Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Zou

Chapter 823: The World Is Restless

Arc: Zou · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2016-04-11

Summary

A world-montage interlude on the eve of the Reverie. Across the seas, the monarchs of the world set sail for the Holy Land of Mariejois: an ailing King Nefertari Cobra and Princess Vivi of Alabasta (escorted by Navy Rear Admiral Hina); the newly-enthroned King Stelly of Goa Kingdom and his Queen Sally Isntoinette, lodging at the Reverie-noble hotel in Roguetown; Dalton of the “Cherry Blossom Kingdom” (Drum Kingdom) pestered by a resurgent King Wapol, now ruler of the Evil Black Drum Kingdom in South Blue; Violet bringing Rebecca from Dressrosa as her attendant; King Riku of Prodence; and King Neptune of Ryugu Kingdom coaxing a terrified Shirahoshi to attend so the Ryugu line can present Otohime’s long-gathered surface-migration petition. A narrator names and describes the Reverie. Meanwhile Luffy’s Sanji-retrieval group sails the open sea toward an Emperor’s territory, the captive Caesar Clown in tow, Pedro aboard as guide, and the Mink Musketeer Carrot (Mink) revealed as a stowaway. The chapter closes on a worldwide headline: Baltigo, HQ of the Revolutionary Army, discovered after decades — and already in utter ruin.

New reveals

• The Reverie, named and described in full (p. 7): an event held once every four years in the Holy Land of Marijoa, where the monarchs of fifty nations gather to debate the world’s most serious topics and “agree upon a shared direction of the future.” The world is “restless” because of it.
• King Nefertari Cobra is gravely ill (wheelchair-bound, coughing blood) yet insists on attending: ever since meeting Nico Robin he has had questions for the World Government — about the Poneglyph and “what the Nefertari kings of the distant past did to the world” — and wants to learn the truth before he dies (pp. 4–5).
• Stelly is now King of Goa Kingdom, married to Queen Sally Isntoinette — a haughty French-aristocrat-coded noble who lodges in the Reverie hotel at Roguetown, East Blue, sneering at its view of “Gold Roger’s execution stand” (p. 6).
• Wapol is alive and a king again — ruler of the Evil Black Drum Kingdom, South Blue — pestering Dalton (now king of the renamed “Cherry Blossom Kingdom,” i.e. Drum Kingdom) and offering to be his shipboard doctor (pp. 8–9). First Wapol appearance since the Drum Island arc (~Ch. 153).
• King Riku rules the Prodence Kingdom; he turned down the Navy’s battleship escort and treats the trip “like a festival” (p. 9).
• Violet invites her niece Rebecca to the Reverie as her attendant (Dressrosa, p. 9).
• The Ryugu royal family prepares to attend — Neptune and Princes Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Manboshi coax the scared Shirahoshi to surface to Mariejois to help deliver their late mother Otohime’s signed citizens’ petition to migrate Fish-Man Island to the surface (pp. 10–11).
• Luffy’s group is at open sea — having jumped off the elephant Zou — bound to “infiltrate the lair of an Emperor of the Sea,” with Caesar Clown a complaining captive (pp. 12, 15).
• Carrot (Mink) stowed away aboard the Thousand Sunny and begs to stay; she nearly bests Luffy in a fight over a carrot, and Pedro is also aboard (pp. 13–16).
• Baltigo, HQ of the Revolutionary Army, has been discovered — a “long-rumored mystery location… discovered after decades” — and is “already in utter ruin” (p. 17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Vivi · Nefertari Cobra · Pell · Chaka · Karoo · Hina · Nico Robin (mentioned) · Sally Isntoinette (first appearance) · Stelly · Dalton · Wapol · Sai (mentioned) · Violet · Rebecca · King Riku · Shirahoshi · King Neptune · Fukaboshi · Ryuboshi · Manboshi · Otohime (mentioned) · Luffy · Nami · Tony Tony Chopper · Brook · Carrot (Mink) · Pedro · Caesar Clown · Wanda (mentioned) Locations: Alabasta · Mariejois · Roguetown · Goa Kingdom · Drum Kingdom (as “Cherry Blossom Kingdom”) · Evil Black Drum Kingdom (first appearance) · Kano Kingdom · Dressrosa · Prodence · Ryugu Kingdom · Fish-Man Island · Baltigo Groups: Revolutionary Army · Neptune Army · the Reverie (Meeting of Kings)

Notable panels

• Cover (title page): cover-story B&W comic — “DECKS OF THE WORLD, 500-MILLION-MAN ARC, VOL. 15: NOT GOING BACK TO THE BOWIN ISLANDS YET.” Art: a giant rhinoceros/Hercules beetle in flight over the clouds carrying a small rider.
• Page 3: splash-style intro panel — Princess Vivi poised on the ship’s figurehead in the sea breeze; caption “PRINCESS OF ALABASTA / NEFERTARI VIVI”; Karoo “COO!”
• Page 4: caption “KING OF ALABASTA / NEFELTARI COBRA” — the ailing king in a wheelchair flanked by Pell and Chaka.
• Page 6: caption “QUEEN OF GOA / SALLY ISNTOINETTE” — the haughty noble at the Roguetown Reverie hotel; “Now be gone from my sight, trash.”
• Page 7: full-caption beat — “THE REVERIE.” over the gothic spires of Mariejois; the every-four-years / fifty-nations description.
• Page 10: splash-style intro — “PRINCESS OF RYUGU / SHIRAHOSHI” coiled around her father’s tail; “King of Ryugu / NEPTUNE.”
• Pages 13–14: the stowaway reveal — caption “MINK MUSKETEER / CARROT” over a “BOOM!!” as Carrot (Mink) pops up on deck.
• Page 17: newspaper splash — “Revolutionary HQ Discovered… ALREADY IN UTTER RUIN!!” (Baltigo); a silhouetted reader reacts.

Open questions raised

• What did “the Nefertari kings of the distant past” do to the world, and what will Cobra learn at the Reverie?
• Who reduced Baltigo to ruin, and where are Sabo / Dragon and the Revolutionary Army now? (cause not shown on-page)
• How did the deposed Wapol become a king again with his own South Blue kingdom?
• Will Shirahoshi’s appearance at the Reverie expose Fish-Man Island’s most precious princess to danger?