One Piece Ends Oden Flashback with Epic Finale

One Piece has taken us through the whirlwind story of Oden, the Daimyo of Kuri and perhaps Wano Country's most famous denizen, and ended his tale with an epic and heartbreaking finale. With Oden attempting to open up the borders of his home country that he loved so much, he traveled the world with the likes of the famous pirates of Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. Returning to his homeland, Oden found more than he bargained for and began the journey that would reach the end of his life.

Warning! If you want to avoid spoilers for Chapter 972 of One Piece's manga, you may want to steer clear of the rest of this article as we'll be diving into some serious spoiler territory!

When Oden had a conversation with the current Shogun, Orochi, the Daimyo of Kuri had seemingly resigned himself to a life as the "village idiot", begging for change on the street as he paraded in his underwear. With the citizens of Wano confused beyond belief at what was happening, it was later revealed that Oden was fulfilling Orochi's wishes in an attempt to save the lives of his fellow countryman who the pint sized tyrant was holding hostage. Having enough of the lies and influence that Orochi held, Oden rallied his vassals and launched an assault against the current leader of Wano.

Oden's attack is unsuccessful however, as the samurai finds himself arrested and sentenced to a public execution in the city square. As if being publicly sentenced to death wasn't bad enough, Orochi deems that Oden's death must happen within a scolding hot cauldron. As Oden and his vassals survive the punishment for around an hour, Orochi decides to break his word once again and shoots the Daimyo of Kuri in the head.

As Oden yells out his last words, his vassals escape back to Kuri in an attempt to fulfill their friend's dream of opening the borders of Wano and changing the course of the country that he loved so dear. Oden himself is easily one of the most noble characters to appear in Eiichiro Oda's legendary anime franchise. As the arc continues in both the manga and the anime, we're crossing our fingers that the Straw Hat Pirates make Oden's dream come true in opening up the isolated nation's borders.

What did you think of the finale of One Piece's recent flashback? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line!