This theory/analysis is one that has been on my mind for a long time (since the end of Wano in the manga), and I've talked about it sporadically in comments over the past year when people bring up how Big Mom went down in Wano. But having just rewatched Whole Cake Island again, I feel more confident now than I did previously of explaining why step by step that Big Mom is not done in the story. And she cannot be done in the story until she settles her beef with Luffy.
I feel like Big Mom, as goes for many characters, is somewhat disliked by the community (whether they find her annoying or weaker than her peers or whatever). So at any opportunity to drop her from the story, people believe she is dropped from the story. Even if the foreshadowing from the story suggests otherwise. And people will focus on the pieces that support what they want to believe (in this case the idea that Big Mom has lost to Law and Kid and is done for) and ignore all of the other evidence that could suggest maybe they are wrong. Which isn't to say if you have a certain opinion of the story then you aren't allowed to believe that, I just think people should maybe take a step back from the absolute certainty that they believe some of these theories and at least open their mind to the possibility of being wrong despite a solid chunk of evidence that could suggest they might be. But let's go onto that evidence and why I firmly believe that Big Mom and Luffy HAVE to fight (and what I believe they will be fighting over).
Nobody in the story considers Fishman Island to be Luffy's territory. Nobody. I don't know why so many fans do other than not thoroughly reading what the story is suggesting, but it's simply not his territory.
When the Ryugu Kingdom heard the news of what happened at Whole Cake Island and saw that Luffy and Jinbe picked a fight with Big Mom, they pointed out how they'd probably have to rely on Luffy for protection now instead of her.
This was not territory that Luffy was already claiming when he left Fishman Island, and they did not consider it that way either even up when they left for the Reverie a month ago.
Luffy gave you the exact gameplan for what he plans to do to make Fishman Island his territory.
He's going to find Big Mom, kick her ass all over the New World, and claim Fishman Island as his territory.
Well he found Big Mom... but when did he kick her ass or claim Fishman Island as his territory? He was very specifically kept from fighting her by Law and Kid. I've seen a lot of people make the suggestion that "the alliance" kicked her ass so it counts for what Luffy said. My two questions to that mindset; when has Luffy ever felt that way about somebody who he wants to beat up, and when did he announce Fishman Island as his territory? I can assure you with confidence that the second question never happened. And to show how its never happened, we can look at what Oda showed us in how to actually claim Fishman Island with Whitebeard.
This is what it looks like for the heroic friend of a fishman to return and claim the island as his own. Whitebeard, and old friend of Neptune, let the pirating world know that you can not touch this land. And they all scattered.
This is what it looks like when Luffy claims territory. Telling Momo that he's like a little brother and to fly the Straw Hat flag high, letting everybody know that messing with Wano is like messing with him.
Fishman Island is a land under dispute, but it is absolutely not his territory. Yet. It will be when he kicks her ass and claims it as his, like he said.
I've seen some people suggest that Luffy beat Big Mom in Whole Cake because he destroyed her cake, took the Road Poneglyph, and got away. And to that I just say... huh? How is that possibly defeating her? They got caught dead to rights multiple times in that arc, and the arc even reiterated multiple times that their goal was not to fight and never was. Their goal was to get Sanji and get out. Then when they got there they were told by Pedro that she has a Road Poneglyph, giving them two missions. And then Sanji wanted to save his family, so 3 missions. When those 3 missions were accomplished, they said no more and ran.
And like Nami very clearly said, if we were here to fight we would have brought Zoro and the others. Luffy agreed, which is why he got one punch in on Big Mom and then left
Luffy himself also reiterated this multiple times throughout the arc. When Nami and Luffy got caught by the Enraged Army, he got a Den Den Mushi call with Big Mom.
And one of the main subjects of the call was Big Mom chump checking him asking if he forgot their little arrangement to find her in the New World and kick her ass.
And Luffy said absolutely not, but he's just there for Sanji right now. He then reiterated this AGAIN at the wedding when he just had to get one hit in on Big Mom before he left.
It's then reiterated AGAIN when Luffy beats Katakuri, saying that he'll return to topple Big Mom.
Big Mom also reiterates this after the arc is over as her reasoning for going to Wano.
"Who said I lost?" The Straw Hats are the ones who ran away, and Sanji's family didn't even make it away safely. So how'd she lose? The only person claiming she lost is Big News Morgans, a very upfront Worst Generation fanboy trying to create an interesting storyline. Shown by the fact that he straight up invented a Fifth Emperor spot for Luffy just to push the narrative.
