 Warning! This video will contain spoilers up to chapter 1040. You've been warned! Hello my Nakamotachi, this is Joygirl. We're gonna discuss the fate of our favorite three-sword-style swordsman at Wano. Because this is a topic that I'm seeing is still being discussed in the comment section online and I have to admit that I've been wondering about this mystery myself. So the latest chapter gave us an update on Zoro who was previously seen before that in chapter 1038 and the last time we saw him it seemed like he was facing off what seemed to be a grim reaper. And after chapter 1038 there were heaps of speculations as to what was going on, who was Zoro up against, with many people thinking that it was Brooke. But obviously that theory has been dispelled as a result of chapter 1040 where we saw just above the panel giving us an update on Zoro. We saw Brooke with Robin and it seemed like those two straw hats were in a different location. Another popular idea was that it was just a hallucination that Zoro wasn't actually facing up against a real figure. But it was just the effects, maybe the after effects of the miracle drug, the mixed miracle drug. And that is another idea that also now seems unlikely as a result of chapter 1040 because it seems like whatever Zoro was facing off against in chapter 1038 was an actual tangible threat. And this is because Zoro seems to be in a much worse off state than we saw him last time. You know, he's surrounded by a pool of blood and it seems like they're additional to the injuries that he sustained during his fight with King. And we also see him in a different position, you know, face down, as well as him now falling off the island. And because of the fact that he is indeed falling down, I've seen some comments suggesting that maybe Zoro is actually falling down to where Big Mum is. And I can only imagine that people have been saying that because we saw Zoro falling in the same chapter that we saw Big Mum's defeat, where we saw Big Mum falling down into that crater, into that hole. But I see this quite unlikely because we did see confirm that Kid and Law are the victors. And the only relevance that she might have for the rest of the arc is if she possibly leaves Wano most likely with the help of her children. I've also seen someone else suggesting that that Grim Reaper figure was actually the third CP0 agent currently undercounted for. And I can understand how people could come to that conclusion. I mean during the fight between CP0 and Drake in a poo, we only saw two of the CP0 agents. And we haven't seen that third one with the frills around their neck. Also where we recently saw King get defeated was that third member, was that third CP0 agent who was seen reacting to the Mary's announcing King's defeat. So I suppose the idea is maybe they've gone to handle Zoro afterwards. Again, I'm not a huge fan of this idea either or at least I have some questions. Namely, why did they leave Zoro in that case? If it was the CP0 member, why didn't they take Zoro? Or if they just want Robin alive and the rest of the straw hats dead, why did they not kill Zoro? Why did they leave room for Zoro to still be alive? Because I do think that Zoro is obviously alive. So then some other ideas as to what might be happening to Zoro, who Zoro might come across. The most clear card of this one is Frankie. Because of course we saw that map Oda directly hinted to us that Frankie's goal right now is to find Zoro. But then, thinking amongst the straw hats with Brooke and Robin ruled out like we just discussed earlier, my bias of wanting to see more interactions between the Pirate King's wings, which I have discussed before in my chapter reviews, but my idea, my rationale is that earlier in the arc, we saw the two communicating through the Denden Muschi that Sanji hid in Zoro's clothes earlier and during that conversation, Zoro told Sanji not to die. And I think it would be quite ironic and quite fitting if Sanji's actually the one that found Zoro instead close to death. It would also be reminiscent to Thriller Bark and some of the moments that we've got between those two at the end of that arc. Now of course there's an obvious counter to this, the fact that the last time we saw him, Sanji was still unconscious, but I don't think it'll be too far fetched to think that he could wake up soon, especially considering the fact that Oda actually showed us him being tended to. And that should possibly speed up his recovery. But my personal bias aside, some other characters that are possible candidates who we could see save Zoro, I think Marko's a good candidate, you know, we haven't seen what he's been up to lately, given that he can both fly and that he has healing capabilities, although his healing powers are more limited when it comes to healing others. But still, Zoro is a heavily injured man and also one who is currently shown falling off somewhere. Another thought is if the woman that we saw in the room with the Scabbards much earlier during the raid, if that woman isn't actually presumably Hiyori who we see now in the room with Orochi, could that cloaked mystery figure, could she save Zoro? Because it did seem like that figure helped heal the Scabbards earlier. Or even if they are the same person, the masked woman with Orochi right now, could this suggest Zoro playing a hand in Orochi's downfall? You know, thereby fulfilling his words in act two, where he said that he's going to kill Orochi. And on one hand that could be a great payoff to a moment that we got ages ago, but then on the other, given the fact that Zoro is just so heavily injured right now, I really don't expect him to play a huge role in terms of fighting or action right now. And on that note, it