This Chapter Answers Why Shanks Lost His Arm! One Piece Chapter 1169 Added Spoilers!

In the previous One Piece chapter, we learn of how Harald was promoted to Holy Knight and immediately regretted it, leading to the events of his death 14 years ago.

One Piece Chapter 1169 is titled, “I Must Die”

The early spoilers show us the circumstances behind Loki getting to the Legendary Devil Fruit but there is more to the story.

A New Type of Possession

New details about Imu’s Covenants have emerged, which changes a few things.

First, the Shallow Sea Contract has real power but only that Imu can take over the target.

However, unlike the Depths and Abyssal Contracts that can be activated from anywhere in the world, the Shallow Sea would only take effect within a specific radius

The essential trait of every Seal is that they give Imu the ability to control the target who consents to having the Seal on their left arms.

This 100% explains why Shanks ran off before he got a promotion, where he could just be possessed completely at any time and, most of all, why he allowed his left arm to be taken by the Lord of the Coast.

The East Blue was the weakest of the seas and it would still be possible for Shanks to endanger Luffy if Imu got a whiff of the Nika fruit being stolen and taken to the sea where Roger, a former enemy, was executed.

Secondly, the three main Covenants enable Imu to not so much possess his targets but utterly corrupt their souls.

Unlike Xebec and the Demons that have been created by Domi Reversi on God Valley and Elbaph, Harald was not made into a mindless monster but he simply became completely evil.

He can speak and is truly transformed. He also wanted to eat the fruit and stop Loki. He is clear-headed, but simply pure evil.

After Harald lost control, he chased Loki because he wanted to eat the Legendary Devil Fruit for himself. Jarul and the Giants tried to stop him but were killed/defeated.

The Diabolical Covenant invoked via Domi Reversi converts enemies who do not consent to Imu’s power into mindless savage Demons.

However, those who have any of the consented three Covenants (Shallows, Depths, Abyssal) are essentially “reversed” into their more evil selves.

With Domi Reversi, Imu turns those in their homeland into beasts who have no concept of home but only its destruction while those under the other Covenants find their morals and sense of self twisted and conformed into the demonic morality of Imu.

Imu’s control here is more subtle than with the Domi Reversi since

But is this the same type of possession as Gunko and Saturn?

Gunko was transformed into a stereotypical demon with wings and an arrow tail while Saturn was converted into Imu himself but with the gyuki body.

Perhaps in those cases, Imu rescinded the subtle control in favor of directly possessing the body.

This Explains Gunko’s Personality

Perhaps this could explain Gunko’s sudden change in personality.

She was the stereotypical Manmeyer Celestial Dragon who wanted slaves and looked down on the humans and races of the lower world.

However, when she saw Gaban trying to save Colon, who cried out for his father in Chapter 1149: “One Second”, she recalls her connection with Brook and was a softer, kinder person.

We could see this as Oda’s attempt to redeem some of the Celestial Dragons.

But it could also be risky.

You see, the Holy Knights are born and raised Celestial Dragons who never had the experiences that Msogard had.

Sommers and Killingham exhibited sadistic traits that could be explained away with the Seal warping their personalities over time like it did Harald but wouldn’t that cheapen the story of a corrupt elite?

It works for people like Harald and Gunko, people who were corrupted by an exploitative upper class that only saw them as objects, but for a class of knights born and raised under supremacist values, would reversing Domi Reversi or the Covenants only make “redeeming” them cheap, by removing all sense of accountability and blaming everything on Imu?

We will have to see.

Let us hope Gunko gets a full arc and we explore the other Holy Knights and their personalities to see if this is all Imu’s brainwashing or that the brainwashing…became them, the latter being more realistic and proper.

There will be a BREAK NEXT WEEK.

However, this is not a break from Oda but Shueisha due to the holidays taking place.

One Piece Chapter 1170 will be released on January 5, 2026, making 1169 the last chapter of One Piece in 2025.

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