A Single One Piece Season 2 Line Sets Up The End Of The World

Caution: spoilers ahead for One Piece season 2.

One big advantage of adapting One Piece in live-action almost 30 years after the story began is the opportunity to include details added to canon retroactively. This happens a great deal in Netflix's One Piece, with a notable example being the giants mentioning "Nika" by name. While this doesn't happen in Eiichiro Oda's original Little Garden arc, the manga later explains how Nika is a foundational figure in Elbaph mythology, so the live-action change makes total sense.

This is a philosophy adopted across the entirety of One Piece's second season. Bartolomeo doesn't usually interact with Luffy at Loguetown, but their connection gives a deeper reason for Barto to become a Straw Hat mega-fan further down the line. Similarly, Nico Robin following the Straw Hats from island to island foreshadows her eventually becoming a member of Luffy's crew.

Another example of live-action One Piece making franchise canon more cohesive comes from Crocus. It's a throwaway line and very easy to overlook, but secretly teases the impending destruction of One Piece's entire world.

Crocus' Joke About Living Inside Laboon Isn't Really A Joke

At the end of One Piece season 2, episode 2, when the Straw Hats are enjoying a quiet drink with Crocus after rescuing the Going Merry from Laboon, Usopp makes a joke about building an island with a little house inside the gargantuan creature. This is a nod to the One Piece anime and manga series, in which Crocus really does live inside Laboon.

The live-action doctor responds with, "If things ever truly go to sh*t, I'll keep that in mind," and it's this response that carries a hidden connection to One Piece canon. Crocus knows about something very few in One Piece do - a coming event that could bring about the end of the world.

As revealed in the One Piece manga's Egghead Island arc, there wasn't as much water in the world once upon a time. Over many years, the sea levels have risen and risen, crushing ancient kingdoms that now dwell on the ocean floor. This phenomenon is continuing in the current era, with recent One Piece chapters confirming a new one-meter rise.

It is heavily implied that this watery doom is being caused by Imu, the secret main villain of Eiichiro Oda's story, and that the world has been "reset" in the past by burying the previous one beneath the sea and building the new one on top.

When Netflix's live-action One Piece series begins, very few are aware of this secret, even among the highest ranks of government. As the only pirates to reach the Grand Line's final island of Laugh Tale, however, it's very likely that Gol D. Roger's crew learned of the imminent danger posed by Imu raising the sea level.

Manga readers have speculated that this is why all surviving members of Roger's crew have retired to places that could survive such a disaster. Silvers Rayleigh has a business coating ships in a bubble that lets them travel underwater. Scopper Gaban lives on Elbaph with the giants. And Crocus, the doctor of the Roger pirates, dwells inside a giant whale.

So, when Crocus mentions taking refuge inside Laboon if everything "goes to sh*t," he's really not joking. Laboon's spacious interior is very likely Crocus' backup plan if Imu triggers another sea level rise and his house on Twin Cape gets plunged underwater.

One Piece Season 3 Has An Opportunity To Reference Imu

Despite name-dropping Nika, teasing an oceanic apocalypse, and even showing Sabo, Netflix's live-action One Piece is yet to offer any explicit allusion toward the existence of Imu. One Piece season 3 will provide the perfect platform to change that.

While little is known about Imu's backstory, One Piece has at least highlighted a connection between the mysterious overlord and the kingdom of Alabasta. Imu holds a grudge against Vivi's land, apparently viewing it as rebellious and troublesome. More than that, Imu seems to have been infatuated with Vivi's ancestor, Nefertari Lili, and still isn't over whatever history they shared.

With Alabasta having an antagonistic connection to the secret ruler of One Piece's world, and One Piece season 3 set almost exclusively in Alabasta, there will be ample opportunity to weave hints and clues to Imu's presence into the narrative. Perhaps Vivi's father drops a subtle pointer, or maybe accounts of Alabasta's history will feature details about Lili that adopt a deeper meaning for anyone aware of the Imu twist.

In either case, expect things to get a lot wetter before they get better if Netflix's One Piece goes all the way to the end.