Speculations Blackbeard will intervene by coming to Elbaf at the end of the arc.

[Urouge]

It’s simple.

Blackbeard waited until the end of the Summit War, after Whitebeard had been battered by fighting members of Marine HQ at Marineford, Whitebeard Win and save ace, to step in, finish Whitebeard off, and steal his Devil Fruit.

On Wano Kuni, during the battle at Onigashima between Kaido and Luffy, Shanks intuited that Blackbeard planned to show up at the end of the fight to finish off the winner, killing them to claim both their Devil Fruit and the prestige of victory. Shanks was convinced of this, and no one would question the intuition of an Emperor.

He is going to use the same tactic on Elbaf by waiting for the battle between Luffy and Imu to conclude, taking advantage of the physical damage and fatigue caused by the fight. Once one of them wins, he will step in to finish off the victor, kill them, and steal their Devil Fruit power. However, judging by what we see right now, the winner can only be Imu; it is impossible for Luffy to win because he is far too weak by comparison.

The scenario is clear: Imu will defeat Luffy. Once the fight is over, Blackbeard will arrive on Elbaf and, capitalizing on Imu’s injuries and exhaustion, finish him off, perhaps with the help of his crew and his darkness powers, and steal his Devil Fruit power.

 

[Urouge]

He also employed the same tactic while waiting on Winner Island for one of the Worst Generation trio Kid, Law, or Luffy to arrive after their victories over Kaido and Big Mom, he intended to capitalize on their post battle exhaustion to finish them off and steal their Devil Fruit.

He did the same thing when he set out for Water 7 intending to wait for Luffy to arrive and kill him after their encounter on Jaya, where Luffy had escaped via the Knock-Up Stream, in order to become a Warlord of the Sea by delivering the head of the man who defeated Crocodile to the government, only for Ace to stand in his way.

 

[Fujishiro]

Such a brave and original theory. Bravo.

 

[Urouge]

Such a brave and original theory. Bravo.

thanks

 

[Mark chadsend]

Dude blackbeard doesn't even know imu is on Elbaf; hell, nobody even knows he left the holy land aside from the 5 elders

 

[Urouge]

Dude blackbeard doesn't even know imu is on Elbaf; hell, nobody even knows he left the holy land aside from the 5 elders

Blackbeard sent Lafitte to monitor the Revolutionaries' assault on Mary Geoise, and Catarina Devon stole Saturn's appearance, recent chapters showed the Celestial Dragons' city beneath Pangea Castle burned, in ruins, and completely devastated, confirming that the Revolutionaries launched a direct assault, which was likely repelled and fought off by the remaining Holy Knights stationed at Mary Geoise.

Blackbeard's crew likely took advantage of the chaos to infiltrate Mary Geoise and scout the area, they might be more aware than you think of exactly who is, and isn't, in the Holy Land there right now.

Since Blackbeard knows about Xebec and the Five Elders, he almost certainly knows about Imu.

And given that Van Augur has the power to teleport over long distances, he could head to Elbaf at any moment.

 

[Mark chadsend]

Blackbeard sent Lafitte to monitor the Revolutionaries' assault on Mary Geoise, and Catarina Devon stole Saturn's appearance, recent chapters showed the Celestial Dragons' city beneath Pangea Castle burned, in ruins, and completely devastated, confirming that the Revolutionaries launched a direct assault, which was likely repelled and fought off by the remaining Holy Knights stationed at Mary Geoise.

Blackbeard's crew likely took advantage of the chaos to infiltrate Mary Geoise and scout the area; they might be more aware than you think of exactly who is, and isn't, in the Holy Land there right now.

Since Blackbeard knows about Xebec and the Five Elders, he almost certainly knows about Imu.

And given that Van Augur has the power to teleport over long distances, he could head to Elbaf at any moment.

Aka you made up this headcanon in your head and are convinced it's going to happen when nothing in the story implies it

 

[Dragon777]

It’s simple.

Blackbeard waited until the end of the Summit War, after Whitebeard had been battered by fighting members of Marine HQ at Marineford, Whitebeard Win and save ace, to step in, finish Whitebeard off, and steal his Devil Fruit.

On Wano Kuni, during the battle at Onigashima between Kaido and Luffy, Shanks intuited that Blackbeard planned to show up at the end of the fight to finish off the winner, killing them to claim both their Devil Fruit and the prestige of victory. Shanks was convinced of this, and no one would question the intuition of an Emperor.

He is going to use the same tactic on Elbaf by waiting for the battle between Luffy and Imu to conclude, taking advantage of the physical damage and fatigue caused by the fight. Once one of them wins, he will step in to finish off the victor, kill them, and steal their Devil Fruit power. However, judging by what we see right now, the winner can only be Imu; it is impossible for Luffy to win because he is far too weak by comparison.

The scenario is clear: Imu will defeat Luffy. Once the fight is over, Blackbeard will arrive on Elbaf and, capitalizing on Imu’s injuries and exhaustion, finish him off, perhaps with the help of his crew and his darkness powers, and steal his Devil Fruit power.

Nah.

BB will go for the Ancient weapons now. It's one of the logest plotlines of the whole post TS, the one about Caribou, his special person and the AA thing. In fact, form the very first big post TS arc.
Finally he got to tell him.

Shanks will move to stop him, and the fact he was watching was said right before Erbaf started, and so we'll finally have BB vs Shanks.

 

[Blackbeard]

It’s simple.

Blackbeard waited until the end of the Summit War, after Whitebeard had been battered by fighting members of Marine HQ at Marineford, Whitebeard Win and save ace, to step in, finish Whitebeard off, and steal his Devil Fruit.

On Wano Kuni, during the battle at Onigashima between Kaido and Luffy, Shanks intuited that Blackbeard planned to show up at the end of the fight to finish off the winner, killing them to claim both their Devil Fruit and the prestige of victory. Shanks was convinced of this, and no one would question the intuition of an Emperor.

He is going to use the same tactic on Elbaf by waiting for the battle between Luffy and Imu to conclude, taking advantage of the physical damage and fatigue caused by the fight. Once one of them wins, he will step in to finish off the victor, kill them, and steal their Devil Fruit power. However, judging by what we see right now, the winner can only be Imu; it is impossible for Luffy to win because he is far too weak by comparison.

The scenario is clear: Imu will defeat Luffy. Once the fight is over, Blackbeard will arrive on Elbaf and, capitalizing on Imu’s injuries and exhaustion, finish him off, perhaps with the help of his crew and his darkness powers, and steal his Devil Fruit power.

I accept you as my lord and savior.

 

[Blackbeard]

I accept you as my lord and savior.

@Owl Ki

 

[Urouge]

Aka you made up this headcanon in your head and are convinced it's going to happen when nothing in the story implies it

It seems to me that this is the principle of a theory

 

[Urouge]

Nah.

BB will go for the Ancient weapons now. It's one of the logest plotlines of the whole post TS, the one about Caribou, his special person and the AA thing. In fact, form the very first big post TS arc.
Finally he got to tell him.

Shanks will move to stop him, and the fact he was watching was said right before Erbaf started, and so we'll finally have BB vs Shanks.

It makes more sense for the Ancient Weapons to be used against Imu first

That wouldn't stop him from using them against Shanks later

 

[Dragon777]

It makes more sense for the Ancient Weapons to be used against Imu first

That wouldn't stop him from using them against Shanks later

I don't think he's getting them before the fight. I imagine a situation akin to Ryokugyu coming to Wano and Shanks waiting for him to show up.

Let's say Kuzan is sent to FI to retreive Shiraohoshi and BB and crew go to Wano to take Pluton: I expect Shanks to be in the waters near Wano, intercepting BB and then starting the fight. BB and crew need to get some hype beating the RHP, and that could happen only if they beat them using their own strength anyway.

 

[Urouge]

I don't think he's getting them before the fight. I imagine a situation akin to Ryokugyu coming to Wano and Shanks waiting for him to show up.

Let's say Kuzan is sent to FI to retreive Shiraohoshi and BB and crew go to Wano to take Pluton: I expect Shanks to be in the waters near Wano, intercepting BB and then starting the fight. BB and crew need to get some hype beating the RHP, and that could happen only if they beat them using their own strength anyway.

Okay, I see what you mean now.

