The Final Saga of One Piece is well underway, and fans know that Eiichiro Oda, the author of the series, is more excited than ever before for this segment of the story.

Oda has previously made it clear to the fans that the part of the story he is itching to draw the most is the Final Saga, with the only issue being the time required to get there. Now, One Piece is in the Final Saga at last, which means Oda is certainly going to go wild in this segment of the story.

Based on how the Egghead Island arc, and with it, the beginning of Elbaf Arc has panned out, fans can say for sure that this upcoming arc of One Piece is going to be very intense, with several characters’ lives on the line. Of course, Oda would usually refrain from killing off major characters, but, there are going to be casualties in the Final Saga, just as there were in the Summit War.

The Many Deaths In One Piece’s Post Timeskip

The Post Timeskip Of One Piece Has Seen An Increase In Death Count

The Final Saga Plants Death Flags On Many Characters

In the post-timeskip of One Piece, many characters have lost their lives. Fans know that Oda doesn’t like killing off his characters and, in fact, Oda has commented upon this himself. According to Oda, the killing of characters makes it difficult for him to host parties, and it brings down the general tone. Oda also reserves deaths for only the most important characters who affect the plot in profound ways and doesn’t just kill for the sake of shock value. This is precisely why Oda has not killed too many characters in One Piece. However, in the post timeskip of the story, it has been made clear to the fans that Oda has chosen to kill off many characters.

The very first arc in the New World, Punk Hazard, saw the death of both Monet and Vergo. At the same time, the story continued seeing major deaths as One Piece continued, and Whole Cake Island marked the death of another beloved character, Pedro. Multiple characters, such as Izo, Ashura Doji, and Shimotsuki Yasuie, among others, die. Clearly, Oda’s strategy towards death has changed dramatically. In the Final Saga, which has only been going on for about 2 years now, Oda has killed multiple characters, such as King Cobra, Saint Donquixote Mjosgard, the Stella Vegapunk, and the Iron Giant Emet. As is evident, Oda is more open to killing characters in the Final Saga, and as the story continues, he will only do so more and more.

Don’t die on me, Vegapunk! – Sanji

Right now, One Piece is in the Elbaf arc, which means there are certain individuals who are facing the threat of death on their heads. Loki itself is a major threat to not just the main cast but to the entire world. It has clearly been stated that he possesses the power to destroy the world, which makes him a major threat to many characters in the series.

Similarly, there are others in the One Piece world who possess great powers, such as the Five Elders, who can go on to kill any of the major characters in One Piece. Of course, when it comes to the major characters that could fall in in the final saga, there is one individual who has had massive death flags all over him, and this person is none other than Shanks.

Why Shanks Might Die In The Final Saga

Shanks Could Pave The Way For Luffy To Become The Pirate King

It must be noted, first of all, that Shanks is one of the mightiest characters in One Piece. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he is the strongest in One Piece right now, after the fall of Kaido and Big Mom. His Haki is absolutely immense, and there are hardly any individuals in One Piece who can match up to it. In fact, Shanks even drew comparisons to Joy Boy himself, which means that in the entire world, there are possibly only a handful of individuals who can go on to match him in combat and even fewer who can go on to defeat him, if any. That said, this does not give Shanks immunity from dying.

Shanks likely cannot be defeated in a one-on-one battle. After all, fans know that he has many battles to fight in One Piece. For instance, There are two battles that fans know Shanks must fight, no matter what. One of them is against Luffy. Shanks and Luffy will have to come face to face at some point, which is when Luffy will give the Straw Hat back to him, or, at the very least, offer it. This battle will come at some point to, potentially even in the Elbaf arc.

It’s not time for us to fight. At least not yet! – Blackbeard

Certainly, there is another Shanks battle in One Piece that fans know will come and this battle is going to be fought against none other than Blackbeard. Shanks versus Blackbeard is a fated encounter that will happen at some point, especially knowing that these two characters have a history. These two battles will have to happen in regards to the character of Shanks, and, in one way or another. Luffy’s clash with Shanks can only happen in Elbaf, especially knowing that this is the country that Shanks is protecting.

Coming over to Shanks versus Blackbeard, fans know that this is a battle that Shanks could potentially go on to lose. But, if this is the first major battle that Shanks fights in One Piece, there is absolutely no way that Oda will kill him off here. Shanks has a major role to play in the Final Saga which cannot be limited just to hyping up Blackbeard. That is precisely why Shanks, who is currently on the quest for Blackbeard, cannot die early on in the Elbaf arc at all. But, One Piece is going to be much bigger than just Elbaf, which means that there are going to be more battles to come in the future.

There is a possibility that Shanks will not be able to catch Blackbeard in the Elbaf arc, until much later into the series. If Blackbeard keeps on evading Shanks up until the time of the last war, then, Shanks could potentially have fought Luffy, and completed their promise. This would leave the battle against Blackbeard for the final war, and this is precisely where Shanks could fall.

In order to protect Luffy from Blackbeard, Shanks could very well give up his life. Fans already know that Shanks places a very high value on Luffy, and at the same time, would give his life to protect him. He has already given his arm for him once, and now, giving up his life wouldn’t be much different. Of course, Blackbeard killing Shanks is a very popular idea and it could drive the story forward, putting even higher stakes on the battle between Teach and Luffy, which will eventually happen. It is an exciting idea, which might displease some fans, but please others. Regardless, this battle is going to be exciting, no matter which way fans look at it.