A refresher, Fishman Island's goal at the Reverie was to re-enter their bid to have the people of Fishmen Island brought to the surface with everybody else. They also reacted to the results of Whole Cake Island saying that Big Mom is going to be pissed and they should probably start flying the Straw Hat flag. We haven't seen Ryugyu Kingdom after the Reverie yet, but let's just say they begin flying Luffy's flag or that they begin planning to leave the country behind. How do you think Big Mom is going to react when she finds out that the Tamatebako was rigged with explosives that blew up Whole Cake Chateau. If we did not have context that it was a complete accident, that would look like a total sign of rebellion that they are willing to commit an act of war and then leave her to fly under Luffy's banner. And then you have the Sun Pirates who showed up to help Luffy's crew escape, and seemingly eventually Jinbe too. We already know from when Jinbe and Big Mom interacted in Wano that she's obviously pissed about that too after they managed to escape.
If Big Mom is trying to prove that she's still a Yonkou, what exactly is stopping her from making a move on "Luffy's territory" in Fishman Island to go after all these insubordinates? It's far don't get me wrong, but what's stopping her? I know a lot of people believe the theory that Luffy will destroy the Red Line and then underneath that Fishman Island will be destroyed, but what if it's just destroyed by Luffy and Big Mom fighting on the island?
Wouldn't be the first time Luffy destroyed Fishman property just to keep it out of the hands of anybody else.
What if that's what the Grand Fleet is actually for? I feel like Whole Cake Island as an arc made it very apparent how truly outnumbered Luffy actually was, and he's not going to have the Samurais or Minks or Law's crew or Kid's crew every single time. But he might not need it if he just rolls up with his own Fleet.
Big Mom's songs are extra creepy, she's full on Disney villain. But I think if you look a bit closer at the lyrics and the exact panels Oda chooses to depict when writing about it, it might be showing a bit of a deeper message. The main one that I want to focus on is the final song of Whole Cake Island when Big Mom gets her cake. You can always join, but you can never leave.
Now of course everybody knows about the iconic scene of Jinbe leaving the Big Mom Pirates and giving back the sake cup. But keep in mind that Jinbe is not the only person directly allied with the Big Mom Pirates. Aladdin is the one actually married to Charlotte Praline.
She already told us she would side with Aladdin if Big Mom ever came looking for him, but she also told us that everybody who has ever attempted a stunt like this has ended up dead.
Lo and behold, who is right there at the end of the arc helping get the Straw Hats to escape. Aladdin leading the Sun Pirates. I fully understand why the focus is on Jinbe, but just ask yourself what is going to happen to Aladdin for defying a Big Mom marriage. Heads end up on platters when you try that. And while the Sun Pirates don't necessarily stay in Fishman Island anymore after Jinbe stopped being a Warlord (we don't know where they went after Whole Cake Island yet), it absolutely puts that country directly in Big Mom's crosshairs (the thing that Jinbe feared that made him not immediately join the Straw Hats).
One last Big Mom connection. What was the goal of the roulette wheel in Jinbe's case?
Jinbe specifically explained it to his crew and the reason why he chose not to roll it. The numbers were representing how many of his allies would also suffer the same fate.
So what is stopping her from just doing this same tactic on Ryugu Kingdom? I don't really think there's anything, and it would not just be a random turn of events given that her son in law is now the captain of the Sun Pirates that betrayed that marriage.
I feel like a bunch of people just forget or didn't notice this happened because it was surrounded by so many other information drops. The Big Mom Pirates didn't just disappear into nothingness once the war was over, they jammed CP0's signal and attacked them.
CP0 signals being jammed by a mysterious force.
Morgans revealing in the very next chapter that this was the Big Mom Pirates.
I just wish somebody who thinks Big Mom is dead would explain what they think the purpose is of the Big Mom Pirates getting into Wano after the fighting ended. Like, do you guys think they're there to pick up her corpse and give her a funeral? If that's the argument you guys want to make then by all means, go for it. But that's not the argument I've typically seen. All I ever see is the argument "how is Big Mom surviving in a volcano for weeks". Completely ignoring that she wouldn't be in there for weeks because we already know her kids made it into Wano THAT NIGHT.
This one is a huge misconception that comes up all the time, and it's definitely one people forget about. Everybody remembers from the Seducing Woods that Nami used the vivre card she got from Lola and that when Luffy and Nami got caught they said even Big Mom's kids are not allowed to have vivre cards because of how strong they are in messing with homies. I don't have to explain that part much more, this is pretty common knowledge on the topic.
What people seem to forget entirely though is that this does not apply to all of Big Mom's kids. We have literally seen Big Mom's kids holding vivre cards in this arc.
The way they knew that Big Mom was not dead when she got knocked off the ship is because they had a vivre card.
Now obviously Perospero eventually made it into Wano and broke off from his crew, so what happened to this vivre card is anybody's guess. But if Perospero is trusted enough to have one, who says that Smoothie doesn't have one? Who says Daifuku doesn't have one? Who says that Amande doesn't still have the one she stole from Nami?
If the Big Mom Pirates have made it into Wano (which it's highly suggested they have), and the most trusted Big Mom Pirates have vivre cards (which it's highly suggested they have), then they would know exactly what her status is and where to find her.
