One Piece 1168 Review: Cults

One Piece, Chapter 1168: Elbaf Snow

A bit of a shorter review from me this time -- I wrote up something longer but my computer ate it. We start off with a montage of the world actually becoming slowly more accepting of the giants, thanks to Harald's efforts and the giants joining the Marines. The latter in particular is important, I think -- with so much of what the audience sees being the evil heads of the world, it's still important to emphasize that a good chunk of the world still sees Marines as a bastion of hope and justice. 

But as much as Harald is pushing his agenda of peace, we get a nice conversation between him and Saul. Saul hates warmongering giants, as he mentioned during the Ohara incident, but even as the Walrus School is being built he asks if there's 'something' lost in Harald's revolution. 

We flash back to Ida's death as well, where the dying Ida thanks Harald for being able to transform Elbaf... but Ida also mutters about how she also found the 'warrior pride' thing as something cool. Again, it's something that needs a huge chunk of analysis, but generally I do think this is a really nice commentary that swinging in too extreme of any view is dangerous. Being savage giant raiders is bad! But eliminating all warrior culture? That's also wrong, and even a nominal pacifist like Ida can see that. 

But of course, let's not take away from the excellent death scene of Ida. Ida and Harald have a moment, talking about how she loves both of her sons, how Harald is 'almost there' and they can go around the world again... and her arm falls. Hajrudin, his crew and Mato rush in and cry while Harald walks out. And in a prison cell, Loki mourns silently. 

And then... in Marie Geoise, Shanks is missing! He apparently only stayed in the holy land for a year. It's interesting to see what's going on with Shanks and there has been so many conspiracy theories about him already, but this is absolutely something that's being kept for a future exploration, just like how Rocks was saved for this flashback instead of Kuma's. Harald gets given the offer to be a God's Knight by the Gorosei, and Harald is so deep into this cult that he's just selectively ignoring all the warning signs that are obvious. And the Gorosei are obviously happy to just keep stringing him along. 

Bringing him in front of Imu, Harald is shocked to see someone atop the empty throne... the Gorosei and God's Knights have been dropping 'Great One' and 'God' here and there, what do you think was happening, Harald? We cut away from the actual ritual, but Harald's tattoo transforms from the Shallows to the Deep Covenant. Mars note that this grants Harald the power of immortality, and Warcury interestingly notes that it still 'sends shivers down [his] spine'.

Harald is ordered by Imu to carve an Abyss Pentagram in his throne room, and Harald is just super happy. In his mind, his mission -- the mission that cost him Rocks and Ida; his best friend and his wife -- is about to be completed. It really is quite sad to see just how cheerful he is drawn as he returns to Elbaf. But then Imu gives him a telepathic command -- his last mission? Mobilize the entire nation into an army. This, of course, is against everything Harald has been fighting for and he makes his surprise and confusion clear... but of course, Imu doesn't give a shit. Again, poor Harald is just so blinded by his single-minded focus on 'this is the only way to atone for Elbaf/giantkind's sins' and so driven by... guilt? Grief? Whatever it is, he's not thinking straight until absolutely this point. 

Harald tries to negotiate, telling Imu that he's happy to let giants be recruited to the Marines... but Imu just doesn't give a shit anymore. Imu kind of mocks Harald's whole 'I want to atone for Elbaf's sins' deal, before declaring psychically that Harald cannot disobey Imu. And as Harald loses control and Imu gloats in his mind, it's at this point that Harald summons Jarul and Loki. Harald yells at the guards to chain him to the pillar while Loki is released from his jail; and Jarul is summoned... and this is where we see them in an earlier chapter all the way back before God Valley and everything... and we're entering the endgame as we are about to see Harald's death. 

Not much to say, I do feel like there's a lot I could say about Harald. I find him quite complex, and it's easy to handwave him as 'what a dumbass'. And he is! Most of us are, too, when we're driven single-mindedly by an emotion and we don't know the full implications of what we're doing. But I am also equally glad to be going back to the main story soon, and I see that in 1-2 chapters we might wrap up the Loki/Harald flashback. And that's awesome. 

Random Notes:

• This chapter has the artwork spelling Elbaf's name as 'Elbaf' and 'Elbaph'. I've been inconsistent in using the spellings in my own reviews, and I honestly personally always preferred Elbaf anyway. 
• The guy selling Elbaf Cedar is a nice cameo from Deep Sea Current Umit, a smuggler that previously appeared in Big Mom's party as one of the major underworld figures. I think he's made sporadic one-panel appearances in other flashbacks. 
• With that pose of Loki in the prison, slumped over sad as his adoptive-but-real mother dies, I have a feeling Eiichiro Oda really, really loves 'Thor: The Dark World'. And to be fair, Loki in that movie is easily the best part of an otherwise weak entry in the Marvel universe. 
• Hajrudin was also summoned to Harald's throne room, but he's out at sea -- and of course, he knows nothing about this, which is why he needed the recap in the first place.