#chapter 1124

[fallensnowfan]

First thoughts on chapter 1128, after talking about it with others for a bit.

Does anyone else get Dragon Quest vibes from this chapter?

And I noticed that both the weapon and the shield have the same symbol. A circle with 8 points around it. Variations of that symbol have been prevalent for a while now.

I will be referring to them as "Skull God" for the time being.

If Skull God has a similar role as Camie did after Thriller Bark, then the two days sailing to Elbaf are like the Sabaody perhaps, where the crew spend time with Camie and meet Rayleigh, though things get derailed.

What we are seeing now is potentially like if you were to read the crew meeting Camie, then skip Sabaody, and start with Luffy landing on Amazon Lily. I think that's a good way to describe what this feels like.

Wonder if this person waiting on the shore has a significant connection to Skull God too.

[fallensnowfan]

The crew sailing ahead after leaving the prior two islands traveled to. I like the narrations and the unrolled paper text boxes in chapter 1124.

They remind me a bit of some of the text boxes of Oden's narrations, during Wano's big flashback, though these are a bit different.

Nice connection to chapter 1056 as well, where the routes are selected.

EH = Egghead.

EL = Elbaf.

[fallensnowfan]

Something interesting about Zoro not caring much about Vegapunk in this chapter, is that it retroactively highlights how big a deal it was for him to care about some of the people he met in Wano as much as he did, and how rare that it is he cares that much.

[fallensnowfan]

A few more brief thoughts about chapter 1124.

After seeing Luffy sad in 1124, I was thinking about Luffy forcing himself to laugh, by eating those mushrooms while he was alone on Amazon Lily, after feeling that he failed to protect everyone. Oof.

Shanks thinking about Luffy after Marineford, and wanting him to understand that it's okay to cry, came to mind too. It makes a strong contrast to what Zoro says in 1124.

[fallensnowfan]

Another series of quick ideas about 1124+.

Is a Pudding rescue mission worth considering in the near future?

The crew encountering either the Fire Tank Pirates, and or Perona/Moria, while sailing to Elbaf could be interesting.

Pudding is still being held by Blackbeard's crew, and Lola has connections to the stories of Pudding, Loki, and Moria. There's a great amount of potential in some of the Thriller Bark cast returning at this point.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Aftermath

This chapter, 1124...it really didn't feel that different than the last two. It starts here with our opener. Morgans here takes on a very similar role as Buggy did in 1122, and we're still unpacking the immediate worldwide reaction to the transmission. Importantly, Luffy's gonna end this chapter with a good reminder none of it was very important to him, but Morgans starts it with a good lesson in why it should to a degree.

It's cool seeing Vivi roast him over lying, but this right here is the essence of why shaping your story matters. Buggy could take the moment and make it work for him, Vegapunk was so disconnected he realized his message might stir panic but didn't do anything to ameliorate that. Morgans is setting up Luffy the same way Sabo was. This story should rattle worldwide faith in the government. As is though, it could just end up being a tale about Luffy massacring a beloved figure worldwide. This time I don't really think the opener casts as long a shadow over the rest of the chapter, but it's now something becoming a pattern with these past few chapters. But let's get to the real meat of this one:

Talking with IRL blorbo from my blog Fallensnowfan really helped with this one but it's so stark when you see it in the actual chapter. There's this very interesting juxtaposition in the fallout of Vegapunk's death. Lilith picks up on the conversation we saw with the VegaBoys last time, a theme we've explored throughout with them. What does death mean when you've split yourself into seven parts and have a giant brain floating in a vat?

Well, here we have some interesting answers to this question. Lilith pops up and makes this big show of trying to cheer up Luffy. Get him past these feelings of failure. It was a very sudden shift but it does feel earnest, even if it reminds me a little of Carrot in WCI's End Roll. As earnest as Sentomaru and of course Kizaru. For one, we've talked about how these spotlight moments remind us of Wano's bigger ones. "Have you ever had to kill your best friend?" Well, the Akazaya Nine know that feeling. Especially Kin'emon & Kiku who had to take on the dirty work with Kanjuro.

But man...what a moment. Even Akainu cracked a little and realized he stepped over the line. Seeing Kizaru actually shaken for once too. The little flashback helped cement it as does this amazing shot of him watching all that work go up in flames. Simply put though, Kizaru/Sentomaru clearly don't feel the same way as Lilith here. Which is why part of me has to wonder if Lilith's just putting up a brave front. It's interesting Usopp raises the question of what exactly makes her the "evil" one, which is an idea we never really answered.

And of course, we do end off on what certainly seems to be a final note for Egghead Arc as a part of this story. I do have to say, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. Lilith feels well primed to pick up that New World thread we've talked about going forward, I could certainly see this shaking out in a way where we maybe have a chapter or two away from the Straw Hats to finish off this story and give some people like Drake a moment in the intermission. Then head right into a perfectly straightforward Elbaf arc. We could even do that interspersed with clearing up some of Egghead's lingering mysteries...

But there's still enough weirdness to make me wonder. One thing I've thought for a while is that if the Giants are already here, they can tag along for a bit of island hopping. On some level it's kinda weird to keep them and Bonney and Kuma and Lilith floating around but we of course don't know what Elbaf's story is so it could easily have a place for all that. What it really comes down to for me is that, as it stands, Elbaf really has no apparent conflict set up. Which could work if it's a Zou-type arc where we reset our course or something. But if say...something happens and this group gets blown off course I could see that too. Use an intermediate arc to set up something to do on Elbaf.

Of course, this final panel gives us something to think about too. Who is the mystery silhouette? Sadly we'll have to wait for a break week to really know the next steps. Which means I have a decision to make too. I get the feeling enough people like these writeups for their own sake, but the original intent was to maybe do a little bit about the next arc reflecting on where it ties up Wano themes. Hence "Post-Wano Musings" and I could never keep that hyphen consistent in the tags. Didn't expect Egghead to keep giving me a lot to talk about there. I also just kinda thought it was funny to call an entire arc as long as Alabasta "Post-Wano."

We still have a lot of oddities and through lines though, and those could easily be left hanging as we get to Elbaf. I think my plan is to switch it up and just make normal chapter reviews when we reach a new island, Elbaf or otherwise, with a new tag. I'm leaning towards "Massive Musings" for now, but maybe something better will come up before we get there.

[fallensnowfan]

Chapter 1124 first thoughts.

I'm interested in how the story is contradicting itself by having Lilith basically say it never mattered which Vegapunk they rescued and that Luffy's failures don't mean a thing, the crew just needed to rescue one of them…

But then the one Vegapunk that Sentomaru, Kizaru, and Stussy cared about, the one who they are so distraught over, is the one who's death is being shown to affect them so strongly. Not the deaths of any of the others.

Pairing very clashing perspectives on the same event(s) like this is something I enjoy in stories.

[midorimaze]

Crying because do you think that Luffy was so upset at failing to save Vegapunk was because it reminded him of his inability to save Ace. He was even killed by an Admiral through the chest. This isn't funny Oda 😭