User blog comment:Fliu/Thoughts on the Reverie Arc and Expectations for the Wano Arc/@comment-24850639-20180625174224

- I certainly am quite curious what other pirate legends will arise in the story of One Piece. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that there was of course an era before Roger, but Oda has never really given us a reason to be too concerned with these other names, as Roger seemed to have surpassed them in some kind of way. "Rocks/Locks" seems to be a pivotal figure however, and may be to Kaido something like how Mother Carmel is to Big Mom. Whatever this favor Big Mom supposedly did for Kaido, I feel safe in assuming it was something she did in place of their late captain. This crew sounds scary, and if we're going to get the inevitable backstory that we usually do for an arc villain, the story is bound to come. Especially considering that Luffy's victory in Wano is being set up to be very similar to whatever Garp's was. I groan at another Don Chinjao-esque comparison between the two, but I suppose it's nice to see Garp being so proud of his grandson considering Luffy seems a lot more like him than Dragon, and we know how much he loved him and Ace.

- Not sure what the Vegapunk invention is either, but I hope to god it's not yet another improvement upon the pacifista. We'd already heard that they'd become stronger after the timeskip, and it's starting to make Vegapunk seem like a one-trick pony outside of his Devil Fruit science.

- I can't begin to list all my concerns for Team Luffy. I'm more worried about what Roswald is capable of than Charloss, but still, things aren't looking good for our friends. Whether Ryugu Kingdom's wishes are granted or not, the fact that someone as powerful as Im has their eyes on Shirahoshi and appears to know her secret can't possibly be good. And this is on top of her rejecting powerful princes, starting shit with a Celestial Dragon family, and being cut off from her one source of power. Wapol has a lot more power than I feel his recent adventures have let on, and he has something sinister in the works for the Drum Kingdom. And that of course brings me to Alabasta, where both Cobra and Vivi have had probably the largest targets on their backs that we've seen on a side character since Dragon. The father has pissed off the Gorosei, and the daughter has somehow caught the attention of the ruler of the entire frickin world. I'm not sure if I'm more worried about lies in store for our friends before, or AFTER the Reverie.

- I think a confrontation between Lucci and Sabo is much more exciting to me than Sabo kicking Stelly's ass around. Sabo has long since let go any attachment to that kingdom, and I sincerely doubt he's held any grudges, or interest in the throne. I know people love to hate on the non-canon movies, but I felt like that threw that brief skirmish between the two in Film Gold for a reason. Just a random coincidence that we got 2 canon appearances from Vice Admirals out of it I guess lol. Sabo and Lucci represent foils of one another, being fiercely loyal and highly respected in their organizations, which also happen to be each other's greatest foes. They also have opposing relationships to Luffy, one being a brother that loves him no matter what, the other having Luffy to thank personally for the only organization he's ever known betraying him. Please do us this fanservice Oda!

- Of all the plotlines that we've gotten so far for Reverie, the Shanks bit was the one so far that I didn't expect Oda to leave us hanging on. We're all expecting Luffy or Blackbeard, but Oda has a tendency in these situations of making it secret answer C. Given that we know so little about Shanks, and what he's experienced, I'm truly at a loss here. I'd almost be inclined to think Rocks/Locks, since I found it interesting that the Gorosei were discussing the Big Mom-Kaido development. Yonko working together upsets this "great balance" that they've established between the Marines-Yonko-Shichibukai, and since I'm inclined to believe that they aren't even aware yet of Fuji's plans to abolish the Shichibukai, I'm thinking Shanks gave them a different reason to be upset, but also further supports their fears of maintaining balance. I don't think they'd be so bold as to set plans in motion to kill Cobra at the Reverie, given that they'd be some of the biggest suspects while in the presence of so many kings, and I doubt these kings are aware of Im's existence. The WG definitely has their own secrets to hide, and need to tread lightly to a degree here as well. Also, I don't think Barto's actions against Shanks caused too much ire after he learned of his allegiance to Luffy.

- Oda has a lot more in store for Kuma, I wouldn't consider this the end of him by any means. His backstory has been referenced one too many times now for us to not eventually get a full explanation, and the plotlines surrounding him all have deep relevance to the story. I'm sure even this new revealed connection with Bonney is going to play a major role in Bonney's future story. The way he appears to wince when being hit and stabbed, I refuse to believe that some remnant of the old Kuma isn't still in there. Speaking of, I'm expecting the Ryokugyu reveal to be nothing short of epic. People have speculated for ages now that he will have some kind of power related to the Earth/Nature, so a part of me is inclined to believe that he's going to snuff out Morley's powers.

- I don't see Luffy fighting Big Mom and Kaido simultaneously either, and at one point I believe the Yonko will undercut each other. I know Luffy is due for a really huge feat when all this is said and done, but physically defeating both Big Mom AND Kaido shouldn't be it when the entirety of the Marine forces plus the Shichibukai could barely handle one Yonko. If Big Mom does indeed show up, I expect Kaido to stay true to his word - if he doesn't kill her, at least putting her out of commission. It's hard for me to see the Big Mom Pirates as the same kind of threat considering that Luffy has defeated 2 of her 3 strongest warriors just by himself. At the same time, I hope Big Mom isn't reduced to some gag of just being this person that's just chasing after Luffy to reclaim her honor. It feels like that's the case in her relationship with Roger.

- If Jinbe doesn't show up in Wano I will be quite surprised. I don't think you have anything to worry about there. If Big Mom couldn't take his soul the first time, I don't see it happening now that his new captain has given him an order, and he's even more firm in his resolve. Gotta agree things don't look as good for the Vinsmokes though. If they really did turn tail and book it, then technically Big Mom still got to keep all the technology she wanted.