I’ve speculated on the possibility of several characters as the arc villain. But With the most recent chapter, I do feel like the story could be pointing toward Garling as the villain.
It is no doubt that his son, Shamrock, is extremely powerful. Chances are he is on the top tier spectrum. However I’m becoming doubtful if he could actually be comparable to Shanks or stronger. Because the guy is basically Shanks’s equivalent of the vinsmokes. Narrative wise it just makes no sense for Oda to suggest that being raised by Roger made Shanks weaker than he could have been.
As I’ve said in the past, the villain of Elbaf needs to be a 5 billion tier character. A PK level threat. I think Garling might fit this mold a lot better than Shamrock, if not only because he has immortality, something we know Luffy is yet to be able to counter.
Luffy could stall Saturn and run from him. But he didn’t negate immortality and by arc’s end, Saturn was in perfect condition with Imu ultimately being the one to kill him.
Garling, who is likely a better fighter than Saturn, would surely be an extreme diff fight for Luffy, with Luffy likely needing a power up to bypass immortality. Making him perfect as an arc villain.
One last point. In the Vs Yonko Saga, Katakuri fell in WCI while BM herself fell in Wano. I think we could get something similar in the final saga with Luffy taking out Imu’s top commander(Gatling) in elbaf, while Imu himself is falling in the red line/MJ arc.
Anyways that’s my speculation for now
Luffy vs Garling
SHs vs HK
It is no doubt that his son, Shamrock, is extremely powerful. Chances are he is on the top tier spectrum. However I’m becoming doubtful if he could actually be comparable to Shanks or stronger. Because the guy is basically Shanks’s equivalent of the vinsmokes. Narrative wise it just makes no sense for Oda to suggest that being raised by Roger made Shanks weaker than he could have been.
As I’ve said in the past, the villain of Elbaf needs to be a 5 billion tier character. A PK level threat. I think Garling might fit this mold a lot better than Shamrock, if not only because he has immortality, something we know Luffy is yet to be able to counter.
Luffy could stall Saturn and run from him. But he didn’t negate immortality and by arc’s end, Saturn was in perfect condition with Imu ultimately being the one to kill him.
Garling, who is likely a better fighter than Saturn, would surely be an extreme diff fight for Luffy, with Luffy likely needing a power up to bypass immortality. Making him perfect as an arc villain.
One last point. In the Vs Yonko Saga, Katakuri fell in WCI while BM herself fell in Wano. I think we could get something similar in the final saga with Luffy taking out Imu’s top commander(Gatling) in elbaf, while Imu himself is falling in the red line/MJ arc.
Anyways that’s my speculation for now
Luffy vs Garling
SHs vs HK