That's also a very likely possibility.

Shanks arrives to stand between Blackbeard and what he's after, to stop him from accumulating too much power in his weapon collection, between his recruited allies, the territories he controls, the stolen Devil Fruits, and the Ancient Weapons. Except Shanks gets beaten by Blackbeard, right?

And that would serve as a pretext for Luffy's anger towards Blackbeard afterward, who will resent him for beating, or even killing, Shanks.

And there's another reason for his anger, because the two Ancient Weapons known to date are located on two islands under the protection of the Straw Hat flag: Fish-Man Island and Wano, which are Luffy's territories. He'll be doubly angry if Blackbeard destroys them.

This will lead to, and give an even stronger reason for, the confrontation between Blackbeard and Luffy.

I like the reasoning.

But one The problem arises: what to do with Imu in this situation?
This reasoning held true and was much more logical before Imu's appearance in Elbaf, because it's impossible for Luffy to win the fight vs imu, and Imu can't 100% win and kill Luffy, the protagonist of the manga.
Therefore, another outcome to the fight luffy vs imu must be found, and my theory sought to find a solution to this fight and a way to connect the various storylines.

 

[Loki D. Terror]

BB coming at the end has been said many time for multiple arcs let it be wano or WCI.

 

[Dragon777]

Okay, I see what you mean now.

That's also a very likely possibility.

Shanks arrives to stand between Blackbeard and what he's after, to stop him from accumulating too much power in his weapon collection, between his recruited allies, the territories he controls, the stolen Devil Fruits, and the Ancient Weapons. Except Shanks gets beaten by Blackbeard, right?

And that would serve as a pretext for Luffy's anger towards Blackbeard afterward, who will resent him for beating, or even killing, Shanks.

And there's another reason for his anger, because the two Ancient Weapons known to date are located on two islands under the protection of the Straw Hat flag: Fish-Man Island and Wano, which are Luffy's territories. He'll be doubly angry if Blackbeard destroys them.

This will lead to, and give an even stronger reason for, the confrontation between Blackbeard and Luffy.

I like the reasoning.

Exactly. That would be my take for all those reasons:

- BB vs Shanks has been one of the oldest plotlines of this manga, and has been continuously "fueled". Even using the most evident thing OP has for this kind ot things: the scars, which in this manga are highly symbolic.

- BB killing Shanks would add the final fuel to the Luffy vs Teach fight. And more so because, as you said, it would come with BB kidnapping one of Luffy's friends (Shirahoshi) and attaking/destroying both Wano and FI in the process, so harming everybody he cares for and has sworn to protect;

- the BBP killing the RHP would also give them the very final hype kick they need to be seen as final adversaries. As much as I love Teach, Luffy has already defeated Kaido (allegedly the WSS. Falsely, but still) and now he's facing Imu himself, even though weakened. What has Teach done? Defeated Law? Not nearly enough. And the same goes for all BBP bar Kuzan as of now.
They need a big win against a super hyped adversary, and the RHP are literally perfect for this.

All in all, Shanks already did something similar when he went to Wano to stop BB... only this time BB will actually be there.

But one The problem arises: what to do with Imu in this situation?
This reasoning held true and was much more logical before Imu's appearance in Elbaf, because it's impossible for Luffy to win the fight vs imu, and Imu can't 100% win and kill Luffy, the protagonist of the manga.
Therefore, another outcome to the fight Luffy vs imu must be found, and my theory sought to find a solution to this fight and a way to connect the various storylines.

I think with Loki aiding him and Imu having a malus, if not a timer on him, Oda can solve the situation that way.
It's going to be a mix of both, but in the end Imu will not be able to take Erbaf and will be forced to return Marijoa.

This could also be a good thing for Teach down the line: if Luffy has already "beaten" Imu, albeit in a 2vs1 at least and in a weakened state, narratively speaking there would be less need to see ANOTHER fight against yes, full-power Imu... but ultimately the same Imu who we had already seen as a villain for a full arc at that point.
In that space, Teach could come and actually kill him, for the reasons we know, and then the final fight could be Luffy vs Teach.

 

[ShinichiMugi]

He is waiting for Imu's return in Marejois to kill him and to take the throne