Warning: Theory realized while speaking to a man of questionable sanity
I believe Blackbeard has both the capability (weird multiple DNA chimera or whatever other explanation, don't care much about this even if everything depends on it) and desire to get one more fruit before entering the final stages of his plan. Why Marco? Well, at the moment he has all the strength he could possibly want. However, he is (as was demonstrated when he faced Whitebeard) a coward at heart. And the Yami Yami no Mi's defensive capabilities can only do so much when facing haki. It would therefore make sense for him to be after something that can protect him. Marco's fruit provides possibly the best defense of any active ones, with unlimited healing power that can effectively make him immortal. Coincidentally, the only reasonable way to kill Marco would be... turning that off. Blackbeard would also, naturally, be well aware of Marco's powers. This last one is complete and utter opinion sourced from my ass, but I feel like with all the talking and lore dumping Marco is going off on, he's being set up to die narrative-wise. But, assuming Blackbeard can take one more fruit, why would he not go for the combination of unmatched strength and effective immortality?
The second part is even more unsubstantiated and relies almost entirely on the first being true, but I believe Smoker has inherited the will of - or at least will play a parallel role - to Garp. His relationship with Luffy is similar to the one Roger and Garp had. As for inheriting will, well, Garp may not be dead but he doesn't seem to have the will to do much of anything anymore. Whatever he had left was broken at Marineford. But why would Smoker be so good to fill this role? Well, if Blackbeard has the will of Xebec, then it would make sense for he and Luffy - with Roger's will - to have an incident similar to God Valley. And Smoker would fit in nicely as the marine rival turned teammate. Importantly, he already has a key component to defeating the theoretical immortal Blackbeard - his seastone jitte.
Thank you for reading my largely unsubstantiated ramblings that really only have a small chance of being accurate. However, if I am right, I will be sure to inform the bitter trolls in two or three years time.
I believe Blackbeard has both the capability (weird multiple DNA chimera or whatever other explanation, don't care much about this even if everything depends on it) and desire to get one more fruit before entering the final stages of his plan. Why Marco? Well, at the moment he has all the strength he could possibly want. However, he is (as was demonstrated when he faced Whitebeard) a coward at heart. And the Yami Yami no Mi's defensive capabilities can only do so much when facing haki. It would therefore make sense for him to be after something that can protect him. Marco's fruit provides possibly the best defense of any active ones, with unlimited healing power that can effectively make him immortal. Coincidentally, the only reasonable way to kill Marco would be... turning that off. Blackbeard would also, naturally, be well aware of Marco's powers. This last one is complete and utter opinion sourced from my ass, but I feel like with all the talking and lore dumping Marco is going off on, he's being set up to die narrative-wise. But, assuming Blackbeard can take one more fruit, why would he not go for the combination of unmatched strength and effective immortality?
The second part is even more unsubstantiated and relies almost entirely on the first being true, but I believe Smoker has inherited the will of - or at least will play a parallel role - to Garp. His relationship with Luffy is similar to the one Roger and Garp had. As for inheriting will, well, Garp may not be dead but he doesn't seem to have the will to do much of anything anymore. Whatever he had left was broken at Marineford. But why would Smoker be so good to fill this role? Well, if Blackbeard has the will of Xebec, then it would make sense for he and Luffy - with Roger's will - to have an incident similar to God Valley. And Smoker would fit in nicely as the marine rival turned teammate. Importantly, he already has a key component to defeating the theoretical immortal Blackbeard - his seastone jitte.
Thank you for reading my largely unsubstantiated ramblings that really only have a small chance of being accurate. However, if I am right, I will be sure to inform the bitter trolls in two or three years time.
