User blog comment:Fliu/Chapter 957: More Info on Rocks/@comment-7614831-20190927204814

You know, it's really cool to have all this information flooding in, but what any of it (the events of Levely, the history of Rocks D. Xebec and his crew, the Yonko & Roger's Bounties etc.) really has to do with the immediate action in this arc is practically next to nothing. As in, from the perspective of narrative, why couldn't any of this information wait? Really made me scratch my head.

Well, what I'm thinking is that Rocks D. Xebec's history has been used here to help explain Blackbeard's motives going forwards; a few others here have already identified the connections between the two, so here's my take:

We learnt in this chapter why Teach's ship is named the Sabre of Xebec, as well as the fact that his base island, Hachinosu, was the very island where the Rocks crew were formed; both revelations arguably more significant than the identities of Xebec's old crew. Why? Because it not only suggests a strong admiration of the pirate who wanted to rule the world, but a commitment to emulating Rocks D. Xebec and what he stood for. From this overt mimicry, we can infer that Blackbeard has inherited Xebec's Will of D. and has a desire to rule the world, defy the Celestial Dragons and uncover the lost history. Can we also assume the Yami Yami no Mi was also previously held by Xebec? It's a definite maybe.

However, the endgame of introducing Blackbeard's Xebec-emulation to the Wano Arc as a point of narrative is, in my opinion, the implication that Blackbeard will be turning up in person by its end: maybe in order to look to recruit Kaido and Big Mom under his command, maybe to murder one and take their devil fruit (I feel like Kaido is the more likely of the two in that scenario; Linlin is too complex a character to just off like that), or maybe something completely different. Something anyways, but a something I'm looking forward to.

Also, has anyone put the kanji for Ochoku (one of the two unrevealed members of the Rocks pirates) into Google Translate? Because I got 'King'. Highly doubt it's a reference to the King in Kaido's crew as Big Mom would have recognised him, but then the only mysterious, powerful figure I know with a crown on its head is Im, and that theory doesn't quite sit comfortably...unless Im ultimately betrayed Rocks to his death and assumed rulership of the World Government during the aftermath of the God Valley Incident?

Any thoughts?