Future Events An 'Ace-like' death in the Wano arc.

[ImmaIvanoM]

Theres a common consensus that because Oda said something about comparing the scope of Wano to Marineford, then the stakes of the Wano arc have to match Marineford. And of course the biggest stakes of Marineford were the death of Ace.

From this the community came up with expectation that Wano must have a death similar to this.

If we indulge this expectation for a bit, let's break down the main thing that actually has to happen to supposedly pull this off.

Ace's death is tragic specifically because there was so much potential lost. We knew Ace had a dream to make Whitebeard the pirate king. We knew he loved his brother and would do anything to help him. We knew he had a grudge to settle with Blackbeard for killing Thatch. We knew he wasn't in his prime and would only grow stronger from there. We knew he hadn't gotten over his hatred of Roger and so he had some more character development to come to terms with his past. We knew ALL of the above was the POTENTIAL of Ace's story and then HE DIES. And thats where the tragedy comes from.

This was fully formed character who had reached the climax of his story, his brother who he wants to protect was in danger. His father figure is facing off against his biggest enemy and winning this war would put Whitebeard the closest person to Pirate king as Ace wanted. Black beard is just around the corner. And all of this happening due to the cursed blood of Gold Roger who Ace hates so this is the greatest moment for Ace to confront his past and maybe learn something about Roger to make him accept his past. This was the Climax of everything that had to do with Ace and then ALL OF IT disappears. That's why it's tragic as fuck.

Now if people expect something of the caliber of Ace's death then they should expect ALL THE ABOVE that accompanied Ace's death as well.

So let's think about it for a bit. Which character could possibly fill such a role in the current roster of good guys? NO ONE. I mean no one except maybe one of the strawhats could possibly die for it to be this tragic. I even say MAYBE a strawhat because even some of the strawhats aren't that big a deal so even them dying wouldn't hurt that much really. But of course no strawhat will die so that out of the question.

People say Law could go this way but they give the exact opposite reasons. People say Law's story is over so he should die but that's the opposite of why Ace was a tragedy. It's because Ace's story WASN'T OVER that made it sad. Saying Law's story is over so he should die is just taking the easy way out so that nothing actually heart breaking happens.

To really give the benefit of a doubt on this theory, I can say maybe only Kid dying could maybe matter. Of course kid does not have enough characterisation for it to be sad but that exactly the point. Kid is the only Ally who we DON'T yet know about so it's still possible for Oda to weave together backstory and character motivations and characterisation for Kid that could actually make his death a bit more tragic than we thought. Because outside of Kid literally no one else's death can pull this off.

The alternative to all of this remains that there is no 'Ace-like' death in Wano at all and there could just be relatively smaller deaths instead (I say Hawkins but that's a whole other thing)

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

Hmmm, interesting analysis:zorothink:Maybe one of the Scabbard would die LOL. No Supernovas ain't gonna die this arc LOL (Especially Law and Hawkins since they're too important to the overall story). No Strawhats is gonna die (obviously) but the Whitebeard remnant caught my interest the most LOL.

 

[Date]

Besides the strawhats, the only one in Wano with some more emotional development with the public is Law. The Scabbards and other Supernovas are cool, but they are not that developed.

Law is a D. and have the Ope Ope, so pehaps his death will be the central point in the defeat of Kaido and BM.

About Hawkins, he's dead, he become Kaido minion, diferent from guys who aim for top like Kid and Luffy, he realized that he's weak for New World where only for the strongest survive.

 

[Monkey D Theories]

Hmmm, interesting analysis:zorothink:Maybe one of the Scabbard would die LOL. No Supernovas ain't gonna die this arc LOL (Especially Law and Hawkins since they're too important to the overall story). No Strawhats is gonna die (obviously) but the Whitebeard remnant caught my interest the most LOL.

I think Law could have already killed hawkins. We know while Law doesn't like to kill, he isn't completely opposed to it. He had no reason to keep Hawkins alive. If Hawkins was alive, he could have easily come back as an enemy.

 

[nik87]

It could be Law who fits everything since people have emotional attachment to him.
Kidd or Killer may die but people arent attached to them.
No attachment to Scabbards either.
Among Strawhats I can see Sanji and Franky dying because I can see those two coming back from the dead one way or another.
It could also be revelation of a death outside of Wano, Vivi or Sabo...

