The Tragedy of King Harald Comes to an End!

One Piece Chapters 1168, 1169, and 1170 Review/Recap

Happy new year, everyone! I apologize for slacking on my reviews of One Piece, but stuff kept getting in the way, and before I knew it, I was three chapters behind. Then I realized that all of these chapters have to do with Harald’s tragic death. And while the overall outcome was exactly what fans knew it would be, it was no less tragic to see the real reason why Loki had to kill his own father. It was either that, or let Harald become an unthinking, immortal puppet of Imu, a fate worse than death. Not only that, but we finally learn what that Devil Fruit that Loki supposedly stole was, and I’m honestly beating myself up over not realizing it sooner. With all that in mind, I’m going to cover all three chapters at once. The curtain rises on the tragic end of King Harald, and it’s all Imu’s fault!

Snows of Elbaph

Fifteen years ago, Elbaph’s reputation across the world is better than ever thanks to Harald. Everyone sees Elbaph as kind and friendly instead of being fearsome warriors. Saul even managed to build the Walrus School to help the next generation of Giants grow up in peace. But all of this came with a cost. After learning his wife was dying, Harald rushed to be at Ida’s side. The two remembered how they first met and how they had changed since then, with both wanting to go traveling one last time. But it was never meant to be…Ida passed away on a snowy day, with her husband by her side.

A year later, Shanks had deserted the God’s Knights, leaving Harald free to take up the position as a full-fledged member of the God’s Knights. Despite being shocked to meet Imu, he’s overjoyed to join the Knights, thinking it means that Elbaph can join the World Government. But once he gets back to Elbaph, he is horrified when Imu commands him to turn Elbaph into an army to serve them and them alone. Even worse, he finds that the mark Imu gave him grants him immortality and strength, but makes it impossible to disobey him.

Realizing the terrible mistake he’s made, Harald orders his guards to bind him with chains and summon his sons and Jarul. Thus, we return to the start, as Loki and Jarul arrive on the day that Harald dies.

My Death Cannot Come Soon Enough

At the castle, Harald suddenly cuts down one of his guards, making him realize the mark of Imu can alter even his thoughts. Understanding how great a threat he is to his own people, Harald orders his guards to kill him. And that’s when Loki and Jarul show up: seeing the guards trying to kill Harald, only for his immortality to keep him alive, and he strikes back against his will.

Elsewhere, Shanks is explaining the mechanics of the contracts with Imu to Gaban and Ripley. Basically, it confirms what we already knew: the ultimate contract makes them immortal and strong, but they can’t defy Imu. Thus, Shanks hoped to warn Harald in Elbaph, but he’s too late.

Back at the castle, Harald clashes with Loki and Jarul, who have no idea what’s going on, with the King telling him that he was deceived by the World Government. All they wanted was to make the Giants their slaves, and they manipulated Harald to make that happen. Thus, he begs Loki to eat their great Devil Fruit, kill him, and become the hero that Elbaph needs. Tragically, this is the last free thing Harald can say, as Imu takes full control.

Loki makes a mad dash for the treasure room where the Devil Fruit is stored, with Jarul holding the king off and getting the sword in his head. When he falls, Shanks and Gaban arrive to continue the fight as Loki makes it to the treasure room, only to get attacked by Ragnir.

Contradictions

Loki is flabbergasted at Ragnir attacking him and keeping from getting the Devil Fruit. In fact, the hammer has guarded the fruit for centuries, deeming everyone unworthy. Thankfully, Shanks and Gaban can keep Harald at bay, with the latter knowing the Knight’s weaknesses thanks to beating them up whenever they tried to take back Shanks. But even knowing that weakness isn’t enough as the two are driven into a corner! Jarul orders the remaining guards to stop Harald at all costs, only for the castle to become the site of a massacre.

Loki, meanwhile, actually manages to injure Ragnir, which then reveals its true form of a squirrel. Having deemed Loki worthy, he is allowed to eat the fruit. With his new power, Loki and Ragnir return to the fight, and the battle that follows is too awesome for Oda to show in full. In the end, though, Loki wins. Very briefly, Harald regains control of his mind, and uses it to ask Loki to kill him, to his sadness. Harald has enough time to say his goodbyes to his son, asking him to get along with Hadrujin, and…thanking him for avenging Ida’s murder. And with a final blow from Ragnir, Harald, the King of Elbaph, is no more.

