What makes me curious in this chapter is how it is structured. It feels both: Like an end and a transition to something else.
The end: We have Bonney shedding tears of joy for her wish of meeting Nika now coming true and her small family being saved with Luffy (her idol) punching Saturn (the cause for her grief) into the ground. After watching this, both Kuma and Bonney are transported away to safety.
The transition: With Kuma and Bonney gone, we have a very strange situation at hand, with Vegapunk lying on the ground unable to move. The question is, why would Oda need the Stellar lying there? He could have easily made him be carried to safety along with Kuma and Bonney. But no, he used the excuse of Vegapunk being unable to move because he would die, to make the Stellar stay where he is: On the battlefield.
What for?
What is interesting to note is, that Oda did not focus on Vegapunk after the entire time-skip, although he is one of the main protagonists of the arc and was forshadowed for 800+ chapters. For a character to have this much relevance, Oda has not really focussed on him, yet. I mean - Oda has not explored Vegapunk’s past and why he is working for the government. He also has not dived into why Vegapunk has such a fear of Kuma possibly hurting Bonney, even though Oda has shown us how much of this deep fear is ingrained into the Stellar – there is more to it than we currently know for Oda to point so heavily at it.
But now Oda is rectifying this and shifting his focus onto the Stellar - finally. Because now, as Vegapunk is unable to move and lying there in front of Kizaru and Saturn, he is utmost vulnerable. The problem now will be removing Vegapunk from the battlefield without killing him. And this alone makes him the center of attention. By the way, seeing that Vegapunk is now in great danger, reminds me of Shaka’s fear that the Stellar could be hurt in any way. He had often times mentioned how the Stella’s life was utmost priority to him. And the fact that Oda revealed Pythagora’s and Shaka’s death in such a strange way after the time-skip (He chose to make Luffy almost blurt out the answer to the Gorosei’s question of how many persons were within the Dome. Until Robin interfered and reprimanded Luffy to not tell them such important information. Lilith even mixed up of whom of the Satellites was supposed to be dead and who was not, as she cried for Shaka, Pythagoras and Edison, who was still alive in her arms.) in chapter 1090 makes me think that they are still alive. Let’s see if Shaka is alive or not and having a hand in saving the Stellar in the end. Or if he or Pythagoras have even helped out with giving Luffy the food, which had suddenly appeared there next to him.
I quite like the transition from the Bonney-Kuma-plot-strand to the Vegapunk-Shaka-Lucci one.
For the start of said story-line, Oda is even giving us an overview of the current situation and what everyone is currently doing:
- Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Robin are waiting for the Sunny and Zoro/Jinbe
- Brook is transporting the Sunny to the back entrance
- Jinbe is getting Zoro
- Zoro is still fighting Lucci
- Franky is transporting Bonney away from the battle field
- Sanji and Luffy are facing Saturn and Kizaru
With that in mind, we are ready to tackle the incoming plot-strand.
And we also have to remember: The climax of the arc is not here, yet. This means, it will happen now in the upcoming plot-strand.