 

[Paperchampion23]

Honestly I disagree about Ace. Ace died at a time where we didnt know supporting characters could have the same depth as some main characters (Law, Kinemon/Momo, Kyros). The only exception we had at the time was Vivi, who ended up not joining and is essentially a pseudo strawhat (who honestly, may also be way more importan than we know, considerinf Im)

Imo, Ace's death was sad not because his story wasnt over, but because it was abrupt and shocking to begin with, after we thought Luffy saved him.


I think it can be Law because thematically, it makes sense. Law had no reason to live until he met Corazon. When Corazon died, his whole reason for living was to take down Doflamingo. Now we are beyond that point with his character and we have not yet received payoff for the nature of his devil fruit. We dont even know Law's true motivations for taking down Kaido. The closest he's explained was "breaking the gears holding the world together" or something to that effect.

I personally do not see Luffy losing a crewmate, not at least until the final chapters of the manga. The whole point of the timeskip was to prevent that from happening. Law is, imo, the only living character who could achieve a death that actually means something outside of the strawhats.

Thats why, IMO, Law is the next "Ace" for that reason alone, but we'll see if Oda decides to kill anyone.

 

[Just a member]

Imo it has not to mirror what happened in Marineford so an important death, it could even be something like Sabaody with the SH losing and forced to leave Wano, anyway the death of somebody is the most likely one.

In that case who could it be? The SHs have been sidelined too much and Oda will never kill them. Maybe Law? He is important, gets more space than your average SH, has been build through several arcs, he seems a good sacrifical lamb. Kid has just arrived, there is no real emotional charge behind him, also he is a bastard without even a bit of a sad backstory (see Law amd Corazon). Scabbards? Not the average one, lottle to no care at all. Kinemon could be another sacrificial lamb, to be honest I can see him sacrifice to save Momo (maybe Oda is pumping him up a bit right now to make the later fall more glorious) but it wouldn't be so impactfull like Ace, not at all. Bu maybe Kinemon's death is just what Oda meant by his senteces. Let's see what happens.

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

Maybe one of the Scabbard would die LOL

I would be surprised as hell if Oda can actually make the death of a Scabbard that tragic...

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

it was abrupt and shocking

Are you saying this abruptness and shock have nothing to do with the fact that there was more story to be told with Ace?

You seemingly just contradicted yourself here. You are arguing that the Lack of story left with Law and the supposed theme around him make it so that he's a candidate to die but then doesn't that mean that it's no longer abrupt or shocking?

Like if Oda gives a character more stuff to live for and then kills them vs Oda giving a character nothing to live for and then killing them. Which of these would more of a shock?

Like Pedro vs Pound. When Pedro keeps saying he's looking for a place to die vs Pound saying he just wants to meet his daughters and grandson. Pedro BLOWS UP ON PANEL while Pound apparently gets decapitated OFF SCREEN. Which of these two deaths is more tragic and shocking? Does pedro blowing up make his death more tragic than pound's off screen death?

 

[yj]

Law Is eos. He’s doesn’t care about the surgery enough to suddenly use it. If he’s going to use it’s going to be after he gets another character arc. that’s not wano. Laws character is far from over. Oda isn’t going to waste a great character like law for him to die in wano. I’d probably say one of the scabbards will die in wano maybe denjiro.

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

t could be Law who fits everything since people have emotional attachment to him.

Law doesn't fit everything. Wano isn't set up to be a climax for Law character. That already happened in Dressrosa

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

I’d probably say one of the scabbards will die in wano maybe denjiro.

Don't you think we need a but more for Denjiro's death to be on the level of Ace though?

 

[Paperchampion23]

Are you saying this abruptness and shock have nothing to do with the fact that there was more story to be told with Ace?

You seemingly just contradicted yourself here. You are arguing that the Lack of story left with Law and the supposed theme around him make it so that he's a candidate to die but then doesn't that mean that it's no longer abrupt or shocking?

Like if Oda gives a character more stuff to live for and then kills them vs Oda giving a character nothing to live for and then killing them. Which of these would more of a shock?

Like Pedro vs Pound. When Pedro keeps saying he's looking for a place to die vs Pound saying he just wants to meet his daughters and grandson. Pedro BLOWS UP ON PANEL while Pound apparently gets decapitated OFF SCREEN. Which of these two deaths is more tragic and shocking? Does pedro blowing up make his death more tragic than pound's off screen death?

I did not contradict myself. It was abrupt because Luffy failed to save him and we expected him to, not because Ace had more story to be told.

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

I did not contradict myself. It was abrupt because Luffy failed to save him and we expected him to, not because Ace had more story to be told.

