Imu is Coming to Elbaph, I Know it!

One Piece Chapter 1178 Review/Recap

Ever since we learned about the existence of Imu, I have considered them one of the two contenders for the final antagonist of One Piece (the other is Blackbeard.) Considering how they are the shadow leader of the World Government, and thus all of its atrocities can be attributed to them, I’m justified to think that. That’s why seeing Luffy and Loki meet Imu while they’re possessing Gunko such a big deal: its a preview of the enemy that they will have to fight in the future. However, I wasn’t expecting things to go so quickly. And while I’ve seen some people think that the Elbaph Arc is winding down, I don’t buy it. Especially after what happens at the end of the chapter.

Recap

After seeingthe shape Brook and Usopp are in, the first thing Luffy does is get them to the others. He doesn’t want them to get caught in Loki’s reckless crossfire, and if Luffy thinks someone is reckless, that’s saying something!

Sure enough, Loki is blasting away at Imu-Gunko, who’s monologuing about rumors they heard. A few years ago, a ship of Giants started appearing out of the mists and attacking World Government ships. At the same time, there were rumors about a giant flying monster roaming the seas. Luffy comes back and says he’s going to make them pay for hurting his friends, but then Imu’s shadow jumps out of Gunko and attempts to use Domi Reversi on them! It doesn’t work.

Luffy then pummels the shadow of Imu into Swiss cheese, before Loki turns back to normal, grabs Ragnir, and hits them with the Nibelheim, freezing them and Gunko in a block of ice.

All over Elbaph, the chaos is beginning to wind down. The last of the nightmares is eliminated. Chopper restore the remaining DO’d Giants. The fires are being put out, and Robin and Saul head inside the Owl Library and find it empty with Biblo gone. Luffy, meanwhile, has turned into his old man form and is left begging for food. It looks like everything is under control…or is it? Luffy and Loki don’t notice it, but Imu’s shadow disappears from the ice block.

Back in Mariejois, Imu calls the Gorosei to tell them something: they’re leaving Mariejois for a bit.

…Uh-oh.

Review

Guys, my spider-sense is going off like crazy right now! The fighting in Elbaph isn’t over; not by a long shot! If anything, there’s a good chance it’s only getting started if Imu is about to do what I think they are! But first things first, we need to break down and review the chapter.

The first big thing of note is that we learned what Loki did after leaving Elbaph. He and what was left of the Royal Guard did what Harald did and started attacking ships at sea. The only difference is that Loki targeted World Government ships exclusively. My takeaway from this, and what a few YouTubers pointed out, is how smart Loki was doing this. He only went after the people who directly served the World Government while sparing everyone else. More importantly, he did it as discreetly as possible because he knew if he did it in the open, it would make all of his father’s efforts for naught. He may not have approved of what Harald did, but he did love his dad enough to not let the dream he died for be in vain.  

It does beg the question, though: why did Shanks have to capture Loki and drag him back to Elbaph? A few of those YouTubers that I follow actually came up with a good theory. According to them, Loki was gearing up for an all-out assault on Mariejois. Shanks knew that as strong as Loki was, he was likely going to get himself captured or killed while also revealing the powerful Nidhogg had returned. Shanks couldn’t let that happen until the time was right, so he dragged Loki back to Elbaph by force.

Hearing this theory, I think it makes a lot of sense. If Loki is supposed to be the successor to the God of War from ancient times, then he will have a major role to play in the final war for the fate of the world, just like Luffy. More importantly, this arc has left me thinking that the only way to save Elbaph is for Luffy and Loki to work together on this. We don’t know enough about Imu to say whether or not Luffy can handle them at this point. And if I’m right about their next move, Elbaph isn’t out of danger.

How Elbaph is Dealing With Everything that’s Happened

For the moment, though, everyone on Elbaph seems to be in the cooldown phase of things. All of the threats they know about have been pacified for the time being. The God’s Knights are incapacitated for the moment. And they’re all coming to terms with the fact that Loki didn’t kill his dad. Granted, he did, but we know Elbaph isn’t ready for the whole truth yet, so this is good enough.

I found it very funny that despite knowing that Loki is innocent of his biggest crime, that doesn’t change how his countrymen see him. They’re still mad about Loki still did a number on them while trying to save them. Best-case scenario, they will only tolerate him once this is all over because they need his power to protect them from the World Government.

The big surprise for me, though, was the fact that the Owl Library is completely empty. And Biblo, it’s guardian is nowhere to be found. The best guess is that when the attack began, Biblo realized the library contents would be a target, so he got them all out. I guess, in all the chaos taking place, we forgot about that. The only question is where Biblo could have taken all the books? One YouTuber thinks that the owl took them to the tallest point of the Adam Tree where the Knights couldn’t get to them. Thats not a bad idea, in my opinion, as that would give the story a reason to take us to the upper levels of Elbaph. Then again, he thinks that the Straw Hats are going to use it to travel to the moon and that Laugh Tale is there. It’s cool and I have no doubt that the Straw Hats could travel there if they wanted…but I don’t think it’s going to happen just yet.

Also, I don’t agree with the idea that the Straw Hats might have to abandon Elbaph to Imu, even if they don’t have a choice.

Imu is Coming to Elbaph. There’s no Other Place They’d Go.

And now, we come to the big thing about the chapter: Imu is on the move.

This is absolutely massive news for the story. To the best of our knowledge, Imu hasn’t left Mariejois in centuries. It’s likely they’ve never left their secluded location in Mariejois since the Void Century. They’ve kept their existence a secret that only the Gorosei and the God’s Knights know about. So why leave now, and where are they going?

We already know the answer: it’s because of Luffy and Loki, and they’re headed to Elbaph.

Even before we learned how Imu tried to use Harald as their pawn to control Elbaph, I pegged them sending the God’s Knights to conquer it as an act of desperation. They rightfully saw the power of the Giants as what could decide who wins the final war, and with it now inevitable, they wanted it on their side. And once again, Luffy and the Straw Hats managed to get in their way. So, Imu has decided that enough is enough and pulled a Thanos by saying “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

I don’t think I need to tell you guys just how bad this is. We have yet to learn just how powerful Imu is, but we know they’re even stronger than the Five Elders. When Luffy and the others fought them, they couldn’t put them down for good! Their Haki was just not strong enough to cause permanent damage. And with how tired and scattered everyone is, they’re in no shape to fight. But…they also don’t have a choice. Imu cannot be allowed to take control of Elbaph and enslave it’s people. It will be the end of everything if they do!

The Elbaph Arc Isn’t Over. Not by a Long Shot

I know that some people might see this is as the beginning of the end of the Elbaph arc, but I just dont see that happening yet. Oda has waited decades to give us Elbaph, and I don’t think he wants to end it so soon. Nor do I want it to end so soon, as it’s likely that after we leave Elbaph, we’re headed into the final war. I’m not ready for that. At the same time though, if Imu is coming, I want to see Luffy beat the shit out of them for all their evil!

I Give “Waking from a Nightmare” a 3.5/5

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