Here's another panel that people probably forgot about because of what happened in the chapter. When the Big Mom Pirates get kicked down the waterfall a second time by Marco, we see them essentially talking about how insane it is that this is the only way into Wano.
They said it's crazy that this is the only way into Wano, and it's just as crazy that they're allying with the Beast Pirates.
But we already know that this is not the only way into Wano. There is also Mogura Port, which you need permission from Kaido and Orochi to get into and out of Wano. What group was invited to Wano by Orochi?
CP0.
Now, is it possible that Joseph flew his ass all the way from Onigashima out past the waterfall and landed on his ship? Sure, maybe, if he's a lunatic. But is it not significantly more likely that they walked in through the secret tunnel that was established as the only safe way into Wano? So say the Big Mom Pirates were looking for a way to get into the country without getting dunked off the side of the waterfall by Pell next, sounds like they have a pretty solid way to get that information. And where did Big Mom fall after getting shot down by Law and Kid?
Pretty damn close to Mogura Port.
It all lines up perfectly with the Big Mom Pirates trying to find another way into the country.
This was one I found a couple months ago. When Stussy turned on CP0 in Egghead, people pointed out Oda's great foreshadowing by saying that Stussy chose to drink giraffe at the Big Mom wedding. Follow that same logic by pointing to one of the other options that Smoothie offered?
Giraffe foreshadowed Stussy turning on Kaku. So does Lava rock foreshadow how to save Big Mom?
If we can see Smoothie is capable of extracting from volcanic rock with her abilities, and we know she's in Wano... there's your way of saving Big Mom. So even for the people who don't think she's capable of sitting in that chamber, we've established:
She's not there for weeks, her kids most likely found her
Smoothie has the ability to extract the lava from her body
The Big Mom Pirates most likely made it into Mogura Port, which is where she fell close to
Sounds like a perfect storm for them to save her from the fate people think she suffered, right?
I won't go too in depth on all of the reasons why Oda is clearly doing parallels to pre timeskip. There are many many explanations of that theory, and here's one that I wrote for Egghead being like Sabaody months ago.
Along the lines of this theory, I wanted to argue where the story could be going. We saw Luffy bring up the idea that they should go to the Holy Land and rescue Vivi before being reminded of his own words about Ace long ago; he has his own adventures and they'll go to save him if he can't save himself (paraphrasing). Luffy then found out in Amazon Lily, the very next arc, that he was actually in big trouble and needed help.
As far as we can tell, Vivi is pretty safe for the time being. But you know who might not be? Ryugu Kingdom and Fishman Island. Not only did Luffy's own Grand Fleet announce themselves and dunk on a Celestial Dragon to save the Ryugu Kingdom's princess, but they had the nerve to ask to be brought to the surface at the Reverie. Just think how pissed off they must be about this.
Robin brought up there are some more connections in the paper besides Sabo and Vivi, but Luffy didn't want to know unless it's really bad.
We're now seeing some of that play out with blatant attacks on the Celestial Dragons. What if Fishman Island is no longer safe? What if they just kick them out of the World Government entirely for what they did to Charlos? What if Big Mom sees their trying to leave to the surface or the Tamatebako as direct acts of war?
People thought that Marineford 2.0 might be that Sabo gets caught instead of Ace, right? Or they thought maybe it's showing up to save Vivi? Or I've heard people say it'll be to save Bartolomeo from getting wiped off the face of the planet by Shanks? But what if it's none of those? What if it's Luffy returning to Fishman Island to destroy it, as we've been foretold in the prophecy? We know he has to return, and what better reason than to finally kick Big Mom's ass who has some grudges to settle with a lot of people involved in that island.
Big Mom is absolutely alive, absolutely furious, and will probably make a move on Fishman Island when she hears the news of what's going on there. It might even be the conflict that causes the Grand Fleet to come together.
The Sun Pirates, now led by Aladdin, rebelled against a Big Mom marriage.
The Ryugu Kingdom finally got to ask at the Reverie to put their signatures to work and be brought to the surface, but that status is probably in jeopardy after Sai and Leo dunked Charlos into the core of the Earth. I would not be surprised if this is what Robin was talking about when she said to Luffy there's some people you know in the paper here when they were going to Egghead Island.
The Big Mom Pirates learned about Mogura Port from CP0 and will be able to save Big Mom
Smoothie will use her ability to take whatever lava she needs to out of Big Mom
Fishman Island is not Luffy's territory. Yet. But he's going to kick Big Mom's ass and make it his territory very soon.
I do not think that Big Mom will be on Elbaf. I know the ties she has with that country and everything there. I think she might be going after Fishman Island, Aladdin, and King Neptune for attempting to leave. Luffy showing up there, the way Whitebeard did all those years ago for King Neptune, that will be the moment he calls upon the Grand Fleet who has now officially gotten themselves involved with Fishman Island after Sai and Leo's actions.
But let me know what you think.
Credit: Full Article - HokageEzio
