One Piece's Elbaf arc may mirror the Sabaody Archipelago arc, and it makes perfect sense

Modified Sep 28, 2024 09:01 GMT

With author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series currently on break week, fans are eagerly discussing what they can likely expect from the upcoming Elbaf Arc. Unsurprisingly, fans are dissecting the few chapters for the arc which have already been released, with most of this info coming from Chapter 1127 likewise.

In fact, some One Piece fans are confident that they’ve found significant evidence for the Elbaf Arc mirroring the beloved Sabaody Archipelago Arc from pre-time-skip. While this is obviously far from confirmed as of this article’s writing, it would make sense given the fact that the series is in its final saga and what role the Sabaody Archipelago Arc played in pre-time-skip.

One Piece’s Elbaf Arc could lead into final war arc as Sabaody Archipelago did for Marineford

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One of the biggest reasons why some readers are convinced that the Elbaf Arc will mirror the Sabaody Archipelago Arc stems from how the arc begins. After Sabaody, the Straw Hats were separated from each other, as they are now at the beginning of Elbaf. Bartholomew Kuma also saved the Straw Hats at the end of Sabaody and in the buildup to Elbaf via the Egghead Arc’s final stages.

There’s also a mirror in their post-Sabaody separation to Elbaf’s Norse mythology influence. Each of the nine Straw Hats are sent to a different island after Sabaody, whereas the island of Elbaf is presumably split into the nine realms of Yggdrasil given the island’s Norse influence. Likewise, it could be that the Straw Hats are currently split up into these nine realms.

This would further mirror how each Straw Hat trained on a separate island post-Sabaody, seeing them train in their own Elbafian realms here. There also could be a romance parallel via Boa Hancock falling in love with Luffy as a result of Sabaody’s events. In Elbaf, fans could see Prince Loki of the Giants fall in love with Nami instead. This would also serve to parallel Nami to Lola, who was the person Prince Loki originally fell in love with and proposed to.

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One Piece could also mirror the two arcs via Garp’s current status of being Blackbeard’s captive on Hachinosu Island. This would mirror Portgas D. Ace being captured by the World Government and sent to Impel Down during Sabaody’s events. In turn, this could directly build into the series’ promised final war arc by having it be over Garp’s capture, mirroring the Marineford Arc’s War of the Best which was over Ace’s capture.

This would also provide a natural avenue to getting Shanks involved in the final war arc. Whereas Shanks was the one who brought the War of the Best to an end, the final war could see him either die from participating in it, or see him put an end to it again. This would also lead into the conclusion of Luffy and Shanks’ story.

Whereas Shanks returned the straw hat to a dying Luffy at the end of the War of the Best, Luffy would return the Straw Hat to a dying Shanks at the end of the final war. It’s also likely that this leads into the introduction of Scopper Gaban as a mentor and guide to Luffy and the Straw Hats, mirroring the role Rayleigh played after Marineford’s events. This would presumably lead directly into the final arc which will see Luffy and his crew reach Laugh Tale at last.

However, this is all speculative as of this article’s writing and should be treated as such, even with the substantial evidence offered above and knowledge of Oda’s penchant for parallels. Fans can expect to get some answers on this topic and more as the series returns with Chapter 1128 next Monday, October 7, 2024.