User blog:DancePowderer/The Smiling Man, Part 4

Part 1 Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Well, after chapter 745, Doflamingo's outdone himself yet again. He has now reached the level of complete sociopath. I was hoping his saving grace would be caring about the people in the kingdom and avoiding collateral damage. That idea has now gone completely out the window. In fact, after a complete 180 it turns out he wants collateral damage to the point that he is even enabling it. He officially doesn't care about the life of anyone who isn't immediately relevant to his organization. He wants a body count, which is why he turned the whole island into one big hunger games scavenger hunt with random gunslingers to boot. With all the toys back to normal, he has too many enemies hiding in plain sight. That tells me he is getting desperate. I can only guess as to what he'll do when his plan falls through.

There is one thing I can say with certainty about what he's currently thinking. Doflamingo is scared. He traps everyone on the island and then isolates himself in a castle high on a freshly formed mountain. It seems like a macro guerrilla tactic to me. If he didn't think anyone could actually take his head, then why run? It's funny how he said he wouldn't run when he already has. Any further regression hinges on what the Marines decide to do. That's right, Fujitora and two background vice admirals actually hold part of Dressrosa's fate in their hands. They can do anything from control the madness to try and reach a peaceful conclusion or give him the Alabasta treatment and rescind his status as a Shichibukai, for real this time. If they do that, then birdcage just became the world's biggest hostage situation and the Marines can take matters into their own hands. And unlike Doflamingo, Fujitora actually cares about the average citizen. I can understand him wanting to hide his activities. His own country is the perfect front for it. It's just hard to believe that something as big as a whole country would be the lynch pin for his whole operation. There is a delicate political balance at work that is keeping Doflamingo out of prison and in his current position. His monarchy, his status as a Shichibukai, and his status as a pirate and a broker. If anyone of those is compromised, the other two will become useless, his Shichibukai status more than anything. What we are seeing now is the last act of a desperate man. His heritage is showing if he thinks of his people as nothing more than bargaining chips. With the way he is now, he is at his most vulnerable and most dangerous, and even more so should he become completely cornered. I believe we are entering the final act of Doflamingo's reign. Regardless of who perserveres, this can only end in tragedy.