn into his monstrous form, it’s Haki catching the attention of everyone on the island! And in the final page of the chapter, we see the likes of Rocks, Whitebeard, and Kaido in his dragon form standing side by side as they’re preparing to face down what Rocks calls “the world.”
Oda, you absolute madman! I can fully understand why you were so determined to get this chapter out. You just made the stocks of everyone who isn’t Garling and Big Mom shoot sky high!
Let’s start with Garp. He has officially beaten the allegations against him about supporting what the Celestial Dragons did at God Valley. His genuine horror proves that he really had no clue what they were doing. In fact, what he goes through on that island makes him question justice itself; it was truly a battle royale with things like morality flung out the window! I always thought that it was weird that Garp and Roger would team up to save the Celestial Dragons by taking down Rocks, but now I’m doubting if that even happens. For all we know, that might be a cover story the World Government came up with to hide the existence of Imu. Considering how embarrassing something like that was the only excuse they could come up with, it shows just how bad things got.
As for Big Mom, this chapter has her straight up embarrassed by Kaido, who took his Devil Fruit right out of her hands and ate it in front of her. And the grin on his face as he did it was priceless. He trolled her! All of Big Mom’s talk of Kaido owing her for the fruit was just her coping with the embarrassment! Kaido might be a bad guy, but I can’t help but smirk at his actions. And also smile at seeing how he mastered his fruit right away.
Garling is Mid
This chapter also pretty much shattered the hype around Garling, as he outright lost against Rocks. In fact, I think the entire God Valley Incident has shattered the aura of invincibility that the God’s Knights have. Gaban already proved they can be beaten, but these last two chapters have shown how they’re no match for the Rocks or Roger Pirates in their prime. It shows how much the Straw Hats have to go to be at their level, but it gives me hope.
Speaking of hope, despite what he grows up to be, seeing Teach and his mother seemingly escape God Valley is still a heartwarming sight. Say what you want about Rocks, but he did love his family and protect them like a parent should. As someone on Twitter pointed out, this also explains why Blackbeard names his flagship the Sabre of Xebec. It was the last thing he ever saw of his father. It was also heartwarming to see Kuma save all those people. I only hope that they got to live happier lives after all this.
The OG Monster Trio
The big highlight of the chapter, though, has to be that final panel. Rocks, Kaido, and Whitebeard, three of the strongest pirates of all time, are getting ready to face off against Imu himself. This is the second time that Rocks meets Imu, but this also retroactively confirms that Kaido and Whitebeard had some idea about who was really in charge of the world. In other words, they knew way more than we thought.
I am more than happy to wait for Oda to rest for the next week until we get the next chapter. This was absolute chaos, and that is when One Piece seems to be at its best.
