Kaido’s False Plan
Luffy’s fight against Kaido is about to come to a head, but an important question still remains: what is Kaido’s real goal?
The alliance between Kaido and Big Mom was established at the beginning of Wano, and there is much debate over possible betrayal between either side. This alliance was marked by a number of goals, including the New Onigashima Project: moving Onigashima to Wano and replacing the Flower Capital, taking complete control of Wano. In addition to finding the Ancient Weapons and the One Piece, along with Big Mom, starting the final war against the World Government. But what if all this effort isn’t just a bluff on Kaido’s part? What if he has a goal that hasn’t been revealed yet?
Parallels
At the beginning of Act 3, we had Oden’s flashback, revealing a lot of very important things about the world of One Piece. I think by the end of Act 3, we have the biggest plot twist of One Piece, blowing everyone’s minds, and this will precede Kaido’s flashback, which paralleling Oden, will be at the beginning of Act 4.
King’s Flashback
In Chapter 1035, we had a short flashback of Kaido meeting King at the Punk Hazard facility. He saves King, who has just become his right-hand man, and there is an important dialogue:
King: Do you really think you’ll be able to change the world?
Kaido: I’m the only one who can!
Just as Roger recruited Rayleigh and Luffy recruited Zoro, Kaido recruits King with great determination, vowing to change the world and become the Pirate King. At this point in the story, we can say that Kaido thought he was Joy Boy. But how did it start?
Rocks Pirates
Kaido was just an apprentice on Rocks D. Xebec’s ship, and surely he must have learned many secrets and taboos from the past. One of those secrets was about Joy Boy, the legendary warrior who fought against his enemies who later came to be called World Government and left the One Piece to his willing successor to find him in the future and fulfill his purpose.
We don’t know how far this was distorted by Xebec, but Kaido must have understood that he was a possible candidate to be Joyboy the moment he discovered Joy Boy’s race: an Ancient Giant. Discovering part of the story about how the Oni race has suffered in the past motivated Kaido to carry on their legacy as one of the last of his race.
Gol D. Roger
One of Kaido’s hobbies is trying to take his own life. He is the strongest creature in the world, making it impossible to kill him directly. But why would a pirate who was so motivated to become the Pirate King and change the world become so depressed and embittered?
I believe the answer lies in his flashback, the time period when he began to start his crew and his arrival in Wano. Something shocking happened that changed Kaido’s entire perspective on who he was, and my bet is: the arrival of Gol D. Roger in Laugh Tale. Roger fulfilled Kaido’s dream first, found the One Piece and started the Great Age of Pirates. But Kaido didn’t understand why Roger didn’t follow through on Joy Boy’s promise. After all, what was missing? Kaido went looking for answers, and probably ran into Roger and questioned what was missing. Whatever the answer, it shook him deeply. In addition to having to wait years to get the Ancestral Weapons, he discovered that the real Joyboy was yet to be born, and that it couldn’t be Kaido.
Finding Joy Boy
According to the Headquarters “opinion”, they thought that Kaido’s goal was to have a perfect opportunity to eliminate Whitebeard at Marineford, but that is not an absolute truth. Before Shanks stopped Kaido from going to Marineford, Kaido possibly believed for a moment that Ace was Joy Boy.
After all, there was a gigantic fleet of pirates on hand to protect and rescue Ace. In addition, there were the Shichibukai and the highest echelon of the Marine. In other words, why were there so many people in one place just to dispute a pirate’s future? Kaido thought Ace was special. Ace, the son of the Pirate King, who had even been to Wano once, couldn’t be a coincidence. What would be Kaido’s goal in Marineford: Protect Ace? Pick him up and take him to Wano?
Starting the final war with Joy Boy in hand would be a nice strategy. However, Ace wasn’t Joyboy, and Shanks knew it. Upon seeing Luffy saying things his captain said, and betting an arm on him, Shanks was sure that Luffy was a strong candidate to become a Joy Boy. So he approached Kaido diplomatically and convinced him that Ace wasn’t Joy Boy.
Can you imagine a dialogue like this?
Kaido: I’ve been waiting for him for a long time in Wano, and you show up to stop me. Looks like you know who Joy Boy is after all, Red Hair.
Shanks: I can’t tell you right now. But, if my bet is correct, he’ll soon show up in Wano and you’ll know who he is. (Saying this while holding the part of his old arm).
Wano (and why Kaido is not a true villain)
First, what is a villain? In several sagas, we’ve seen the main antagonists who stand out purely for their thirst for power, they are authoritarian dictators. Kaido is like that, correct? But what if it’s not TOTALLY like that? So far, we’ve seen the story from the perspective of the Scabbards and Wano, seeing all the atrocities committed by Kaido. But we haven’t seen the story from Kaido’s perspective yet! I’m starting to think that Kaido isn’t a villain like everyone thinks, and that there’s going to be a twist.
I’ve been thinking about the possibility that Kaido is actually protecting Wano for Joy Boy’s arrival, in order to expel anyone but him. And when Luffy finally convinces him that he’s Joy Boy, there’s going to be some HUGE plot twist. I know many of you may be wondering: but how can he be protecting Wano if he commits all these atrocities against Wano? And that’s where the key to the mystery lies: Kaido is protecting Wano through oppression. Kaido wants to make it clear to the world that whoever arrives in Wano will die. Kaido believes that the end justifies the means. The fact that Kaido has such rivalry with the Scabbards and the Kozuki clan is because he thinks only he can defend Wano. Oda has been doing several subversions, showing both sides of the same coin, and that nothing is black and white. For example, Oda has been working on the idea that not all Tenryuubito are bad. Kaido will be One Piece’s most complex villain by the time the perspective is switched, and we see Kaido’s real intentions in Wano.
Kaido’s Death
In addition to protecting Wano for the arrival of the real Joyboy, Kaido has a second goal in Wano: to die. As I said before, Kaido was marked by past events that made him change his mind about himself. Kaido must still be resentful to this day that Roger and Whitebeard died an epic and remarkable death, while his Captain Rocks D. Xebec (supposedly) died and forgotten.
Kaido obviously doesn’t want that same fate. If he wishes to die at Joyboy’s own hands, he will have fulfilled two wishes: To open the way for the real Joy Boy, and to die in a dignified and remarkable way at the hands of the man who will bring the dawn into the world.
