User blog comment:Dinosel/One Piece Discussion/Theory! Shanks' Arm!/@comment-74.229.75.104-20160717012219

I always felt that Oda just hadn't decided on how strong to make Shanks or even the Sea Kings, so it really just shows the way the series has developed over time. Maybe he had it figured it out but come on its been over a decade since it started it's not farfetched to say that it was supposed to show how dangerously close Luffy was to haveing his adventure ended before it began.