One Piece's Most Misunderstood Moment

[@swordpiece]

‼ This part should have been in the video:‼ I only discovered this during the edit, but Aokiji has a scene in Water 7 where he talks to Robin, and in some translations says that Saul “gave his life” on Ohara. This is 100% a mistranslation. What Aokiji says in Japanese is: “その後の人生を見届ける 義務が ある” This only means that Aokiji decided it was his duty to look after Robin for the rest of her life, and there’s not even a mention of Saul in the sentence. I think you can also find this scene translated correctly in the anime version’s subtitles if you want to check. AFAIK, the translation is from a time when there were a lot of mistranslations like this. It’s from the same volume where the official English translation (incorrectly) says that Shanks and Mihawk had only one duel, for example. Also, since you read this far, press the like button lol.

[@rolando_j_]

I think your analysis is correct. I seems that Oda fully intended Saul to not die, even when we're first told about meeting him at Ohara. We are certainly led to believe that he dies, because Robin assumes this. When she meets Aokiji at the shore, she only asks about remaining on the Island in hopes of reuniting with her mother who may be alive. We're told that Robin is given the option to find her, but she won't survive that option and is alternatively given the option to take the row boat to actually survive. Again, she's assuming Saul is dead. But Saul is frozen only after they've witnessed Akainu destroy the civilian ship to which he Aokiji calls Akainu an "idiot" then when questioned by Saul about it, he states that his idea of Justice does not include the measures that Akainu had done. Keep in mind, Saul is still able to speak when Robin runs for the shore and finds Aokiji with the row boat. He's frosting over, but we don't see him actually die. And if you recall what happens on Long Ring Long Land, Robin after being frozen is stated by Aokiji that "she'll be alive when she thaws" and only "if she breaks, she'll die." This is the mechanic that Oda has suggested about how Aokiji's power works. This all stated long before we learn about Saul at Ennis Lobby. We're futher reminded about this mechanic when Aokiji meets Blackbeard warning him not to use his powers when he finds him inside the bar. Again, it's reiterated when both Hibari and Garp survive Aokiji's attacks when they rescue Coby from Fullalead Island. Both Hibari and Garp survive. And if you think about, it also explains why Akainu is able to defeat Aokiji in their dual for the position of Fleet Admiral. Oda is very consistent in how this all plays out. Saul is not shown broken in pieces. Aokiji, as ascerted in this video states that his intention is to prevent Saul, a former Marine Officer from stopping the Buster Call because it would look bad. He never states that he intends to kill Saul. There are some really bad fake-out deaths by Oda including Pell and later Sabo. Both seem to die with no presentation that either will survive. But Oda in the case of Saul, he leaves a lot of evidence that he doesn't actually die, or in the least leaves it open for interpretation that there is a fair amount of uncertainty that Saul dies. Robin assumes he'll die, but we don't see his body break into piece. And we know that you can survive his attack if you thaw the body. There is head-cannon that Saul dies on Ohara, even Robin as a child believes it, but if you look at what is actually cannonically written, we are not given any actual proof of his death. Saul is left in a frozen state where Aojiki immediately leaves the scene. He even takes the time to find a row boat and makes a path for Robin to follow. This is a lot different than Sabo's and Pell's deaths where and actual explosion is witnessed and they just survive because of what most would consider plot armor. Regarding Water 7 meeting with Aokiji, he states the following regarding his obligation as translasted by Viz: "From that day on, I continued where he left off and helped you escape from that island. Since he gave his life to protect you, it's my duty to follow you and make sure you don't waste you life." But Stephen Paul later unofficially retranslated this as, "When I let you escape that island, with respect to his wishes... I created an obligation to watch over the rest of your life...!!!" As you suggested, there is no mention of Saul dying as is had been officially translated. The Paul translation suggests that his obligation is because of his own action, not because of Saul. His action to let Robin live was out of respect for Saul, but the obligation was more out of necessity because he was taking responsibility for whatever she would do once she left Ohara. And as far he was concerned at Long Ring Long Land, likely not knowing about Skypiea and her status in joining the Straw Hats, the last thing she had done was join Baroque Works as Senior Officer. So he attacked her there because those actions were thought unjust and he was correcting his mistake at Ohara. At Water 7, he reverted to his original decision at Ohara in further allowing Robin to live out her life to bring about an outcome of the Will of Ohara. I can only speculate why he'd changed his mind, but he couldn't have not known about surviving a 2nd Buster Call at Ennis Lobby. Maybe that was enough.

[@swordpiece]

@rolando_j_ Yeah, bingo. You could have read Enies Lobby 20 years ago and all the evidence is there to conclude that Saul survived. The only alternative interpretation is that Kuzan is a maniac who'd kill his friend for no reason, which we even back then knew he wasn't.

