 The ending of One Piece is something we already know because Oda has been hinting at this from the beginning, from the very first chapter, Romance Dawn, and the recent reveal of Gear 5th pretty much confirms this. The fact that there are a lot of different sources of inspiration that has influenced Oda's work is not a surprise. The series is jam-packed with allusions to ancient mythology, famous artworks, kids programs, religious symbols, and so much more. But something that's been widely missed in our reading of One Piece is the fact that the entire series is a fictionalized account of our real-world history, a brilliantly fantastical and imaginative retelling where One Piece is a reflection of key moments of human civilization, and that is how and why we already know the ending of One Piece. Although there aren't many explicit references to dates in the series, those we have seen provide a pretty clear picture of when the current storyline is taking place in history. For example, through the exploration of Montblanc Nolan's journey, whose exploration landed him in Jaya in the year 1122, we know that the events of current day One Piece is taking place in around the 1500s because we were told that Nolan's adventures took place approximately 400 years in the past. And from Nolan's logbook, we know that one of the calendar systems that is used in the One Piece world, and the one that Nolan was using, is that of the Age of the Sea Circle, which for all intents and purposes, seems to match our real-world Gregorian calendar in terms of months and dates. Which is to say that it's almost as if One Piece is taking place in the 16th century of our real world, albeit in an alternate universe where people have supernatural powers by eating unappetizing fruit and where humanoid species such as fishmen and giants exist. And now of course, this won't be an exact one-to-one century-to-century comparison, and different islands do seem to be stuck in different time periods, such as Little Garden, which is still home to dinosaurs, placing them in the Jurassic Age, and in terms of technology where characters use flintlocks and muskets, which didn't really come about until the 1800s in our real world, or even the widespread existence of telephones, albeit snail-based telephones. It seems the One Piece world is much more advanced than we were in the 1500s. And of course, who could forget? The mind-blowing reveal that the ancient kingdom that existed almost a millennial ago had such advanced technology that even Dr. Vega-Punk struggles to achieve. But this also seems to be quite like our real world, where different species on different continents advanced at different speeds. And similar to our real world, generally having a Eurocentric view of history, Oda seems to have provided a timeline and calendar which is comparable to the European world, thereby placing the world of One Piece in the 16th century. And this also checks out when we consider what was going on in our real world during the 16th century, particularly in the world of pirates. The piracy was rampant in the 1500s and peaked in the 1600s, which has become the era known as the Golden Age of Piracy, the same exact term used in One Piece to describe the era that Goldie Rogers set aflame. And the reason why this is significant is because the history of our world and that of One Piece lines up much more than we realize. And so this may reveal where the story is taking us in the future. We know that the One Piece world dates back to at least 5,000 years ago because the Tree of Knowledge is said to have been planted around that time. So the fact that the Age of Sea Circle doesn't go back this far may indicate that similar to the real world where we have historical periods, BC and AD, there may be a period in One Piece that categorizes events which took place prior to the beginning of the Age of Sea Circle. Perhaps this is the Age of Heaven that Robin alluded to in the Ardabastar arc. Either way, what's important is that we know from at least 1100 up to 900 years ago. There are great civilizations in the One Piece world that were thriving. This is clear from Shandoro, the city of Gold which we know to have prospered in the year 402, and the great ancient kingdom which flourished before the events of the void century 900 years ago. And it just so happens that this lines up with the classical age of our real world history. Spanning an extremely long period from 800 BC to late 400 AD, human society witnessed the apex of great civilizations such as the Babylonians, Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. These civilizations are heralded for their advanced scientific knowledge, philosophy and technology. And we use many of their inventions and developments still today including maps, roads, central heating, and even flushing toilets. And this bears close resemblance with recent reveals in One Piece. Bega Punk suggests the ancient kingdom to have been an incredibly technologically advanced society with astounding scientific knowledge. Such that surpasses even that of the genius scientist, evidenced by the futuristic yet simultaneously ancient iron giants. So it seems like Oda has drawn very clear links between the ancient kingdom and potentially its allies and the ancient civilizations of our real world. It's surely no coincidence that the ancient weapons are all named after deities from ancient Greco-Roman mythology, but much like the real world where the period of classical antiquity was followed by the period of Dark Ages. The One Piece world with its own advanced civilizations were plunged into the void century. In real life history, the Dark Ages or the Middle Ages as it's also known came about due to the fall of the Roman Empire which is caused by civil war and political unrest as well as external attacks from other tribes. And this may be what happened in the One Piece world, although we know for sure that the 20 kingdoms who would later go on to form the world government opposed the great kingdom. It's also been suggested that there may have been other deeper politics at play from Zunish's yet to be revealed traitorous action to the relationship between the Nefrotari kingdom to the rest of the D clan. It seems like there's more to the great war than just the other kingdoms being jealous over the ancient kingdom's power and influence. And while that may be just speculation, in any case, the void century is a very clear reflection of the Dark Ages, a period in real world history where previously advanced technology and knowledge was lost. In One Piece, the world has been seemingly forced into a state of darkness. All knowledge and