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neverwatchedonepiece · 5 years

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598-600: "A Samurai Who Can Cut Fire! Foxfire Kin'emon!", "Shocking! The True Identity of the Mystery Man Vergo!" and "Save the Children! The Master's Evil Hands Close In!"

Well, well, well...

The plot thickens into a rich ragu. An intrigue ragu, to be precise. Only the best and tastiest kind, obviously.

Oda is working overtime with these reveals and I am loving every second of this arc. (The main storyline, anyway. The Foxfire Kin’emon plot I can take or leave but I’m guessing Kine’mon has to be in the story to make it work.)

And I have SO many questions about Doflamingo now, it is ridiculous.

Oh, and Caesar? Yeah, he’s a multi-car pile up of issues that have caught fire and are now raining down shards of twisted, squealing metal onto innocent passers by.

And that’s just three episodes!

That’s Mr Burger Face to You

I normally resist writing about the huge reveals until the end of a post but I cannot wait to talk about the Feathered One and his role in whatever the hell this thing is with Caesar in Punk Hazard.

I guess I’ll start with Vergo.

Or Vergo-san, as he insists on being known as.

I spent most of episode 598 wondering, “why is there a burger on that man’s face?” This was unfortunate, as he’s a cool character. Officious, calculating and sinister.

“Do you really think *he* didn’t know?” he said, as Law rolled on the ground in pain. “We don’t trust Caesar, either. That’s why *he* was being careful and sent an undercover agent. Monet is that agent.”

First off, Oda took great pains to ensure Doflamingo’s name was not yet revealed. He was still only the mysterious “He” at that moment, which lent the initial encounter with Vergo a creepier, more mysterious vibe.

Secondly, Caesar: the guy is definitely not working for the World Government. This is because he is working for Doflamingo. But even Doflamingo does not trust him, as Monet is a plant sent by him to keep tabs on Caesar. I wonder if Caesar knows this? If he does, I expect a gloating, “I knew all along!” moment. If he’s been hoodwinked by Doflamingo, I don’t think his massive ego will take it well.

The next thing Vergo said to Law was, “You’re a Shichibukai now, eh? You’ve done well. I just arrived in Punk Hazard. Luckily, I was at Dressrosa. I got a ride on a SAD tanker that was about to leave. It was the right move.”

First point of interest: Dressrosa! I recognise that name. It’s on the CR arc list, so I am assuming it’s a place (like Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard, Alabasta and all the other arcs, come to think of it. Duh.) Second point of interest: a SAD tanker. What are those?

Law then tried to appeal to Vergo’s better nature. I don’t think he has one. “Did I cause any harm to you guys?”

“No, but if you did, you’d be dead. You can’t fool grown-ups, Law. Oh, and you’ve got to say it properly. It’s Vergo-san to you.”

This little exchange was kind of weird, but I’m assuming Law had no clue Vergo and Monet were involved with Doflamingo/Caesar. He never realised he stepped on Doflamingo’s territory and was afraid his own plans had compromised Doflamingo’s by accident because he admitted he’d been involved with Doflamingo at one time. I’m guessing it was when Law was only a kid (and hence vulnerable?) because Vergo keeps needling Law with “grown ups” type remarks. Vergo also literally had Law’s heart in his hand and kept squeezing it. Ugh.

Vergo is not the kind of man to show mercy. He is also into punishment. Law tried to warn Vergo the G5 were on Punk Hazard. Then one of the huge reveals was just casually flung out there.

“Since you’re their base commander, I think you’ll be in trouble if you run into them.”

Gasp.

GAAAAAAAAAAASP.

Vergo was the traitor Smoker and Tashigi had speculated may have existed within the Marines. Were they right about said Traitor fudging the records to cover up Caesar’s dodgy experiment supply chain?

Yes, they were. The action cut briefly to a random island on the New World, with Vergo’s corrupt G5 men abusing their power. The parents of the missing kids begged them to look for their kids. They were sure they were still alive. If not, could they talk to Captain Tashigi? She would look. She listens so empathetically to the people. But what? AN INSULT! Corrupt randoms had already asked Vice Admiral Vergo a hundred times. It had been investigated. The kids were dead! Get over it.

Nope. They ain’t dead. They’re on Punk Hazard, addicted to Caesar’s Smack Candy.

But why is my question. Why is Doflamingo teaming up with Caesar? Why is Vergo covering up all these disappearances? What do they want from each other?

In Which Law Thinks, “Fuck it...” and Tells Everyone

They must’ve dragged Law into Caesar’s lounge (that sounds like a casino), as the next time the action cut to him, Law had been locked in a cage with Luffy, Robin, Franky, Smoker and Tashigi.

Caesar had finished cleaning house, had delivered his captives and was off to prepare his big experiment before wrangling his smack-addicted children. Caesar isn’t a complete dumbass and ordered his minions to clap the prisoners in Sea Stone irons. As Caesar did not make the delivery personally, I’m not sure he knows Vergo has turned up. (Still not sure how he’ll take it. Mad Scientists don’t tend to like being checked in on by the boss. Then again, he did call Doflamingo earlier to get permission to kill Smoker and the Strawhats. The jury’s out on that one.)

