One Piece Revisits Pedro in Special Flashback

Over the course of One Piece's 20 plus year run we've been introduced to tons of different characters with their own distinct personalities. Some of them have made both a major impact on both fans and the Luffy and the Straw Hats as well, and this is especially true for the former captain of the Mink guardians of Zou, Pedro. Pedro sacrificing himself during the Whole Cake Island arc was a lot to recover from, but thankfully that didn't mean that he was completely gone forever as he's made a surprise cameo in the latest chapter.

Chapter 967 of the series continues its detour from the current events of the Wano Country arc and follows Kozuki Oden's travels with Gol D. Roger. This in fact has filled in some crucial gaps in the history of the series as it's given new context to many of the legendary stories about Roger being told through the series thus far.

There's a brief scene in the latest chapter that sees Roger heading to Zou in search of the Poneglyphs and they find the one with the Kozuki Clan crest sitting above it much like Luffy and the Straw Hats would find years later. Shortly after, a young Pedro desperately asks Roger to join the crew. Roger instead turns him down and tells him he's on the "waiting list" instead. But rather than a full refusal, Roger instills hope in Pedro for the future.

He tells the young Pedro that everyone gets their turn and time to shine, and that Pedro can come help them when it's his turn. This might seem a bit odd considering the other orphans and the like he's taken with him in the flashback so far, but makes sense in the current context as this flashback has been revealed as Roger's final journey in the year before his death.

But this also has greater ramifications for the overall themes of the series. As fans would see take place years later, this moment changed Pedro's life as he was inspired to go on his own journey with the Nox Pirates when Roger died sometime later. He then meets Luffy and the Straw Hats, and decides to give his life for them as the ultimate testament to Roger's words. He views Luffy as the next generation, and was happy to lead someone else to the spotlight.

Did you enjoy seeing Pedro again? Do you like the Roger flashbacks overall? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 90 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series is still at the top of the sales list, and although some reports claim that honor might have gone to another series, One Piece is still going strong regardless.