What about Pedro vs Pound? Which of those two deaths is more abrupt?

 

[Paperchampion23]

What about Pedro vs Pound? Which of those two deaths is more abrupt?

Not sure what this has to do with anything but clearly Pedro. Pedro, just like Ace, did not have an "untold" story waiting to be told if thats what you are getting at. Ace's entire backstory and motivations (to be loved/accepted by those around him) were entirely explained.

Its like if Kuma or Bonney were killed at the Reverie, yet we still dont even know what their backstories are or where their payoffs were leading. Pedro's entire backstory was also explained in the context of WCI. He had perfect narrative closure. Pound is a small side character that had a sad ending because he seemingly will not meet his daughters or grandson again.


And like Ace and Pedro before him, Law's narrative arc is actually at an end, UNLESS Oda decides to write more for him post Kaido, but right now Law had not revealed his motivations. Maybe he betrays Luffy, maybe he wants to be PK, which he has yet to ever try and claim he wants to btw . We KNOW Kid wants to be Pirate King. We DONT know Kid's backstory fully yet. Nor Hawkins, Apoo, Drake, Bonney or Urogue. We do know Bege's and his story is admittedly still continuing, but Law's ONLY narrative link forward is his devil fruit currently.

 

[nik87]

Law doesn't fit everything. Wano isn't set up to be a climax for Law character. That already happened in Dressrosa

Who fits it better in your opinion?

 

[Paperchampion23]

A straw hat is the only one that could come close to impacting Luffy on an Ace-level. Denial won’t make my statement any less accurate.

People who are thinking Law is going to die are the same people who thought Carrot was the traitor, come on now. Popular opinion is usually misguided.

The hilarity in this comment is thinking a strawhat is more likely to die than Law. Not sure why people think it HAS to be more powerful than Ace's death. It will feel more powerful or less powerful based on the reader. But a strawhat is not dying during this arc, not when they clearly have story left to be told. Ace did not have story left to he told. Pedro did not. Pound did not. Law ONLY has his fruit as a narrative storyline currently, and once that goes away he will have completed his story arc.

 

[nik87]

The hilarity in this comment is thinking a strawhat is more likely to die than Law. Not sure why people think it HAS to be more powerful than Ace's death. It will feel more powerful or less powerful based on the reader. But a strawhat is not dying during this arc, not when they clearly have story left to be told. Ace did not have story left to he told. Pedro did not. Pound did not. Law ONLY has his fruit as a narrative storyline currently, and once that goes away he will have completed his story arc.

Franky and Sanji could die because they can be "revived".

 

[Paperchampion23]

Where is the reading comprehension? Law’s narrative arc has barely begun. All we learned in Dressrosa is his past, not his dream or his future.

Nah. He’s also a D., trying to learn it’s meaning, as we see in his conversation with Sengoku. And he was in Zou so he knows exactly where the ponyglyphs are. After Wano, Law is most likely going to make a clean break for One Piece.

I mean, read my other comments in this thread, thats exactly what ive said lol. Oda needs to make this CLEAR. Before that, he has yet to actually give Law any clear direction forward.

Im totally fine with Law having more motivations and having a bigger underlying plan post-Kaido, but Oda has yet to show or explain it.


Thats not the point of this thread, OP is trying to make the case for a Strawhat dying over Law, which IMO, makes ZERO sense when the Strawhats ALL have clear narrative strings moving forward. This isnt game of thrones. Ace died with zero unresolved plot, so did Pedro. THATS what im talking about. IF Law died this arc, Id expect full narrative closure on his character. We dont KNOW what he wants, and that exactly the point. If he, for example:

- Cares about changing the world, believes in Luffy and realizes he is the best chance they have, then his arc can be closed if uses his devil fruit to save Luffy or someone else. He CAN DIE because thats narrative closure on his character.

- If he wants to become PK, get OP, betray Luffy or still be his rival after, then Law CANT DIE, because he has more narrative closure to fulfill.


See what I mean? Oda leaves no strings attached.

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

I think Law could have already killed hawkins. We know while Law doesn't like to kill, he isn't completely opposed to it. He had no reason to keep Hawkins alive. If Hawkins was alive, he could have easily come back as an enemy.

I agree with you but the guy that was with Law (Maybe Drake) have some kind of plan and Law just follow it. Hawkins on the other hand doesn't seem focus too much on Law to be honest. Beside, Hawkins is too important to the story and in my opinion he's gonna take part in defeating Kaido.