Alright, One Piece is just delivering bomb after bomb in Egghead Island arc, and Shanks may have just had a huge reveal. With the flashback to God Valley, where Roger and his crew originally found Shanks, things are becoming clear. With a huge spoiler warning for One Piece chapter 1095, is Shanks a Celestial Dragon?
Again HUGE spoiler warning for Chapter 1095. Eiichiro Oda is revealing detail after detail, so catch up at MangaPlus or Viz if you’re behind before reading ahead!
Who is Saint Figarland Garling?
The head of Gods Knights of the Celestial Dragons, Saint Figarland Garling, is notorious even outside of Marijoa. His power is just one that held back Rocks D Xebec in the God Valley Incident alongside Roger and Garp. Until now, he’s an incredibly mysterious figure, only seen in one panel crucifying Donquixote Myosgard. This of course after his assistance to the Fishmen in the Reverie. His long red hair and imposing frame make sense for why he was such a help, but the image wasn’t nearly as clear until now in chapter 1095 when the flashback to God Valley begins.
Look, right from seeing Garling in the flashback there’s no denying that he looks incredibly like Shanks. He would be around the same age as Shanks was when he meets Luffy, and the resemblance is super uncanny. This is the first huge hint, because that red hair is incredibly uncommon on the Grand Line, and there’s way too much similarity to be a coincidence.
The God Valley Incident
Chapter 1095 finally gives a hint at what the God Valley Incident really was. Before now, there was no reason why the Celestial Dragons were even there, but now the reveal is even more horrifying. Every three years, the Celestial Dragons have what’s called the “Population Eradication Event”, choosing an island of the world and wiping out the population, as well as any problematic slaves of the last three years. This also leads to Bartholomew Kuma and Ivankov being at God Valley as former slaves themselves.
Of course, everyone already knows the finale to God Valley, but it’s a question of how all these pieces are put into place. Obviously, Garp was there as a Marine escort to the Celestial Dragons. What was Roger planning though, and why was Rocks D Xebec there for an event like this? There’s a lot of potential to reveal underlying motivations and character-defining moments, because God Valley is well before Roger’s Laughtale journey.
Shanks’ Power
There’s no denying that Shanks is probably the strongest pirate on the Grand Line now. That’s now power you can train in the world of One Piece either because his Conqueror Haki is even massive by Whitebeard’s standards. Seriously, the guy can take down an entire ship of another Emperor’s fleet just by stepping foot on it, so he’s got insane skills. That’s only his Conqueror Haki though, because he also has such mastery of Observation Haki that he’s called the Haki-killer by Mihawk himself.
Haki is a bloodline trait in a lot of cases we’ve seen so far, with everyone who possesses it usually coming from a line that also has it. Even Doflamingo possesses it, which proves there’s precedent for the Celestial Dragon line to have it in their arsenal. No doubt since Garling is the leader of the God Knights, he’s probably incredibly skilled in Conqueror Haki, even at Advanced levels.
Film Red Implications
A One Piece movie rarely has actual lore implications, but Film Red was special for the series. It marked the twenty-fifth anniversary, but also gave some insight as a Shanks-centered movie in parts. Near the beginning when Uta starts her song and puts the island under her spell, the Marines are dispatched. There are a few lines the World Government agents trade about Uta being the daughter of Shank. Naturally this makes it a delicate situation.
That could be because he’s an Emperor of the Sea, which means the Navy has to tread carefully. Except they follow it up after saying he has some ties to the Figarland Family of the Celestial Dragons. That’s a HUGE lore implication to drop in an anime film that turns into a musical. Even more so when it has almost no concrete placement in the actual story. Although the events of the films themselves aren’t considered Canon, the lore behind them is by creator Eiichiro Oda.
Was Shanks Left Behind?
There are so many possibilities swirling around about what or who Shanks could actually be. Possibly the son of Figarland Garling, left behind at the battle of God Valley in a treasure chest? Maybe a younger brother lost in the fray, assumed to have died in the battle? So many things that are so close to confirmation, but yet so unclear still. With Garling’s looks and age, there’s every likelihood he’s the father of Shanks. This even matches up with the timeline of events.
The only lingering question would be why he was left there. Celestial Dragons are awful people, no doubt about that, but they usually tend to stick with their own. Then again, their selfishness has no bounds, so one could have very well left their baby behind to run away. The chaos of God Valley is right around the corner of One Piece, and with it the answer to Shanks’ Celestial Dragon connections.
