One Piece May Take Away the Biggest Key to the Void Century

The Void Century is easily one of One Piece’s most elusive mysteries that also happens to be a central part of the series’ lore and the key to solving various other mysteries. It’s been well over two decades since One Piece has been endlessly teasing fans with this mystery and though recent events such as Vegapunk’s posthumous message during the Egghead Arc and Elbaf’s ancient Harley texts and mural have given fans more clues, it is safe to say that fans are still nowhere close to unraveling the truth just yet.

The Egghead Arc did, however, introduce a ray of hope in this regard through the revelation that Ohara’s research on the poneglyphs had been saved and was being safe kept at Elbaf. However, One Piece’s latest chapter hints that fans may soon lose even this one remaining key to the Void Century. In Chapter 1147 of One Piece, St. Sommers finally reveals the Holy Knights’ true goal behind kidnapping the Giant children as he declares them hostages and threatens to kill them off one by one unless the Giants destroy the island’s schools and libraries and pledge allegiance to the World Government. This includes the Owl Library, which is currently safeguarding the books that Saul brought back from Ohara. If the Holy Knights’ plan does succeed, this could mean that Ohara’s research could be lost once again, this time for good, thus taking away fans’ best chance at learning more about the Void Century through Robin.

One Piece Teases Ohara’s Research on the Void Century Could Be Destroyed

This so-called gap in the documented history of One Piece’s Blue Planet was first teased way back during the Jaya Arc in Chapter 218, where, in a flashback to Alabasta, Robin revealed to King Cobra that the poneglyphs told a supposed “true history.” This chapter was released in February 2002, though the concept of the Void Century would only be properly introduced four whole years later through Professor Clover in Chapter 395, which was released in January 2006. Yet, even twenty years later, fans are nowhere close to deciphering the truth of what took place 900 years ago.

For the longest time, the information revealed during the Ohara flashback was as far as fans’ knowledge about the Void Century went, with the Egghead Arc adding a bit more context through Vegapunk. That said, Vegapunk’s knowledge was still based largely, if not almost entirely, on Ohara’s research, making their findings still the best possible resource for Robin and fans to learn more about the Void Century. This would also be much quicker than finding more of the poneglyphs. As such, the revelation that Ohara’s research had survived the Buster Call and was being kept safe at Elbaf was a game-changer, especially with the Straw Hats already en route to the island at the time.

While Robin has spent some time in the Owl Library on Elbaf so far, it is very unlikely that she has found the time to properly peruse all of Ohara’s findings. Of course, given the narrative effort to bring Ohara’s research back into the picture, it does seem unlikely that One Piece would simply throw it away so easily without using it for a big revelation, though, as things stand on Elbaf, it doesn’t look too hopeful against the Holy Knights, which means One Piece’s biggest mystery could very well go completely unexplored for a bit longer.

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One Piece Just Gave Robin the Perfect Motive to Fight

If anything, putting Ohara’s research on the line just gave Robin the perfect reason to fight the Holy Knights. Ohara’s findings represent not just the truth that Robin has been searching for her entire life, but also the sacrifices of her people, who ensured that the books recording their research would survive over prioritizing their own survival. If the Wano Arc and Robin’s fight against Black Maria have proved anything at all, it’s that the Straw Hats’ archaeologist can certainly hold her own in a fight, and with something this important to fight for, Robin will not be pulling her punches.

In a way, the current scenario also presents a perfect opportunity for Robin to fight for Ohara, something that she couldn’t do as a child during the original tragedy. Being able to protect Ohara’s research would thus bring her character full circle while also appeasing fans who’ve been wanting to see Robin in action rather than hiding behind Saul. All that said, the upcoming battles in One Piece are incredibly consequential and will decide whether the mystery of the Void Century will see the light of day any time soon.

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