Throughout Whole Cake Island arc it has been hinted pretty heavily that Katakuri wants Big Mom to be defeated. I mean why were these his last words to Luffy?
What’s more ominous is that the name of the chapter this happened in was titled “the last request”, as if this was something Katakuri was asking of Luffy. To defeat Big Mom.
But why does Katakuri want Big Mom defeated? Well it’s pretty obvious. Katakuri’s entire motive was to do one thing, protect his family. He supports Big Mom because Big Mom protects his family. But it’s also true that Big Mom was shown to be an incredibly abusive mother and hence he does not have full loyalty to her in my opinion. This is why he didn’t just murder Luffy outright when he had the opportunity and why he was actually cheering on Luffy throughout the fight.
Katakuri wanted Luffy to become strong enough to defeat Big Mom. And in Wano Kuni Big Mom actually might be defeated.
Luffy would become strong enough to be a Yonko. And Katakuri could have Totto Land be protected by Luffy instead of Big Mom, freeing his siblings from their abusive mother. Alternatively, Luffy could have motivated Katakuri to train so that Katakuri becomes strong enough on his own to replace Big Mom.
In any case, I think it fully makes sense for Katakuri to want to see the defeat of Big Mom and for him to come to in Wano and help Luffy’s alliance. Right now, Luffy and his allies are up against 2 Yonkos, the greatest threat on earth. They will need more people if they are going to take out Big Mom and Kaido.
Furthermore Luffy needs to awaken his Devil Fruit. I think this might actually be the biggest reason why Katakuri has to come in Wano. Luffy needs to awaken the Gomu Gomu no Mi and master the use of Advanced Armament Haki.
Advanced Armament Haki focuses the entirety of one’s Armament Haki in one spot to create an Armament Haki aura. The only issue with this is that it is in direct contradiction with Luffy’s strongest ability, Gear 4. Gear 4 needs Luffy to use Haki throughout its body just to maintain the form.
By using Gear 4, Luffy cannot use Advanced Armament Haki as effectively, which is a problem. Hence, Luffy needs to learn how to use Gear 4 without Haki. The only way to do that would presumably be with Devil Fruit Awakening. The issue is that as of now, there is nobody on the ally’s side that can teach Luffy how to use Devil Fruit Awakening.
Now Luffy doesn’t need formal training in order to use Devil Fruit Awakening. It isn’t like Advanced Armament. Luffy has been using his Devil Fruit since childhood, he already has good mastery over it. All Luffy needs is for a teacher to explain to him what Awakening is and how to achieve it, then Luffy can learn the rest. This is where Katakuri could come in, he would help Luffy awaken his powers, allowing him to use Advanced Armament Haki at full potential.
But how would Katakuri reach Wano? Isn’t it a bit too late for him to appear? Well that’s where Jinbe comes in.
Why didn’t Oda just have Jinbe appear earlier, why is he holding out on him? In my opinion the reason for this is that Jinbe will play a crucial role in the defeat of Kaido by recruiting allies for Luffy. At the end of Whole Cake Island he was likely captured by Big Mom, along with Judge and the Vinsmokes. While he is in Whole Cake Island, I believe Jinbe organized a rebellion against Big Mom, getting help from Katakuri. This rebellion will soon wash up on the shores of Wano Kuni to give Luffy the edge against the Yonko Alliance.
*Theory by Monkey D Theories
