Oda may have designed One Piece's post-time-skip to mirror Luffy's pre-time-skip journey, but in reverse

Modified Jul 26, 2024 03:39 GMT

One Piece fans have varied opinions and one of the most prevalent discussions is the ones regarding the series' differences before and after the time-skip. In that regard, an angle that a lot of people might have noticed is that Luffy's journey in the post-time-skip could be a mirror to the one he went through in the pre-time-skip, but in reverse.

Similarities between these different portions of One Piece aren't anything new, with fans comparing Whole Cake Island to Enies Lobby and Dressrosa to Alabasta. However, author Eiichiro Oda might be doing this intentionally because he wants to end the series in a roundabout way, which is something that could be quite interesting moving forward.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Explaining how the One Piece post-time-skip could mirror the pre-time-skip

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A user on X, @bored_beck, came up with the theory that the post-time-skip is going to mirror the pre-time-skip but in reverse, thus meaning that the series' conclusion is going to be an inversion of the beginning. In this case, this user mentions that Luffy is going to die and the Straw Hats are going to break up, thus mirroring how the protagonist started the series on his own with not even a boat.

The theory proceeds by saying that the current arc, Egghead, mirrors Skypiea. The Straw Hats are going to escape the island and head to the moon, where, ironically enough, the villain of the pre-time-skip arc, Enel, is at the moment. There is also the fact that Elbaf could be like Alabasta, sharing multiple mini-arcs before heading to its conclusion in an all-out war.

It is then expected that the Laugh Tale portion of the story, which is the race for the legendary titular treasure, is going to have several of the East Blue saga villains, such as Don Krieg, Arlong, and Captain Kuro, teaming up with Blackbeard and his men to get revenge on Luffy. Finally, there would be a definitive war in Mary Geoise, featuring the main cast against Imu and his last remaining soldiers.

What to expect from the series' conclusion

Gol D. Roger as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The One Piece ending has a lot of ground to cover since author Eiichiro Oda has continued to add more and more secrets that fans want to discover and receive a proper resolution. Some of the most prominent secrets include Imu's real identity and motivation, the events of the Void Century, what happened in God Valley, the entirety of Joy Boy's story, and so many more.

A good example of this is how recent chapters of the manga, through Dr. Vegapunk's recorded speech in the Egghead arc, revealed that Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates, was aware of the world slowly sinking and didn't do anything.

That creates another mystery since fans now want to know why Roger chose to do nothing, and Oda's biggest challenge would be to address all this and more in a satisfying manner.

Final thoughts

It does make some thematic sense that the One Piece series in the post-time-skip could mirror the pre-time-skip but there is no certainty of that. However, this does show the fans' interest in getting a satisfactory conclusion for the series' ending.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay