Chapters · Final Saga › Elbaf

Chapter 1167: Ida's Sons

Arc: Elbaf · Saga: Final Saga · Released:

Summary

An all-flashback chapter tracing King Harald’s decades of service to the World Government and the roots of Loki’s massacre. 33 years ago (5 years after God Valley), the “monster” terrorizing the Grand Line’s seas is revealed to be Harald, who — under a sworn “thousand-year atonement” — served the Navy as a “devoted blade.” Summoned to the Holy Land, Harald is granted a Shallows Covenant by St. Garling and told of a three-stage Covenant (Shallows → Depths → Abyssal) reserved for only 13 individuals who may contract with the “True God”; a proper knight will “know the truth in the depths of the world.” 20 years ago Harald visits King Neptune at Fish-Man Island, where they joke about betrothing Harald’s son Loki to Neptune’s foretold future daughter (a “no ordinary mermaid” with “wild, disruptive powers”). Saul settles in Elbaf and a school opens at the Owl Library. 15 years ago, the Ransacking of Sacred Marijoa — the slave uprising led by the future Sun Pirates captain Fisher Tiger (freeing young Koala, the Boa sisters, and others) — is secretly enabled by a young red-haired St. Shanks, “Devoted Blade of God (Figarland Family),” who unlocked the armory because he “hated everything down there.” Shanks is introduced to Harald as Shamrock’s younger brother, separated after birth. In the present strand of the flashback, the giants of Brewers Village — home of Loki’s late birth-mother Estrid’s “pure-blood” clan — poison Harald’s outsider partner Ida with ergot spores to stop her becoming queen. Loki, who calls Ida “the only mother I have,” erupts into a rampage.

New reveals

• Shanks is a Figarland. Captioned “Devoted Blade of God (Figarland Family) St. Shanks” (p. 13); introduced to Harald as “the younger brother of Shamrock, separated after birth” (p. 12).
• Shanks secretly aided Fisher Tiger. The young red-haired figure who unlocked the Marijoa armory and told the slaves “here’s how to get there” (p. 10) is Shanks; “I hated everything down there!!!” (p. 13).
• The Covenant system (p. 6): three stages — Shallows Covenant (a “mere trace of a bond”), Depths Covenant, Abyssal Covenant — reserved for only 13 exclusive individuals who “can enter into a contract with the True God.” Harald is given a Shallows Covenant.
• Harald’s atonement. As part of a sworn “thousand-year atonement,” Harald assisted the Navy to uphold order (pp. 3–4); he sought official WG access / for Elbaf to join the government.
• Shangara, the Knights’ Temple, “Land of the Gods” (p. 7) — the Holy Knights’ seat in the Holy Land.
• St. Garling shown as “Commander, Holy Knights of God (Figarland Family)” (p. 7).
• Ida poisoned. Brewers Village giants gave Ida “a little poison” — ergot spores that “won’t stop once they’ve taken root… certain death” (pp. 16–17) — to block the “outsider woman” from becoming queen; they hold Estrid (“the true queen, from our people”) as legitimate.
• Loki’s birth-mother rejected him. “I remember… what my real mother did!! She cast me out of the tree into the Underworld!!” (p. 16). Loki calls Ida “the only mother I have” (p. 17).
• Ida raised both Loki and Hajrudin — “Ida’s sons”; both are away searching overseas for a doctor for her (p. 15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: King Harald, St. Garling, St. Shamrock, St. Shanks, Prince Loki, Hajrudin, Ida, Estrid, Mato, King Neptune, Shirahoshi (foretold, unborn), Saul, Fisher Tiger, Koala, Sandersonia (+ Boa sisters), Roger
• Locations: Sacred Marijoa, Shangara, Fish-Man Island / Ryugu Kingdom, Owl Library, Fishermen Village, Brewers Village, The Underworld, Elbaf, Impel Down (panel, p. 2), Florian Triangle (referenced, p. 2)
• Groups / lore: Holy Knights, The Covenant, Sun Pirates, Figarland, Elbaf Royal Family, World Government / Navy, Celestial Dragons

Notable panels

• Page 1: Title page reader-request illustration — “Gen and Nojiko scolding a cat trying to steal a book, but they’re not really mad” by “The Ideal Sanji” (not a serialized cover story; no color spread).
• Page 3–4: Harald as the sea “monster” wrecking pirate ships; recap of the post-God-Valley pirates (Roger’s crew circumnavigates and is executed; scattered pirates grow into the “faces of their era”).
• Page 6: The Five Elders explain the three-stage Covenant and the “13 individuals” who contract with the True God.
• Page 7: Shangara, the Knights’ Temple; St. Garling captioned as Commander of the Holy Knights.
• Pages 8–9: Harald & Neptune at Ryugu; the betrothal/fortune-teller banter (Shirahoshi = Poseidon callback).
• Pages 10–11: The Ransacking of Sacred Marijoa — Fisher Tiger’s slave uprising; young Koala, the Boa sisters (Sandersonia named) escaping; Shanks unlocking the armory.
• Pages 12–13: Shanks & Shamrock captioned “(Figarland Family)”; the brother reveal.
• Page 17: Loki’s silhouette rising over shattered windmills amid bone-breaking SFX (“BOKI BOKI”) — massacre begins. “To be continued.”

Open questions raised

• Is the Holy Knight “St. Shanks” literally the Yonko Shanks, or a look-alike/relative (the “intruder who looks like Red-Hair”)?
• Who/what is the “True God” the Holy Knights contract with, and who are the 13 covenant-holders?
• What is the “truth in the depths of the world” a proper knight learns?
• Does Ida survive the ergot poisoning? (Her fate is still not shown.)
• What is Harald’s “thousand-year atonement” for — Elbaf’s ancient crime?