Wow… One Piece has gotten pretty dark before with things like genocide and ethnic cleansing, but damn it hit a new level. Chapter 1098 brings about more truths about Kuma’s past, as well as the origins of Jewelry Bonney. There’s a lot to get into with the release today, so grab a flashlight because this chapter is really, really dark.
Warning that this article contains spoilers for One Piece through chapter 1098. Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
What Happens in One Piece Chapter 1098?
This chapter is a whole new level of darkness for One Piece, and it looks like creator Eiichiro Oda even has trouble with it. The chapter focuses on Kuma after Ginny is taken, desperately trying to get her back before finding out she’s taken to Marijoa. Here Ginny is made the wife of a Celestial Dragon and stays for the next two years as a slave to them. When she finally escapes, Bonney returns to the Sorbet Kingdom while calling up Kuma and the others to say goodbye. She mentions that she’ll always love Kuma, and asks that he take care of her daughter, Bonney.
When Kuma finally sees Bonney, he promises to raise her as his own daughter. He discovers that both Ginny and Bonney have the same disease, which causes their skin to harden into sapphires in sunlight, moonlight, or just gradually with age. It’s a terrifying disease with no cure, and Bonney isn’t expected to live past the age of ten, no matter what they do.
Ginny’s Fate
Poor Ginny is one of the most tragic characters in One Piece so far. She’s abducted as a slave during a mission for the Revolutionary Army and goes through probably the most traumatic experience possible. Then forced into being the wife of a Celestial Dragon, where she eventually has their child, Jewelry Bonney. The Celestial Dragon that takes her as a wife still isn’t known, but theories believe that it was Sir Jay Garcia Saturn, who Bonney is fighting presently on Egghead.
While Ginny knows she doesn’t have long to live, the Celestial Dragons finally let her go, seeing no more worth in her. She flees with Bonney, toward the Sorbet Kingdom and Kuma’s church. Just before she dies, she calls Kuma, Dragon, and Iva, telling them all goodbye, that she loves Kuma, and asking Dragon to look after him. Kuma uses his power to teleport to the Sorbet Kingdom, finding Ginny already dead, hardened into sapphires as she sails through the day to make sure Bonney is safe.
Bonney’s Birth
A big confirmation in this chapter that’s been in question for years is Bonney’s age. She’s finally confirmed to be twelve years old, only looking older thanks to her Devil Fruit power. When Ginny was abducted, the Revolutionary Army was actually busy rescuing the survivors of Gray Terminal in the Goa Kingdom. They can’t take her back from the Celestials, but Kuma spends his time in the two years Ginny is gone training, and even mentoring a young Sabo.
When Ginny returns with Bonney, Kuma makes a vow to raise her as his own. Out of his love for Bonney, he takes on being a father to the young child, learning how to raise a baby with help from the village. For the time being, Kuma leaves the Revolutionaries, though Dragon promises to find a doctor for her wherever they may go.
Bartholomew Kuma the Father
He takes to being a father like a natural too. By the time Bonney turns five, Kuma has her happy as can be despite the tragedy of her birth. Bringing her up in the church, boarding up any way that light can get through, he’s the most loving father he can be. Bonney learns about the Sun God Nika and starts to follow her father in his dancing, making up a beat for the drums of the liberation of Nika.
It also takes a toll on Kuma though, knowing that Bonney is sick like her mother was. The jewels begin to appear first under her eye, bright sapphires bursting forth from her skin. She has to stay completely out of the light, and it hurts Kuma to know she can’t go anywhere. This is when he starts asking his question “If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go?”. Bonney’s answer surprises him though, and he finds out about the sky islands. Despite her not being his, Kuma loves her more than any true father could, and it hurts him even more to find out her diagnosis.
Sapphire Scale
When a doctor finally knows what Bonney has, it’s much more grim than anyone expects. They finally rule out White Lead disease, and one doctor reveals that he’s seen a few cases of this in recent years. It’s called Sapphire Scale, and it’s one hundred percent fatal with no cure in the world so far. The disease reacts to any sort of natural light, whether it be sun or moon, and hardens the host body into rough sapphires, freezing them in place eventually.
The doctor tells Kuma that Bonney will die by the age of ten. Kuma doesn’t tell her this though, despite how Bonney heard some of the conversation. He tells her instead that she’s going to be cured of her disease when she turns ten and thus begins the lie of a father to protect his daughter. Look, as a total side note, this chapter got to me. Kuma’s sacrifice for Bonney, the Straw Hats, and others is just heartbreaking to see, and he’s the real hero of One Piece.
Is Bonney Cured?
One of the biggest questions now is if Bonney is actually cured of her Sapphire Scale. In the present-day story, she doesn’t have the sapphires on her face, but instead a moon-shaped mark. It’s not clear if the disease has been cured or not, possibly by Vegapunk, but this could be why Kuma joins the Warlords, in search of a cure. Perhaps he and Vegapunk are able to come up with one, or in exchange for working as a Warlord, the Gorosei offer a cure. That’s unlikely though, as the Gorosei look like they would rather kill her (Saturn almost does on Egghead).
She could just be covering up the scales with a patch or something, still uncured. That said, the doctor said she wasn’t likely to make it past ten years old, but here she is at twelve. Bonney isn’t one to get knocked over easily, and having her crew as a Supernova at ten years old is pretty impressive. It’s also possible that curing her was a condition for Kuma undergoing the Pacifista program, exchanging his life for hers.
Theory Corner
- Saint Jay Garcia Saturn is the current favorite bet to be Bonney’s father. A lot of the reasoning goes back to the astrology the Gorosei are based on, as the moon of Saturn is known as a ‘sapphire scourge’ in folklore.
- Kuma could have possibly cured the Sapphire Scale with his Paw-Paw Fruit, taking everything negative from Bonney. There’s also the possibility that her Devil Fruit contributes to the cure, possibly reversing the genetics of the disease through Inheritance Factors.
- If Saturn really is Bonney’s father, then once Kuma gets to Egghead there’s going to be hell to pay. Likely Kuma will take every bit of pain and put it into Saturn if he can, and it still would only be a fraction of what he’s been through.
Oda’s Current Status
This has fans a little concerned. With 1098 chapters of One Piece, it’s amazing that Oda has the record of polished consistency he has. This chapter though was unfinished, with much of the art still in the rough sketch phase. Oda promises that the volume release will have finished art, but it’s a question of whether he came back from his eye surgery too early. He jokes that he can shoot lasers now, but hopefully, he’s not experiencing some drawbacks after returning to work so soon.
Often when mangaka releases unfinished chapters, it’s a sign of ill health. That’s been seen a lot in the past few years, especially in other manga like Black Clover and the frequent delays of HunterxHunter. Hopefully, Oda is taking care of himself, and able to see the final arcs through as he envisions them. We just don’t want another situation like Berserk, because nobody knows when that will be finished now.
One Piece is taking things in a wild direction with this chapter. Coming up on another one-hundred-chapter milestone is going to be insane, too, because those usually have big moments. Hopefully, everything starts to improve for Oda and things were just rough thanks to the subject matter this week. One Piece is still going strong, and chapter 1098 is leading to an emotionally charged finale for Egghead Island.
