When it comes to One Piece, no one can be sure what will happen next. Oda can spend years seemingly building up a potential plot point, only for it to do something completely different at the last possible moment. This narrative trolling means any hint regarding the story’s future has to be taken with a grain of salt.
With that in mind, Chapter 1086, “The Five Elders,” becomes especially curious. The chapter references some popular fan theories and leaves the audience wondering why. These references could either be confirming fans’ suspicions or trolling them for what they think the answers are.
What One Piece Theories Does Chapter 1086 Reference?
The first theory that was referenced was Imu being immortal. Many believe the King of the World has been alive since the Void Century. To live up until the modern era, they prolonged their life using the Perennial Youth Operation of the Op-Op Fruit. A similar theory has been applied to the Five Elders.
Emporio Ivankov was quick to come up with something similar. After hearing Sabo’s story about the Empty Throne, the Okama King brought a founding ruler of the World Government by the same name. He also mentioned the existence of a means of everlasting life that must have been proven at least once before; this is more or less how fans perceive the Op-Op Fruit’s yet-unseen Immortality Surgery. Ivankov may not have made any direct statements, but the implications are clear. This is almost certainly meant to be a reference to the fan theory.
Ivankov also referred to the theory that an Ancient Weapon was used to destroy Lulusia. If Imu is the same one from 800 years ago, they would have access to one such weapon, at least. Many fans believe Uranus was used to erase Lulusia. There are no details about this weapon in the series yet, but it’s presumed to be an aerial weapon since it shares its name with the Greek personification of the sky; this would also line up with the fact that Lulusia was attacked from above.
Of course, Chapter 1086 had a little more to add to the conversation. According to Imu, Lulusia was destroyed with the Mother Frame, an invention of Dr. Vegapunk. Ivankov and Dragon agreed that Vegapunk could make such a powerful weapon, but never intentionally. This, combined with the talk about Imu, is like a preemptive version of the conversations that will come out of this chapter.
These fan theory references could mean one of two things. First, it could be confirmation that the fans got things right before they could be formally revealed as plot twists. Oda might have needed to change his planned setup in light of the fans’ foresight and used the opportunity to congratulate them.
Is Oda Trolling the Fans?
This chapter could alternatively be debunking every one of these theories. Oda bringing them up could be his way of saying he has something else entirely in mind. The introduction of the Mother Frame already points to this possibility. Oda could have something planned nobody can predict because the relevant information hasn’t been presented yet. If this is the case, this chapter is rubbing the readers’ unknowability in their faces.
Whatever the future of One Piece holds, there will be no way of knowing for sure until it happens. Not even Chapter 1086 can be taken to mean much; an invention of Dr. Vegapunk being used to destroy Lulusia was all that was confirmed. For all anyone knows, Imu is a descendant of the original and Uranus is still lost to time.
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