Highlights
- The Iron Giant, introduced in the Egghead Island Arc, has finally awakened, marking a significant turning point in the Final Saga of One Piece.
- This Iron Giant was created by the technologically advanced Ancient Kingdom around 900 years ago, surprising both fans and characters in the series.
- Luffy's giant form and his heartbeat, known as the Drums of Liberation, activated the Iron Giant, revealing that Luffy's heartbeat powers it, tying it to the Sun God. It is expected to play a major role in the upcoming Egghead War.
The Iron Giant is one of the most intriguing plot points in One Piece at the moment. It was introduced to the fans in the Egghead Island Arc and the history of this giant certainly invoked fascination among the fans as well as the Straw Hat Pirates alike. This Iron Giant is extremely special and given that it was introduced in the Egghead Arc, fans expected it to come into play at some point in the Final Saga.
That ended up happening sooner than expected as, towards the end of One Piece chapter 1092, the Iron Giant finally awakened and it is now time for it to jump into action. There is a lot that the fans are expecting from this giant and it is surely going to be a massive turning point in not just this arc but in the rest of the Final Saga of the One Piece as well. Curiously, it was none other than Luffy who ended up awakening the giant, however, how exactly it happened is something that is up for debate.
The Iron Giant's Creation
The Iron Giant was introduced on Egghead Island moments after Luffy went exploring the island of the future. When he came across the junkyard, he saw this massive robot that was discarded, just lying there. Naturally, his curiosity got the better of him and he started exploring, trying to get it to move. Immediately, Luffy realized that the Iron Giant worked by itself, given that there was no place to climb inside of it. Moments later, Dr. Vegapunk was introduced to the fans as well and he was the one who explained the past of this Iron Giant. A large section of the readers might have assumed that the Iron Giant was created by Vegapunk himself, but the idea was soon discarded by the scientist.
He explained that the Iron Giant was actually a creation that happened long before in the world of One Piece. In fact, the creation of this robot took place around 900 years ago, which is when the Ancient Kingdom was blossoming. While this confused quite a lot of the characters, as well as the fans, given that the Iron Giant was such a complex creation, Vegapunk jumped in and explained that this giant was actually no big deal for them to create. In fact, those of the Ancient Kingdom during and before the Void Century were actually technologically advanced. Their technology was actually far more advanced than the one that people currently have in the One Piece world and that in itself came as a shock to many fans. The island of the future, Egghead Island, itself is an island of the past and gives the fans a glimpse of what the Ancient Kingdom was actually like.
The Iron Giant's Attack On Marijoa
The Iron Giant was created around 900 years ago, and it can be assumed that it fought in the war against the 20 Kingdoms around 800 years ago. This Iron Giant was somehow able to survive this battle, even though the Ancient Kingdom was completely crushed. How exactly he was kept alive for all those years and where it went after the century-long war raged on is something that fans do not know at the moment. However, what they do know for a fact is that he managed to survive until around 200 years ago, around the same time when the Fishman petitioned to join the Reverie and the World Government allowed it, ending years of discrimination, at least on paper.
Around this time, the Iron Giant somehow began moving and climbed the Red Line in order to get to Marijoa. The Iron Giant was going on the mission to cause large-scale destruction there but, for some reason, it ran out of energy and thus, its mission didn't come to pass. The Iron Giant, even though extremely powerful, was completely stopped in its tracks, and from there onwards, it was somehow dumped on Egghead.
The reason why the Iron Giant stopped working was because it ran out of energy. Vegapunk has spent years trying to figure out what the source of energy is, and he refers to it as Ancient Energy. However, so far, even with his incredible brain, he has been unable to replicate the energy source.
He believes that this energy source was incredibly special and that if it was successfully recreated, he could take a big step closer to his dream: a world where energy is free for everyone and major problems don't exist anymore.
How Luffy Awakened The Iron Giant
In One Piece chapter 1092, fans saw Luffy fight against Kizaru in a very intense clash. This fight was largely even, with Luffy using his Snakeman form to combat the light powers of the Admiral. While strong, Snakeman was not able to keep Kizaru at bay and ultimately ended up being blown away with a single kick. When Luffy returned, he did not waste any time in tapping into Gear 5 and when he did that, it became quite clear that he was taking this battle very seriously now. Kizaru, as strong as he is, would certainly not be able to overwhelm Luffy in his Gear 5 state. Luffy immediately took the appearance of a giant and grabbed Kizaru in his hand.
At the same time, Oda made sure to highlight Luffy's heartbeat, also known as the Drums of Liberation. The sound of these drums spread all over Egghead Island and curiously, this sound also reached the Iron Giant. As soon as that happened, the Iron Giant finally activated and its eyes started glowing. It can be assumed that the power source for the Iron Giant is, in fact, Luffy's heartbeat, the Drums of Liberation. This Iron Giant is deeply tied to Nika, the Sun God, and the energy of the Sun God is what powers it. The reason why this Iron Giant did not activate earlier, when Luffy used Gear 5 against Lucci, was because Luffy never took a giant state and, thus, his heartbeat could not be heard all the way down to where the Iron Giant was. Now that he took a form large enough to have his heartbeat be channeled over the entire island, the giant finally awakened.
The Future Of The Iron Giant
From here onwards, the Iron Giant is going to be incredibly interesting to witness in combat. Fans know that this giant is extremely powerful and given the fact that it survived the onslaught by 20 Kingdoms, one can assume that it is a work of art indeed. Even Vegapunk cannot understand the mechanics of this Iron Giant completely and that just goes to show how incredible it truly is. It is quite clear to see that this Iron Giant is connected to Nika. This means that this incredible work of art is likely going to be ordered around by Luffy.
If that is the case, then the Straw Hat Pirates have a very valuable ally to fight with them in the Egghead War. Even though all the Seraphims and the Pacifistas can be turned against them at the moment's notice, the Iron Giant itself is more than enough for them to turn the tides of the battle. Kizaru himself is definitely not going to be strong enough to hold off all these forces by himself. Even though the Straw Hat Pirates had their backs against the wall until moments ago, now, the tides of the battle could change. The Iron Giant could end up destroying the entirety of the Navy fleet and that is surely going to be what the Egghead Incident entails.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1093, is set to be September 24, 2023.