On a scale of 1-10, how do you guys feel about Shanks being this connected to the World Government? From a story perspective
Dunno if it's a 10/10, but it's pretty good. I mean, we always assumed it's something along those lines. With us having Ds, pirates, Celestial families, WG officials and marines, Shanks seems to be a neat link between all of them, being one of the most powerful and influential pirates with the abilities to make those around him into his allies, while at the same time having seemingly heritage from one of the ancient celestial families.
What would the alternative be? Shanks being a hidden D, which is pretty generic at this point? Or someone with zero heritage at all and a literal orphan? Would be an option tbh, but Oda likes to hand out heritages to strong people.