One Piece Confirms the Holy Knights’ True Power

Despite being only recently introduced, One Piece’s Holy Knights are quickly establishing themselves as quite a fearsome faction that will surely play a major role in the Final Saga. Though it initially seemed like the Holy Knights could never measure up to the Five Elders, One Piece’s Elbaf Arc is quickly proving otherwise. All of the Holy Knights fans have met so far have been shown to wield terrifying devil fruits, or a sword imbued with a devil fruit in Shamrock’s case. As if this weren’t enough already, One Piece’s latest chapter just confirmed the Holy Knights may be even stronger than fans believed, finally revealing their true power.

In Chapter 1147 of One Piece, fans see the moment Saul initially asked Robin and Chopper to hide in his hair. Saul reveals he’s seen St. Sommers before and recognizes that he’s a Holy Knight. He also reveals that the Holy Knights are immortal and cannot be defeated, thus asking Robin and Chopper to stay hidden for the children’s sake. Saul’s statement and the fact that St. Sommers is seen completely unscathed confirm a suspicion that fans have had since the previous chapter, that the Holy Knights also possess the same regenerative ability as the Five Elders. In fact, Saul’s words suggest the Holy Knights may also be unaging like the Five Elders.

One Piece Reveals the Holy Knights Are Immortal

So far, the only Holy Knight shown to regenerate in such a manner was Gunko, who in Chapter 1146 regenerated half her torso after nearly being blown to bits by Usopp’s exploding star. At the time, it was still unclear whether this was a power unique to Gunko or whether all of the Holy Knights were blessed with it, though Saul’s statement in the latest chapter has finally settled the debate. While the chapter doesn’t explicitly show St. Sommers or St. Killingham regenerating like Gunko, the fact that Sommers doesn’t have a single scrape after fighting Saul, a former Vice Admiral, suggests that either Saul was defeated before he could land a good hit or that Sommers simply recovered from his injuries off-screen.

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Besides the regeneration, what’s more interesting is that Saul specifically uses the word “immortal” in the official translation by Viz. This implies that the Holy Knights can not only regenerate like the Five Elders but also may have stopped aging like them. This raises interesting questions about the former Holy Knights fans saw briefly at God Valley in Kuma’s flashback and how they were defeated. Members like Gunko and Shamrock are visibly younger and were likely only made immortal very recently, most likely by Imu, who is implied to have bestowed these very powers on the Five Elders.

The Holy Knights Just Got Way Harder to Beat

All that said, the implication of all the Holy Knights being immortal is huge and hints at a bleak future for Elbaf and the Giants. Given how Luffy struggled against the Five Elders at Egghead, it is very likely he and the strongest members of the Straw Hats will have quite some trouble taking down the Holy Knights. Unlike Egghead, fleeing isn’t an option on Elbaf as the Holy Knights have taken the Giant children hostage and will not stand down until Elbaf swear allegiance and become part of the World Government.

At the same time, the Holy Knights have filled a very crucial gap in One Piece. With the Straw Hats having grown as strong as they have since the time skip, the Admirals, who initially posed the greatest threat in the series, no longer seem as challenging. This has been painfully clear since the Wano and Egghead arcs, which saw the Straw Hats face off against much bigger threats than the Admirals. It is also evident that the Five Elders and Imu will be the endgame bosses, and as such, the Holy Knights make for the perfect penultimate villains to prepare the Straw Hats for the final boss fight. While it definitely won’t be easy, the Egghead Arc has proved the Five Elders’ immortality has one weakness—Joyboy’s mysterious Haki, and perhaps One Piece‘s Elbaf Arc could be setting the stage for Luffy to finally acquire this power himself.

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