[@odysseusdadon1234]

Sword piece speaking facts most of the fans just take morj takes and make it theirs. Saul surviving adds so much depth to Aokiji and his inner conflict. The books of Ohara surviving is also a plot point that setup all this happening in Elaph. The only thing I need is an explanation of why he didn't contact or help robin in those 22 years

[@swordpiece]

I think it's the same reason why the Revolutionaries couldn't contact her, where Robin was just too hard to reach. Even after she joined the Straw Hats, they were constantly on the move. But now that I think about it, I wonder what was stopping Saul from going Egghead with Dorry and Broggy 🤔

[@ChillstoneBlakeBlast]

Morjhas some abysmal takes and smells his own -farts- theories and believes they are headcanon. Raid Will Fail was one of them. Remember when Morj says a huge explosion will happen in Egghead? Or that Blackbeard will use Saturn Caterina to get into Power?

[@Crazylom]

@@ChillstoneBlakeBlast I meeeean the last one would be funny on account Saturn is dead and Caterina will learn *fear* Otherwise tho, yeah its kinda meh

[@ІП-14КоваликНазар]

The problem with is not that its a plot hole,the problem is that it happens a lot on one piece,where oda shows is a character dying,expressing all tue emotions that comes with it,and then magically the character is alive,bon clay,kinemon,all the akazaya 9,etc etc

[@bunfagam3021]

It’s definitely not a plot hole. That doesn’t make it any less polarizing on an emotional level. When I reread Robin’s flashback, I’m not going to feel the same weight of Saul’s sacrifice because it wasn’t actually permanent. It’s the same issue I have with Sabo’s return - Ace’s sacrifice and Luffy’s realization lost their weight. Saul’s sacrifice served as the predicate for Robin’s yearning to find a new family in the Strawhats. His “death” added emotional depth to her finally forming a real connection, just as he wished for. It was treated as his final wish which, when met, closed his storyline naturally. That impact doesn’t hit the same anymore. Sacrifices matter when they’re permanent. When a character goes through turmoil, the payoff is all the better. Undoing that emotional investment is a slap in the face to the reader.

[@nataneldemissew3426]

The thing is, we were already given multiple hints prior to the oharas flashback about aokijis character and his abilities. I think it was supposed to be given to the reader to figure out that saul wasnt going to be killed by kuzan. I think its the readers fault at that point. The same w/ sabo. Multiple people who watched his backstory could predict that he wasnt dead. My girlfriend included

[@odysseusdadon1234]

@@bunfagam3021 I think in this case the emotional investment is in aokiji

[@ZwhatshQ]

Sabo surviving was always pretty clear though. We never saw his death, and it did not make much sense to let the third brother just die in the flash-back without actually having an impact in the main story afterwards. Regarding Saul: Was I let down when I heard that he was alive? Yes. I thought it was another fake-out like many others. However, Oda was still able to right that wrong for me with the perfect execution on Saul's and Robin's reunion. It's an emotional rollercoaster for sure, but it worked out in the end.

[@nataneldemissew3426]

@@ZwhatshQ​​⁠when did we see saul die? We had been shown before and after enies lobby that people survive the freezing many times and also kuzan has let people escape him many times. We never “saw him die” either

[@Truck-kun11]

No one cares if it's a plot hole or not (what is considered fatal or not in One Piece has always been inconsistent), the point is that Oda always wants to have his cake and eat it too. If this were an isolated case I wouldn't see a problem, but the fact that almost every arc we have someone (or multiple someones) sacrificing themselves only to appear alive later dilutes the impact of death in One Piece a lot, since at any moment Oda can just bring them back with the vaguest of excuses. Every other story that does this is rightly criticized, but for some reason One Piece gets a free pass.

[@JR-em3mo]

Then bet me on Pedro being alive 😂

[@Xis_sa]

I 100% agree I believe it adds to kuzan character and the story through them reuniting

[@zacharyscovel1017]

The fact that Spandine got the lie about Robin being a Demon rolling proves that he and Spandam are bigger rat bastards than I thought.

[@swordpiece]

Yeah, wth. That's Shanks' job.

[@radaro.9682]

Ice Time-Capsule. My theroy is that he frezes them in such a way the ice doesnt shatter their cells but instead is crypgenic in nature.

[@FencingMessiah]

He only froze his leg with that. He used ice time on the rest of the body

[@radaro.9682]

@FencingMessiah And yet Saul is alive, so whatever name it's given the idea he can control whether or not the ice crystals shatter cell membranes still holds. Have you ever frozen a plant? You know how they go mushy? That's the ice crystals cutting apart the cells of the plant because they are jagged and sharp. Cryogenic freezing works such that cell walls are preserved. This is the difference between a corpse and a popsicle.

[@ivello]

you actually convinced me, thanks for the video!

