One Piece just revealed that one of its most powerful pirates Shanks initially asked an unlikely pirate to join his crew and it makes perfect sense.

Warning! Contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1082!

Shanks is one of the strongest pirates in One Piece, which makes it surprising that when he was first starting his crew he asked Buggy to join. It is a testament to Eiichiro Oda’s brilliant writing that while this revelation is surprising, it actually makes a lot of sense. It also adds another satisfying layer to character dynamics built up from the very beginning of the story.

Chapter 1082 features a flashback to Buggy and Shanks’ past right after the death of Gol D. Roger. Shanks is deciding to start his own pirate crew, and he asks Buggy to join him as the two had previously been crew mates under Roger together. However, over both an old grudge about a treasure map and a sense of disappointment that Shanks wasn’t following in Roger’s footsteps, Buggy refused, running off to create his own crew. This of course is a humorously ironic detail given that Shanks, one of the strongest characters in the series, asked Buggy, one of the most pathetic pirates in One Piece, to join, but it actually recontextualizes a lot of details from the start of the series very well.

One Piece‘s Shanks Wanted Buggy For His Pirate Crew

At the start of the series, both Shanks and Buggy were in East Blue, which seems rather strange given they were both in the Roger pirates. But if they had this conversation in East Blue instead of the Grand Line, it would make sense that they would end up in a similar location at the start of the series. And while Shanks could easily reenter the Grand Line given his strength, it would be much harder for Buggy, who is pretty weak. It also perfectly lines up with recent One Piece revelations about Shanks’ fleet, as many of the captains following him seem pretty weak. Buggy would fit right in with that group.

Of course, ironically Buggy has now attained Yonko status independent of Shanks due to his hilarious propensity to fail upwards. So in his own way, he has become a pirate worthy of joining Shanks’ crew. It is unlikely that Shanks envisioned Buggy’s potential to become a Yonko back when he offered a spot on his crew to him, but it makes a potential confrontation between them in the future even more exciting. And knowing Buggy’s luck and charisma, he may even prove that he didn’t need Shanks at all, eventually claiming the throne of the Pirate King in his own way.

Shanks’ Invitation Recontextualizes Two Important One Piece Pirates

This is a bit of a far-fetched theory, but the reveal from Buggy’s flashback makes these sorts of ideas more interesting. It may not be the biggest bombshell dropped in the Egghead Island arc, but it is a great new tidbit for fans to enjoy that further recontextualizes the relationship between two of the most influential characters in the series. Only One Piece could include such a revelation so casually amidst so many other incredible reveals, which is a testament to the series’ incredible ability to balance so many secrets and plots simultaneously.