Warning: contains spoilers for Road to Laugh Tale vol. 2!
A controversial One Piece fan theory has been shattered by the second volume of Road to Laugh Tale, a special that is being published in Weekly Shonen Jump while the hit manga by Eiichiro Oda is on a short hiatus. In one page, One Piece answers fan speculation about the fate of Kaido.
The Yonko are the four most powerful pirates in the world of One Piece, who rule over the second half of the Grand Line, called the New World. Luffy and the Straw Hats entered into a conflict with Big Mom first, and then with Kaido, which was resolved in a grand battle on Wano Island where the two Yonko were finally defeated. However, many fans were not satisfied with this conclusion. Both Kaido and Big Mom have been built up over the course of years as the most powerful villains in the series, so many readers expected them to actually come back for an even bigger showdown, despite the fact that they fell into an underground lava lake and were caught in a volcanic explosion.
However, Road to Laugh Tale vol. 2 begins with a splash page and the phrase "Two Emperors have fallen" towering over Kaido and Big Mom's faces. If that was not clear enough, a caption on the same page also reads "Kaido and Big Mom have been defeated! How will the world react to this upset?" The special goes on to address the changes in the status quo following the fall of the two Yonko, and how the new generation of pirates responsible for this upset will bring chaos to the world. It's a clear statement that the fall of Kaido and Big Mom has ushered in a new era, and there is no coming back.
Considering how much emphasis One Piece is putting on this "new era" and on the crisis (and opportunities) arising from the fall of two Yonko, it's very unlikely that Kaido and Big Mom have survived, or that they will make a relevant comeback. It's understandable that not every fan will agree with the decisions of the author, but having the two characters fall into a lava lake and then a volcano explode under them is - in retrospect - a pretty clear, almost comical, statement that Kaido and Big Mom's role in the story is over. Now, Road to Laugh Tale has removed all doubt.
In this case, Eiichiro Oda has perhaps been a victim of his own talent in building up characters. Especially in Kaido's case, the overwhelming strength of the villain was so carefully established that some fans simply cannot accept that he could ever be defeated. However, Road to Laugh Tale vol. 2 proves without a doubt that Kaido and Big Mom's era is over and that the One Piece story is moving forward in a new, exciting direction.
Road to Laugh Tale vol. 2 is available now from Viz Media.