Once Luffy established that, yes, they were all in a cage together and it was like old times (lol), Monet and Vergo realised they were awake (and Vergo finally ate that fucking chunk of burger, THANK GOD.)

Smoker and Tashigi were obviously devastated to learn Vergo was the traitor covering up for Caesar. The weird thing was that Smoker was not surprised. “The head of base is a double agent. A characteristic of G5 but a dishonour.” Are G5 notorious for corruption and allying with Yonko/pirates?

Law dished the dirt on Vergo’s background and Vergo added a little to it, since Law had blabbed so much. Vergo was originally a pirate. Before he made his name, Doflamingo must’ve got a grip on him. Vergo joined the Marines at Doflamingo’s order. He spent fifteen years rising through the ranks. He has brainwashed his G5 men into following him unconditionally. Even if they found out his double-agent status, it didn’t matter.

Vergo also helped himself to Caesar’s booze without asking and announced that Smoker and Tashigi would have to die to keep “Joker’s” secret. Punk Hazard was Joker’s important territory. Couldn’t let those who learned about his identity simply walk away. But don’t worry. Their deaths would be processed as an “accident at sea.” Standard.

Then Luffy asked the Important Question: “Tra-guy? Who is Joker?”

Law spilled it. He once worked for “Joker”. That’s how he knew Vergo. Joker was just his alias as an underground broker (Doflamingo is a dodgy broker. That is cool. Wonder who he does deals for?) His true identity? Someone Luffy would know very well.

Even before Law said his name, I recognised THAT COAT from the shadowy reveal.

It was so obviously Doflamingo. I mean who else rocks those feathers, leggings and shoes?

Despite all the reveals, I still have questions. The main one is: why is Doflamingo working with Caesar if he doesn’t trust him. What’s in it for both of them? For Caesar, it’ll be Doflamingo’s protection, I guess. For Doflamingo...? Caesar’s weapons, maybe? I mean, the other pirates seemed pretty damned interested in Caesar’s Big Damned Ad Broadcast at the end.

I’m guessing it’ll be harder for Law and Luffy to kidnap Caesar than they thought.

Oh, and This Guy Can Cut Fire

This subplot isn’t the most interesting part of the arc for me, so I’ll keep this section short.

It was kind of cool seeing what Foxfire Kin’emon can do. Useful, when Smiley is a potential threat to quite a lot of people on Punk Hazard. He can negate explosions by cutting them. (Zoro was interested in his technique. I wonder if Zoro will learn anything from him?)

The banter between Brook and Zoro was class. Zoro calling Brook a dumb skeleton, “Learn from observation!” Brook telling Zoro to stop talking to him like a bully because Brook was seventy years older! Zoro saying, “Oh, sorry grandpa!” and Brook being scandalised because he is still a lively skeleton. Lmao.

Sanji’s observation haki at work was interesting too, as was his freakish free diving ability, plus blue walking through water (useful!) There was a random comment he made that was a bit odd. Sanji was still salty about Foxfire pre-judging him harshly and accused the samurai of “hiding behind his disability” and being awful to him for no reason. Yeah, it was rubbish, Sanji, but Foxfire did have previous negative experiences with pirates, so you can understand why he nursed that hatred.

At any rate, they’re all fine and are currently hoofing it to the lab to try and locate Foxfire’s son. I hope he’s not preserved in a jar in Caesar’s lab somewhere.

Think Caesar Can’t Sink Any Lower? He is Full of Surprises

Caesar is such a flamboyantly evil trash can. I love villains like that. They’re a lot of fun. I’m also a sucker for a sly, slick manipulator, so Caesar has ticked a bunch of my villain boxes.

As soon as the fight was over and the threat neutralised, Caesar’s “Benevolent Master” mask slipped back into place. All of a sudden, his minions were “My strong soldiers!” again. And could they perform a few tasks for him? Oh, and if they could just move inside the lab? It would become very dangerous out here. But *he* would protect them.

(He is such a great example of the Faux-Affably Evil trope, seriously.)

Come Here, Crack-Babies! I Have Moar Crack!

The next time we heard from Caesar, a minion informed him his air ship was ready (an airship? That’s a new one for One Piece. Is Caesar the only one who has one?)

“Great!” Caesar said. “Now we can go pick them up.” I knew who he was referring to as soon as he hefted a large bag of candies and added, “It’s about time for them to have these.”

Oh, Caesar.... Mate, you have crossed so many lines. xD

Still not entirely sure how Caesar found the camp where Nami and Usopp were sheltering, but while they were doing their best to keep the kids safe (and dodging withdrawal rage punches) that little gaseous sound that accompanies Caesar wherever he goes crept up on them and I knew Caesar had found them.

He totally ignored Nami and Usopp, headed straight for his guinea pigs and turned on the benevolent facade. “Are you okay, children?” he simpered in faux concern. “Let’s go back to the lab. It’s dangerous out here!”

And, of course, he flashed the bag of candy. He knew exactly what he was doing. The kids flocked to him. “Master! Master!”

