Well I will use this thread to express my disappointment. For me, most of the Wano arc was extremely bad, which made me even more excited for the ending. But Oda used the last chapter of this arc to troll his readers. That is, so to speak, the icing on the cake in a negative sense. The last chapter showed that Oda has no plan at all. Sure, he has a plan for the end. He also has certain fixed points in his notes that need to be worked through (Shanks, Blackbeard, Elbaf, Vegapunk, Dragon etc.). But the way there, everything in between, is flexible and the bottom line is that he doesn't give a shit what he does to his story with certain tricks (Nika, Yamato's sudden change of heart). He doesn't care as long as he enjoys it. He recently admitted this himself in an interview. The current chapter confirms that.
It's his work and of course he can do whatever he wants with it. But the fact of the matter is that there are no arguments justifying his current decision not to let Yamato join. Not a single argument. Oda could have solved the problem with the Oden obsession just as easily as Franky's inner conflict just before leaving Water 7. Yamato's entire build came down to her wanting to live out Oden's spirit of freedom, while Momonosuke shoulders responsibility on Wano, for which Oden also once gave up his desire for freedom. Momonosuke and Yamato represent the two sides of Oden. So leaving Yamato on Wano makes absolutely no sense.
Yamato never tired of emphasizing that she wanted to accompany Luffy, who certainly wouldn't have objected. Oda never showed us that Yamato had an inner conflict about this. She was never unsure if she actually wanted to leave Wano with the Straw Hats. We also now know that Oden apparently learned something on Laugh Tale that made him decide to open the borders of Wano. A piece of information that was missing from his logbook because the relevant page was torn out. Yamato's role at sea would have been clear: fathom the missing page's information. While Momonosuke rebuilds the country and assumes the responsibility that his father once wanted to shoulder, she would have been on her way to find out what Oden found out. Both perspectives - the journey on the Grandline and the role played by Wano - are important in arriving at the realization that Wano's borders need to be opened. But Oda doesn't give a shit about that now. What did Oden find out? Figuring this out would have been Yamato's logical task. That's up to Robin now.
By the way, Sukiyaki is the best example that Oda himself is no longer interested in what he wrote before. Sukiyaki says in chapter 1053 that he had no intention of telling Momonosuke that he was alive. Three chapters later he does exactly that. We don't know what made him do it. Oda didn't seem to think that was important enough to bring up. The same with Yamato: He deliberately built her as a future Straw Hat, but is now backing down. We know why Yamato suddenly changed her mind. She wants to explore Wano. As trite and stupid as that flimsy justification might be, her confrontation with Ryokugyu may have made her realize that for now, she needed to stay on Wano to protect the land from invaders.
But how does that compare to how Oda has portrayed her for the past 70-80 chapters? What value does that have compared to her right to exist, which Oda is now willingly throwing away? We now have two characters who both inherited the will of Oden and both remain on Wano out of a sense of responsibility. Yamato has sacrificed her dream of freedom to stay on Wano for the same reasons Momonosuke stays there. That makes her superfluous, she no longer have a right to exist. Oda has now taken it from her. Every panel with Yamato was a waste. Marco, who seemed completely unnecessary and superfluous in this arc anyway, might as well have kept Kaido busy.
The only explanation I have is that Oda didn't want to shake up the power scaling within the crew after all because Yamato is probably marginally stronger than Zoro. Zoro and Sanji are the two wings of the future pirate king and must therefore always come in second and third place. That was probably also the reason why Jinbe twice postponed his entry. Jinbe was stronger than Sanji on FMI.
Yamato's sudden change of heart reveals Oda's greatest weaknesses in one fell swoop. This twist is symbolic of everything that has been wrong with the manga for quite some time. Oda deliberately portrayed Yamato as a future Straw Hat, but sacrificed everything for a silly twist with no proper explanation. "Wow, I'm completely surprised! This decision was totally unexpected! Oda is a genius!" He knows the twist wouldn't have worked if there had been signs. As a fan, I actually feel screwed by Oda. I'm disappointed and frustrated because false hopes were deliberately given to me. This is also the reason why I will now take a break from this manga for an indefinite period of time. This isn't defiance, but this chapter really took all of my anticipation out of what was to come.
