This is what Oda has set up since the start. On the last page spread, it seems it’s set up who will be in the final fight. Also interesting that Luffy and Blackbeard are next to each other. Any bets on alliances?
Surely they won’t go free-for-all, but there are also so many of them that I don’t see teaming up with anyone else.
- How will the Luffy-Shanks dynamic play out? We’ve known this is coming for a long time. Shanks is obviously still strong, so I wouldn’t think that he just goes “time for the youngings to take my place” like Roger, Whitebeard, and Vegapunk have done. Some have speculated a Davy Back fight, which could be really cool. Not sure how Oda would fit that in though.
- I don’t see Blackbeard teaming up with anyone on that page, except maybe Buggy and the Cross Guild. But that is really a wild card.
- Akainu, I think, is a dark horse. He might not be backing Imu in the end. There’s a lot of mystery around Imu and the Five Elders though, so who knows.
- I don’t see Dragon, Sabo and the Revolutionaries going for it themselves. They will probably back Luffy, and possibly use the chaos to grab power elsewhere. Maybe attack Mary Geoise or something else.
- Aokiji and Figarland are two wildcards. I think Figarland is more likely to support Imu, but we don’t quite know. Aokiji seems like a double-agent. We’ve seen he really has a heart from Ohara and letting Robin escape. He mentioned back then that he was planting a seed (like Shanks betting on Luffy for the future). I’m more inclined to think that he will support Luffy because he’s known all this time that the World Government is evil.
- Koby: Pretty wild that he gets his own spot here as he doesn’t seem to be as insane as the others on this page, but I get it from a story perspective. He’s shown to have the Voice of all Things, and of course has been a friend of Luffy throughout the series. But so has Shanks. Leaning towards Luffy here.
- Finally there’s the guy below Dragon. I have no idea who that is, and I’m really intrigued to find out.
It seems there’s a light pattern of liberation vs oppression here. This has of course been a major theme of One Piece throughout the whole series, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up as the final factions in the final war as well. That would probably put Blackbeard together with Imu, which would be super interesting to see play out as well.