does have me wondering about what the point of all of this is. If we're not expecting fights, if we're not expecting him to be involved in the action, what are we expecting? What can we expect from this development? You know, with everything going on, I find it quite perplexing as to the level of attention, as to the level of focus that Oda is giving to Zoro in this development. You know, it is usual that we see the straw hats come together, see them recoup after they're one-on-one, they're individual exploits. But I think the reason why we are so interested in Zoro right now, is that with Zoro, there seems to be this level, this added layer of mystery. And that suggests that there's more to the story for Zoro. And although we've seen so much from Zoro in this arc, you know, especially during the raid, he's achieved so much and has had such a good showing. I don't think many of us would be surprised if his character arc does continue, because I think that's what most of us have been expecting all along. Just as the Hulkic Island arc was Sanji's arc, second to Luffy of course, I think the expectation has been that we're gonna get something similar for Zoro in One-O. You know, this is considering the fact that Zoro is the character, the straw hat who would be Japanese in real life, and of course, with everything that's been set up between Zoro and the Shimotsuki family, some of which has been fulfilled, what were the things that we found out about Kozaburo and the Shimotsuki village in the East Blue, but it's safe to say that we obviously don't have the full story yet. Which is why personally for me, I would most like it if this Grim Reaper development was somehow connected to the remaining mysteries or was used to further Zoro's development. Now whether that be related to Zoro's powers, such as the Grim Reaper being the personification of Enma, an Enma challenging Zoro to turn it into a Black Blade, which is of course another popular theory. It wouldn't even necessarily have to be Enma, because the Sandai Kitetsu is also quite heavily related to the idea of death, which is of course what the Grim Reaper also represents, but the obvious counter to that is that we have seen the personification of Zoro's swords, apart from Enma, and none of those drawings, those characterizations, resembled the Grim Reaper. Another possibility is that this is actually still the result of the Miracle Drug. You know, right before we saw Zoro in Chapter 1038, we saw Chapa and Miyagi being worried about Zoro's fate, about the after effects of the Miracle Drug and how Zoro's handling it all. And so for me, that raised the question of whether we are actually seeing Zoro just struggling with the Miracle Drug and with its after effects. With the introduction to Brooke's character and his devil fruit, the idea of an underworld in One Piece could be taken to exist, even if it isn't fully fleshed out. And so maybe if the underworld does exist in the world of One Piece, maybe the way in which someone accesses it is through dying or essentially dying, like a near-death experience. And now Zoro is really close to death as a result of all the injuries that he sustained during the raid, and then that being doubled as a result of the Miracle Drug, maybe he has come in contact with the underworld, and this could be how it results in the development of Zoro's power. In a similar way that Brooke can summon the Chills of the underworld, maybe Zoro could bring about the underworld's darkness or its terror. And this could again go back to Zoro advancing Enma, you know, it's a sword that was named after the Buddhist God of Hell, aka the underworld. Or if Zoro is dead or is in this death limbo, could this be a good opportunity for Zoro to meet some deceased figures? Zoro's character is just surrounded by a plethora of dead people, and especially from the Shimotsuki family. You know, we've got Kuina, Yuma, Yasui, and then of course Ushimaru and Kazaburo. Perhaps Zoro could have a conversation with one of them, and this could lead to some more backstory reveals, or this could be the way in which he advances his power. If we went back to Enma, could we even see him have a conversation with his swords, or maybe some sort of out-of-body experience, which isn't something that we've seen in one piece, but this could be a first maybe? Or going back to the fact that Zoro was seen falling in the last chapter, this obviously also raises a question as to where. Is it another place on Onigashima? Or is it somewhere on Mainland Wano? Is it the Flower Capital? Is it the gravesites of the Shimotsuki family, for example? Is it going to lead us to uncovering more lore, such as the Ponoglyphs, such as the secrets to his Shimotsuki heritage? Because again, I do find it very intriguing that Oda seems to have something very interesting planned for Zoro's character based on these scenes. It seems like there is still room for development for Zoro at Wano, even after his one-on-one fight, and when I think what's next, I immediately go to the unanswered questions about his connection to Wano, and how this could possibly connect to the deeper lore at Wano, and how it connects to the wider world, although of course it could be just as simple as explaining how or why Zoro is going to be temporarily incapacitated in the next arc post-Wano. But that's just where my head's been at. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Don't forget to like and share the video. Please do subscribe if you'd like to hear more One Piece discussions. You can also join our Joyfleet Discord server, or even become a Patreon member. And I want to thank all my patrons for helping supporting the channel. This is Joygirl, and I'll see you again soon.