Im’s Weapons Theory: The 19 Kings’ Broken Oaths

Chapter 1189, titled “King of the World,” just dropped one of the most lore-shattering reveals in the entire Final Saga: the weapons Im wields aren’t personal armaments — they are the sacred blades sworn upon by the 19 kings who founded the World Government 800 years ago. If this theory is correct, every weapon Im has used against Luffy is a stolen oath, a broken promise made at the Empty Throne itself. And now, with Luffy impaled and on the brink of death, the man who may hold the answers to Joy Boy’s legacy has finally stepped onto the battlefield.

The Theory

The stakes here are enormous. These aren’t just flashy weapons — they are the physical embodiment of the vow to never sit upon the Empty Throne. Every time Im uses one against Luffy, it is a king’s legacy being weaponized against the very person who represents Joy Boy’s return. The World Government was built on those oaths. Im is desecrating them. And somewhere out there, the one weapon Im cannot reclaim — the Nefertari family’s legendary blade — may be the key to understanding where Queen Lily truly disappeared to 800 years ago.

Evidence from the Manga

1. Chapter 907: The Empty Throne in Mary Geoise is shown surrounded by the 19 weapons stabbed into the ground by the founding kings — a sacred oath that no single ruler would claim dominion over the world. This is the foundational visual that Chapter 1189 directly revisits and recontextualizes.
2. Chapter 1188: Im uses the “Voidblade (Bōfū)” to impale Luffy through the abdomen, draining his vitality. This is the same weapon type now confirmed to originate from the Empty Throne arsenal. Luffy is not just being attacked — he is being struck by a king’s sworn weapon turned against Joy Boy’s successor.
3. Chapter 1189: It is explicitly revealed that Im draws weapons from the 19 kings’ blades using a power called “Omen (Maki),” which revives the rusted relics into combat-ready state. Im has also distributed specific weapons to the God’s Knights — Sommers Saint received the “Furyblade (Gram)” of the Shepherd family, and Killingham Saint wields the “Holy Lance (Longinus)” of the Limosif family. This confirms Im can selectively choose which king’s weapon to manifest.

📌 Key Evidence: Chapter 1189 confirms that Im personally planted a weapon at the Empty Throne alongside the other kings — meaning Im was one of the original 20 rulers who swore the oath, and then personally betrayed it by seizing eternal power. The weapons being used against Luffy are Im’s own broken vow made physical.

4. Chapter 1189 (Weapons Catalogue): Nine weapons have now been identified — the Voidblade (Bōfū), Chaosblade (Tōfū), Divine Punishment Sword (Nemesis), Furyblade (Gram / Shepherd family), Holy Lance Longinus (Limosif family), Venomblade (Stigma), Muramasa, Sea God Sword (Fragarach), and the Axe of Xingtian. Ten weapons remain unidentified, and the Nefertari family’s legendary weapon — the one Im cannot restore — is conspicuously absent.

📌 Key Evidence: Queen Lily (Nefertari Lily) is the only founding ruler whose weapon Im cannot revive with Omen. This is not a minor detail — it directly ties Im’s power limitation to the Nefertari bloodline, and by extension to Vivi’s role in the Final Saga. The missing Nefertari weapon may be the one relic that can actually harm Im.

5. Chapter 1189 (Gaban’s Arrival): When Im prepares to deliver the finishing blow to Luffy with the “Axe of Xingtian,” Scopper Gaban — left arm of the Pirate King Roger — appears to intercept. This arrival is narratively significant because Im has been revealing lore fragments to each opponent in succession: first Loki, then Luffy, now Gaban. The Roger Pirates’ knowledge of Joy Boy and what they witnessed at Laugh Tale is about to be filtered through Im’s own perspective.

Our Analysis

The revelation that Im’s arsenal comes directly from the Empty Throne changes the symbolic architecture of One Piece’s entire conflict. Oda has always written Im as the embodiment of a broken promise — someone who swore alongside the other kings to share power and then consumed it all for themselves. The weapons aren’t just combat tools; they are proof of that betrayal. Each blade Im draws is a king who can no longer speak for themselves, conscripted into service long after their oath was made. This reframes the battle against Im not as a fight against a single tyrant, but as a fight against 800 years of silenced rulers. Luffy, who inherits Joy Boy’s will, is being struck by the very kings who once opposed Joy Boy. That is a level of tragic irony Oda doesn’t deploy casually.

The Nefertari weapon gap is the most tantalizing thread here. Im can revive rusted relics through Omen — and yet Lily’s weapon remains beyond reach. Why? The most compelling explanation is that Lily never deposited her weapon at the Empty Throne at all. She may have refused the oath entirely, or she took her weapon with her when she disappeared. If the Nefertari blade is still out there — in Alabasta, hidden in a tomb, or carried by a descendant — it could represent the one weapon in the world immune to Im’s dominion. The connection to Vivi’s arc becomes even more pointed: Vivi was recruited by Im personally in Egghead, the last of her bloodline that Im cannot fully control.

Scopper Gaban’s entrance also deserves serious attention beyond the surface-level rescue drama. The Japanese fan analysis correctly identifies that Im has been strategically leaking lore to each adversary — Loki heard about the nature of Im’s power, Luffy triggered Im’s Joy Boy memory, and now Gaban brings the Roger Pirates’ firsthand knowledge of Laugh Tale into the equation. Im may have questions of their own: Did Roger know what Joy Boy left at Laugh Tale? Does Gaban know what the One Piece actually is? This could be the chapter where the audience finally gets Im’s own interpretation of what Roger found — filtered through 800 years of fear and obsession.

Theory Credibility Rating

This isn’t speculation — Chapter 1189 explicitly confirms that Im’s weapons originate from the 19 founding kings’ blades at the Empty Throne, making this the rare theory that transitions from hypothesis to canon within a single chapter, with the Nefertari weapon gap standing as the one remaining mystery that the evidence strongly supports.

Source: https://onepiece-latestlab.com/newest-story-1189/