The sinister shadowy figure was lying the whole time? 
What did you think of this week's chapter?
One Piece will be on break next week 
I'm sympathetic to Harald being lied to by the government, but you'd think he'd be a little more shocked by the reveal that there's actually a sole ruler of the entire World Government that he's about to have his country join.
Timeline-wise how close is this to Shanks stealing the gum gum fruit? This undercover mission to Mariegeois has me looking forward to the inevitable Shanks flashback (in 200 chapters or smth lol).
He steals the fruit ultimately one year after harald's demise. So elbaph's legendary devil fruit was probably not the gomu gomu no mi unless more shenanigans occur.
Harald probably gave up on trying to fight the world because fighting the world means the giants have to be stuck with their reputation of being bloodthirsty warriors. Elbaf is strong enough to be independent but its independence, in his mind, is what caused its cultural and economic stagnation.
The thing is Harald wasn't totally wrong, the country improved after he started pushing back against the backwards elements of their culture and opening to ideas from the rest of the world. There's a reading of this as a critique against Japanese isolationism, but I don't really like the implications it gives the "warrior culture" stuff.
I think the reading of it being a critique against Japanese isolationism works because it's not Oda saying that the country has to be remilitarized but that it needs to stay independently strong and sovereign.
Japan today is vassalized by the US financial and military system and that's partly ideologically explained by its "need to repent" after its imperialist plundering and sacking of Asia. I believe oda is trying to say that comprador leaders like Harald will never bring their countries to peace because that peace was predicated on their submission and dehumanization.
The violent history of the giants does need to be repaid for, but this is the exact wrong way to go about it. Instead of fighting for justice, Harald tries to make a faustian pact (quite literally) to make some sort of "born again" elbaph.
That's a way better interpretation!
So this is where the adam tree wood would've come from. Cool to see the connection of Elbaf's "reform and opening up" leading to things like the thousand sunny being built.
"Noooo Harald, but power grows out of the barrel of a gun, don't do it. HARALDDD!"
Ooo I like what Oda did here, the Elbaf conservative tradition, while it did include a military culture, also permanently scarred Harald and Ida's life. I'm sure Oda's doing a thing here with how leaders can choose socially progressive policies only after their term and transforming society. Harald has deeper personal reasons for getting rid of elbaf's warrior culture than just international rep and trade.
So sad, but at least Loki murdered those fucks. I'm guessing the ida poisioning thing is never brought up either because A: Loki kept it to himself to promote his dad's mission of national unity (ties nicely with the shirahoshi parallel) or B: he fucking obliterated them all and there was nothing left to investigate (lmao).
The shanks flashback is going to be so juicy 
apparently this would be during his luffy-esque crew split-up timeskip where each member trained and got stronger.
This chapter was low key so good, the climax of both Harald's progressive leadership and reformist naiveté. Elbaph is economically and socially improved through Harald's policies and yet his complete submission to the perceived superior culture of the ~~liberal world order~~ World Government is what doomed him. And to put a stamp on it, because Harald was trying to shoulder everything himself there is no popular movement in Elbaf to keep going after his death it becomes leaderless and stagnant like we see when the Strawhats arrive.
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