One Piece’s Biggest Mystery Could Go Completely Unexplored

Not too many chapters ago, One Piece blew fans away with the revelation of the Elbaf mural and the ancient Harley texts, both of which are teeming with mysteries that fans are still nowhere close to cracking. Much like Franky’s initial reaction to the mural, fans are eager to have Robin see and decipher the mural with all her accumulated knowledge of the poneglyphs so far, especially with Ohara’s research now conveniently at her disposal. However, One Piece’s latest chapter presents a rather frightening possibility that the mural could go completely unexplored at the end of the Elbaf Arc.

Chapter 1141 of One Piece sees Ripley and Franky continue their tour of Jewel Tree Adam, the branches of which house Elbaf’s villages. On the course of their tour, the two come across a giant severed branch, which Ripley reveals once housed a village named Haugen, which was struck by lightning, starting up a fire as a result. Ripley explains that due to the tree being so old, the fire was near impossible to put out and thus, to stop the fire from spreading, the entire branch had to be cut off. Thus, Ripley reveals that fire and lightning are Elbaf’s biggest weaknesses. Ripley’s dark revelation could be foreshadowing the destruction of Elbaf as well as Jewel Tree Adam through these very weaknesses. This in turn also introduces the unfortunate likelihood that the Elbaf mural in One Piece could be burned away before Robin ever gets to lay eyes on it.

One Piece Hints at the Elbaf Mural’s Destruction

Based on how things usually go in One Piece, it is very unlikely that a consequential revelation like Ripley’s in Chapter 1141 will go unaddressed without having any impact whatsoever on the story. Given Ripley’s statement about how fires on Jewel Tree Adam are difficult to extinguish, it is easy to imagine a scenario in which the part of the tree containing the mural may need to be sacrificed to save the rest of the tree from also burning down, though it is also very much possible that the entire tree goes up in flames, leaving Elbaf completely decimated.

Fans have theorized about Elbaf’s potential destruction ever since One Piece first introduced the land of the Giants and its serene beauty, and with the Holy Knights finally setting their evil plan into motion, it seems all but certain that Elbaf will be turned into an ugly battlefield in the chapters to come. As such, Ripley’s revelation about Elbaf’s weaknesses only seems to be further setting up this inevitable destruction.

[RELATED: One Piece Teases The Real Reason Shanks Lost His Arm May Be Far Darker]

While there doesn’t appear to be anyone with confirmed fire or lightning-based abilities on Elbaf just yet, One Piece has yet to fully reveal the abilities of the two newly introduced Holy Knights, St. Sommers and St. Killingham. Having said that, St. Killingham’s origins in the Chinese qilin or Japanese kirin, which is said to wield holy fire, could hint at him having a fire-based ability.

As for lightning, Loki does possess a giant hammer called Ragnir, which if indeed inspired by Thor’s weapon Mjolnir, could very well hint at Loki also possessing thunder and lightning abilities. If so, between Loki running rampant and the Holy Knights forcefully attempting to assimilate Elbaf into the World Government, both thunder and lightning could very well rain down on Elbaf against all odds.

The Elbaf Mural May Have Been a Teaser Meant Only for Fans

Admittedly, every time One Piece introduces an important part of its history, such as the Elbaf mural, the arc rarely goes by without having Robin come across it and share her deductions. This is especially true whenever a poneglyph is involved, though seeing as Robin was already given a chance to read the Harley texts, it is possible that the chance to analyze the mural might slip through her fingers.

While Franky has seen the mural and could likely describe it to Robin should such a scenario come to pass, it seems more likely that this mural will evolve into something that fans constantly return to with every new development or revelation as the series heads further into the Final Saga. There is also the matter of Ohara’s research, which is currently being stored on Elbaf, and the various poneglyphs that Robin herself has had a chance to read so far. Both of these combined can arguably give Robin just as good of a picture of the past and the Void Century as the mural should the worst come to pass on Elbaf in the upcoming chapters of One Piece.

One Piece is available to read from Manga Plus and Viz Media.