On the Color Spread, we have the Strawhats playing with some pink elephants. What could it possibly mean?! Do the pink elephants represent alcohol, perhaps? Lie Bink's Sake? Or possibly some sort of tie to Zunesha? And what significance could Zoro having a elephant t-shirt and Usopp clinging to a baby pink elephant have? The key could be INTERNAL for Zoro, but EXTERNAL for Usopp? Perhaps Zoro has a tie to the alcohol part of the equation, and Usopp has ties to the Zunesha part? Who knows?
We find out that Ragnir wants vengeance upon Imu! And Ragnir's been testing people this entire time to find someone capable of kicking Imu's puffy pants! I guess that makes Ragnir's test just being able to bonk him on the head make some sense.
And, apparently, neither Loki nor Luffy could ever be Imu's soldiers. Not sure if that's due to their powerful personalities or due to their Devil Fruits allowing them to resist Imu's control. Hard to say, it's too vague.
And Imu will "Erase them...just like Dozan". So...who's Dozan? Well...I kind of have to wonder if Imu just revealed Joyboy's real name? Or possibly the source of the Will of D. For the Will of Dozan? Or possibly both those things. There may be some clue in the exact "letters" Imu uses for the name, but I don't know what it could be. The name "Dozan" kind of reminds me of the word "Dozing" as in sleeping, though that's probably not intentional. But, it's not impossible that there's some important figure who's been asleep for the last 800 years that the Strawhats will have to wake up at Laugh Tale, or something.
"Ragna Two Jin Blades! Sword of Wrath Gram!" There's probably a pun here that's going over my head. I do wonder if "Jin" is supposed to be "Djinn" as in the evil spirit that's the inspiration for Genies? That would kind of fit Imu's vibes. And Gram is actually a pretty famous dragon-killing sword from Norse mythology, basically the Norse version of the Sword in the Stone given by the god Odin, so that makes sense to use in a fight with Nidhoggr.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_(mythology)
Meanwhile, Ripley won't let ANYONE take her boy! Not even GOD themselves! We don't get to see much of what Zaza can do, which is a same. And we don't even get to see Sanji's reaction to seeing Zaza, which is another shame. But, it does seem to involve a lot of water!
And we see that...Gunko's still frozen in ice. So...Imu shooting at her earlier did nothing! Maybe the ice is *little* more melted? But, Gunko's still frozen. So, Ragnir's ice is no joke.
So Gunko is someone that Brook hoped he'd "never have to face again". And she'd be 77 years old now, if she aged normally. And the last time Brook saw her she was heading for Mariejois. And Brook is slowly putting together that Gunko might have been mind controlled. So, good on him!
So we're getting Brook and Gunko's flashback NOW! Back to flashback land we go. I'll admit, I kind of thought we might be saving this flashback for later down the road. Well...we probably won't be here as long as with God Valley, but we'll see.
70 years ago in the Kingdom of Esperia before it fell. Which makes Gunko/Shuri 7 years old and Brook 20. Brook's singing about mermaids LONG before he ever met any.
And Esperia has a Arena, which feels like it'll probably come into play later on, with Brook's history as a swordsman. Possibly fighting in duels? And a GIANT harp, which may or may not ever get addressed. I wonder if this is the equivalent of all the giant swords and skulls we see laying around places like Wano and Elbaph? A remain of the First World, perhaps? And with it being a tiered island...something about it reminds me of Water 7, though I'm not sure that's intentional. A land of instrument makers!
And here he's LORD Brook, so he does have some sort of noble title. And he's part of the Guard Corps, which we kind of knew with him being "the captain of a battle convoy".
"You have to master the basics before you can dream" I'm not sure if that's foreshadowing something later or not?
Shuri's laugh is "Gehehe"! Which sounds pretty cute! Hopefully, we can see her laugh again in the present day.
Brook's got a crush on Queen Candel. And the King, Leuven, doesn't seem too pleased about that. And, according to this translation, King Leuven is Brook's BROTHER? Not sure if that's a "gang boss" kind of "Bro" like "Aniki" or a actual sibling kind of "Bro". So...Brook could actually a prince?! Go figure! Not sure if these two just have a sibling rivalry or if they actually hate each other. Given his comedic jealousy of how much Shuri loves Brook, I'm guessing Leuven is actually a pretty okay guy. Despite kind of looking like a greasy landlord. It's a little worrying that Shuri's got a crush on her "uncle"...but I'm sure she grew out of it.
"I don't really want a bride with a runny nose." Wait...is THAT what Gunko's hiding under her bandages?! Could that be subconsciously why she's hiding her face, even if she doesn't have her full memories, anymore? Now I kind of want to see that.
The Mouron Family (...I see what Oda probably did with that name) is trying to kidnap Queen Candel at the Operahouse! How dramatic! It'd make for a pretty memorable performance!
Everybody loves Candel! Shades of Shakky during the God Valley flashback. Romance is becoming a bigger and bigger theme in this manga. That's probably foreshadowing something.
And...Brook already cut those guys down a hour ago! Man...that's one delayed attack!
And Queen Candel...actually looks a LOT like Shamrocks' reveal design. Just flipped. She even has that same sword-guard. Hmm. I'm not sure if that's Oda hinting at something or if Oda just likes that design for his "knight" characters. And Brook has that same sword-design, too. Maybe Candel is a descendant of the Davy Clan on God Valley? That...could be a reason why this kingdom may have fallen, later. Hmm. Or maybe the God's Knights just ripped off the Esperia Kingdom's whole design philosophy?
So, how long do I think this flashback will be? Well, it's probably going to be more than a couple, given that we haven't even introduced a threat, yet. I'm going to say...5 or 6 more chapters of flashback? If Brook's flashback doesn't somehow dovetail into...I don't know...Doctor Kureha's flashback or something like we did with combining Loki and Harald's flashbacks.
