The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1070, “The Strongest Form of Humanity,” by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul, and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
A problem many fans have with Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is the lack of deaths of the main characters. What makes this feel especially bad is when a character looks like they’ve been killed off but later turns out to be alive and well; the worst fate they’ll suffer will be some serious injury if that. This removes a lot of the tension from the story and comes off as a cheap way to invoke shock value.
However, one Piece’s recent “death” was undone surprisingly fast. it seemed like Rob Lucci was going to kill Sentomaru, but it was quickly revealed that he was just critically injured. The fact that this was revealed so quickly makes it seem like Oda decided to let up on his fake-out death habit and just tell the story as fans expect it.
Is Sentomaru Dead?
Sentomaru was seemingly killed at the end of Chapter 1069, “All Things Are Brought Into This World With Hope.” Lucci needed to take out the Navy Science HQ Captain so that the Seraphim he was controlling would fall under his and the rest of CP0’s command. Thus, he slipped away from his fight with Gear Five Luffy to deliver a Hand Pistol that pierced Sentomaru’s chest. It seemed reasonable to believe the ruthless CP0 assassin was going for a lethal blow.
However, Sentomaru’s true fate was immediately revealed at the start of Chapter 1070, “The Strongest Form of Humanity.” Not only was he still breathing, but Lucci specifically stated that he needed him to “go unconscious.” In other words, there was never any danger of Sentomaru dying because Lucci wasn’t trying to kill him. Thanks to this, Luffy could go right back to his Gear Five antics without a care in the world.
Later in the chapter, Sentomaru is shown to be lying motionless surrounded by CP0 agents. However, given Lucci’s previous statement, it’s likely that the Navy Captain was simply rendered unconscious as intended. As for what they’ll do if he wakes up and tries to regain control of the Seraphim, that remains to be seen.
This is one of the quickest turnarounds on death in all of One Piece. Sentomaru was essentially “killed” and then revealed to be fine in the span of two pages. The only things that kept his fate uncertain were the two-week break between chapters and the cover page for Chapter 1070. However, for those who read One Piece chapters in bulk, it will almost be like it never happened.
This could all be taken as Oda curbing his fake-out death. The fact that it was so quickly revealed that the intent was to knock out and not kill almost makes it seem like Sentomaru’s fate was never meant to be hidden. If it was, then it at least wasn’t as drawn out as some fake-outs like Pound’s or Jaguar D. Saul’s. This may have further pointed to the lack of stakes in One Piece, but at least it was honest about it.
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