“Sad News! The Opening of the Great Pirate Era!”

With the start of this episode, we basically get enraged Oden as he, upon returning to Wano, has learned what’s been going on here. And his anger is focused entirely on Orochi who is trying to use Kaido’s name as his defense in order to survive this thing. We know how all of this plays out but there’s something about Oden when he’s truly gone beyond and the intensity is over the top – enough so that Orochi genuinely fears for his life. The protections he’s under is something that Oden didn’t expect, however, which turns this into a far different challenge for him (even as Orochi screams like a child about to be sliced up). With the Barrier-Barrier thing protecting him, there’s a chance for some dialogue here and we do see Orochi gaining back a bit of his spine, but really, it’s hard to take him seriously in a way. 

With Oden having to shift gears here completely, going from promised savor to a joke that nobody will take seriously, the turn is quick and he embraces it because he knows he must at this point. And it’s a humiliating thing that he goes through to be sure in such a public way. Working through all of that and showing what Oden ended up doing for a long time helps to connect us to more of the past, as does the other main sequence that the episode wants to get through. That’s in dealing with the news of Roger’s execution making its way into the paper and the words within that launched a thousand ships and a million dreams of becoming the Pirate King. It’s a nicely lightly expanded upon piece that does the job right.

In Summary:

Enraged by Orochi’s tyrannical acts, Oden raids his castle in the Flower Capital and points his sword at Orochi. However, hours later, people who were waiting for Oden to come out after defeating Orochi see the unexpected. Meanwhile, the King of the Pirates Roger’s execution and last words are printed in newspapers and spread across the world.

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

乂⍱‿●乂