Disclaimer: This column contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 780 as well as predictions for things to come.

Welcome to One Piece Podcast‘s weekly column, “OPP Predicts!” Each Tuesday we have predictions from numerous members of The One Piece Podcast news, editorial, and podcast staff about thoughts on the latest chapter and where they think things may go in the next chapter, or even beyond that. Please comment below with your own predictions, and if you get yours right, we’ll feature it on next week’s column.

Let’s start out with some predictions from some fans last week regarding what they expected in this week’s chapter:

Henry

Not sure if it will happen this week or later, but I predict Trebol leaving the main battle for the sunflower fields in an effort to recapture Princess Mansherry. I’m hoping that with an injured Kyros, it will fall on Robin to defeat him herself at this point. Robin is by far and away my favorite strawhat so I would love to see her finally get her 1 on 1 battle.

Not sure if it will happen this week or later, but I predict Trebol leaving the main battle for the sunflower fields in an effort to recapture Princess Mansherry. I’m hoping that with an injured Kyros, it will fall on Robin to defeat him herself at this point. Robin is by far and away my favorite strawhat so I would love to see her finally get her 1 on 1 battle. Jon

How come no mention of the fact that there is a decently high chance that Luffy just killed Bellamy? It wasn’t just mentioned once or twice that Bellamy would die if they fought to build up hype but it was repeated over and over again by Doflamingo, Bellamy himself and even Luffy before the punch to the point that it was a big part of Luffy’s decision to fight back. Luffy has never been one to hold back on a knockout punch against a friend if it was in their benefit (Franky doing monster point/the Mayor during the Buggy arc) and yet he only punches as a last resort this time which suggests that Luffy believed Bellamy would actually die if he hit him. Combine this with the recap of his subplot and how Bellamy’s internal monologue, in which he talked about his respect for Luffy and thanked him several times, is reminiscent in style of Ace’s final moments and it really does seem like Oda may have killed him. Definitely not a sure thing but it certainly is a lot more likely than Law being dead, yet that is getting all of the focus.

Were They Close?

Unfortunately, none of what Henry predicted has come to pass. Not to say Trebol still can’t leave the main battle, but as the final clash between Doflamingo and Luffy approaches, it seems highly unlikely. We’ve yet to see if Robin will, in fact, have a one-on-one battle, so that’s still a possibility, We can put that prediction on hold for the time being.

Jon expressed his annoyance with our predictions last week about Law being dead or not. What about Bellamy? Unfortunately many of us are still of the opinion that Oda won’t really kill anyone until perhaps the end of the series. We’ve all felt a bit betrayed by One Piece when a character who should be dead ends up being alive (I’m looking at you, Skypiea), and we’re not ready to fall for it just yet. Thematically, it makes sense that Bellamy would die, but in the world of One Piece, actual death seems unlikely. In true Oda fashion, he’s probably content for Bellamy’s perspective on life to be crushed.

At the end of the day, we could still be wrong, but the jury’s still out on that. Anyways, let’s get on to this week’s predictions!

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As an additional disclaimer: these are just predictions and are just the opinion of each individual member and not the podcast as a whole. Without further ado, here are this week’s predictions:

Zach Logan

Host and Founder of The One Piece Podcast

For the last few chapters we have been left with a burning question: “Is Law dead?” We don’t really have a true answer yet — unless you ask Doflamingo. On the podcast we discussed a litany of ways in which Law could have survived or could be resurrected including the use of Mansherry (as we previously discussed on OPPPredicts). I’ve also heard the idea that the Op-Op Fruit could be used as a revival method, or some other out-of-left-field alternative. Many responded to Jammer’s editorial earlier in the year with the idea that the lack of death makes things more interesting because it is tough to figure out how he will get out of killing the particular character. I don’t know if it makes it more interesting, but it certainly leaves me asking a lot of questions now.

