One Piece's Wano Country arc recently saw the conclusion of two of its biggest fights concerning the Four Emperors of the Sea, Big Mom and Kaido. While at one point, it seemed impossible for the fans to imagine two of the Four Emperors fall, the end of the Onigashima Raid saw to it that both went down and eventually, paved the way for the victory of the pirate alliance over the Yonko. Along with the Yonko, the war also saw the fall of Kaido's Beasts Pirates and announced Luffy's victory against the Yonko to the world as well.
Throughout the arc, Oda set the precedent for the generation of the old and brittle to crumble to the new and rising powers. Immediately after, fans saw Law and Kid team up against Big Mom and take her down. This was soon followed by Luffy awakening his Devil Fruit and taking Kaido down as well. While the fall of both Yonko felt inevitable towards the end, Oda could have gone as far as killing the two off, which is incredibly shocking, given that most villains haven't died in the story. However, are Kaido and Big Mom truly dead?
The Outcome Of Wano's Fights
As with every single arc of One Piece, Oda tackled the biggest fight of Wano, this is, Luffy's clash against Kaido, at the very end, which meant Big Mom was set up to fall first. In her fight against two of the Worst Generation members in Trafalgar law and Eustass Kid, Big Mom was seen to be the overwhelming force for the majority of the fight. However, as soon as the two awakened their devil fruit powers, the tide of the battle started to shift. Thanks to Trafalgar Law's Ope Ope no Mi powers, Big Mom took quite a ton of internal damage and even broke her bones. What's more, Eustass Kid's Jiki Jiki no Mi attacks also caused significant damage to her due to the immense crushing pressure and pushed her on the back foot. Eventually, Law and Kid combined their forces and sent Big Mom crashing down from Onigashima several miles under Wano's surface. Law's Puncture Wille created a massive hole in the ground and Kid's Damned Punk sent her to the bottom of hell.
Soon after, Oda shifted his focus towards Luffy's fight against Kaido, which was the grand finale of the arc. Although Luffy lost to Kaido once more due to interference from CP0 members, he came back from the dead with the newly awakened powers of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Awakening granted him access to Gear Fifth and saw to it that Luffy was able to fight Kaido on an equal footing. With his strongest attack, called Bajrang gun, Luffy sent Kaido crashing from Onigashima into the underground of Wano. Kaido was completely knocked out by the ferocity of Luffy's strike and ended up in the same place as Yonko Big Mom. Towards the end of the fight, both Kaido and Big Mom were seen having landed in a pool of magma under the Wano Country. From their silhouettes, it appears as if Oda put the curtains on two of the most accomplished characters in the entirety of the story and potentially even killed them.
The Fate Of The Two Yonko
As One Piece Chapter 1050 announced Luffy's victory, fans saw the very volcano in which Big Mom and Kaido landed erupt. The two likely flew out of Wano Country as the eruption was one of a grand scale and even clouded the skies above the country. The fate of both Big Mom and Kaido remains up in the air at the moment, however, given how resilient the two are, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them both actually survive this as well. While nothing can be said for sure, if Oda had to kill Big Mom and Kaido, there wouldn't have been a need for a massive volcanic eruption to send them out of the country. Both Kaido and Big Mom's silhouettes also appeared to be rather intact, however, the burns on their body could very well be severe. It wouldn't be a surprise if Kaido and Big Mom were incapacitated in some way that takes their strength away from them and signals and end of their era for good. However, by how Oda set things up, it seems as if both of them are alive at the moment in some way or form.
At the same time, the death of two of the Four Emperors of the Sea is a massive event. Had the two truly died, Oda would've confirmed that to the fans and made their deaths official, rather than leaving their fate up in the air. The biggest example of this is how he handled the fates of Whitebeard and Ace during the Marineford war, where their deaths were immediately confirmed. Just like the two major deaths from the Paramount War, the deaths of Kaido and Big Mom would have massive repercussions on the world of One Piece so for Oda to not announce their deaths would be very unlikely.
It is likelier that Kaido and Big Mom are alive, however, in a very bad physical condition. As for their fate, the World Government ships are right outside of Wano Country and they could very well seize them if they sight their bodies. At the same time, the Big Mom Pirates are also lurking somewhere outside of Wano, which could help give Big Mom an escape route. Regardless, Kaido and Big Mom are likely to be alive for now, unless Oda goes out of his way to confirm their deaths. Whether they'll end up playing a big role in the future of the series or not remains to be seen but at the moment, the possibility seems unlikely.