"You don't have to be affiliated with the Navy to accomplish things in the world. And there are some things you can only see when you remain independent"
Kuzan, Chapter 699
Yeah, Kuzan was talking about himself here, not Smoker. Did you ignore the Fujitora flashback where Smoker dedicated himself to becoming a much stronger Marine just after the events of Punk Hazard? Its clear where his commitment lies.
It's these lines that made me consider Smoker in the first place. I've also considered his roles within arcs he was in. Let me list em:
Loguetown: Wants to capture Luffy, continues pursuit by the end of the arc
Alabasta: Went to Alabasta because he wanted to capture Luffy, feels angered over the outcome (incident coverup by marine HQ)
Marineford: Confronts Luffy yet again, disappointed by the Marines' lack of morality during the conflict.
Punk Hazard: Traveled to Punk Hazard to capture Luffy, angered by Vergo's ability to infiltrate into Marines
So basically:
1. Loguetown - being a Marine
2. Alabasta - being a Marine
3. Marineford - being a Marine
4. Punk Hazard - being a Marine
Smoker’s dissatisfaction with the events of Alabasta and Punk Hazard in particular are what lead to the flashback of Fujitoras I mentioned above. Additionally, is Garp a pirate? Did he join Roger’s crew after the God Valley incident? Does Garp enjoy all of his Marine duties? The answer to all of those questions is “No” and he is still a Marine. In this way Smoker can be seen as Luffy’s ‘Garp’ parallel - the Marine hero that will ultimately be the one that gives Luffy the most trouble.
His two actions within an arc where he plays a major role involves:
1. Capturing Luffy
2. Being disillusioned with the Marines
Bro even Akainu and Fujitora are disillusioned with the Marines. Are they going to be Strawhats too? You seem to have missed the point of the final saga: to change the world Government. The Marines will undergo significant change and the Marines like members of SWORD and the admirals I mentioned will be central to that. If they aren’t, then that’s terrible writing by Oda given the lengths he’s gone to to characterize these Marines in this specific way
Now we're in the Final Saga, and.....where's Smoker? Based on the acitons above, I'm 99% sure he's going along with the other vice admirals to Egghead
There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the final saga. We will likely have an arc for every one of the following islands (if not most of them):
- Egghead
- Winner
- Elbaf
- Emptee Bluff
- Hachinosu
- Lodestar
- Laugh Tale
- Final War/Mariejoa
- Some kind of epilogue arc
that’s minimum 400 chapters of content given we can say with confidence that Elbaf and the final war arcs will both be at least the length of Whole Cake (with Final War likely being larger than Wano). There’s plenty of time for Smoker to show up somewhere. It doesn’t have to be Egghead. Oda has clearly written Egghead to be a Buster Call incident, hence all the Vice Admirals. The Arc will be over in the next 10-15 real-time chapters. Not sure what this has to do with joining the Strawhats though.
If and when that happens, how would Smoker feel if Luffy's actually saving Vegapunk? Having it revealed that the WG wanted him assassinated simply for research into the Void Century?
Probably the same way he felt after Luffy saved Alabasta and the kids of Punk Hazard. He didn’t leave the Marines then, and he won’t leave them if he is on Egghead. Smoker is one of the characters that cares nought for history.
Let's take Smoker's philosophy on justice. He follows his own personal code, based on his own moral compass on what's right. If the predictions above turn out to be true, I personally believe that Smoker will resign from the Marines, heeding Kuzan's advice.
Just like the Admirals do. How have you not tweaked that the chances are he’s going to be a post-final war arc Marine Admiral? The chances are if he resigns from the Marines he becomes a member of SWORD, not a Pirate.
and if THAT turns to be true, then what's next for Smoker? Does he:
A. Stay completely, 100% independent
B. Join the Revos
or C., join the SHs?
I pick C.
[automerge]1686974654[/automerge]
D. None, become a member of SWORD
E. He never resigns
I pick these two. You talk about this stuff like it’s inevitable