As I was watching the recap and heard Doflamingo once more speak about how the Will of the D. is superstition, it made me reflect on something he said back in Green Bit. “Just like a big magic show.. The secret to the trick is hidden somewhere quite simple. ‘It could never be so simple’. That fixed misconception presents the perfect blindspot”. Further if I recall, seeing that I used the manga translation here, the anime used the term “ridiculous”. Perhaps, just as it’s shocking that Doflamingo has the background he does and the power to manipulate the world, that the will of the D. is real. For, as simple the answer and as ridiculous as the rationale for believing that is, in Doffy’s own words, it is the perfect blindspot.
Law and Doflamingo had some more confrontation here. There was some sadness to the situation as Doflamingo was using his own brothers futile death to hurt Law when in most circumstances that fact should hurt Doflamingo more than anyone. But he gave a line that expressed why he’s able to do that I suppose. He said that “the weaker a person is, the more they get hung up on other people’s pain and they self destruct”. I can only imagine this is a truth he learned when he was young, the fact that, while he clearly values having a family, he feels he has to look out for himself above all else. Perhaps it was a truth learned from observing his very own father. Either way, that mixed in with the idea that humans are innately cruel and evil would make compassion feel like a joke. It’s why his love may be seen as conditional without question, he’s able to look after his family but we’ve seen how he can let them go. He eventually did the incredibly cool sky dropping string saw by gripping Law’s arms, placing a sharp wire on his shoulder, and spinning to the ground, dismembering him. It reminded me of when Tien broke a certain knocked out character's leg in Dragon Ball. Afterwards, he took some joy in seeing Law suffer, something that I imagine was the plan for Vergo’s operation. And finally, most intriguing for me, Doflamingo touched on the gun, the gun I had been questioning since he first used it on Law. Back then I had thought it was a sign of respect to use a golden gun on a family member. This doesn’t seem wholly wrong as we’ve seen he used it to kill his biological family and now he will use it on Law, only reinforcing that the two families he’s had one in the same to him. But the way he phrased it was interesting. He’s following tradition, that execution should be done with lead bullets, and the fact that he would forgive Law with his own death. Definitely something to read into.
But as my eyes were watering up, Luffy after seeing more of the same, decimated the fake Mingo prompting me to, as well, gatling just as long as he did in real life, comboing him hard. Truthfully, I’ve stopped caring about One Piece logic as if I tried to understand why Doflamingo’s puppets and those controlled by him seem to have a mind of their own without his puppeteering, my brain may explode. And if I focused on that, I would miss out on what mattered! The hot blooded emotion of Luffy shattering into the scene, enraged as ever, and wanting to kick this damn Mingo’s ass!!!
The other scene was one of Zoro and Pica. At first I thought we were getting more of the same, but Orlumbus showed up and did his gag which I am a fan of. His booming voice and intimidating aura scaring Doflamingo goons into following his orders like a military leader. It’s definitely charming and he let Zoro continue to deal with Pica, Pica who then proceeded to do an incredibly stupid laugh that made Zoro mad it was so shocking, and one darn cool Zoro moment. As much as I adore Pica’s power in it’s creepiness like that monstrous face on the plateau, Zoro’s smile as he told him he looked forward to cutting him in half was delightful. With Luffy against the real Mingo and Trebol, that is if he doesn’t make another puppet or something, makes me think we may be getting to some real progress!
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