So I think there are a few things worth discussing. I don't wanna keep skimming through the chapter discussion to talk about Kinemon because they'll be moaning about the "fake out" no matter what you say. Fake out? This mf was never dying, shame on you for getting that hope up. I am GLAD he's not dying: one because I like him, two because it's a kinda clever twist, and three because it appears to be a ZKK hint.
That's right. We're geeked about the dragon cutting parallels from Punk Hazard already. What else? Well there's massive fire threatening half of the island and... now Kinemon is running around with half his body. Those factors were there at PH... where Zoro bi-sected a dragon in a two on one. How many coincidences form an actual hint? Well so you have another: the proposal of an alliance between two supernova. Apoo and Drake sounds EXTREMELY random (they just fought and said they hated each other and all) until you start thinking about PH.
But that's just Punk Hazard. When you look at the time bomb trope you think, "well every arc has one." Yes, Oda is obsessed with them. But this arc has three time bombs: the falling island, the explosive weapons, and... Zoro. With his injury and ejection from the Kaido fight, then the uncertainty of his health, we had amusing theories about Momonosuke stepping up in his place to complete Oda's reference. Well all that shit isn't really out the window. Momonosuke is a GUARDIAN, the scion of Kozuki who's also a dragon (I think we all understand the significance of the dragon in general, Momo's special fruit and destiny, and the symbolic nature as seen in Kaido's statue for one example). So he stops one bomb obviously. Yamato is a GUARDIAN wolf, explicitly tasked with stopping another. You can take Luffy's role as the monkey to mean that he stops Kaido, sure but keep in mind that his comparison to a wisdom king alludes to him as a guardian and that there are FIVE protective deities.
And also that he doesn't address the third time bomb. The third time bomb is answered by a guardian just as it was literally answered in Alabasta. It's so obvious that it was actually what we all expected before the Mink elixir was revealed. Guardian Pell shouldered a time bomb, the Kozuki clan crest is the phoenix. Marco is the fourth guardian, answering the third time bomb. He's already helped Zoro and fought King so the connection is there... for our fifth guardian to step up and close this chapter.
:cheers:
