CHAPTER 900: REASONS TO BELIEVE IN A GOOD END MUSICAL
This is going to be a mash up of different points from current and older manga chapters that help build a hopeful future for the Strawhats after chapter 900. So here we go.
WASN’T ZEUS ON THE SUNNY?
If I have understood correctly, after Brook cut Zeus in half, the cloud remained with Nami on the Sunny. After the panel below, we don’t get any other mention of Zeus. Now, following the logic of Nami holding Big Mom’s Vivre Card, if Zeus is indeed made of Big Mom’s own soul, then shouldn’t the Queen Mama Chanter refrain from attacking it? Shouldn’t it be afraid of doing so? If that is true, then the ship we see getting burned in the manga is not the Sunny. But I find that hard to believe, which I will justify in a moment. One reason that the Sunny could actually have been attacked is because it has been mentioned that the homies behave based on Big Mom’s mental state (although unfortunately I can’t remember where I read that). Right now, Big Mom is unconsciously enjoying herself in the land of dreams, so I suppose that homies may misbehave from time to time. However, that would potentially mean that along with the Sunny, a big part of Big Mom’s own soul (i.e. Zeus) gets damaged/destroyed, so I guess that would make Big Mom a bit weaker? Regardless, that just seems to me like a plot hole that needs to be addressed in the following chapters. What are your thoughts on this?
WHY SUNNY WAS THE SHIP THAT GOT HIT
I always believed that it was the Sunny that got hit in the final page of chapter 900. I just had to compare the similarity of two panels. A panel from page 17 (left side of the page, 2nd panel from the bottom – left side) and another one from page 18 (the panel in the middle of the page – right side). To me, the similarities that I have circled should leave no doubts that the ship that was hit was actually the Sunny. Have a look yourself:
WHERE DID THE STRAW HAT FLAG GO?
There are more things one can notice from comparing those two panels. Firstly, the Sunny normally has TWO pirate flags (panel from chapter 890, page 3), but in the panel of page 17 we see the back side of the Sunny, so it makes sense for us not to be able to see the 2nd pirate flag, since it sits on the shorter, front mast of the ship (just to clear things out). Secondly, it seems that somehow the Straw Hat Flag is missing from the higher back mast of the ship in the final panel. Look, there is no flag getting burnt in the panel of page 18! (1) Did someone anticipate that the Sunny was going to get hit so they instantly aimed to save and protect the flag, which is the most important part of the ship (as we have seen from older chapters – I will get to that in a moment), but then later dropped it? (2) Or did it get burnt instantly, and the flag we see on the final panel of the chapter is the 2nd flag from the shorter front mast of the ship? If that is the case, then shouldn’t it have been burnt instantly too?
For one thing, it could not simply have drifted off due to all the fuss and ruckus around; it’s doesn’t even slip away after a Coup de Burst.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE PIRATE FLAG
The final panel of chapter 900 must have some significance. A pirate flag floating on its own must signify something. So I went back to the Drum Island Arc (Chopper’s arc) to see what Luffy says about the meaning of a pirate flag.
Specifically in chapter 148, Luffy says mainly 3 things about the pirate flag:
1) that “it will never be broken”
2) that it’s “the symbol of faith”
3) that it’s “a promise of life”
I believe these are important, specifically if you consider that Oda now knows that fans are rigorously looking through the manga for the most slightest of hints, and therefore he can potentially use those clues and hints to signify and foreshadow developments for the upcoming chapters. So, in a way, I believe that Oda with this final panel is trying to tell readers to have faith in the StrawHats because they will live to see another day. Now as to how that is going to happen, that’s potentially for another theory.
A FINAL POINT ABOUT LUFFY AND PUDDING
This is a reply to theories that Luffy and Pudding could have impacted what we see in the final pages of chapter 900:
1) Luffy having a glimpse of the future: I don’t think this is true. In the bottom left panel of page 17, Luffy points at something, but so does Chopper. They observe the same thing, but Chopper doesn’t have future sight observation haki.
2) Pudding using her powers on the cake: We don’t have any clue so far that Pudding can imbue other things with memories. I consider this a rather naive speculation.
That’s all! Thanks for reading!
*Theory by Bishop D. George
