Episode 675

"A Fateful Encounter – Kyros and King Riku" is the 675th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
While Usopp faces Trebol, the Thunder Soldier recalls his time as Kyros. After much time as a gladiator, Kyros manages to become King Riku's captain of his guard and later marries his eldest daughter Scarlett and they together conceive Rebecca. As they have a happy life together as a family, Doflamingo ruins it as he attempts to take over Dressrosa that night 10 years ago.

Long Summary
Usopp's attack on Trebol is revealed to have done nothing, as the latter easily puts himself back together with his Logia ability and toys with Usopp.

Meanwhile, Thunder Soldier flashes back to his life before he was turned into a toy. At the age of 15, Kyros was arrested for the murder of two people. King Riku showed him mercy and allowed him his freedom after fighting 100 battles in the colosseum, to which Kyros agrees to. Within four months, he was able to win his freedom. However, Kyros continues to fight in the arena after realizing that there was no other place for him since the people still reviled him as a murderer. After 1000 victories, Riku asked why Kyros wanted to battle so much. Kyros sadly replies that all people will remember him as is a murderer. He also wishes that people would just forget about him and his past. Ironically, this wish would be fulfilled years later. Later on, it is revealed that he began to have nightmares over the blood he shed as a murderer with King Riku silently observing him.

Kyros stays for 9 years in the arena, winning battle after battle without any injury and winning the people's admiration over time. King Riku under the pretense of Ricky, competes against Kyros and his 3,000 wins and loses after giving him a single injury on the head when Kyros is shocked upon recognizing him. Kyros realized that it was the king who was fighting him all along and wondered why did it. The King told Kyros that even though Kyros taught him how to fight with a sword, he doesn't want him to spend his entire life fighting in the colosseum and convinced him to join the army as the captain of the guard. However, Scarlett (the princess of Dressrosa) is distrustful of him since his past as a murderer is well known to her and told him that he will never come near nor touch her or her sister, even though she is under his protection. This changes when pirates kidnap her and Kyros saves her. As a result, Scarlett falls in love with him and begins to spend more time together (much to Kyros's chagrin). Eventually, he reciprocates her feeling and they end up marrying.

Due to Kyros' past as a murderer, Scarlett convinces her father to fake her death so she can live happily with Kyros. She eventually bears him a child who she named Rebecca. The family spend their days living in the flower field where Riku comes to visit them regularly. Kyros himself couldn't bear to touch his daughter since he believes she is too pure to be touched by a murderer and wear gloves routinely when he does play with her. Despite this quirk, they continued to live a life filled with more happiness than Kyros had hoped for. However, one day, Kyros and his family notices the palace burning and questions what is happening.

Anime Notes

 * The anime adds the following scenes:
 * Trebol reforming after Usopp's initial attack and initiating the battle.
 * In Kyros' flashback:
 * Kyros fighting some of King Riku's soldiers before meeting him.
 * Before visiting his friend's grave, Kyros had a nightmare about spilling blood.
 * Kyros' battle with Ricky is shown and implies that his shock from recognizing King Riku was what enabled Ricky to injure him.
 * Kyros rescuing Scarlett from her abductors is shown onscreen.
 * In the manga, Kyros revealed that he was avenging his friend in the slums after he became a gladiator at the Corrida Colosseum. In the anime, it was right after meeting King Riku.
 * Kyros fighting a giant and a fishman underwater is not mentioned in the anime. Likewise, there is also no mention of warriors coming from overseas to challenge him.
 * When Scarlett first spoke to Kyros, the info box states that she was fifteen years old. In the manga, she was sixteen.