That changes about ¾ of the way through the chapter when Robin actually brings up how dangerous their route is and offers them an alternative. She is literally lording herself above them as she speaks in riddles, trying to manipulate them into doing what she wants. Robin is constantly shown in a position of power, either looking down at the Straw Hats or the Straw Hats looking up at her. What does all this have to do with what anything? Well, read this chapter and notice the angles Oda uses. Not when they’re a part of the World Government. She can’t trust Crocodile, she can’t trust Luffy, and she certainly can’t trust the monarchy of Alabasta. Remember what I said about friendship being a major theme of the Baroque Works saga? Robin doesn’t have any of those those. Unlike Igaram, she knows the log pose to Little Garden takes years to reset, and if Luffy had accepted her eternal pose to Goldfish Poop Island they would have circumvented the entirety of Baroque Works and likely would have ended the civil war before it got a chance to start.īut Robin can’t tell Straw Hats any of this. Now she’s trying to do the same for the Straw Hats, because while one ace in the hole is good, two is better. I fully believe that Robin saved Igaram’s life and spirited him away to Alabasta. They’re her wild cards, the only people able to spoil Crocodile’s plans now that they’ve been set in motion. She sends 5 and Valentine to Whiskey Peak, but unofficially follows them, because either Vivi or Igaram have to survive. We don’t know why she then tells Crocodile about the leak, but there are a couple possible reasons: Robin can’t have the crown disrupting their plans too soon, Crocodile became suspicious, Robin didn’t want the possibility of her own identity being compromised, etc. Knowing Baroque Works has been infiltrated by the monarchy, Robin leaks Crocodile’s identity. Likely he’d never even spoken to him before). Either way, because of Crocodile’s need for absolute secrecy, it’s Robin who ends up doing a lot of the day to day minutiae within the company (remember that Crocodile wasn’t able to tell the difference between Mr. Maybe it was Robin, or perhaps she learned it somewhere else.
We don’t know how Vivi initially heard of Baroque Work’s machinations. What she doesn’t know is Luffy, and how he’ll react to her presence on his ship.īuckle up kiddos, this is gonna be a long one. She knows screwing up will likely result in her own death, and the death of millions more if Crocodile succeeds at becoming king. She needs Crocodile to fail his plan at the last possible moment, after she gets down to the Royal Tombs. Robin’s ultimate goal is to read the Alabastian poneglyph without giving Crocodile access to Pluton. Let’s talk a little bit more about what Robin’s actually trying to accomplish here and how Oda presents this information.