Egghead Island finally finishes up revealing the Vegapunks in One Piece Episode 1096. The reveal of the old man himself is a strange one and gives a look at the past with an episode dedicated to the Ohara Incident fallout. Now, Robin knows that the will and knowledge of her people live on, though she’s not sure why yet. The flashbacks to Ohara were genuinely cool to see and opened up the room in the next episode for revelations about Ohara. So, Episode 1096 has quite a few reveals, and surprisingly adds some nice filler that’s nearly indistinguishable from manga thanks to the pacing.
This article contains spoilers for One Piece! Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
What Happens in Episode 1096?
It’s rare that a non-action episode has such great animation and pacing, but episode 1096 really kills it. There are a ton of great moments, with amazing animation put toward them, that weren’t even canon to the manga. The filler here is so well done that it’s inserting entire sequences not from the source, but helps the pacing so well it doesn’t matter. The scenes of Chopper and Luffy doing their special docking move wasn’t even in the manga! It’s always great to see them expand though, and episode 1096 takes it as far as possible while simultaneously splitting up the events of the manga.
Events begin right in front of Shaka, Vegapunk Number One. Facing him, the Straw Hats are told he has info on Ohara. They were studying the Void Century. Now he asks Nico Robin for confirmation of what really happened that day before truly trusting them. In doing so, he starts to tell them about his meeting with Dragon the Revolutionary. Meanwhile back in the junk piles of Egghead, Luffy and Chopper are trying to bring the Robot back to life. In doing so, they run into Vegapunk himself, the original old man. Who immediately recognizes Luffy as the son of Monkey D Dragon, his old friend.
Ohara Incident
Pretty crazy to think that the Ohara Incident is getting new animated sequences. Especially almost fifteen years after it originally aired in the anime. Usually, they’ll just use archival footage for these kinds of things. Nope, instead there were all new scenes of Saul running off with Robin. The final talk between Robin and Nico Olivia was sweet. Also a great reminder of just how much Robin lost that day. The words she had from Saul about finding a place where she would never feel alone are especially poignant. Especially considering how she’s found the Straw Hat Pirates as her home now. There was a great moment of Saul running away from Ohara though that was new, and his running looked quite like the pose of Nika. Intentional, though slightly off since he was carrying Robin, but Nika is a huge central point of this arc anyway.
Even Professor Clover, the lead scholar of Ohara, got some great screen time. He was apparently a total badass in his younger days, sailing across the world in search of knowledge. Hard to believe that’s the old scholar who taught Robin, but he definitely lived as he died- a total badass. Shaka reveals that Clover and the Scholars spent their last moments saving the countless texts of Ohara. Keeping them from burning by throwing them into the lake. Avoiding the fire, many of the Marines that checked the island after paid no attention to the books under the water. Then they were able to be taken and saved by the Revolutionaries. The will of Ohara lives on, giving Robin a surprising amount of relief she never knew she needed.
Dragon and Vegapunk
Having the first glimpse at Vegapunk be in a flashback was a bold move. Especially considering just how stupid the old doctor of the Grand Line looks. His massive head makes him look like a towering figure, but he’s really just a diminutive man with a towering noggin. The Paramecia Type Brain-Brain Fruit allows Vegapunk to constantly take in and store new knowledge, with the caveat that his brain just keeps growing. By the time of the firebombing of Ohara twenty-two years ago, it was already stupidly huge. So, that’s kind of a surprise when he comes back later with… an apple on top of his head?
Turns out Dragon and Vegapunk go pretty far back, especially considering their phone call a few episodes ago. That’s going to play in more later, and Dragon will surprisingly have a pretty big role in the arc to come. Turns out, he and the Revolutionaries went to Ohara not long after the bombing, before the ashes even cooled. They got to work, finding who they said was a scholar in the rubble and saving all the books, bringing them back to a base on Elbaf. Vegapunk’s conversation with Dragon is cut off though, as the scene cuts back to the present day, where Vegapunk meets the next member of the Monkey family.