Nami was furious. “Are you the jerk who kidnapped these kids? How could you do such a horrible thing?”

Caesar just smirked and totally turned it back round on Nami.

“How could *you* do such a horrible thing? Why did you take them away? The children are suffering!”

“You’re making them suffer! They said they wanna go home!”

“Oh? Where are the children who want to go home?”

The kids ran to him. They freaking ran to him. And he knew exactly how it would play out.

Ooooooooh, Caesar, you are such a snake! xD

It’s hard playing an accomplished liar at their own game. Especially when they have such a firm grip on their victims. His evil side came to the fore when he stood back and smiled, just watching, while the big kids strained at their chains. I knew he was waiting to see if they’d break free. And they did. Suddenly they were “Amazing!” and had become so powerful! Smh, Caesar.

Usopp did try to fight him. He aimed a Firebird Star at Caesar’s smug face. But Caesar nullified it entirely. And, of course, gloated afterwards. “Did you think I’d catch fire and explode? Too bad. I put out the fire before it even touched me. Poison gas is not the only type of gas. I can manipulate the air within a certain area.”

(Annnnnnnnnnd that’s when everybody probably realised what Caesar had done to Luffy, Robin and Franky. Luffy should be able to beat him. All he needs to do is land one massive hit before needing to breathe. He’s done it before. Luffy just needs to hit Caesar so hard he doesn’t get up for a while.)

He almost took out Nami and Usopp too. And boy did he not revel in the iron control he wielded over those poor, brainwashed, addicted kids. He withheld giving them the candy. “Children, I’m only giving it to the good cones who come back to the lab.” Of course the kids fell over themselves. “Then just wait a little longer, alright? Before we go back, kill these devils who took you away and tried to worsen your pain.”

And I was like, Caesar, no.

What was kind of scary was that Caesar might have succeeded in manipulating those innocent kids into committing murder... were it not for the return of Brownbeard!

Brownbeard Calls Out Pathological Liar and Is Surprised When He Lies

Sorry, I thought you were dead, Brownbeard! The Yeti Brothers’ report of your death was greatly exaggerated.

Brownbeard was beaten up but he remembered the recording the Yetis had played just before the attempted murking. Let’s just say he wasn’t pleased to be reunited with his former Master. He swiped at Caesar a few times, who had no idea who he was for a minute, until realisation dawned.

With absolute brazen cheek, Caesar attempted to engage Snake Mode. “Of course, I didn’t forget you. I just didn’t recognise you! Your body is charred and you look terrible.”

But Brownbeard had seen his true colours. “You ordered them to kill me!”

Welp, Caesar thought. This minion was a sunk cost. Let’s just bail! He ordered the kids to board the airship and was about to walk when Brownbeard asked for his crew back.

Caesar turned, his face twisted in an incredulous sneer. “Huh? You don’t have a crew. You and all your crew became MY subordinates. You’re just a shitty pirate who got beaten in the New World. They’ll keep following me thinking I’m their saviour! They’re too dumb to notice I kept them alive because they’re my guinea pigs. GASTANET!”

Ouch, Caesar. No mercy there. He goes straight for the jugular when the mask comes off, eh? Brownbeard survived the boom, which is cool. I feel bad for the guy and I hope he gets some revenge against Caesar (even if Luffy has to do it for him).

While Caesar was eviscerating poor Brownbeard, Nami and Usopp sneaked off to try and save the kids. I actually jumped when Caesar’s hands appeared and grabbed them. xD

And he Gastanetted them too. Caesar is not playing anymore. He is fed up with all the guests on his island. It’s time to gtfo.

I Have Loads of Unnecessary Screenshots of this Walking Trash Can and his Hilariously Expressive Face

But it wasn’t over, even after Nami and Usopp were secured. Caesar called Monet, informed her he had retrieved the children, and asked if Smiley’s food was ready (why do I get a bad feeling about that?) Since everything was in place, Caesar said, “Great! Put me on broadcast!”

And this was the Big Thing for me.

Caesar has direct goddamn connections to lots of shady characters in the OPverse.

“To all unlawful brokers, wherever you are. I’m sorry to contact you on such short notice but you are all very lucky to see this. What you are about to witness is the deployment of a poison gas weapon. I added a new feature to the one from four years ago. It’s something those government scum can only dream of creating! Today, we have uninvited guests on our island. That’s why I decided to perform the experiment now. Invasion, war, domination-- it has various uses. If it appeals to you, let’s talk business.”

And guess who was watching?

Big Mom’s henchmen, Pekoms and Tamago, and Eustass Freaking Kidd!

I dunno...

Will Doflamingo be happy about this? If Caesar is working for Doflamingo, will he be cool with Caesar doing his own deals?

I dunno, but I’m loving the way this arc is going.

10/10 would watch again.

And my Chopper theory is still viable! Little guy is the only one on the loose who can let the other Strawhats into the lab. He’s a wildcard! :D

Chopper and the Downward Spiral.

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #caesar clown #donquixote doflamingo #trafalgar law #monkey d. luffy #vergo #monet #nico robin #franky #tony tony chopper #pekoms #baron tamago #eustass kidd

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