One Piece season 1 ending spoilers follow.
The penultimate episode of One Piece saw Arlong (McKinley Belcher III) run amuck throughout Coco Village.
The Fish-Man stamped the spirit out of Nami (Emily Rudd) and burnt down her hometown, forcing the Straw Hat's stubbornly independent navigator to accept the help of the rest of the crew for a problem she'd shouldered for too long alone.
The question is, do Monkey D Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and the gang have what it take to finish Arlong once and for all? Judging by their last attempt to defeat Arlong and his fishmen, they don't have a hope in hell.
In fact they'd have a better chance of finding the One Piece that very day.
But what actually happens in the final episode of the rather spectacular adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's original manga? Let's delve into it.
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One Piece season 1 ending explained
In the opening moments of the finale, Nami's backstory is fully explained.
As a child, Nami had voluntarily enslaved herself to Arlong and chosen to work for him making maps in order to one day free her hometown from his tyranny. Their pact also required that the freedom of her village be bought for 100 million Berry.
However, if you've been keeping up, you will know by now that the total sum she'd spent years stealing was pinched at the last minute by the corrupt Marine Nezumi (Rory Acton Burnell) – under Arlong's instructions of course.
It was those actions that spurred the previously obedient Coco villagers and the Straw Hat Crew to band together to defeat Arlong and his crew once and for all.
Meanwhile, Nezumi had been busy whispering in the ears of Vice Admiral Garp (Vincent Regan), aka Luffy's grandfather, about a group of murderous pirates known as the Straw Hat crew who had destroyed Coco Village and needed to be stopped.
Against the protestations of cadet Koby (Luffy's first friend on this adventure) Garp sets off to confront Luffy and co, leading to the ultimate showdown of the series: the Straw Hats vs the Arlong Pirates.
The fight breaks off into splinters with Nami and Luffy left to face off against the incredibly strong Arlong, while the rest of the crew had his Fishmen to deal with.
Nami and Luffy find Arlong in his tower, which also happens to contain all the maps Nami had created for him, intended to help Arlong conquer all of the East Blue.
Luffy instructs Nami to leave, which she reluctantly does, and the impressive fight sees Luffy's Devil Fruit rubber powers maximised to full effect, giving Arlong a run for his money.
In the end though, Luffy realises that the only way to truly defeat Arlong is to destroy his dreams. By destroying Arlong's tower with the maps, he would effectively be ripping away any hope he had of conquering the seas and put a halt in his plans for revenge against the humans.
Luffy starts to sucker punch the building and with a cry of "Gum Gum battle Axe", the Straw Hat Captain shoots his foot up through the roof to bring the already-crumbling tower crashing down, burying Arlong and himself with it.
Luffy, somehow, miraculously survives – maybe his boundless optimism doubles up as a shield – but what of Arlong?
Did Arlong die in the One Piece finale?
As impressive as the defeat was, the chances are that the fishman will live to swim another day.
We know from the manga that Arlong did survive the battle with Luffy, but didn't return to the franchise. The humiliation was probably too much to bear.
Whether or not the live-action show will follow the same trajectory has yet to be confirmed.
Arlong may be as creamed as salmon pâte underneath those rocks or he could return in season two looking for revenge.
What happened between Luffy and Vice Admiral Garp?
The Straw Hat's victory called for a celebration throughout Coco village. Sparklers are lit and a crowd gathers around Usopp (Jacob Romero) who tells the (very tall) tale of his great defeat over Arlong and his "deadly crew".
OK, Usopp.
Just when all seemed calm, the Marines show up. More specifically, Grandpa Garp and his cadets flanked by the corrupt Captain Nezumi and his equally-corrupt cadet.
Koby (Morgan Davies) attempts to vouch for Luffy one final time and declares that it was Arlong, and not the Straw Hats, who destroyed Coco Village. However, Garp instructs him to arrest them anyway. The loyal Koby refuses and so does cadet Helmeppo (Aidan Scott).
The rest of the cadets aren't quite as willing to go out on a limb for Luffy and so, at the order of their Admiral, point guns at the Straw Hats, prepped and ready to shoot if they move.
Garp isolates Luffy at this point and offers him one last chance to give up his piracy, but that's not really Luffy's style and so the two fight. Luffy doesn't stand a chance, but he refuses to back down.
"You can hit me all day long but I'm never giving up on my dream," Luffy tells Garp, referring to finding the One Piece to become King of the Pirates.
His declaration is capped by a maniacal laugh (echoing Captain Morgan's), which is apparently contagious as Garp laughs too. He lets Luffy go and tells his men to lower their weapons.
Garp then instructs the cadets to go after Arlong's pirates and arrest them. At the same time, Nezumi's cry to bring the Straw Hats to justice earns him a thwack from Nami, leaving him unconscious.
Garp and Luffy share a moment in which Garp explains to his grandson that he always knew he couldn't change Luffy's mind and his actions were just a test to make sure he was ready.
The two part ways with a renewed understanding of one another, and the next day, Koby delivers a parting gift to Luffy.
To his absolute delight, Luffy is presented with a wanted poster, bearing his face and a 300,000,000 Berry reward for his capture, the highest bounty in the East Blue.
News of his notoriety spreads across the seas, all the way to his mentor Shanks (Peter Gadiot) and his crew who crack open bottles to celebrate his win, as well as Buggy (Jeff Ward) and Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino), who vow deadly revenge.
The news also reaches Kaya (Celeste Loots) who smiles at the glimpse of Usopp in the background.
The Straw Hats celebrate by re-dedicating themselves to their individual dreams, the drive for which helps to bind them even more firmly as a crew.
However, while their spirits were jolly and merry, Luffy's successes also caught the attention of a mysterious individual wielding two cigars, but who could this be?
Who is the mystery man with two cigars in One Piece's finale?
The season finale ends with the image of a white-haired individual, manipulating two cigars in his hand. With one cigar, he burns a hole through Luffy's wanted posters.
Though we could only see the back of him, this tobacco-loving menace can only be Captain Smoker. In Eiichiro Oda's source material, Smoker is an extremely powerful marine who has a deep disdain for pirates and hunts them with vigour.
This will naturally pose a problem for Luffy who has risen in infamy, as will Smoker's Devil Fruit Powers which allow him to turn into smoke. (Can't imagine Luffy will have much luck landing punches with this one.)
Smoker may be tenacious but he is not corrupt or evil, so that's something… we guess.
His appearance does suggest the direction season two is heading in and that is Loguetown, where Smoker is the captain of the local Marine base.
It also happens to be the pit stop for pirates who wish to join the Grand Line, which aligns with Luffy's mission.
Smoker is sure to be one of the many obstacles that erect between Luffy and his One Piece quest and will prove an interesting challenge, should we get a season two.
One Piece is available to watch now on Netflix.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