The next question we’re left with from the last chapter is: “what about Trebol?” This has also been a question for the last several chapters. I think I’d agree with the podcast and say Sabo will join Luffy in this battle. It’s one of the only ways I could see victory being within his grasp. Luffy has only landed one real punch on Doflamingo, and that took a tremendous amount of planning and maneuvering on Law’s part. Now that the rest of the Doflamingo family has been eliminated, someone needs to step up and help Luffy out! There’s one other possibility though.

That final possibility is a “power up,” as we also discussed on the show. Call it the fourth gear or some sort of King of the Pirate’s Haki or something else entirely. The question here is what would this potential “power up” improve: speed, strength, awareness? Also, with a foe like Doflamingo who uses cunning and trickery, does increased physical strength or ability really help?

I’m very curious to see where things go next week, but the one thing I really hope does happen is for Luffy to land a punch on Doflamingo. Make it happen, Oda.

Sam Leach

Editorial Writer, “Sam’s Piece”

So, uh… how about them character death teases? The thing about character deaths in One Piece is that I’m sure it’s going to happen again, it’s just a matter of who and when. Generally, I’ll take the hollow threat of a character like Law dying if it gets me to say “just how the hell are they gonna get out of this?” which is absolutely happening for me right now. The main factor here is the race against time. The birdcage is closing in and even though there are several possibilities for how Law is gonna survive this, the fact that he kinda needs them right now this exact minute definitely has me at the edge of my seat.

The last panel of this chapter seems to imply we’re transitioning to a mini-flashback, some conversation that Luffy and Law had off-screen. It’s hard to say what it could be exactly, but I’m hoping it’s more emotional than technical. Something that really sets Law’s expectations for his own well-being straight. He clearly trusts Luffy and friends to find a way out of this, regardless of how far he himself can go. One reason why the threat of Law’s death doesn’t entirely feel like a joke to me.

From there I expect a significant moment in the Luffy vs. Doflamingo fight is going to come with the fall of the bird cage. It won’t happen at the very end, but rather will serve as a much more immediate obstacle to kick things off proper. As for Trebol, my gut instinct is that he’s *ahem* sticking around just long enough for us to truly see how Doflamingo’s relationship with his main officers really works. Is it willing manipulation? Or do they know something nobody else does? How far will they go to obey their master? It’ll be a moment in the fight where Doflamingo is at his nastiest, whatever that means for him.

One final question: How will the “immortality operation” play into this arc? Maybe Law uses his final breaths trying to use it on Luffy with unexpected results? If it’s not attempted soon then I think we can expect its use to be built up throughout the series until a later date years from now.

Chao

Editorial Writer, “Chao Time”

ASDFGHJKL, THAT MOTHERF****** SURGEON FLIPPED THE BIRD ON DOFLAMINGO! I FREAKING LOVE THIS BASTARD!

Now that I got that out of the system, I’ll return to my usual comments. Brace yourself, this is going to take a while.

When I first saw the title for Chapter 780, I initially wondered whether there was some sort of mumbo-jumbo magic curse what would be shown in this chapter. After reading through what Doffy said, I finally understood what it meant. Apparently, Doflamingo is very superstitious. Not only did two of the “hearts” try to take him down, they also seem to meet a premature demise. Maybe Oda is telling us that Doffy has no heart or something…

Since Trebol is now back, Law’s practically a sitting duck. As usual, Doflamingo mocked him and then decided to strike a faux deal with Law. Of course, Law isn’t an idiot. Did Doflamingo honestly believe that Law would expect him to fulfill his side of the bargain, let alone give him the immortality that he so desired? I love how smug Law was about his terms, despite facing his imminent demise. Considering that he had front-row seats to the Straw Hats’ quirkiness, that line on how he considered them to be the harbinger of miracles really shows how much trust he puts on them.

