In the thread called "unpopular opinions" I wrote that "Mihawk is irrelevant." Here's the actual post from that thread below:👇
The thing is, is that if hypothetically Mihawk dies tomorrow, for whatever reason, Zoro still becomes the WSS, regardless if Mihawk exists or not. There's no direct link between Zoro's goal and Mihawk, Mihawk exists as for Zoro to have his only sword dule in one piece. Zoro has never had a sword dule against anyone other than Mihawk.
If one piece disappears tomorrow, Luffy's goal is gone, it's finished, it doesn't exist. The same thing with every strowhat goal in the story, except Zoro.
Zoro can become the WSS regardless whether Mihawk exists or not, and that's the core reason why Mihawk is irrelevant in the story. Because he never defeated anyone to obtain his title, and that's a much larger problem with strength titles in general.