the technology of the previously glorious era is kept secret by the world government, which brings us to the period just before the current timeline to the present. But it seems like much of the recent events of the One Piece world, spanning from around the period of Rocks the Zbeck to Goldie Roger, is a reflection of the Renaissance. The Renaissance, meaning rebirth, spanned from the 15th to 17th century. It was a period in our history marked by new knowledge and discoveries in terms of science and exploration and an effort to revive the ideas and achievements of the classical era. And this period seems to be heavily represented in One Piece, where figures like the Zbeck or the Ohara scholars were determined to unearth the lost secrets of the void century or the grand adventures embarked by the late pirate king, resulting in finding a new island, Laugh Tale, very much resembling the exploration and discovery of new lands in our real world during this time. And in this light, the world government also seems to be a reflection of a real life institution that existed during this period. OK, I know you might be wondering, how does this all link to the ending of One Piece, but bear with me. In our history, as ideas flourished, the power and the influence of the Catholic Church diminished, which up to this point was the almighty authority in the European world. And perhaps the greatest example of the relevance of all of this to One Piece is the case of Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer who expanded on previous studies by other Renaissance astronomers to champion the heliocentric model of our solar system. Up to this point, two men said believed in the geocentric model, which claims that the Earth was the center of our universe. The Church opposed the heliocentric model, which theorized that the Sun was the center of a solar system and went as far as to persecute Galileo, who later died in house arrest. And now, why is this relevant? Because this is the story of One Piece, the parallels between the world government and the old Catholic Church are clear, both being the authoritative institutions of their respective worlds, and right down to the aesthetic choices that Oda has made in designing the world government. The architecture of Marijua's Pangea Castle closely resembles the Vatican Palace, and the empty throne is shaped like Saint Peter's Square. And the existence of the Holy Knights in One Piece adds yet another real-life touch, as Oda was likely inspired by the knights that served as a military order for the Catholic Church. And with the recent name reveals of all the Gorossae as having a clear planetary theme, it's also fitting that there are only five Gorossae members because during this period in history, we had only discovered five planets. It wouldn't be until after the 1700s that we would discover Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, which are the names of the three planets that haven't been assigned to a Gorossae. It just so happens to be the names of the ancient weapons, meaning that much like the geocentric model advocated by the Catholic Church, Imus surrounds themselves with the planetary elder stars. So what does this all mean? One Piece is the story of our world moving from a geocentric model to realizing the truth of the heliocentric model. And the reveal of Gear 5th with Luffy having the Nika devil fruit, making him the sun god, is a clear indication of this. Whereas currently the world places the world government with the world nobles, and for those who know, Imu at its center and head, Luffy is the representation of the sun as sun god Nika, who will set the world free. And as much as the church in our real world tried to stop this movement, going to great lengths to preserve their order and authority, so too is Imu and the world government doing all that it can to ensure that the light of joyboy does not shine. But it doesn't end here, because as much as the renaissance marked the transition away from the Middle Ages to the modern era, this period, which is usually associated with art and culture, was also wrought with revolutions and civil war. The late renaissance to the early modern age was an ugly period which saw much conflict and conquest. Filled with wars and bloodshed. And again, this is present in one piece, where both pirates and the world government wreak havoc and violence across the kingdoms and villages. More recently, we've witnessed revolutions take place where citizens of kingdoms like Lusia have deposed their royal leaders. And in this way, Luffy as the representative of the sun has much more meaning than just representing the heliocentric model, because Luffy is the bringer of the dawn, and not just any dawn, but romance dawn. And while we have come to know this term, romance dawn, to mean the start of Luffy's romanticized adventure, the emotions of excitement, mystery, and a pure love for the journey ahead, Oda seems to have very clearly hidden a core period of history in the series yet again. Because in the real world, we've also seen a period of romanticism, marking the 18th century following the early modern era, and shortly after the world defining French Revolution, romanticism was an artistic and cultural movement that swept through Europe. It pushed back on the ugliness and darkness of the rational early modern era, and featured aesthetics focused on beauty and the sublime. It dared to hope and consider possibilities rather than just facing harsh realities. In fact, romanticism is often defined according to five elements. Imagination, intuition, individuality, idealism, and inspiration, words that all perfectly embody Luffy. From the very first arc, the very first chapter of the series, Oda marked Luffy as the figure of romance dawn, as the figure of romanticism, an intuitive figure that provokes the world to imagine, hold on to their ideals, respect individuals' rights and freedoms, and inspire hope for the future. One Piece is a story about Luffy's journey to become Pirate King, but it's also a story about our human society, how we've developed and backtracked, plunged into darkness, how we've fought, and how we've been reborn to learn new truths and dare for better and brighter worlds. Because ultimately, how One Piece ends is about hope and possibilities, about imagining our future of ideals and inspiration, of the dawn of romance. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you liked this video, please do subscribe. Thank you to all of our Patreon and channel members, and thanks to everyone for listening to another one of my rambling thoughts. This is Joygirl, and I'll see you again soon.