[ manga spoilers! ]

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It was late at night, long after Shamrock's bedtime when the young Lord snuck out of his chambers and past the servants quietly roaming the halls of the Figarland manor like shadows. He had tried his best to sleep, but one question had been burning so brightly in his mind that he could not find a moment of rest. The only way to soothe his worry, to fill the gap within his heart, was to seek out the only person who'd know the answer.

The boy knocked on the double winged door to his father’s bedroom. He was forbidden from ever entering it without permission, it had been years since he had set a foot inside. When he stood in the dark hallway in complete silence after the echos of the knocks had faded, he turned around to leave.

Only for the voice of his father to call out to him.

"Come in," Saint Garling said and his son pushed the door open, his face suddenly lit up by the candles on his desk. "Did you have a nightmare? Go bother your maid with it."

Shamrock carefully closed the door behind him before he stood in the middle of the lavish master bedroom of the mansion. He nervously played with the hem of his sleeping gown, feeling the pressure of his father's sharp eyes glaring at him with a mixture of disappointment and impatience.

"Speak," Garling commanded and left his desk to wander around the room with his hands on his back, he stopped in front of a mirror so he did not have to look at his son’s face directly.

"Father, do I have a mother?" Shamrock asked.

As soon as the word had left his mouth he regretted them dearly. His father's face twitched in the same cruel way it always did before he lost control and … and … Shamrock's mind blanked. He met his father's eyes through the mirror and saw a deep sadness in them, only for a second, then all was replaced by fury.

"A mother? Why should you care if you have one? Are you perhaps still a babe who must be breastfed? You were born and now you are mine, do not waste my time with these questions," Garling replied to him with a cutting edge to his words.

Every other night Shamrock would have ducked his head and walked out, but something had sparked him to stay and continue.

"I spent every day watching all the other children getting picked up and carried by their mothers, I saw Killingham's mother giving him a kiss … she told him that she loves him!" Shamrock hadn’t noticed it as he spoke freely, but his calm voice had suddenly bursted into screams, loud enough to shatter the mirror if he spoke any higher.

His father approached him with long strides, walking across the room faster than Shamrock could run. He raised his chin and snarled at the blond knight, the man who refused to tell him the truth.

Garling raised his hand and Shamrock instinctively flinched, but to his own shock his father did not bring his palm down on his head to strike him, but to caress his face with a sickening gentleness. A warning, a threat disguised as an act of love. There was no love in father's eyes, they were empty when he looked upon his son.

"Why don’t we go to the slave market tomorrow and you may choose a new servant?" His father suddenly spoke up, his voice unusually cheerful.

"But … father!" Shamrock insisted, but he was ignored.

"What about a fishman? One strong enough to handle you and Cerberus, he will serve you longer than the last one I hope," he continued to muse, even a dry chuckle escaped him.

Shamrock stared at him in disbelief.

"Can we go and buy me a mother instead?" The boy mumbled to himself as he realized that his father wouldn’t answer him.

Garling wouldn’t get the chance to react, because in that very moment a distraught maid appeared at the door and profusely apologized.

"I am deeply sorry, my Lord. Young master Shamrock must have slipped out when I wasn’t looking, I shall take him to bed at once," the lady announced with a bow and father merely nodded.

The maid, though she was just a slave, was strong enough to pull on Shamrock's arm and move him out of his father's bedroom. He protested and complained, but all was futile.

Before the bedroom door fell shut, he caught his father staring at the mirror again almost like he was seeing something in it … someone. His lips were moving in unspoken words. Who was he talking to?

"It's best you stay in your bed, young master. You have much to do tomorrow," the maid lectured him as she dragged the boy back to his chambers.

When Shamrock lay in bed, he was back with no answers but so many more questions than before. Something told him that his father was keeping a dark secret, one so terrible he knew Shamrock couldn’t take it. Nonsense, he wanted the truth! How bad could it be? Not knowing was worse.

The boy buried his face in his pillows and wept, wept for a mother whose touch he didn’t recall and whose voice he could not remember.

That night Garling had made a grave mistake, from then on the seed of doubt he had planted in his son's mind would grow and fester until he'd one day feel Shamrock's blade upon his neck.

"Why? Why did you kill her?"

She didn't deserve that.

Personally, while I think obviously Shanks being raised by Roger and his crew grew up to be a good person with moral compass and that alone could easily explain why he left the Celestial Dragons after seeking them out, but for Oda to show us this I think now the true nail in the coffin is him somehow finding this out. His father killed his mother - and for what fucking reason? Garling having his eyes on a new "prize" being Shakky, the twins mother were no longer "wanted" or "worthy" because he wants a new "wife" - a slave. Shakky to these disgusting animals isn't viewed as a person but as an object of desire until the next idol of fixation is found, then discarded. It happened right in front of us with Shanks and Shamrock's mother I don't doubt at all in the worst timeline if Shakky was "won" she would've ended the same way. The twins mother, Jenny, and so many other women, the Dragons treat their """"""wives""""" this way.

Visiting Whitebeard about Ace, Shanks brought alcohol from what he said was his home in the West Blue, where God Valley was. Obviously it couldn't be there given its been wiped of the maps but the fact alone he views the West still as his home despite traveling all over with the Roger pirates really speaks to me. He was born there, but only really spent like a year of his childhood there with his mother and brother, but he still views it as home. I think he loves his mother, despite never truly knowing her, and if he knew the truth of her death it'd make all of this hit harder.

