The opening scene of One Piece takes place in the East Blue, where Shanks, already one of the most powerful pirates in the world, has recently left the Grand Line and been stationed at Dawn Island for over a year- but why? With all of the information and history surrounding Shanks, Gol D. Roger, and Ace revealed in the Wano Arc, it’s clear that Ace was always the character who was meant to fulfill the role of Joyboy by inheriting Roger’s will, and Shanks was there to kickstart this journey.
In One Piece chapter 1018, readers learn that Who’s Who was working for the World Government as a guard on a ship when “Red-Haired” Shanks besieged it and managed to steal the Gomu-Gomu no Mi. Who’s Who goes on to tell Jinbe that while in prison, a guard told him about the legend of the Sun God Nika, a mythical warrior who was said to bring laughter and smiles to those around him, and that the guard was silenced for even knowing about the tale. Later on, it’s also revealed that the Gomu Gomu no Mi is actually a Zoan type fruit called the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Nika. This is meant to invoke the aforementioned Sun God Nika, but it still doesn’t explain why Shanks went after this fruit in particular or why he beelined to Dawn Island immediately after taking it.
There are several pieces of evidence pointing to the fact that Shanks traveled to Dawn Island after retrieving the Gomu Gomu no Mi in order to give it to the son of his former captain, Portgas D Ace. When Gol D. Roger learned that he possessed an incurable disease, he set out to make three major arrangements. The first, as he let on to Rayleigh, was to father a son. After this, Roger contacted his greatest rival in the marines, Garp, and asked him to raise the boy and protect him. The second was to reach out to Whitebeard and tell his longtime friend what he had learned about the true history of the world. This presumably included things such as the meaning of the ‘Will of D’ and what the One Piece actually is. Finally, Roger left his young comrade, Shanks, with an as-of-yet unknown message that caused Shanks to well up with tears. On their own, each of these pieces of information can only tell part of the story, but when looked at together, it becomes clear what Ace’s role in the world of One Piece was intended to be.
Ace was meant to carry on Gol D Roger’s will after his death and bring about the dawn of the world. One Piece is littered with references to “the dawn of the world” and imagery about the sun finally rising after a dark night. The current regime of the World Government is meant to embody that night. Ace was always portrayed as the sun, the character who should have been destined to bring about this new dawn. He stood in contrast to the Yami Yami no Mi wielding Blackbeard, a character who represented the idea that the world could yet be plunged further into darkness. Gol D. Roger knew the true history of the world and decided that it would be his son who would bring about the dawn of a new era, and by piecing together all of this information, it is likely that Shanks stole the Gomu Gomu no Mi with the express purpose of giving it to Ace so he could fulfill the role his father always intended him to.
If not for a turn of fate, Ace could have been One Piece’s Joyboy, but with his passing, his will now lives on in Luffy, the man who will inherit his mantle and one day become King of the Pirates.
