This text was originally written for Arlong Park forums’ discussion thread.

Man, looking at some of the replies to this one in the spoiler threads was a trip. Do some people think being a fan of a character is meant to be the same as barracking for a sports team? Because that’s what it feels like. All that matters is your team’s win, and if they’re looking bad or something’s going wrong, the other team is cheating or the ref made a bad call, and heaven forbid you ever acknowledge the rival team made a good play. Honestly that kinda thing often seems toxic enough in the context of sports, let alone when you try to apply it to a narrative which by design has to give different characters highs and lows and can’t be so all or nothing. I’m not one to tell other people the right or wrong ways to enjoy their media, but it really doesn’t sound like a lot of you guys are having fun.

But anyway, things this week moved a lot faster than I expected them to. I was predicting a bit of introspection during the march to battle, but like Oden himself, I was taken off-guard by Kaido’s unexpected appearance. Kaido mentions a spy in Oden’s midst, and we’re really running out of viable traitor candidates now. The stuff with Shinobi later on goes a long way to take her out of the running, so I’m leaning pretty hard towards Kanjuro for the moment. The showdown is marvelously framed, particularly the hills of minions and Kaido himself coiled around a mountain, and the middle row of page five, where Oden’s group on the hilltop are encircled by the coils of Kaido’s body.

Kaido talks about why things are happening the way they are. We learn that he was worried about the state of affairs five years ago. I would have liked if he’d mentioned how he felt when Oden stopped in and left again for the Poneglyph, as it feels like a significant moment to me, but we do still get emphasis on the idea that the sooner Oden had done this the better it would have gone. The big dragon laments Oden not living up to his reputation, but to be honest it’s amazing that any reputation for aman like that could be enduring. Oden’s been pretty consistent in not caring if he looks foolish or weak or villainous to others as long as he gets to help people, and that IDGAF attitude has been part of what charmed people to him. I wonder what he’s actually heard about Oden, and whether that info came through Orochi, the people of Wano, or things he heard about Oden’s career in piracy.

I don’t know if this is a quirk in the translation or not, but it doesn’t feel right that he says “Newgate and Roger were like that too.” Past tense is alright for Roger, but Newgate should still be a clear present threat to Kaido. Is he just confident? Have they not really clashed yet?

Then we get a scene of epic battle. It’s a shame Pirate Warriors 4 definitely isn’t getting this far, because it feels like a perfect scene for that kind of game. The use of screentones in the Scabbard closeups are odd.During the battle it’s just Kanjuro and Shura shaded in. At the end of the chapter it’s Ashura, Kawamatsu, Dogstorm and Catviper. I don’t think there’s any concrete pattern you could read into either group (or either set of remainders).

There’s a brief and perhaps oddly placed cutaway to Yasui and Oden’s family. Toki is oddly calm, but I guess living for 800 years would give you a bit of serenity like that, while Hyori and Momo clearly haven’t been made aware of how serious the situation is. What a rude awakening they’re in for. Considering how recent this is for them and how much whiplash it must have caused, Momo’s behaviour up to this point makes a lot more sense.

Back to the battle. Good to get some background for Shinobu and why she’s so dedicated but not a Scabbard, but there’s nothing super remarkable about what we learn of her. Does make it very unlikely she’s the traitor though, as mentioned.

The glimpses of the fight we see make me desperately want more, but I’m not going to say it’s a fault in the chapter that we don’t get it because it’s going to happen again with higher stakes and characters I care more about just a few chapters in the future. The hoards of enemies combined with a terrifying dragon Kaido throwing fire down from the sky makes for an incredibly intimidating enemy. Kaido’s dragon form always seems to come with a storm. It’s said that these eastern style dragons have weather powers and fly by climbing along the clouds. Bodes kinda poorly for Sulong forms in the present day battle of Onigashima, doesn’t it?

Kaido takes his wound in an absolutely gorgeous spread page, then Oden goes down fast and hard from a blow to the back of the head after being distracted by the Clone Clone Fruit. Well, Kaido and Orochi did go out of their way to prove Oden would let go of a reckless attack to protect his family. Wonder how we’re going to go from here to the death of the Clone hag though. Also, is that the traitor stabbing Ashura in the back? What a surprisingly blatant move to pull, especially after Oden had fallen and the battle was already won.

Oden’s capture doesn’t seem to have inspired the kind of love for him that things happening in the present have implied. There’s one last big moment to come in this story, somehow involving his execution and the Scabbards’ mad dash to get to Toki and the kids before Kaido and Orochi do. Not sure what it could be considering how firmly against Oden the public sentiment is at the moment, but I’m always interested to find out.

The wait for execution in the Flower Capital prison is a mirror of Yasuie and the rounded up samurai in act 2. It feels weird that Wano has been driven by all these little snippets from and reflections of the past, but we’re only now getting the context to make them all work. It feels like an arc built for the reread, given what a puzzle its present and past have become. Maybe it’s meant to reflect the time travel aspect, maybe it’s just Oda experimenting with structure. The binge reread when all is said and done and everyone knows what’s going on is going to elevate the story a lot, I think, especially for people who aren’t really vibing the structure of the week to week version.

Going to be a long two weeks waiting on the next part. I’m predicting a swift end to the flashback after the next one. A couple of chapters at most.