Was the Grand Line originally land? (CONFIRMED Theory)
So in lights on the most recent chapter, 1113, we learn that the world government's great and final plan is to flood the entire world, leaving only the red line above the sea level and drowning the rest of the world.
With this in mind, there is of course the obvious question, of wheter this was always the plan, even during the void century.
And if so, there is the question of wheter or not the original alliance succeeded, and the Grand Line as we know it is just a post apokalyptic remnant of a once, much grander landmass, not necessarily one made up completely of land, as we know that some of the kingdoms(the great kingdom itself) during the Void century WERE islands, but one where there was still a very clear land bridge across the world, beyond just the red line.
So, lets dive into this idea, and the evidence for and against.
Starting off with, the grand line is a bizarre place, and we have no actual explanation of why it exists. It cannot be the one piece equator equivelant of the equator, for as oda has confirmed, the map above is aligned so north, south, west and east are those direction on the globe, with the red line and grand line both at an angle across the world, not aligned in the four compass directions.
Then of course there are the frankly bizarre phenomena of the grand line, which though a lot has a somewhat logical explanation, there are still plenty of mysteries, such as the bizarre weather currents of the grand line, and the way the calm belt is very clearly supernatural in how it works.
Why is the start of the line so bloody strange, so much less predictable and filled with nonesense than the rest of paradise?
But lets begin dissecting the idea that the grand line is a post apokalyptic wastelands. How would the continent sinking into the sea explain the weather phenomena?
Well... Crocus claims that the reason for the grand line's being filled with abnormal magnetic fields as a result of each of the islands being very rich in minerals, which frankly speaking, doesnt really seem to be the case for the most part from what we've seen... but if you assume that them "being rich in minerals" actually refers to the idea that the core of each of the islands that survived the ancienct apokalypse were filled to the brim with strong, durable metals from the very core of the earth as the lands around was sunk beneath the waves, there might be some logic to it.
The "islands", or at least the mountains they rest on, would indeed be filled with rich minerals, and more importantly, they would be way closer to the surface and now much more "uncovered" by stone, and be just beneath the surface, and so wrecks havoc on anyone trying to use a compass.
but are there more to suggest the grand line used to be above sea level?
In paradise, there are 4 megastructures that seems to defy any, and all logic for how they could possibly have been built.
The tree gates of justice.
we have no idea who built these ginormous structures, but the simple reality is that with what we know, They just dont make sense.
The Gates are so so stupidly big, that the only creatures that would match it is the big elephant of the minks, and the florian monster.
However, forget the size, the bigger problem is the foundations.
Impel Down is structured like a castle, with a very clear, tiered set of levels.
assuming it was indeed built in the middle of the ocean, from the bottom up, the only race who could possibly have done it would have been the fishmen, who from what we know would have absolutely no reason whatsoever to help the world government make it, given they were on the opposite side during the Void Century, and relations have not gotten much better since.
however... if we assume that both of these structures, the gates of justice, and Impel down, were made on land BEFORE they were submerged, the mystery of the how their construction suddenly makes way more sense.
they are stupidly big, but they were built above ground, making their construction much more logical.
if so, then at the bottom of the sea in this area, one could probably find walls, similar to the gates, connecting the 3 gates, with all 3 and the castle of impel down obviously having been part of some grand, defensive fortification, with their current use of controlling the whirlpool having little to do with their original intention.
And then of course there is how the one piece world is portrayed in Monsters.
We dont know exactly when Monsters is set, but it has to be sometime before the void century, because it was in a different age than the era of isolation that was put into place after the the mountain walls were put into place after the great war, and it cant have been during the void century itself, for it it had been, any mention of the man would have been ruthlessly wiped out by the world government, and he would most certainly not have been famous across the world.
So he lived sometime before the great conflict started.
the more interesting part about monsters though, is how the world looks. Rather than the familiar world of island based city states, We are shown a wast landscape with no sea in sight.
Now it's of course possible this story is set somewhere on the red line, or one a massive island, but there is something else to suggest that the world of old was fundamentally different than what came later.
Ryuma was recognized as the man who carried "the world's greatest warrior soul", and was famed far and wide, with the nickname suggesting a level of international fame on the same level as mihawk... except there is a bit of a problem here.
One piece's world building is built on the fact that every single island is very isolated from all the rest of the world. even if there is one world government, that a lot of states are a part of, but defacto, each island is an independent nation unto itself, except when the world government wants something from them.
News simply does not spread in this way in the one piece world. The only reason pirates such as Luffy, whitebeard and roger are famous, is because the powers that be have a wested interest in making them famous, and spread their wickedness and thus warning of their danger, but also as a justification to why they need to have the mariens around to protect people.
and yet the tales of Ryuma both in monsters and in one piece proper is a worldwide spread story, which given how old he is seems bizarre all things considered(how old his legend is, how widespread it is, how nobody except the people of Wano would have a political reason for keeping his legend alive, etc)... but if one assumes the entire world has heard of him because he literarily walked from one end of the world to the other, with only small boat trips to cross gaps in the continent of the grand line, then the idea that he would be remembered by all long, long after his death makes way more sense.
And then of course there is another, huge detail that is very easy to miss. One Piece's age of exploration just ended, relatively speaking.
The one piece world is OLD, with Alabasta's capital being 4000 years old, and the world government as an organization being 800 years old.
And yet... The world, or more speciffically the grand line was still being charted out and mapped as late as 400 years ago.
four centuries after having been created, the world government and the people of this world didnt know the rough layout of paradise, the part of the grand line where the only kingdom we know for a fact was part of the original alliance against the great kingdom was located.
That seems... insane to be perfectly honest... but it makes WAY more sense if one assumed that the Grand line used to be one, relatively well connected landmass that stretched across the world in relation to the red line.
But once that for the most part sank into the sea(most certainly as a result of the full might of the ancient weapons being unleashed on either side of the war), the world as the people of old knew it was broken, and had to be completely remapped, a process that took centuries.
This could also explain the world government's big symbol. a cross with 5 dots, one in the middle, and 4 around it.
Now the idea that this symbolizes the 4 directions of the world is not a new theory, but the dots are another question, with us having no idea what they mean.
all five represents the same thing, the alliance's big plans for a capital of the world, Mary Geoise, located on one of the spots wheree the world's two big landmasses met. the meaning as it originally was envisioned, was that no matter which direction you went, you would always end up back here at the center of the world.
