One Piece’s latest twist isn’t as sudden as you think

One Piece’s latest twist had a huge impact on the manga’s characters, as well as its readers. However, the twist isn’t as sudden as you think.

One Piece has often been praised for its marvelous worldbuilding. On top of its ever-expanding world, another thing the series does best is foreshadowing. Throughout its long journey, numerous clever teases have hinted at major incidents in the story.

The manga’s creator Eiichiro Oda is known for sprinkling hints; for example, Luffy’s connection to Joy Boy and the Sun God Nika could be traced far back to the Skypiea Arc, only for the actual twist to be revealed in the Wano Arc 20 years later.

It’s the same for One Piece’s latest twist. While the fate of the world was revealed this year in Chapter 1113, plenty of foreshadowing preceded it. Thanks to the rich lore of One Piece and Oda’s clever writing, it’s nothing short of exhilarating trying to connect these tiny hints.

The latest twist in One Piece explained

Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

Before we start to pull out our imaginary red thread, let’s discuss One Piece’s latest twist. In the Egghead Arc, the Straw Hats finally meet the famous scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, the genius behind the Pacifista and every weapon the World Government owns.

In this arc, our heroes also face their most dangerous enemy so far, even worse than Kaido. It’s none other than the World Government and its rulers themselves. The five Gorosei gather on the island to kill Vegapunk and destroy everything that can reveal the truth about the world.

Predicting his death, Vegapunk prepared a worldwide broadcast that’d be activated the moment he died. When he was finally killed by Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, the broadcast was activated, revealing the fate of the world to everyone.

In One Piece Chapter 1113, Vegapunk announced that the world as they know it would sink into the sea. The urgency of the message made it clear that the world’s fate is also its imminent future, and the World Government wants to keep people unaware of the upcoming disaster.

One Piece teased this twist way back

Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

In true One Piece fashion, this was teased long ago. Throughout the story, there’s been several little instances where it was hinted that the world could submerge under the sea. If we’re being thorough, we’d say the first time the series teased this possibility was during a conversation between Franky and Iceberg.

Iceberg told Franky that the entire Water 7 would sink into the sea during the Aqua Laguna. He was determined to build a floating island that could survive such an incident — this was a hint at what’d be revealed years later.

One Piece’s clever foreshadowing was also shown in  Jinbei’s Solo Voyage cover story. In the cover story, Jinbei travels to various islands and ends up in an underwater city where he finds a Poneglyph. This means there was once a city that sank into the sea, just like Atlantis, and what will happen to their world next.

The most recent hint at One Piece’s latest twist was woven seamlessly into the story, to such a point that nobody put too much thought into it. When the Gorosei and Imu destroyed Lulusia Kingdom with the Mother Flame, it created a giant void into the sea.

The result of this horrifying act not only caused a whole kingdom to disappear, but it also raised the sea water level. As the water begins to rise, the world is bound to go underwater. This feels more terrifying than anything else in One Piece; just like its fictional world, we are running towards the same disaster in our reality.

The world will go under the sea

Eiichiro Oda/Toei Animation

The vast world of One Piece has everything in it, even an island under the sea. The Fish-Man Island is the home of the fish-men, and it’s where some of the biggest revelations of the story were made.

The Fish-Man Island not only houses one of the three Ancient Weapons, Poseidon, inside its mermaid princess, but it also holds a certain object that might just be the biggest clue to the world sinking under the sea. In the middle of the Sea Forest of the island, there lies a massive ship named Noah.

This is where One Piece’s lore excels. Noah was built by the fish-men during the Void Century, possibly at the request of the ever-mysterious Joy Boy. Joy Boy promised the fish-men to take Noah to the surface by using the power of the mermaid princess.

However, he failed for some unknown reason, with Noah sitting unused on the seafloor. For this, Joy Boy apologized to the fish-men with a Poneglyph that still remains on the island. He also promised in the Poneglyph that Noah will be used in the future and for a great cause.

