 Warning! This video will contain spoilers up to chapter 1044. You've been warned! Hello Manaka Montaji, this is Joygirl, and we're going to delve into one of the greatest enigmas of One Piece. But before we do so, an even greater mystery for me is why you are not subscribed. Yes, you. You know who you are. So please, solve this puzzle for me via one of the following two options. One, explain to me in the comments below why you are not subscribed because I could use that sort of helpful feedback. Or two, click that subscribe button. Okay, checks. Now this is a topic that I've been thinking about for a while, but it's become even more topical given the release of the teaser trailer for Film Red so I figured this is a good time to get into the discussion. But before we go on to discuss the movie Film Red and the juicy details that were revealed, I do want to start off discussing some of the thoughts and questions that I've had surrounding this mysterious Shanks. Namely, what or who did Shanks go to see and talk to the Gorase about? Now the mystery of Shanks is something that has been steadily increasing since the first time we were introduced to him. After establishing himself to be a very important character in the very first chapter, having been a huge influence on who Luffy is today, we've only seen glimpses of Shanks a handful of times since then, you know, just here and there. But every time we did see him or we heard of him, I have to say that his enigma really grew. We realize that he knows a lot more about the happenings of the world and that he actually holds a great deal of influence wherever he goes or with whomever he meets. And of course, the greatest example of this is when Shanks goes to Marijua during the reverie to talk to the Gorase about one particular pirate. And now based on these movements, a theory that's been going around for a while and one that I've actually discussed and entertained myself, is that Shanks is actually evil. And although I have to say that this sounds like quite an outlandish idea, I can understand why speculations in this area have emerged. The fact that we haven't seen him all that many times to ascertain who he truly is, as well as the fact that we don't know the motifs behind his very inconspicuous actions. One of the actions, again, being meeting up with the Gorase, you know, the head of the world government, i.e. the major antagonistic force in the series, and the fact that he, as a Yonko, wasn't met with intense hostility or opposition, it does make you wonder why. Even prior to this, we had seen before that Shanks does hold a level of respect or influence with respect to the world government when we saw him stop the war at Marineford. Even Sengoku, in his position, seemed to respect him and allowed him to take the bodies of Whitebeard and Ace for a proper burial. But back then, it seemed to be the case that all of the players in the war had suffered immensely and that it just wasn't in their interest to continue fighting, especially another Yonko crew, and that Sengoku allowed Shanks to take their bodies out of mutual respect for Whitebeard, regardless of their affiliations. Whereas with this meeting with the Gorosei, it seemed like Shanks holds an even greater influence than we had originally thought. Above that of simply being a Yonko, maybe because he holds greater information or knowledge or possibly even a higher status that is recognized by the world government. In fact, they do tell him that it was only because it was you that they agreed to his request for this meeting and a popular speculation as to why Shanks demands this sort of attention is that Shanks may actually be a celestial dragon. Now, I imagine that many of you may be already familiar with this theory because I too have discussed it in the past, but ever since the Tease of the God Valley incident and the details which were revealed in chapter 957, a popular theory has been that Shanks was one of the celestial dragons who were present at God Valley whom Roger and Garp teamed up to protect. If Shanks is currently 39 years old and the incident occurred 38 years ago, then that would mean it was a one-year-old baby Shanks, which is important because in chapter 966, we see Roger exclaim that it's been a while since he's held a baby. And given that we know that he would go on to father Ace only afterwards, he couldn't have been talking about his own. But maybe he was talking about the baby, the celestial dragon baby whom he protected and adopted into his crew. And this certainly seems to fit with the ideology that has not only been prevalent throughout the series, but something that Roger has mentioned himself that one should not have to bear the sins of their father. Now, obviously this applies to Ace, but maybe this has been something that he had long applied to Shanks as well. But then even if Shanks was really a celestial dragon by birth, it doesn't necessarily point to him being evil. But I suppose it could explain why the world government are willing to deal with him, whether that be because of status, which does seem to be a little less likely, given what we know of the Don Quixote family's experience, but maybe because of the knowledge and intel that Shanks holds. But regardless of that, this idea of Shanks being an evil mastermind has remained, and actually we've even seen a resurgence of this theory in recent times, especially because of the reveal of Luffy's devil fruit. Ever since we found out that the Gomu Gomu No Mi is in fact a much more special, a much more powerful fruit, Shanks's seeming knowledge of the world's secrets became one, even more impressive, and two, even more mysterious. Because now it seems like the pirate that Shanks went to talk to the Gorasei about was Luffy, although holes could be pointed in this speculation too. I mean, I'm sure the Gorasei already knew that Luffy held this legendary devil fruit. Yes, they said that the world government changed its name centuries prior, but this doesn't mean that they weren't aware of what its current name was. In fact, I'm pretty darn convinced that they were aware of all of this, which is why it was such a big deal when Who's Who lost it to the red-haired pirates. So on one hand, it does raise a question as to why Shanks would have even needed to alert them about Luffy and his possession of the devil fruit. But then on the other hand, the fact that the last time