Review

Wow. And I thought Rocks’ end was sad. He died alone at the hands of the Knights of Imu, unable to control his own body. But Harald? He had to ask his own son to kill him to save Elbaph from being enslaved. Harald’s life was truly a tragedy. All he wanted was to show the world that the Giants could be a great force for good, and Imu used that to manipulate him into selling his soul. And to think that this is what would’ve happened to Shanks had he not run away when he did.

We all knew that Shanks was just using his Celestial Dragon heritage to gather intel about Imu. He had no intention of serving them, and he got out of there when he had no more reason to be there. That being said, everything we learn about the contracts with Imu, or Covenants, as the wiki calls them, confirms why someone as powerful as Shanks was willing to sacrifice his arm to a sea monster. The arm he gave up was the same one his Shallows Convenant mark was on, and it’s likely there was something keeping him from removing it himself. So, when he saved Luffy, it was a way to kill two birds with one stone. Another fan theory turns out to be right!

Shanks made the right decision to sacrifice his arm. The Abyssal Contract didn’t just turn Harald into a puppet not in control of his body. It even affected his mind, robbing him of his free will. Not being in control of your body like Rocks was was bad enough, but to have your own mind, the place that should be your refuge, turn on you? Imu is truly horrifying…and they need to be stopped!

Harald is Not Terrible!

That being said, I don’t think that Harald should have thought so poorly of himself at the end. Everything he did was because he wanted the best for his people. And to his credit, Elbaph has a lot to offer the world besides its warrior culture. I still think getting rid of it altogether is a mistake, as there’s no reason why they can’t have both, but use their power for good. Imu used that to manipulate Harald into becoming his slave, and while it was too late for the King himself, he was at least able to ensure that Elbaph wouldn’t be dragged down along with him. Ida, his real wife, would have been proud of him.

Yes, I know that they never married, but I’m pretty sure that me and the rest of the fandom consider Ida to be Harald’s true wife and not that ***** Estrid. And I stand by what I said about what Loki did to her family; if I were in that flashback, I would’ve joined him!

Loki is Not a Villain!

Speaking of Loki, this pretty much confirms that everything Elbaph thought they knew about him is a load of crap. He’s not evil or a monster; just a misunderstood guy who got a bad deal at life. And despite him saying otherwise, he’s still a decent person who loved his father, loves his real mother, and most of all, loves Elbaph. More importantly, it’s confirmed that Loki never stole Elbaph’s powerful Devil Fruit; he proved himself worthy of it to Ragnir, which I’m just now realizing is a combination of Ragnarok and Mjolnir, Thor’s legendary hammer.

Speaking of Ragnir, how about that reveal that it’s really a squirrel. Either it’s squirrel that ate a Devil Fruit to turn into a hammer, or it was a hammer that ate a Devil Fruit letting it into a squirrel. The squirrel thing might seem random, but if you’ve read Norse mythology, it makes more sense. In Norse myths,  Ratatoskr is a mischevious squirrel who lived in the world tree of Yddragsil and relayed insults between the eagle at the top and the dragon chewing at its roots. More importantly, though, this explains what Loki’s Devil Fruit is: Nidhogg. In Norse mythology, Nidhogg was the dragon-serpent I just mentioned, eating away at the world tree until the end of the world.

That…honestly makes a lot of sense, considering how Loki talks about wanting to destroy the world. Or at least the World Government, as some fans interpret it. None of the fans can blame him for wanting that, either. Between killing his idol, Rocks, and tricking his father into selling his soul to the devil, Loki has plenty of reasons to bring them down, and I’m all for it. I’ve been wanting to see them fall for years, and I’m convinced that we will before the series comes to a close.

How Did Shanks Capture Loki?!?!

Now that we know the full backstory of Loki and Harald, there’s only one real question left: how and why Loki was ultimately captured. We know that he only killed his dad at Harald’s request, and Jarul, Shanks, and Gaban were there to witness the truth. So why did none of them choose to explain the truth? And why did Shanks ultimately choose to fight and capture Loki years later? Given his bad reputation since birth, it’s likely the Giants assumed the worst, but couldn’t Jarul have explained everything? Or did Loki end up crashing out? Either way, it didn’t end well for him.

According to the spoilers, the next chapter will end the flashbacks and bring us back to the present day. I have to say, this has been a very entertaining part of the arc. I always enjoy these flashbacks Oda does to explain everything, but this ranks amongst his all-time greatest. The anime is likely going to have to devote an entire season to covering everything once it returns, and I can’t wait!

I Give “Snows of Elbaph”, “My Death Can’t Come Soon Enough” a 4/5, and “Contradictions” a 5/5

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