Summary

• The environmental threat in One Piece feels realistic and resonant for fans concerned about rising sea levels in the real world.
• Dr. Vegapunk reveals that Joy Boy was the world's first pirate, a detail that fits perfectly with Luffy's character and mission.
• The chapter “The Wings of Icarus” lacks action and character development, serving as an exposition-heavy chapter in the overall narrative.

The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1114, “The Wings of Icarus,” by Eiichiro Oda, available in English at Media Viewing.

The last chapters of One pieceAll of the manga revolve around Dr. Vegapunk's grand message to the world. Starting with Chapter 1114, this message is in full swing, much to the outrage of the Marines and the World Government. This is the second chapter to present Dr. Vegapunk's message amidst the fight for Egghead Island, and while the revelations are intriguing, there's still much left to be revealed in future chapters. This was to be expected, but it may be disappointing for some readers.

With the benefit of the knowledge Ohara gained before the deadly Buster Call incident, Dr. Vegapunk is ready to share the World Government's most terrifying secrets about its past, including the Void Century. His message has a strong environmental theme that, while fictional and based on unnatural phenomena, may resonate with One piece readers who are concerned that the real world is suffering an environmental calamity. This is a nice twist for "The Wings of Icarus," though it also doesn't leave much room for any real action.

Rising sea levels seem like a terribly real threat

The main threats and antagonists in One piece are usually people with specific plans in mind, often with regional consequences. Examples abound throughout history, from Arlong taking Nami's village to Don Krieg, the captain of the fleet, attacking the Barationnot to mention Sir Crocodile's plans in Alabasta and Hody Jones terrorizing Fishman Island afterwards One pieceis the two-year time jump. Few threats in the series go beyond a specific island, ship, or group of characters, but One piece raises the stakes in its Final Saga to encompass the entire globe. Chapter 1114 makes this fact painfully clear through character dialogue. Unfortunately, there are no compelling visuals to back this up, but the facts alone are enough to heighten the tension for what's to come.

In Chapter 1114, Dr. Vegapunk elaborates on his warning that the entire world will sink into the sea. Listeners around the world chime in to expand on this idea. In particular, Warden Magellan and fellow inmate Donquixote Doflamingo comment on this impending disaster within the mighty Impel Down prison. Doflamingo states that a mere five-meter rise in sea level would destroy most of the world's cities. One piece world, thus ruining countless nations and economies, throwing the world into chaos, to say the least. Sea levels are already rising by three feet, and that alone is enough to cause serious damage to low-lying areas like coastal cities and the island of Water 7. Now the race is on to see if One pieceHeroes can find the cause of this environmental catastrophe and put an end to it, or at least help evacuate people in threatened areas.

While One pieceWhile the latest chapter of the report suggests this is an unnatural phenomenon, the threat of rising sea levels may still resonate with fans who worry about real-life climate change, with rising sea levels and flooded coastal areas already a major concern for many. For all its supernatural and grandiose elements, One piece can be remarkably resonant with the real world as fans know it, making the plot and stakes much more tangible. The series has already tackled themes like slavery and government oppression, and now environmental issues are taking center stage as the final world war approaches. Fans may already be on edge dealing with so many villains and plots, but there's certainly room for a new and serious threat like environmental catastrophe.

One Piece Teases Some More Details About the Void Century

Years ago, One piece has been teasing fans with serious and evidently important riddles about how the world came to be, from the Ancient Kingdom to the nature of the legendary One Piece treasure and the Void Century. Indeed, the World Government will invoke the wrath of a Buster Call just to preserve the secrets of the Void Century, as Nico Robin knows all too well. But Dr. Vegapunk is aware of Ohara's discoveries about the Void Century and is sharing some important details about it in Chapter 1114's message.

Of course, Dr. Vegapunk can't reveal every detail about the Void Century and the Ancient Kingdom in Chapter 1114, as it would result in a clunky info dump that would disrupt the pacing. Chapters like these are already heavy on monologues and exposition, so some limited revelations are appropriate. Above all, One piece can continue to save some of its juiciest twists and reveals when the time is right, which is the kind of thing any fan can expect now. Even though Dr. Vegapuk admits he can't reveal anything, he reveals enough to make "The Wings of Icarus" a pretty compelling chapter. In this case, he reveals another important detail about the mysterious Joy Boy—that Joy Boy was the world's first pirate.

Looking back, it makes perfect sense that Joy Boy was a pirate, and not just because One piece is always about pirates. The protagonist Monkey D. Luffy is the embodiment of Joy Boy thanks to his consumption of the Gum-Gum fruit and his shonen transformation with Gear 5. If Luffy is a freedom-loving pirate, then it's clear that the original Joy Boy was also a pirate. Above all, Luffy chose to become a pirate to savor his own freedom as a carefree ESTP hero, and extend that freedom to the oppressed people on the islands he visits. For Luffy, piracy and freedom are synonymous, so making Joy Boy the first pirate completes the Luffy/Joy Boy/pirate paradigm. It's a great way to end Chapter 1114, as this chapter is otherwise quite light on developments. Joy Boy and the environmental disaster are the only real highlights in "The Wings of Icarus," but at least they deliver.

Chapter 1114 Does not perform the action, nor has time to

In general, One piece The chapters will feature hard-hitting action, show the heroes exploring and learning about a new location, or provide long-winded exposition to reveal the series' most essential secrets. All of these chapters are important to One pieceThe narrative is notoriously large and lengthy, as there are countless characters, settings, and plot threads for fans to juggle. It's a necessary evil that some chapters are wordy exposition, sometimes with flashback sequences, to the detriment of action and characterization. "The Wings of Icarus" is similar to some other recent chapters. It's worth reading about the plot development here, but within the confines of Chapter 1114 alone, it can also be a bit tedious.

Chapters like this aren't very interesting to read on their own once they're released, as they're merely information dumps, albeit well-written ones. Chapters like "The Wings of Icarus" are more palatable when a fan is reading multiple chapters at once and can digest the exposition chapters before immediately returning to the action in later chapters. For now, "The Wings of Icarus" feels like a mere workhorse chapter, doing the necessary work to establish new details and allow a minute or two of universe time to pass while the chaotic battle for Egghead Island rages on. Not even the Five Elders' mythical Zoan powers get a chance to be remotely interesting here.

Chapter 1114 shows Gear 5 Luffy punching an Elder and shows Edison preparing to take the Thousand Sunny off the island safely to ensure the plot doesn't have completely stopped. But even so, 'The Wings of Icarus' offers almost no Straw Hat Pirates action, and no characters other than the recently deceased Dr. Vegapunk really stand out. Chapters like this could be reduced to text alone and have much the same effect, making them less exciting to read in the moment. This significantly slows down 'The Wings of Icarus,' but ideally, the action will pick up within a chapter or two, and the heroes will regain their place in the spotlight in due time.