Shamrock? I'm going to wait until we get an actual scene addressing it but the fact he went through the exact same thing as Shanks yet chose and stayed with the Celestial Dragons makes this more interesting. Like what was his thought process? He's in an influential place with the knights he HAS to know the truth, right? How is his relationship to his father? Does he even care? Is he so sick with desperation for acceptance that he HAS to not care? He was lowborn, just like Shanks, his mother to the Dragon's eyes was a nobody from the world down below who just got """"lucky"""" to meet and gain his father's attention. What was his circumstance that brought him back to the nobles?

reading over the chapter again and oh this man is burning in hell

i really don't know what's worse. treating her the way celestial dragons typically have been depicted treating their non-celestial partners or the fact he treated her so well she clearly missed him and was excited for him to come home

Spoilers filled | Just my raw thoughts, not a theorist 😌

So what the fuck was that chapter! My gosh, I am breathtaken xD

Let’s go step by step. Yamato is still living his best slice-of-life cozy fantasy life and collecting allies. We love that for him!

Shakky is kidnapped... which was expected and guessed, so no real surprise here. But I was still very emotional seeing Gloriosa crying over her friend. And every panel of Rayleigh kinda yearning for Shakky is just everything. Later on, Roger and Rayleigh will decide to go to God Valley to save her, and that’s what will apparently spark Garp’s decision to go there too. I’m still really curious to see how this all turns into Rocks vs Garp + Roger… or if that’s just a lie fabricated by the World Government at this point?

Garling returns to God Valley and kills the mother of his twins, Shamrock and Shanks. Which… is not exactly surprising, because we know how dehumanizing and cold-blooded the Celestial Dragons can be. Garling is just a hotter version of all of these monsters... and clearly wants Shakky for himself.

God Valley is being set up for a human hunt. We see the Marines committing full-on genocide, as usual. But amidst all of this, we get to see young Dragon : already doubting, already questioning, visibly crumbling under the weight of the war crimes he’s expected to commit. I loved seeing that. I was genuinely surprised to find him here. It really confirms how world-changing God Valley was — so many key figures were there.

We also learn how young Morgans (our quirky future journalist) will end up hearing about all of this: Ginny and Ivankov are on the move! And oh… my sweet little Kuma is here as well T.T Seeing him in this context gets me so emotional.

The tension between Harald and Rocks is genuinely heartbreaking. I really appreciated their moment of connection before the inevitable clash. And then, we get that reveal. Personally, I didn’t see it coming at all: Rocks is a descendant of Davy Jones. And his clan lives on God Valley.

We already knew the “D.” are said to be the enemies of the gods — but now we learn that the clan of Davy Jones literally lives on God Valley. So… is the island named after them, the “god killers”? Are they descendants of ancient gods? Of a civilization from the old world? Is that why Imu is so afraid of this bloodline? I’m just throwing out ideas.

The D. lineage and Davy Jones are clearly connected. But how? Is it just that his clan is called the D. Clan, as many people have speculated? Or is there something more? Are some inhabitants of God Valley aware of their lineage? Rocks definitely is and so is his wife.

Rocks also says his name carries respect in the “shadow world”… what is he referencing here? Underworld? Revolutionaries? Pirates? The lore is thick, and I love it. I am curious to see how the official translation puts that.

It’s also more or less confirmed that this bloodline is the reason Garling told Imu they should keep an eye on God Valley. Imu’s “interest” in the land makes way more sense now.

The clash between these two odd friends, Harald and Rocks, has me all kinds of emotional. And honestly… Harald seems kind of unreasonable here.

The final panel is so chilling. Shakky is presented as a prize, along with nine other treasure chests. It’s super creepy and visually reminiscent of the Sabaody arc. It made me so uncomfortable in the best way.

And yes, we also see baby Teach being saved by Dragon. I’m so curious to see how he ends up under Edward Newgate later on. What’s the path from here to that? I am excited for 1160 !

∘₊✧──✧₊∘₊✧──✧₊∘

Some quick thoughts:

A lot of people seem really pissed about the Shakky element. Personally? I don’t mind it. Men have done dumber shit for hotness. It’s very Helen of Troy-coded. And Shakky is just one part of the bigger picture — plus, she’s a powerful empress. Her being a major “prize” makes complete sense in the shitty, objectifying logic of the Celestial Dragons. That’s them, not the story.

Some also think Roger is lame in these flashbacks. Honestly? I always found him kind of quirky, and now that’s more obvious. He’s also way younger here than he was when he found the One Piece! So it’s normal that his personality feels different. And we still don’t know much about him: his origins, his powers, his motivations. The reason we’re only getting bits and pieces is because this flashback isn’t about him. It’s Harald and Rocks’s story : bromance turned tragedy. And I still love Roger as a character!

It’s starting to look more and more likely that the final showdown will be Luffy and Blackbeard teaming up against Imu. And while alliances with former enemies are a classic trope in One Piece, I personally don’t love this one. Curious to see how Oda is going to pull it off.

As I said the Garp+Roger against Rocks might just be World Government Propaganda at this point. So curious to see why would the Government sell their duo as a story. What really happened there?

∘₊✧──✧₊∘ more on OP ∘₊✧──✧₊∘

If you’re into OP analysis, I also wrote:

Freedom isn’t always peaceful – rage and resistance in One Piece & AOT

Yes, One Piece is political and that’s what makes it great

Why I don’t like the politics of Skypiea – a decolonial read from a One Piece die-hard