One Piece has welcomed an infamous pirate crew to the anime once more with the newest episode of the series. Before the Wano Country arc’s third act officially began in full, the anime series began this year with a brief update as to how the rest of the world was shaping up while Luffy and the Straw Hats were making their way through Wano. Picking up after the brief Reverie arc before Wano began, the series revealed not only some major updates for the future but also laid the groundwork for some big teases of the series’ past.
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One of these big teases was the reveal of an infamous pirate crew (known as the Rocks Pirates) that consisted of Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido and more along with some of the toughest pirates of that time. But the newest episode of the series took this one step further as it revealed as part of Oden’s flashback that this former crew had broken out into crews of their own at the time and started making names for themselves on the open seas.
Episode 962 of the series continues the big flashback for Oden Kozuki that explores much of why he’s such an important figure for the history of Wano, and it’s soon made clear towards the end of the episode that his history seems to involve the remnants of the Rocks Pirates. At the end of the episode it’s revealed that the Rocks Pirates had broken off into their own crews, and Whitebeard’s crew had made their way to Wano during Oden’s time there.
There’s a brief update that shows new glimpses at the younger versions of Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom, but there are also two curious silhouettes of captains that have yet to be full revealed in the manga. We have previously learned that the Rocks Pirates were led by a man named Rocks D. Xebec, and they were considered terrorists by the world government.
Garp and Gol D. Roger formed a tag team to defeat them, and it’s one of the most legendary moments in the world’s history. Now if Oden is tied into that in any small way, this could be a flashback with huge implications for the future. But what do you think? Hoping to see more of the Rocks Pirates in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!