Chapters · Sky Island › Skypiea

Chapter 268: Suite

Arc: Skypiea · Saga: Sky Island · Released: 2003-02-03

Summary

Two threads run in parallel. Combat thread (Upper Yard surface): the Ordeal-of-Iron priest (the rotund, goggled “Iron” priest — Ohm; not re-named on-page this chapter) and his giant poisonous serpent drive Gan Fall (the Sky Knight, on his winged steed Pierre) and the wounded crew. Gan Fall declares “I cannot retreat… I cannot let your cohorts proceed with your plans” and rams a spear at the priest, who taunts “haven’t given up yet… even after a louse like Shura beat you?!” (pp. 1-9). The priest introduces his weaponry: he is “a sky breeder” who trained his dog, Holly, to walk on two legs and do hand-to-hand combat (pp. 7-8), and his battlefield is seeded with an Iron Cloud trap — “it’s as light as a cloud but as strong as iron. Milky Dials produce them. Each one corresponds to an area on the ground. Stepping on one will activate it,” manifesting as barbed-wire-like iron the victim cannot see in advance (pp. 13-14). Zoro is dragged into the fight (the snake “keeps getting in the way”), and Tony Tony Chopper turns up battered; the priest, intrigued, probes Chopper (“you’re friends from the blue sea… why were you here alone?!”) and reads the situation: “an idealist.” Zoro, goggled-priest-faced and grinning, answers the “do you seek revenge?” question with “no, I don’t like to fight with a motive… I can feel one coming on!!” (pp. 12-16). Exploration thread (deep ruins): Nico Robin discovers a way underneath the surface ruins (“there’s a way underneath!”), descends through a vine-choked shaft, and finds the site is far deeper and larger than it looks — “they’re just the top layer… sky clouds have simply taken over the land… though it’s a blue sea ruin, the land around it is an island cloud” (pp. 10-15). Following a light down, she emerges into a vast intact ancient city and delivers the chapter’s payoff: “Eight hundred years ago, the City of Shandora suddenly disappeared… and yet here it is in all its glory. This… is Shandora, the lost City of Gold!!” (pp. 17-19). A “Giant Jack” beanstalk-like pillar is sighted rising into the sky, and a bleating “Baa!!” rider (Enel’s forces) chases the Shandians toward “the Kami’s temple” — “they’re the Kami’s forces. They’ll kill us if they catch us!!” (pp. 9, 16). Closes on the splash of Shandora in full.

New reveals

• The deep Upper Yard ruin IS Shandora, the lost City of Gold. Robin reaches the bottom layer and names it on-page: “Eight hundred years ago, the City of Shandora suddenly disappeared… and yet here it is in all its glory. This… is Shandora, the lost City of Gold!!” (pp. 17-19). The arc’s central mystery — does the City of Gold exist, and where did it go — is confirmed: it exists, intact, in the sky.
• The ruins are stratified. The visible stone city Robin/Chopper reached earlier is “just the top layer”; “sky clouds have simply taken over the land,” and a far larger, intact city survives below. Robin: “This site’s deeper than it looks… I can go deeper.” (pp. 11-12).
• Shandora is a “blue sea ruin” on an island cloud. Robin: “Though it’s a blue sea ruin, the land around it is an island cloud.” — i.e. a surface-world (Blue Sea) city now resting on island-cloud, directly linking Skypiea’s ruins to a lost surface civilization (pp. 11-15).
• The Iron Cloud (Eisen Dial) mechanic is explained. The priest’s challenge: “It’s called an Iron Cloud. It’s as light as a cloud but as strong as iron. Milky Dials produce them. Each one corresponds to an area on the ground. Stepping on one will activate it… here, it’s impossible to know where the switches are hidden.” It manifests as a barbed-wire-like iron mesh (pp. 13-14). A fresh Dial application: clouds hardened to iron.
• Holly, the priest’s combat dog, is introduced. The priest is “a sky breeder” who has trained his dog Holly to “walk on two legs” and is “skilled in hand-to-hand combat” (pp. 7-8). The serpent is separately noted to have “poisonous fangs” (p. 6).
• The “Giant Jack” is sighted. A massive beanstalk-like pillar rising into the sky toward “the Kami’s temple” is pointed out — “there’s the Giant Jack!” (p. 16) — naming Enel’s route to the highest sky.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Nico Robin — on-page; explores and reaches the deep ruins; identifies them as Shandora, the lost City of Gold (title-relevant payoff figure).
• Zoro — on-page; pulled into the priest/serpent fight; battered alongside Chopper; “I can feel one coming on!!” (pp. 12-16). Recurring.
• Tony Tony Chopper — on-page; turns up wounded; probed by the priest (“friends from the blue sea… why were you here alone?!”); “Hey, be careful.” (pp. 12-15). Recurring.
• Gan Fall — on-page as the Sky Knight on Pierre; refuses to retreat; rams the priest; reminded he was beaten by Shura (pp. 1-9). Recurring.
• Pierre — on-page; Gan Fall’s winged steed; “Pierre, your target is Ohm!” (p. 3). Recurring.
• The Ordeal-of-Iron priest (Ohm) — on-page; goggled, rotund “sky breeder”; deploys the Iron Cloud and Holly; named on-page only via Gan Fall’s earlier order “your target is Ohm” (p. 3). Recurring (first named Ch. 253, first appearance Ch. 254). See note below.
• Holly — on-page; the priest’s trained combat dog (“This is Holly!”). Genuinely new named entity this chapter. (pp. 7-8)
• Enel — referenced (“the Kami,” “the Kami’s forces,” “the Kami’s temple”); not on-page.
• Shura — referenced by the priest as Gan Fall’s prior conqueror (“a louse like Shura beat you?!”); not on-page (first appearance Ch. 248).
• Shandians — referenced (“catch up with the Shandians!”); fleeing toward the temple; not individually named on-page.
• Upper Yard, Skypiea — setting.
• Shandora — the named ancient city (the deep ruin); City of Gold named on-page.
• Giant Jack — the beanstalk-like sky pillar, named on-page (p. 16).

Notable panels

• Page 1 (title page): Decorative title splash for “Suite” — Nico Robin standing in a misty forest before a Gothic castle/belfry-towered keep under a full moon, with two bats overhead, a striped-ball Skypiean-fauna creature at her feet, and a large wolf/dog at her side. Mood/decorative (no B-plot cover serial this chapter — this is the chapter’s own title art). The belfry-towered castle silhouette is flagged below (see Open questions / mirror); read as Gothic mood-styling, not necessarily plot-foreshadow.
• Pages 7-8: “Ta-dah!!” reveal of Holly — the priest’s two-legged combat dog (“WOOF!!”) — and the “sky breeder” line.
• Pages 9-12: Robin descends through the vine-choked shaft into the lower layer; quiet “DIG…” panels of the ruins extending far deeper than the surface city.
• Pages 13-14: The Iron Cloud (Eisen Dial) explainer — barbed-wire iron erupting from hidden ground switches; “Milky Dials produce them.”
• Page 16: “There’s the Giant Jack!” — the sky pillar sighted; the “Baa!!” Enel-forces rider chasing the Shandians toward the temple.
• Pages 17-19: The payoff spread — Robin emerges into intact Shandora; “WOOOOO…” reverb panels build to the two-page reveal of the city, capped by “…is Shandora, the lost City of Gold!!” (p. 19).

Open questions raised