Please note: This article contains major spoilers from the latest episode of One Piece, so read at your own risk.
“Listen, Emet Only when the time is right… When the time is right? Joyboy.”
It’s where One Piece episode 1151 left us hanging so that every one of us had to cover our faces under the sheets and scream. Because what is about to happen in the episode 1152 will definitely blow your mind.
In the latest episode, the animation is a little rigged as the storyline takes us back to 26 years ago in Punk Hazard, where we see a younger version of Clover, the most wanted and renowned archeologist of Ohara, begging the giant-headed Vegapunk. And the reason is something we already know for sure (thanks to the backstories of One Piece).
Can’t judge the good and evil of the past
In this episode, a lot has happened, but let’s break it down slowly and carefully because we don’t want to miss anything. Clover practically and desperately begs for the genius’s help by saying, “Research the void Century with me! This world has a darkness too deep to ignore!”
He needs him to conduct the Void Century research because it apparently requires knowledge from other fields as well. But Vegapunk turns him down, as he is a Government Scientist now, and we know what happens to those who try to do so.
But what comes out practically shocks the weekly viewers (who haven’t read manga, of course) as Clover reveals he bears the name of “D” and his brother was killed on-site when government agents discovered his full name. He was able to runaway by telling them that he was just a friend and they didn’t share any relationship.
Vegapunk tells him that he will forget his real name, and suddenly we have a timeskip of four years, where he discovers the government issued a Buster call on Ohara, and the only sole survivor is a child named Nico Robin (and we already know what happens afterwards).
We get to see bits of the past as Vegapunk visits Ohara and discovers how everyone died while saving the records of the Void Century, and suddenly, we see adult Robin inside Sunny, crying because she knows what Vegapunk is trying to say in the ongoing global broadcast.
“Her Father and Mother’s Legacy! Bonney’s Nika Punch” is pretty much self-explanatory, as that does happen by the end of the episode. But to reach that point, we hear Vegapunk reveal that it was never Gold Roger; it was Gol “D” Roger, and they knew the past.
Emet & Bonney are the new MVPs, while Atlas bids farewell
Vegapunk’s broadcast continues as he tells everyone about how the past should be understood from all perspectives, and it’s essential for everyone not to believe ‘one side story.’ Most of the Straw Hat pirates are still stranded on the edge of Labophase as they try to escape one of the Gorosei, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.
When Atlas makes her way, she punches Lilith unconscious and turns off her transmitter so that York believes Lilith is dead. Atlas fights Nusjuro and sacrifices herself as Sunny makes a successful escape with Coup de Burst.
On the other side, we see Emet the Iron Robot calling Luffy ‘Joyboy’ and exclaiming how happy he is to see him again. And of course, our main protagonist is oblivious to the idea of who is Nika and who is Joyboy (also the fact that no one can hear the giant robot, just him). Emet tells Luffy to leave everything to him, as Joyboy’s enemy is also his enemy, and he is happy that he gets to fight for him again.
Eventually, Saint Saturn reaches the Giants’ ship, where Luffy and Bonney fight together to throw him off. Bonney turned herself into her version of ‘freedom’ that Kuma wanted for her.
With the help of ‘Distorted Future,’ Bonney turns into her version of free Nika, just like Luffy. While beating Saturn, we see a glimpse of Bonney’s thought where she is an infant on Ginny’s lap as she rests her head on Kuma and hears them saying, ‘Thank you for being born’ (Well, thank you for making us cry again Oda?) and of course the famous ‘To Be Continued’ banner pops up.
But before it went all red and black, Kuma’s face had a smile. Until next week, which is going to be an ‘Upheaval’ do let us know what you think of the latest episode.
