Loki & Holy Knights' conversation in latest One Piece spoilers likely solves a major mystery

With mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s story returning to serialization this coming Monday, January 19, 2025, fans were delighted to see One Piece spoilers drop as usual earlier this week. Likewise, these verifiable leaks from reputable sources painted the upcoming chapter to be an incredibly exciting one, featuring key characters such as “Shanks,” his ally, and Loki.

Likewise, the latest One Piece spoilers confirm “Shanks” and his ally as Gunko, having sought out and met with Loki to recruit him into the Holy Knights. While certainly an exciting development in and of itself, many fans seem to be missing that this piece of information could clear up one of the series’ oldest unsolved mysteries. Specifically, it could explain who and what Shanks, or more likely “Shanks,” discussed with the Gorosei during the Reverie Arc.

Latest One Piece spoilers all but confirm “Shanks” wants Loki in the Holy Knights to defeat Luffy for them

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While One Piece’s Reverie Arc has plenty of exciting and enigmatic moments, one of the most so was the apparent meeting of Shanks with the Gorosei. However, recent months have made it clear that this person was likely instead the hooded figure, all but confirmed to be a Holy Knight in the latest spoilers, who looks exactly like Shanks. While the fandom nearly universally agrees on this, there is still some debate as to who the pirate he told the Gorosei about was.

Many believe it to have been none other than Monkey D. Luffy for several reasons. First, Oda loves parallels and inversions, which are abundant in the series. However, the one relevant here is when Shanks meets with the elderly Whitebeard to warn him of Marshall D. Teach, also known as Blackbeard. In other words, two good pirates discussed an evil pirate, with fans seeing the full dialogue in the anime and original manga.

The Reverie Arc conversation in question is far from fully shown in One Piece and uses an inversion of initiators (Shanks versus “Shanks”). More likely than not, the conversations themselves are also inverses of each other. In other words, the Gorosei (a group of elderly villains) likely spoke with “Shanks” (a Holy Knight and likely villain himself) about a good and heroic pirate, that likely being series protagonist Luffy.

The conversation "Shanks" had with the Gorosei likely revolved around Luffy and using Loki to defeat him (Image via Toei Animation)

This discussion is likely what led the Gorosei to take such an interest in Luffy and realize that he was the one with the Nika Fruit. In turn, this explains why they were closely monitoring Luffy and Kaido’s fight, as well as why they were discussing Luffy’s Devil Fruit just as its true nature was Awakened. In turn, this is also likely why the Gorosei chose to fully confront the Straw Hats at Egghead, wanting to see Luffy’s power in action for themselves and compare it to their own.

However, the group lost, with Saint Jaygarcia Saturn being killed for the major role he played in the Gorosei’s loss. This led to former Holy Knights leader Garling Figarland being named One Piece’s new Warrior God of Science & Defense to replace Saturn. It’s also worth mentioning that Garling is likely the father of the presumed twins Shanks and “Shanks,” having named the latter the Holy Knights’ new leader following his promotion.

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While inklings of the plan to recruit Loki likely began during Saturn’s time as a Gorosei member, the plan’s advancement likely picked up speed once Garling was promoted. The plan first being conceived during Saturn’s tenure as a Gorosei member would also explain why he told the Marines not to worry about Elbaph at the Egghead Arc’s end. It would also make sense that Garling’s presumed son’s plan fully began once he assumed power and had newfound clout.

Thus, “Shanks” only arrived in Elbaph during One Piece’s Elbaph Arc, with Garling having only taken power at the end of the Egghead Arc. In turn, they also likely arrived specifically to recruit Loki to destroy the Straw Hat crew. This may have been foreshadowed via Loki’s offer to Luffy to eliminate any one pirate crew in chapter 1131. Likewise, the Holy Knights’ interest in Loki likely confirms that he was not bluffing when he made this offer.

In summation

Loki's recruitment into the Holy Knights is likely the culmination of one of One Piece's longest ongoing mysteries (Image via Shueisha)

Given the latest spoilers, it seems that fans finally know what “Shanks” spoke to the Gorosei about in the Reverie Arc, and why Saturn told the Marines to forget about Elbaph. The discussion was likely a plan to use Loki to eliminate Luffy, who was predicted to (and did eventually) reach a level of power comparable to their own via the Nika Fruit. While still speculative, it seems likely that this is the truth based on currently available information.