in light of recent events, i’ve been thinking about zoro’s “i’ll never lose again” promise to luffy in a bit of a different light. i’m starting to feel like that promise isn’t just the cool devotion thing it’s often made out to be, but is also an anvil that he decided to hang over his head out of shame. it’s not a healthy thing to expect of himself. it’s an oath he literally can’t keep. it was made in a moment where he felt like he let luffy and kuina (and by extension, himself) down and he was scared of doing that again (because zoro has self-worth issues and if he can’t be perfect, if he can’t be special, if he can’t be the greatest, he’s not worth anything and was never worth anything in the first place.) my theory/hope is that this promise is going to bite him. and he’s going to have to reckon with the prospect of letting luffy down, for real, and what that says about him.