I find it amusing that Law is quite aloof when he’s next to Luffy, since he has attempted to call off the alliance amongst other examples of his disdain towards Straw Hat. Yet, he risked himself and his crew to rescue Luffy and some of the Straw Hats in Marineford, and told Doffy that they will succeed in his “final seconds.” Still we have some interesting contrast, Law isn’t afraid of death, while Doflamingo spent his life seeking immortality. The moment Law flipped the finger really made my day, but it’s sad that Toei will likely censor that glorious scene.

I’m sure Law will be fine, even though he’s been shot eleven-plus times, had his right arm severed, and most of the blood left his body. Throughout the series, Luffy had been stabbed with a large golden hook, dehydrated, swallowed by a large snake, used various techniques that shorten his life, nearly reduced to ashes by sunlight, poisoned with a variety of venoms, pushed to the limits with special hormones, punched in the chest with a magma fist, and lost a large amount of blood on several occasions. Should we honestly expect Oda would kill off a major and powerful character with mere gun shots?

If Law were to die, I demand that it be spectacular and dramatic, capable of making a large impact into the main storyline just like the death of Ace and Whitebeard. Unfortunately, Pell isn’t around to take the Bird Cage away from the island, but Law will have to be the character who would inexplicably recover despite the fatal injuries. Surely, we would all want Law back anyway. At least in this arc, we would have Mansherry’s abilities and Law’s abilities to explain that. I do wonder if the Op-Op Fruit provides self-healing capabilities. We never did find out how Law cured himself of the White Amber sickness.

There’s some interesting parallelism between Law in this chapter and Rocinante in Law’s flashback. They both defied Doflamingo, received bullet shots from him, and laid in a pool of their own blood. Law was distraught by Rocinante’s death, while Luffy is just plain pissed at what Doflamingo did to Law. I seriously enjoyed the developing interactions between those Law and Luffy. After weeks of waiting, we finally get to see Luffy’s reaction to Law’s injury. It has been shown several times that Law does indeed put immense trust in Luffy and his crew, while Luffy is quite grateful towards Law for saving him in Marineford.

I hope they continue the alliance until the end. I have to wonder what that last line is about. Perhaps it’s a flashback to a previous discussion they had after they had after arriving in the palace and around the time Sugar tried to get them. As for other predictions, I guess Leo will be the one charged with taking down the Bird Cage, since he has stitching abilities. Sabo will deal with Trebol, Burgess again, or whatever is scaring Koala. Luffy may even implement one of Law’s strategies in his new attack that involve tigers.

Kyle Lesniewicz

Editorial Writer, “Piece Out!”

In Chapter 700, Law chastised Luffy for falling under Doflamingo’s “momentum,” which was a fancy way of saying that Doflamingo is a calculating agitator. Chapter 780 was a great reminder of this talent of Doflamingo’s as his strategy seems to be paying dividends. The defeats of Bellamy and Law have unbound Luffy’s rage, and I think Doflamingo must believe that any opponent of his that goes on tilt has already lost. While this may have been true until now, Luffy’s not an ordinary opponent. Still, I don’t think rage is going to be what puts Luffy ahead in his heavyweight bout.

“Listen closely,” Law begins. I believe Law follows this up by giving Luffy a quick refresher on Doflamingo’s “momentum,” followed by a means to turn the tables on him. Law wants Doflamingo on tilt, and we’ve already seen him antagonize Doflamingo last chapter to set this plan in motion as his parting shot. I think Law’s trump card may be Doflamingo’s affection for his crew. This would give merit to the “heart curse,” as betrayers sting Mingo like salt in a wound, and could finally explain Oda’s reasoning for keeping Trebol around for this fight. We might see Luffy deliver a sucker punch to Trebol in a “how to you like seeing your friends beat up” retaliation. I think Trebol has some special significance to Doflamingo that we’ve yet to see, like a mentor

As a bonus, I predict an appearance by Officer Barkley.

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Do you agree with some of our opinions and predictions? Do you have any predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments down below!