[@ryalex20]

Subbed. I like your content.

[@big3fanboy19]

I mean in hindsight it makes sense that saul is alive but narratively it's conflicting saul if he had died would have been better then being alive. I will say one critique aokiji can still be conflicted and have that character arc even if he killed saul. Ohara was the turning point of aokiji character so him killing his best friend would make it where he questions the government more.

[@Wendydeez76]

It’s a plot hole that is barely explained and was only there for oda to see how much his fans dick ride everything he does

[@big3fanboy19]

@Wendydeez76 it's not a plot hole tho explain why. Like no one liked kinemon coming back so we don't dick ride oda 24/7.

[@ІП-14КоваликНазар]

@@Wendydeez76 agreed

[@StrawhatRye]

I feel like Saul surviving was 100% a maybe even then. Due to all the death at the end of O'hara it makes sense he wouldn't have survived either, yet given what we learn about Kuzan later (and even before knowing people can survive being frozen by him due to Robin and Luffy) paired with Odas pension for sparing characters, it seems like a solid maybe. Ive even thought about this recently and went "Yeah, I bet a few people had predicted this would happen but due to this stories history of fake out deaths, presenting that theory probably wasnt appreciated by everyone."

[@FencingMessiah]

Whitebeard doesn't freeze because of his devil fruit. Doflamingos crew thought he was dead but he broke free before his heart froze.

[@nataneldemissew3426]

I think kuzan also had to “kill” saul to save him. If he never frosd him and made it look like he made the kill, they wouldve captured or killed saul later.

[@Sunaki1000]

Also I feel you made it to easy for yourselfe. First thing is how deadly the Ice is. Luffy and Robin where absolutely in life danger, what saved them was the fast rescue. And a more important point is, Saul was never directly, or indirectly able to communicate whit Robin, telling her hes still alife. Sure hes now a wanted man, but people thought he was dead, and he has 20 Years, and could have told some pirates, like the Shanks Pirates, or Gigant Warrior Pirates.

[@likeaboss4402]

I never thought it was a plothole I just didn't like the concept of revealing that someone who had been thought to be dead for 10 years was actually alive. I do think it takes away more from her backstory as when you watch it again knowing that he didn't actually die makes it hit less harder. Im sure he has some purpose to fulfill in the story besides giving robin some happiness.

[@adg36]

This is the right take

[@almightylightskin2053]

I agree

[@michaelmerchant9870]

If you're claiming Kuzan "knew" Saul would unfreeze, then why wouldn't the other Marines think the same??? Is it plot induced stupidity??? I swear Oda can get away with anything. When Robins mom and Professor Clover are revealed to be alive, I hope you keep this same energy.

[@swordpiece]

The World Government being stupid is a central pillar upon which all of the One Piece story is built. That aside, no one would really care in this case. Saul wasn't a scholar and they only needed him out of the way. I doubt there was any marine who filed a complaint about Kuzan "only" leaving Saul frozen on a burning island.

[@michaelmerchant9870]

@@swordpiece The world government stupidity is a pillar of the story??? And you think that's a good thing???🤔

[@lewisfleming9289]

How would the other marines know the manner in which Kuzan froze Saul??? Are they constantly monitoring his power usage???? is it reader induced stupidity???

[@feliox3337]

​@@michaelmerchant9870 Kuzan's devil fruit is totally capapable of freezing someone completely, so of course the other vice admirals present would think he killed Saul. And i'm not assuming that with no reasoning behind it, just remember how during the Paramount War Kuzan froze two massive tsunami waves wich stood still orround Marineford for almost the entire battle. For them to stand there without moving he would have to have frozen them to at least the botton of the ocean wich surround the island. Of course I'm also considering the fact that the Ohara incident took place more than two decades before this feat, however, even if you would speculate that Kuzan arround that time was 100 times weaker than his Marineford version, he still would have enough power to freeze a 20 meter tall giant. There is also one particular moment wich I remember from Robin's flashbak were Saul mentions that Kuzan is vey strong, so I think that all the evidence sugests that he would have been able to do that. On the other hand, you could make a point that the other vice admirals could suspect that Kuzan may have been mercifull beacause of the friendship he and Saul shared. And I belive that this may be a much more fair argument you could use to proove that Saul being alive does not make a lot of sense. However we don't know the reputation wich Kuzan had with the Marines at that time, so we cannot evaluate the level of trust they had in him wich would determine if they would suspect him or not. Maybe if read closely this part of the story you can find some information on that, or maybe we would need to see somewhat in the future of the story since Kuzan will be one of the major players on the final saga. But anyways that's my opinion

[@alitafullarmor5957]

​@swordpiece If The World Government is stupid in general than how can we as an audience take them seriously... especially the higher ups of the WG??

[@Zakjuh]

cope piece