It has begun…
We finally get some back story on Linlin and her time with Mother Caramel whom she cherishes deeply. Even as a child Linlin was indifferent to the harm she caused others, oblivious to the damage she could cause. I get that she was young and still learning about life, society and the way of the world but the aspect of oneself that questions our actions and draws a line between right and wrong, that aspect seems to be completely missing from Linlin. Overarching her whole personality was a disconnect from her emotions, especially in terms of adjusting ones actions to the perceived societal norms. The only emotions Linlin knew to convey were reactionary ones central to a child – anger and want. Consequence is a concept foreign to Linlin and all she knows is that she needs what she wants.
It is said that “you not you when you hungry” but this takes that saying to a whole new level. Big Mom from her childhood was driven by her appetite and nothing has really changed since then aside from Big Mom attaining even greater power, a pirate crew and an army. Because of her appetite she destroyed half of Elbaf village killing Fallbeard in the process, she presumably caused a ton of destruction in her hometown that led to her parents abandoning her, and due to her hunger she didn’t even realise that while she was feasting on her birthday snacks, she ate Mother Caramel and the rest of the Lamb House Orphans. It’s tragic, shocking and sorrowfully fitting honestly; Mother Caramel who was using Linlin ultimately ended up being eaten by her. I feel sorry for the rest of the Lamb House Orphans who were eaten though, they genuinely were lost souls who found a home in the Lamb House, until being sold off to the World Government by Mother Caramel that is.
Of course it was all an act
I’m not surprised that Mother Caramel was secretly lying to the Lamb House Orphans. Given the saintly projection of Mother Caramel, suspicion flags were obviously raised that there was something darker hiding beneath. I did want to be wrong and I did want to believe that Mother Caramel was who she portrayed herself as being; a genuine good soul looking to ease the pain oveeflowing within the world, but after what happened with Pudding, characters appearing ‘too good to be true’ are often just that, too good to be true. Mother Caramel’s character was too imbalanced to not be suspicious. I got to hand it to Mother Caramel though, she managed to fool her victims into a false sense of security without raising an ounce of suspicion. Still, a pity for the children who fell prey to her schemes, they were all lured in by the prospect of safety only to wind up at the forefront of danger.
Did Mother Caramel possess the Soul Soul no Mi?
If Mother Caramel had the Soul Soul no Mi, how did Linlin end up getting the fruit abilities? Was it because she ate Mother Caramel or was it because the Devil Fruit Spirit regrew in one of nearby fruit when Mother Caramel died, which Linlin later consumed at some point? What ever the case, Linlin can utilise the same abilities Mother Caramel was able to. It would be interesting if Devil Fruit abilities can be attained when eating a user of the Devil Fruit who has died, after all, the initial method of obtaining a Devil Fruit power is to consume a fruit. Before the Devil Fruit spirit has the chance to escape and possess another fruit, it may be possible to directly obtain the power from the user of the Fruit. If so, this may mean that Teach ate a part of Whitebeard when he just died to attain the power of the Gura Gura no Mi.
What a badass
Sanji was damn cool when he saved his family by destroying the candy coating binding them. Hopefully something positive comes along with Sanji helping out his family, in particular his father’s view of him. Judge was wrong in his assessment of strength equating to power. It was Sanji’s kind words and embracing smile that caused Pudding to hesitate and reflect back on the moments in her past that caused her deep sorrow. Pudding’s longing for wanting to be accepted for who she is helped contribute to the chaos currently overwhelming the Big Mom Pirates. I wonder what will happen now that her family looks at her as a failure. Despite Sanji and Pudding’s differences, in terms of their family relations, they are similar; both are treated as outcast by their family and both were used by them. Will Pudding follow in Lola’s steps and decide to determine her own fate?
Dorry and Broggy, while I knew they would be relevant to the future Elbaf story, I never expected their story to be so central to the plot of Elbaf but as it turns out, their decision to stay on Little Garden in order to determine their superiority by a duel had major effects on both their crew and Elbaf village. It was their 100 million Beli bounties that threw me off significantly as I was processing that relevant to the current time bounty values but that is not the case as Dorry and Broggy’s bounties were issued 100 years ago. How much is 100 million Beli back then worth now? Surely with inflation the amount would be exponentially higher. Their significance in Elbaf’s plot is real and with the Straw Hat Pirates having met them and helped them, how will it affect their relations to the Giants of Elbaf? The news that Dorry and Broggy are still alive and engaged in their duel should bring relief to the Giants that concluded the two were dead. And let’s not forget that Hajrudin has sworn an oath of allegiance to the Straw Hat Pirates.
She ate them….
How will the truth of Mother Caramel’s demise be revealed to Big Mom? Will she arrive at the “answer” once revisiting her memories or will it be Luffy who forces Big Mom to arrive at the truth? Or will Capone and his crew defeat Big Mom before she has a chance to learn the truth? If it’s the former, how will Big Mom react when she find out she was the reason for Mother Caramel’s disappearance? And will Luffy even fight Big Mom this arc? Surely he has to as I doubt we will get another arc focusing on the Big Mom Pirates after this arc is doing just that. Big Mom’s defeat is set-up perfectly for this arcs conclusion, a conclusion that will echo the Straw Hat Pirates name across the seas of the New World as a contender for the Pirate King title. Very much looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 