When Luffy and his crew came to the Fish-Men Island, it became clear that Noah’s use was coming. And as things are going in the story, Noah is about to be used very soon.

Noah’s name and its purpose make it no secret that it was inspired by the ark from the Bible. Just like the ship protected Noah, his family, and the animals from the genesis, this ship will also serve a similar purpose, once the entire world is sunk under the sea.

Aside from Noah, there are other instances where the fate of the world was hinted at. Along with the Historical Poneglyph left by Joy Boy, there used to be a Road Poneglyph on the island too. It’s currently missing, but its home on the underwater island is a clue to what may lie in the future.

Another major hint comes with our beloved protagonist. When Luffy went to the Fish-Man Island, it was prophesized that he’d destroy the island. Knowing Luffy, there’s no way he’d destroy an island with his friends living on it too. There’s the only possibility that can come from the prophecy: there’d be no specific underwater island if the whole world is under the sea anyway.

Some characters seem to know about it

Eiichiro Oda/Toei Animation

The best part of all these is that some characters already seem to know about the world’s fate. Sure, One Piece has plenty of quirky characters whose actions might not seem out of place given the general wackiness of the story. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned from enjoying the series for years, it’s that there’s nothing impossible in One Piece.

We won’t say it’s for certain, given how long ago this was, but then again, there’s no saying what could happen with Eiichiro Oda and his manga. But Crocus living inside a whale could be more than a quirkiness of the character. Another old character, Rayleigh, coats ships that can sail underwater.

These two things might seem entirely unrelated, until we remember that Rayleigh and Crocus used to be crewmates. Not only that but they were both part of the Roger Pirates and sailed to Laugh Tale where they learned the truth of the world.

Vegapunk knows about the world sinking under the sea only because he was researching the Void Century and the truth of the world. Rayleigh and Crocus must also know it and both will be prepared for the disaster in different ways.

Speaking of the Roger Pirates, there’s another from the crew whose actions are beyond mysterious. Shanks and his crew famously don’t have any Devil Fruit powers. In fact, Shanks seems to reject the idea, given how shaken he was when Luffy mistakenly ate the Devil Fruit as a child.

Shanks might not have gone to Laugh Tale but it’s suspicious how he avoids Devil Fruits despite being a Yonko and every one of his contemporaries having one. Devil Fruits take away a person’s ability to swim. Shanks seems to be avoiding losing his ability to swim at all costs. Maybe he knows what’s coming.

While it’s unclear whether Shanks is aware the world will sink or not, the ones who have the highest chance of knowing are the World Government. The Celestial Dragons conveniently chose the top of the Red Line as their home. Even if the whole world sinks, the top of the Red Line —which is the highest point of the world — will be safe.

Lily’s message is the biggest hint

Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha

And now, the most glaring hint at One Piece’s latest twist: Lily’s message. Nefertari D. Lily was the ruler of Alabasta and one of the first 20 kings who joined forces to become the rulers of the world. There are many mysteries surrounding Lily, but for now, we’ll talk about how her message revealed the fate of the world. At least in the original text.

In the message Lily sent to her family back in Alabasta before she went missing, she wrote, “The Poneglyphs must be protected. Bear the flag of the dawn against […]-ing world.” The word was used to describe the world that was hidden.

However, it recently came to light that Lily’s message wasn’t hidden in the early drafts of the chapter. In the original Japanese text what Lily actually wrote could be translated as “raising the flag of dawn in a sinking world.”

Shocking, right? Lily seems to have known what was coming in the future and tried to warn her people about it. This makes even more sense when we remember that her disappearance was all thanks to the first twenty kings.

After all this discussion it’s obvious that One Piece’s latest twist about the fate of the world was nothing sudden. It was coming all this time. We just didn’t notice it, thanks to Oda’s brilliant writing.

The world of One Piece is so vast and exciting that it needs another revisit. Find out how Trafalgar Law became a woman or if Luffy can use Gear 5 at will. You can also check out who has the highest bounty in One Piece and the best upcoming fights in Egghead arc.