we see the Gorasei, they were talking to Shanks, and then the next time we see them, they're lamenting about the reappearance of this legendary fruit and how they need to dispose of Luffy now before he becomes an even greater inconvenience, it does seem like it's more than just a mere coincidence. So in that light, again, I can understand why the speculations of Shanks being evil have re-emerged, especially the idea that Shanks may have told the Gorasei that Luffy is now close to awakening the devil fruit, perhaps being the warning that prompted them to take action now. Although you could then ask how Shanks would have even been aware of this. In any case, I have to say that it's more likely that Shanks doesn't necessarily have evil intentions, but he does have ulterior motives, which just aren't yet known to us. I mean, why would Shanks go to the effort of stealing the devil fruit from the world government, risking his life to save Luffy, entrusting him with the straw hat and the hope for the new generation, only then to put Luffy back in danger. And the common response to this seems to be that Shanks knew that Luffy would have to undergo a near-death experience to truly awaken the devil fruit. So he was really prompting the world government's actions really for Luffy's benefit, which in a kind of roundabout way does make sense. Although I could ask again, how did Shanks even know that Luffy was close to awakening his devil fruit, which is partly why I have to say that I'm not fully convinced about this idea that Shanks went to the Gorosei to talk about Luffy. I mean, it's a pretty persuasive argument, but I also still think that he could have been talking about someone else in which case that someone would most likely be Blackbeard. I mean, Shanks has been concerned about Blackbeard for a really long time, and Shanks has experienced firsthand the kind of danger that Blackbeard can pose. He was the one who warned us of Blackbeard's threat, and true enough, Blackbeard has increasingly become a concern for the One Piece world. So I can't see that Shanks, who went to quite great lengths to warn others about Blackbeard, and then stopping Blackbeard himself from causing further havoc at the war, would then simply forget about him now. Especially when Blackbeard continues to be a menace and is still growing his strength to fulfill his presumably ominous dreams. That being said, regardless of whether Shanks went to Banjoa to talk to the Gorosei about Luffy or Blackbeard, I can say with almost absolute certainty that Shanks knows about the true nature of Luffy's devil fruit. I mean, it seems like that he and the Redhead Pirates actively sought out the devil fruit, and at the end of the day, this is Shanks who seems to hold a great deal of lots of inside knowledge. So really, I think there's no argument there. But the really interesting thing, in my opinion, is what this means for the story going forward and whether this intersects with FilmRed. So now let's talk about the one-piece movie. First of all, Uta, who is apparently Shanks' daughter? I'm really interested, as I'm sure all of you guys are as well, to see whether she is actually Shanks' biological daughter or whether this is more of a figurative relationship. I mean, on one hand, with his charm and his personality, I know a lot of us have been thinking that he probably has fathered some children along the way and we're looking at you, Makino. But in all seriousness, it does seem a little odd to introduce Shanks' child in a film that we know will be non-canon. Or will it? Because we also have been told that elements of the film will be canon. So does this mean that we have more of a Shiki sort of situation where Uta's existence and relationship to Shanks will be canon, but won't be all that relevant to the story, if at all relevant to the story? In which case, again, I find it a little strange to throw in a random daughter, especially given that Shanks is such a huge character. But on that note of canon or non-canon, I do think that film red will lead into the story somewhat regardless of Uta's identity. We saw this happening in Stampede, which somewhat spoiled the reveal of the true name of Laugh Tale even before the series. And also in the end credit scene of the movie, we saw a snippet of a conversation between Roger and Rayleigh, which then later made its way into the series. So my guess, and I suppose my hope, is that we'll get a similar situation between film red and our current developments. For example, Uta teased us in his Jump Festa 2022 message asking whether Luffy and Shanks will finally meet again. And personally, although I'd enjoy it either way, it would be pretty crazy if they just miss seeing each other in film red. And then soon afterwards, we actually get their reunion in the series. And you guys know that I've been talking about Elba for a while, and so maybe this is another lead-in to the Laird of Giants. Essentially, with all of the developments surrounding Luffy and his devil fruit, and what we can presume that Shanks knows about the devil fruit, it makes perfect sense for Luffy to meet Shanks soon so that we can delve into the lore and the mystery some more. During the Jump Festa 2021 message, Uta made another comment that the red-haired man will be making his move in 2021. And now suffice to say, we didn't see anything of that description take place in 2021 if Uta was indeed referring to Shanks. Now I suppose he could have been talking about Kid, or he could have even been talking about film red, which did certainly get announced in 2021. Or maybe Uta had even planned for Shanks to be worked into the story even earlier, i.e. in 2021, but obviously he just got carried away. In any case, I do feel quite strongly that film red will lead into the developments that are currently unfolding in the series, you know, whether that involves Shanks being a parent or not, probably most likely not. But most of all, I'm really quite excited because it does mean that we're gonna get more of Shanks, and the film itself seems to be quite promising as well, you know, canon or not. But anyways, that's it from me for now. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Don't forget to like and share the video. Please do subscribe for more One Piece discussions. You can also join our Joyfleet Discord server or even become a Patreon member. 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