After a sprawling and eventful saga, the Onigashima Raid in One Piece is approaching its climax. All the prominent figures of the Beast and Big Mom Pirates have been knocked out -- including the All-Stars -- but not without a cost. Zoro, who defeated King after finally unleashing Enma, appears to be on death's door.

The Straw Hats' swordsman is currently unconscious, being carried through Onigashima by Franky. He is on his way to Chopper for the second time in the raid, but is there anything left he can do for Zoro?

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In Chapter 1038, Zoro was seen outside the skull dome lying down after winning his fight with King. Suddenly, a grim reaper appeared in front of him, ready to bring down his scythe. When the chapter first released, the popular theory was that it was Brook and Robin in disguise to hide from the CP0 agents after her, but two chapters later it was revealed that they were still inside the dome. The next time Zoro was seen, he was falling off the island before Franky caught him -- but the grim reaper was nowhere to be found.

One idea is that this mysterious figure is a physical manifestation of Enma. Throughout the raid, Zoro has been trying to properly utilize Oden's former sword. He struggled at first to contain its power, then had to deal with it trying to absorb all his haki. Once he finally realized he was being tested and took command of Enma, he was able to control it and defeat King, after which he said he would become the "King of Hell".

It is possible that Enma -- who is the King of Hell in Buddhist myth -- has come to him in his "true form" to give a final judgement on whether or not Zoro is worthy to wield him. Or, perhaps Zoro will have to have a metaphysical battle with Enma to completely gain the sword's loyalty.

Another possibility is that the reaper was a hallucination and side effect of the medicine Miyagi and Chopper gave to Zoro. The Mink injection had extreme regenerative effects, but at the cost of doubling his suffering and pain later on. Just like on Thriller Bark -- when Kuma manifested all of Luffy's pain into the paw bubble for Zoro to take on -- this grim reaper could have been a manifestation of all that pain coming back to Zoro.

Though Zoro is unlikely to die, the question will be how this will affect him later on in One Piece. When fighting one of the Pacifistas on the Sabaody Archipelago, Zoro was still feeling the aftermath of Thriller Bark and collapsed multiple times during the fight. Will Zoro be put out of commission in the next Straw Hat team-up fight, or is all of this just a trial that will ultimately make him stronger?

Perhaps this confrontation with the grim reaper could lead to Zoro turning one or all of his swords into a Black Blade. If he is to defeat Mihawk and become the world's strongest swordsman, he will have to achieve that at some point. Seeing as One Piece is heading toward its endgame, it's possible that this is one of his last steps on the way to the top.

The next chapter of One Piece will be available on Sunday, May 8th.

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About The Author

Magnus Carlstrom (14 Articles Published)

Magnus Carlstrom is a writer, actor and manga enthusiast living in New York. He is a huge One Piece fan, and is currently creating a manga of his own. While writing articles, Magnus is also working on an animated TV series.

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