There's always the risk of getting your island bombed into oblivion, though.
The sad, REAL American dichotomySince Oda loves his "ticking clock" scenarios for his big battle arcs, I actually think that for the final showdown with Imu, the ticking clock will be shooting down the Kill Sat before it can destroy Alabasta.
I think that's plausible for the battle vs the World Government, but I've always pictured the real "ticking clock" of the final battle to be the final battle itself. Like, in the final battle of the Straw Hat Pirates vs the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard himself is the ticking clock. If the Straw Hats win, the world is saved. If Blackbeard wins, he will destroy the world.
Given Cobra's passing, do you guys think Vivi will help gather a fleet of Alabastan forces so they can fight against the World Government?
Edited by gjjones on May 21st 2023 at 11:12:48 AM
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.Vivi will probably ascend to the throne and become Queen of Alabasta as well.
Edited by gjjones on May 21st 2023 at 12:06:51 PM
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.I really hope the One Piece turns out to actually be something awesome, and not a MockGuffin like another certain pirate series.
Disgusted, but not surprisedSo, characters who we know will be present during the Void Century flashback:
- Joy Boy (most likely the protagonist)
- At least one character from each of the D families.
- Zunesha
- The Iron Giant
- Poseidon, the mermaid princess of the Ryugu Kingdom.
- Amatsuki Toki
- Nefeltari Lily
- Lily's younger brother
Are there any I'm forgetting?
- Imu seems likely, but we don't know for sure.
- Kashigami might show up. Nola is 400 years old, and Kashigami was Nola's size 400 years ago, so Kashigami might be a little baby snake during the Void Century.
- There are a couple of names relevant to Alabasta that Robin said while pretending to read the Poneglyph for Crocodile, namely Tymar the ruler and Mamudin the hero. They might not be real people, since she was lying and the Poneglyph actually said that the Pluton is in Wano. She might have made those names up entirely, or she might have been reciting true info that she learned elsewhere.
Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on May 22nd 2023 at 7:01:00 AM
My current head-theory is that Imu isn't Lily but is still a Nefertari, like either someone she loved or her dad or something. Like the whole fan theory of Imu being Lily seems kinda dumb (people really taking Imu muttering her name as if she's confirming her own like a Pokemon or something??) and I do like both the idea of her having given him the Immortal Surgery and the idea of the Nefertaris still being important like that.
I don't know why people are surprised people jumped to "Imu = Lily". We have sudden exposition about about a celestial dragon to-be who didn't put down the sword promising never to take over the world and then mysteriously went missing, and we also have a mysterious ruler of the world who is kept secret and seems to be in possession of the missing sword.
Now I do expect it to be much more complicated than that (and I don't truly believe Oda will make the final boss/strongest person in the world a woman), but it seems like an obvious first assumption.
Female Imu is still a thing I'm very 50/50 at, but it seems to be getting a lot of traction lately. Could be just fandesigns
for Lily, Imu, and Joy Boy taking the much space in my head though.
Edit: Actually, nevermind, its not as much as I thought it was.
As for the Imu being Lily theory, I have no problem with people theorizing that. I just think its too quick to take it as a sure thing from this chapter. It could be, and I think it would even be cool if it is. But there are a lot of other possibilities right now as well.
Edited by diddyknux on May 22nd 2023 at 11:23:10 AM
One of the biggest things throwing me off the idea of a female Imu is that the world and society of the World Government is so brimming with toxic masculinity/patriarchy (the Marines, the Celestial Dragons, the Elder Stars, etc.) that a woman ultimately being in charge doesn't fully parse.
Edited by Watchtower on May 22nd 2023 at 12:59:56 PM
Yeah, I was watching Tekking's contest video where he reviewed a bunch of Imu artist concepts, and the vast majority of them were women. They were good designs, but then one guy submitted an Imu that looked like an old-style US President (I don't remember which, maybe it was Andrew Jackson?) and that design struck me as a lot more realistic as far as in-universe lore and World Government themes go.
Especially the multiple Imu designs that were half-Lunarian and half-Three Eyed Tribe women. Great designs, but that's completely incompatible with the World Government. Imu shouldn't be a mixed-race girlboss just for the sake of being progressive (and giving her all the racial superpowers, yay for eugenics), Imu should be a representation of the World Government itself: controlling, bigoted, backward.
Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on May 22nd 2023 at 10:15:52 AM

I like how Cobra's first question about Lily is innocent and reasonable enough that it's plausible that the 5 Elders would give an answer without much trouble (and they do). Then the second question about the D is poking a hornet's nest.