This was a sweet and sad episode full of so much crucial information it’s not even funny. But first, let me briefly say that when I saw shoujo Luffy on the thumbnail of this episode I thought that Hancock was coming back for sure. Instead it was just Bartolomeo, he’s certainly living up to the title of “male Hancock”.
To start with we got a timeline of what happened. First, king Don Quixote enslaved the Tontatta 900 years ago. It was a horrendous act and it shows the Don Quixote tradition of slavery goes back a long way. Yet, when the Don Quixote family left to Marie Jois, king Riku took over and was absolutely disgusted by the cruelty shown to the Tontatta. He created the legend of fairies and let them live freely, taking from the big humans all they wanted as the kingdom was first and foremost built on their work. They came to appreciate Riku and paid him back by making the land beautiful and green. This went on for 800 years until the current king Riku was framed and usurped by the current Don Quixote. Beyond the Tontatta history, we heard that the current king Riku was a kind and beloved man, he’d help neighboring countries when needed it and rather than Dressrosa being wealthy, it was beloved for its kindness. Of course, overnight everything the Riku family built was torn away, Tontatta were enslaved once more, the lands they helped turned to war, and the people started to despise them. I suppose by making the people hate their king and coming in as a saviour you can easily turn the tides.
The living Riku family identities, foreshadowed quite strongly, were finally set explicit. Ricky is in fact king Riku, I don’t know if he was the Kyros that is so famous but we at least know that. He escaped or was exiled and has come back to save his granddaughter. The other identity is that of the forgotten toy soldier as Rebecca’s father, I think he implied further that those with the Riku blood were killed, and thus him not having their blood can explain why he was rather turned into a toy than killed.
The scene surrounding Riku was enough to make me on the verge of tears. It was immensely powerful, to have toys and humans, former soldiers alike, all bow their heads to him after ten years of suffering to tell him “we’re still loyal to you”. The mutual respect of Tank and Riku was tangible, both felt regret for letting this happen to each other, and Tank was grateful to see his king once again. Further, Elizabello was absolutely grateful for the news after all the help he’s given, yet Dagama and Sai saw it another way. They blamed Riku for letting this happen, for letting a man as heinous as Doflamingo take the throne. They even suggested that being an arms manufacturer, Doflamingo sparks wars to make money off of them and Kano’s purpose here wasn’t the fruit after all. That was a front. It was to find the weapons. The fishman showed he had an ulterior motive too, that he was looking for something. Overall, I loved seeing all the different perspectives on Riku, even from understanding eyes, and the respect his people had towards him. As for the girl the fishman was speaking to, she reminds me of Cindry due to her hair.
I had complimented Oda for making me see the Kano boys as a true family, that their relationship had some weight. Now I see why. Because he can have it hurt when Boo and Chinjao fail to save Sai! We even had Sai characterized to be super awesome and dutiful and adorable before this. Trebol using his slug goo to kidnap Sai and turn him into a toy, maybe will off screen help, represented a few things. Firstly, it proved my theory that they were going to turn the contenders into toys but secondly it showed us a look into the toys minds. They can break out of their directions and show their free will but they don’t always have that ability. Nonetheless a horrifying reality dawned on us, even when they don’t have free will, they have thoughts. They are fully conscious and being forced to act as slaves for the Don Quixote family. At times they have to be with their loved ones and can’t express anything to them. Further, it means that even when some do snap like Onepoko/Milo, they have good reason to pretend they never did. I bet the rules may be in place to help keep them under control. Thirdly, it works to give us even more reasons to want Doflamingo taken down! Aka, more stakes to the matter that we personally feel.
Doflamingo has been set up to be quite the bad dude along with his family in both the large scale and the personal. We’re putting faces on the groups he hurts. Be it the Riku family through Ricky, toy soldier, and Rebecca, heck even their former soldiers now. The gladiator slaves who protested against him. The toys like Milo or Sai or that one we didn’t get the name of. The Tontatta like Wicca and Leo. We currently have his hands on Kin’emon and Momonosuke’s friend Kanjuro. He works with the genocidal scientist, allowing him to do as he pleases, who was killing children and gaslighting his people while using them as lab rats, Mocha and Brownbeard come to mind. And if we wanna go way back, he owned the slave auction house in Sabaody which had caught Camie. For the long game his families been doing this for 900 years and he’s eager to spark wars for cash. With that said, I’m surely forgetting some things and we don’t even know his past with Law yet. With these personal stakes, his kingdom and his schemes, his massive role in the world, taking him down will be a lot of effort and it should be cathartic as all heck. |