On the cover page, we see Sabo and Koala...with a gaggle of koalas. 3 koalas surround Sabo. Could this foreshadow Sabo being linked to Blackbeard via the number 3? Meh, probably not. But, this IS pretty cute!
Sanji's able to free Robin from her thorn prison pretty easily. Almost trivially so! Feet and bondage...is something on Oda's mind? Kind of interesting that the thorn-vines are ALSO weak to fire, just like Yggdrasil. I know fire is a pretty common counter to plants in general, but I wonder if there's more here?
Loki REFUSES to be a school bus! And...fair enough, honestly. Where is he supposed to take the kids? Every village is fighting these Nightmares. And the tree is on fire. And the Underworld Realm is too cold and full of wild animals for the kids. Other than maybe the Heaven/Astral Realm, I'm not sure where Loki was supposed to take them. I guess the kids are saved...or close enough to it, anyway.
We can see that Loki's dragon form has ankle chains around his feet. So, that's kind of a interesting detail. It kind of makes him look a bit like Bowser from Super Mario Bros. Also, he's chewing on that Nightmare Bird pretty eagerly. I have to wonder...does it taste like chicken?
"You guys sure took your sweet time!" Even Zoro is annoyed by how long that God Valley flashback was.
Sommers is mad that everyone's ruining his fun. And he has a..."Rapid Fire Thorn Launcher". Okay, that's a strange plant. Either there are some plants even weirder than the ones Usopp ran into on Boin, or Sommers can just make anything he likes with his plants. Even fuse them with weapons. I'm not sure if this is a existing plant native to this world, or if it's Sommers' own special creation.
And the Giant Kids. Step. UP! Now, THAT'S a nice moment. I feel like it's going to go under-appreciated with everything else going on. But, the Kids shielding their injured parents from Sommers' attack is just a really good moment for them. The future is in good hands!
And Zoro steps up to save the Kids. Good for you, Zoro! Maybe that was a little too easy for him, but still.
Luffy's turn. And he's making a targeting reticle with his hands. I'm a little surprised Luffy bothered with that. But, I guess it's all in the name of fun. Fun...and GIANT PUNCHES! Sommers takes a Giant, Gear 5, Haki-ed up, Lightning-enhanced punch RIGHT in the face! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. And the Kid's thorns fall off, so I guess that means blowing off Sommer's head counts as "knocking him out". He's got Regeneration, so he won't be down forever, but he should be down for a while. Especially after Loki smooshes him.
Ripley's the first to comment on Luffy's "White Form". I wonder if that's foreshadowing something? Sommers comments that Nika's just a tall tale meant to frighten children. So, that kind of follows up on Gunko's fear of Nika, a bit. The Celestial Dragons know about Nika AND they're told about him as kids. And it's a "scary story". Whether that's because he could take away their power or something else, it's a little unclear right now.
And we get confirmation that Loki's Fruit IS a Mythical Dragon Fruit Model Nidhogg the Thunder Dragon. So, it's not Legos, like I was thinking. Oh well, too bad for me and my theories, I guess. The size of the Dragon is relative to the size of the person who eats the Fruit. That's a interesting detail. The detail about Nidhogg being able to "turn day into night" seems like it could be important later. Feels like it still could hint at a connection to the Nika Fruit, somehow.
And we learn about the "God of War", who's probably the original Elbaph. He was rivals with the "Sun God", and his partner was the Ice Squirrel Ratatoskr. And the Squirrel ended up "possessing" the "War God"'s weapon, Ragnir, after the "War God" died. It's funny that they don't call the "Sun God" by the name Nika, directly. I suppose it could still be a different incarnation. But, I'm going to assume it's Nika, until proven otherwise.
I guess Ragnir's "Niffelheim" ice attack we saw back in Chapter 1171 was because Ratatoskr is a "Ice Squirrel". So, "Thrudheim" ("Home of Strength", the home of Thor in Norse mythology) is part of Loki's powers, and "Niffelheim" is part of Ratatoskr's powers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrúdheim
And the backstory...doesn't actually clear up the whole "Is Ragnir the Weapon or the Squirrel" problem. Because BOTH existed beforehand. And BOTH ended up "fusing" together, one way or another. Since Ratatoskr took the "War God''s weapon AFTER he died, I feel like this hints that the Squirrel ate a Fruit inspired by Ragnir. The "War God" couldn't have fed his Hammer a Squirrel Devil Fruit, if he was already dead, after all. So "Squirrel eating a Hammer Fruit" is the only way this even sort of makes sense. The original Ragnir Hammer may have been destroyed alongside the "War God". It's weird that a Devil Fruit was created that was inspired by the "War God"'s hammer specifically, though. And it's weird that "Ice Squirrels" exist in the first place. So...could Ratatoskr have eaten a Ice Devil Fruit of some kind...and THEN have fused with Ragnir some other way? So, maybe this is all part of something else, and not something caused by Devil Fruits, at all? This is odd, is what I'm saying.
And Imu...actually isn't phased seeing Luffy in Gear 5. Huh. I thought Imu would have a bigger reaction to seeing that for the first time one way or another. Either terrified or enraged. But Imu actually ignores "Nika" entirely. Imu actually seems a LOT more interested in Loki's Nidhogg form. "It was here all along". So...my best guess is that Loki's Nidhogg is probably connected to the Ancient Weapon Uranos. Similar to how Poseidon is connected to the Sea Kings and Pluton could be connected to Zunesha. Imu probably needs Nidhogg in order to use Uranos better. Imu wants Loki's Nidhogg in order to power up Uranos to it's full potential. At least, that's my best guess, for now. I'll guess we should see, soon.