The Giant Robot
Back in the junk heap, Luffy, Chopper, Jimbei, and Bonney are looking into the massive robot they found. Chopper and Luffy do an adorable version of the Straw Hat Docking Formation, becoming slightly taller as Chopper sits on his head. Lifting themselves up doesn’t do anything though, and they still can’t find a way into the cockpit of the giant robot. As Luffy and Chopper both tumble down, Bonney is getting fed up but Jimbei knows that this is all in the schedule when it comes to them. Those two can’t help themselves from getting distracted, and a giant robot like this is something they could only imagine in their wildest dreams.
Eventually, Luffy and Chopper decide the best way to wake it up is by screaming different names at it. Which… doesn’t work. That’s not much of a surprise though, considering they make up two-thirds of the Idiot Trio. They’re not known for being the smartest, but at least they put the excitement into it that was needed. Before anything else can happen though, something in the Giant sets off, almost pulsating through and giving everyone nearby a shock. Nobody knows what it is, but it knocks even Luffy back as it begins to shake everything around. They don’t quite have time to recover before an interesting person appears though, almost halfway fused into the giant robot.
Vegapunk is Here!
Finally, a good look at Vegapunk himself. The man who is a legend throughout the Grand Line for his inventions, all making life easier for people around the world. He’s known as the smartest man alive, and it’s for a good reason. The Brain-Brain Fruit eventually grows so large that he has to split his brain into several different satellites! At the moment he arrives though, an experiment has backfired. It’s up to Luffy to pull him out of the robot’s shell. When he finally does, Vegapunk introduces himself to the others. It leaves Chopper in near blindness from his adoration of the doctor. He and Bonney already know each other though, and their past will get more exploration very soon.
For now though, Vegapunk gets a fun introduction, teaching Chopper and Luffy how to fly around with their Dom Boots. The scene was fantastically animated too, and the intro of Vegapunk with retro game graphics was really awesome. Another fun detail is that the Japanese VA for Vegapunk is also the VA for Dr. Doofenschmirtz from Phineas and Ferb, as well as Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty. Man has a penchant for playing mad scientists, so expect Vegapunk to get a little neurotic before all is said and done on Egghead Island. Their fun time flying around with Vegapunk is about to be cut short by a couple of new arrivals in the form of Cipher Pol 0.
What’s Next?
Toei Animation has done some interesting rearranging for the series translating it from manga to anime with Egghead Island arc. Episode 1096 sees scenes from both chapters 1066 and 1067 of the manga, but rearranged around each other. It really makes things have a better flow than previously, especially considering animation pacing as it has been. Leaving the small cliffhanger of Ohara where Dragon shows up was a brilliant idea. That means they can dedicate more of the next episode to their conversation. Otherwise, the second half with the giant robot really gave a nice, lighter follow-up to the darker first half.
So, the story of Vegapunk and Dragon is next, but what about for Luffy and his group? Cipher Pol 0 is getting closer and closer to Egghead Island. Worse, they’re on the way for one mission- kill Vegapunk. That means Luffy is going to come up against Rob Lucci for the first time since the Enies Lobby incident. Better believe their battle will get brutal. Luffy isn’t the only one who’s trained in these past two years. He’s certainly not the only one to find a Devil Fruit Awakening. The battle with Cipher Pol around Egghead Island will just be the start. Everything from here on comes to be known as the Egghead Island Incident. Even then, there are a lot of events happening around the Grand Line. The anime is preparing for a huge sequence involving Garp and SWORD.
It’s been a long time since One Piece had consistently good pacing like this. At the rate we’re going, Egghead Island might be one of the best arcs since Marineford when it comes to pacing and effect on the current world. Episode 1096 closes out with Luffy blasting off into the air with the others, and Shaka beginning a huge reveal to the other group of Straw Hats. One Piece is ramping up the pressure on Egghead Island, and soon, it’s going to crack the entire world with revelations.
