Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece episode 1020.
One Piece episode 1020 has not only just fixed Sanji’s worst moment in the series, but it’s also laid the groundwork to redeem Robin’s poor treatment in the series over the years. Among all the Straw Hat Pirates members, Sanji and Robin are two who have been at the center of contention more often than not, whether it be through their actions or lack thereof. However, with the most recent episode, the story is finally taking steps to amend how they’ve been treated over the years.
Sanji and Robin are two characters in the One Piece anime and manga who have both received criticism for how they’ve been treated in the story. For Sanji, one of his most infamous moments in the story was during the Enies Lobby arc, when his refusal to hit a woman caused him to be defeated by Kalifa, despite greatly surpassing her in power. For Robin, while she’s always been an active part of the story, there’s been criticism over how she rarely ever gets to fight a major antagonist, with the last definitive instance being her fight against Yama in the Skypiea arc - which was almost twenty years ago and was the very first arc to feature Robin as a protagonist. Even with how much the story has been progressing over the years, both have been major sticking points about the characters that have only served to bring down both them and the story, as a whole.
Fortunately, One Piece's Wano arc is finally moving to fix things for both characters. In episode 1020, Sanji has been captured by Black Maria of the Animal Kingdom Pirates, but rather than just let himself get beaten up because he’s dealing with a woman - as he did in Enies Lobby - he instead asks Robin for help and has her fight Black Maria in his place. Thanks to that, not only does the story avoid another instance of Sanji losing to a weaker opponent due to his chivalry instead of using other tactics, but Robin finally gets to fight a major antagonist again after so many years of being in a supporting role. Episode previews and the corresponding manga chapters indicate that Brook will also be involved, but Robin is still clearly the Straw Hat Pirate in charge of the fight.
The moment also works well to progress their individual character arcs. Ever since the beginning of the Four Emperors saga, Sanji has had to learn that it’s okay for him to ask other people for help, and him trusting Robin with Black Maria rather than dealing with her on his own shows how far he’s come with relying on others; Sanji’s actions also work as a callback to his own line in Enies Lobby about how the Straw Hats should trust each other with the things they can’t do. Not only that, but the crux of Robin’s conflict in the One Piece arc Water 7 revolved around her feeling that her presence was a burden to the rest of the crew, and while Robin had long since moved past that, the problem is now coming full circle with her getting a chance to get someone out of trouble rather than in trouble.
While Sanji and Robin have often gotten the short end of the stick in One Piece, the story appears to finally be making strides to fix that. Not only is Sanji’s worst moment in the story being rectified, but Robin is finally being given a chance to shine in a fight, and both developments even serve to move their character arcs further along. The current Wano arc is one of the busiest in the One Piece anime with all of the characters and storylines to keep track of, so that makes it even better that the story was able to find the time to balance out these character arcs.
One Piece releases new episodes Saturdays on Crunchyroll.