Eiichiro Oda has repeatedly played the traitor trope in One Piece. The betrayals come at the most unexpected times, and it never matters how tightly knit the group previously was. This leads to the question: Are all the Gorosei serving Imu inherently evil?
The Straw Hats have been battling against the Five Elders relentlessly and need every possible bit of help available.
Eiichiro Oda is Setting up the Gorosei to Have a Traitor
Firstly, let’s discuss the recurrent theme of betrayal in One Piece. Almost every group of villains and allies have had a traitor amongst them. For example, Kanjuro amongst the Scabbards, X Drake from the Beast Pirates, Capone Bege among the Big Mom pirates, and many more.
This theme has only become stronger in the Egghead Island arc with Stussy abandoning the Cipher Pol, because her loyalty lies with Vegapunk. The biggest traitor in the arc was, in fact, York, the greedy counterpart of Vegapunk, who turned out to be allied with the World Government.
York desperately wanted to be a Celestial Dragon and thus exposed Vegapunk’s records and research. She was also one of the major reasons behind the attack on Egghead Island. Her other sins include stealing the Mother Flame, which was used to destroy the Lulusia Kingdom.
But just because there have been multiple traitors in the past, it does not guarantee that a group as tightly knit and strictly supervised as the Five Elders will have one. So, what makes the theory even stronger? The fact that Vegapunk suspected a World Government intervention soon.
Vegapunk knew that a piece of the Mother Flame had been stolen from him. York had previously admitted that Vegapunk had no way of knowing this since she had never uploaded that part of her memory to Punk Records.
York was visibly puzzled at this revelation, which led her to question Stella. York also assumed that when she captured Vegapunk, he was simply acting to be surprised. This is an indication of Vegapunk already being aware of the events that would follow.
Vegapunk also hid the transponder snail in anticipation of the attack on the Egghead Island. The only possible explanation for this is that Vegapunk had a tip from an insider. Given that the Mother Flame and other records at Egghead Island are top secret information, only one of the Gorosei could have given Vegapunk a heads-up.
Who is the Traitor Among the Gorosei in One Piece?
Very few individuals know about the Mother Flame, the destruction of Lulusia, and the Government’s ulterior motives, which narrow down the search for a traitor. The contender for the top spot as a traitor is none other than Saint Shepherd Ju Peter.
Ju Peter has not played a role as major as the other Elders yet. While Saint Mars, Nujsuro, Saturn, and Warcury have been busy with the Labophase, Pacifistas, and Luffy, Ju Peter is the only one who hasn’t contributed a lot to the battle yet.
When the Cipher Pol agents were falling from the Labophase, Ju Peter was the only one who saved them with his powers. But why would he do that if he was just as heartless as the others? Many fans suggest that Ju Peter is the one who questions the World Government and Imu the most. He questioned why the Hito Hito no Mi fruit was renamed and also the destruction of Lulusia.
If even one of the Gorosei turns to Luffy’s side, it will be a huge help since he already knows the weak points of the others. When Luffy inevitably faces trouble with his strongest gear transformation in the arc, an elder would be able to support him.
This substantially increases the chances of Luffy winning and could be a huge turning point in One Piece, eventually forcing Imu to reveal himself.
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