A messy thread about my thoughts on Chapter 1194 of one piece,the...
Phantom🇵🇹 🇫🇷🏴🇪🇸@ThePhantomStra5
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Sep 27, 2026
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A messy thread about my thoughts on Chapter 1194 of one piece,the characterisation of kings haki and what it means for the wider narrative
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I think a lot of people have kind of misconstrued the point of this chapter and zoros battle vs king.I do agree that the chapter is exploring zoros insecurities,but not in the way people seem to be interpreting it. To explain ,there is probably value in peeling the layers back
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To start i believe zoro has always felt some kind of guilt or culpability to the death of kuina. Many years ago,i wrote a thread about this and the burden he feels as a result. But the strawhats and Luffy particularly,give him a platform to share that burden
Phantom🇵🇹 🇫🇷🏴🇪🇸@ThePhantomStra5
However, this serves also as a great burden to him.
For long, zoro lives with a strong conviction but no particular direction on how exactly he planed to achieve his goals. The weight of battling against something so monumental left his life in a directionless state
For long, zoro lives with a strong conviction but no particular direction on how exactly he planed to achieve his goals. The weight of battling against something so monumental left his life in a directionless state
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However this has conversely affected how he approaches his goal. His will is great,he has great charisma, a great sense of individuality and even a storied lineage,all the traits worthy of a conqueror,but yet the recent chapter suggests a different view of himself
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When mihawk admonishes zoro to surpass him,he tells him to know his world,know HIMSELF ,and to let his soul forge his blade. Words that at the time did not mean much to us beside poignant verbage,but we can start to piece things together.
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mihawk asks zoro 'what burdens you so,why do you not retreat though you cant win?' ,he mentions that ,his vow,his ambition and everything he cares about would be shattered. But notice the sequence of what is mentioned
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He first mentions his vow, the promise to a dear friend . In his actions and by wielding her sword,he hopes to carry on her will and shoulder their collective burden. But as the story has progressed,the question remains,what does zoro HIMSELF want?
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Many of zoros defining moments have come in service of another. A selfless desire to share the pain and suffering of those he believes have offered to share his burden with him. But in that ,his will has become obscured.
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When zoro fights,he fights with all his conviction,willingly taking the path of strife and ferocity,but often times with no real understanding of how he is progressing towards his goals. A constant chase to continue to get stronger . But why does he seek strength?
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It is a common theme with zoro that he gets stronger in ways even he cannot explain. Ashura,cursed swords like kitetsu,taking shisui etc all for the sake of becoming stronger,but without understanding how it impacts him or what it means to his journey,beyond him getting stronger
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I will use the example of taking Shisui as the main point of reference. Shisui and Yoru,are the only 2 known black blades in the series,a specific point of emphasis to two of the strongest who gave everything away in the pursuit of greatness,forged through battle
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Zoro takes on shisui cos he thinks it will make him stronger. But for a long time it is nothing but a heavier ,more durable sword he has,but ryuma was able to use it to work miracles.The intrinsic mystery of the sword was lost on zoro,beyond a vague idea of it making him stronger
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A similiar thing happens when he is presented with enma. It is important to note that they take Shisui from him because they themselves understand,at least to a more defined degree than himself,the spiritual essence of the sword,a sword that belies the impernance of all things
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When Zoro is presented with enma,he sees it again as a way to get even stronger. And indeed,enma becomes a major powerup,as it basically pulls ryuo out from the user,allowing zoro to skip out on having to learn arduously,the flow principle of haki,like luffy did
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However, zoro still could not tame enma . Everytime he used it,he felt like it was fighting him,trying to kill him. But oden wielded it light as a feather because enma was but an extension of himself. His will aligned with the will of the sword
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In the battle with king,Zoro is forced to understand the will of enma. Enma is a sword and wants to cut down its adverseries,rip them assunder. It asks zoro the question of why he fights.Does he just want to scale huddles or does he want to cut down those who oppose what he wants
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Understanding himself and why he chooses to fight defines taming enma. As such ,his declaration to become the 'king of hell' ,which is the translation for enma ,shows an alignment with the will of the sword,to cut down with no mercy those who stand in the way of his dream
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But because enma automatically aligns itself with zoros will,it instinctively pulled out Zoros innate conquerors haki. However another journey awaited zoro himself on his reason for wanting to become the strongest
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It is one thing to understand why one fights,why one seeks to overcome. But if one seeks to overcome all the way to the top,what is the personal reflection of the self that drives this ambition? Conquerors haki can not be 'trained' because it is a reflection of ones spirit
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But how can ones individual spirit grow if they do not see themselves beyond what they are able to yield to others? Zoro sees luffy as the main sharer of his burden ,and as such exalts him on a pedestal,similiar to kuina. But what does being the strongest mean for HIM?
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Has the relentless pursuit for strength for the sake of others he holds dear obscured a reason to get strong for himself? What does it even mean to be strong anyway? Mihawk says that kings haki is a symbol that stays true,even with the impermanence of all things
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For zoro,that would mean finding his reason to want to overcome,even if all other things change. His reason to want to be the strongest and what that means to him . Embracing the selfish aspects of his dream,the vulnerable aspects,the good ,bad and ugly aspects .
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Because they all constitute him understanding himself better. Luffys dream for instance also encompasses those he cares about ,for instance,and he will similiarly die to preserve any of theirs
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,but he also refused to learn about the details of the one piece because it went against his personal values and the self he had actualised,even though this would potentially mean less danger for those involved.
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At the end of the day,the conviction in who one is will stand atop even when the world crashes down. Zoro,subconsciously holding himself back due to not understanding this,ties all the way back to the guilt and insecurity that belies his entire character
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In a way he parallels sanji cos they both have limiting beliefs that hold them back.Zoro himself has strong individuality,as such his conquerors does manifest,but does not even have a definition of what it is to be strong and what it means for him,beyond his devotion to others
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Sanji continues to go through explorations of his own self worth and importance,beyond just being a tool . I think the main theme to be explored with these battles,Luffy vs imu,zoro vs sommers,sanji vs killingham,is the search for conviction in a deterministic world
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When everything in the world is defined by constant flux from power,socio political factors etc who do YOU choose to be? Conquerors haki symbolising the purest form of the expression of the human self vs selling that expression to go with the grain
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It is not about who is a captain or who is a leader and who isnt. Zoros devotion to the man even greater than the worlds strongest swordsman,blinded him to the search of himself ,beyond just the combatant. The tool to make luffy the pirate king or to honor kuinas legacy
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As mihawk said, the soul must forge the blade. The pursuit of great power can not begin without the pursuit of oneself. To never doubt,to never waver ,to stand firm in personal assurance,through the constant flux of things,that is what it means to be king
sandman@sandman_AP
The first pic is Oda's rough draft in 1998, where Luffy is not sweating unlike in final manga version.💡Mihawk used an elevated, archaic style of Japanese during his duel with Zoro. Here's my translation.😍 "Know this name: Dracule Mihawk! It is far too soon for you to die. Know yourself. Know the world. Grow stronger, Roronoa!! I shall wait for you atop this throne of supreme might, through the passage of uncounted years! Let your raging soul forge your blade and surpass this sword. Surpass me...Roronoa!!🔥🔥"