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In ONE PIECE: Into the Grand Line, the Straw Hat crew begins the journey through the infamous stretch of sea searching for the fabled One Piece, the ultimate treasure.
But the treasure they find by the end of Season 2 is a different kind: new friends Princess Vivi (Charithra Chandran) and Tony Tony Chopper (voiced by Mikaela Hoover, who also performed the facial capture). Vivi first meets the legendary crew — which includes Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), Nami (Emily Rudd), Zoro (Mackenyu), Usopp (Jacob Romero), and Sanji (Taz Skylar) — in Laboon’s belly, but under her secret identity, as the mischievous Baroque Works agent Miss Wednesday. After revealing her true identity as Alabasta’s rogue princess who went undercover to save her people, and helping our heroes fend off virulent threats from the ruthless Baroque Works assassins, Vivi eventually proves herself a trustworthy ally. Later, on the enterally winter Drum Island, the boundlessly cute reindeer-boy hybrid Chopper also finds his place aboard the Going Merry after bravely joining the Straw Hats in the fight against the tyrant king Wapol (Rob Colletti).
In forging these friendships, the crew has also found a worthy new cause — helping Princess Vivi save her kingdom of Alabasta. “Even though [they] have one goal at the beginning of the season, to find One Piece [and] achieve [their] dreams,” co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer Joe Tracz tells Tudum, “as [they] start to learn the bigger dangers that are out there, our characters end the season with a new goal — get to Alabasta and fight for it.”
ONE PIECE is already renewed for Season 3, when the Straw Hats will face even greater, unanticipated threats as they sail toward the Alabasta Kingdom. Before they reach their next stop on the Grand Line, let’s unpack those Season 2 reveals that have helped set the course for what’s ahead.
How does ONE PIECE Season 2 end?
On Drum Island, the crew weathers a formidable challenge from the petulant king Wapol and his militia of monsters attempting to reclaim the throne. In Episode 6, it’s revealed that Wapol ate the Munch-Munch fruit, which gave him the ability to consume anything and regurgitate it as a powerful weapon. The purple-haired monarch seems virtually unbeatable in Episode 8, having also digested his royal guards, transforming them into a grotesque cavalry with medieval hardware for body parts.
But the Straw Hats face this fearsome challenge together, and with some much-needed backup: Vivi, a surprisingly strong Chopper, former royal guardsman Dalton (Ty Keogh), Drum Island’s embattled villagers, and even the disillusioned Dr. Kureha (Katey Sagal) take up arms to trounce Wapol and his army of monsters.
“It’s important that none of those fights are solo,” Tracz points out. “They all have somebody to support them.”
That includes Luffy, who receives a leg up from Sanji to send Wapol flying through a window and into the throes of defeat. Wapol’s demise also restores his royal guards back to their regular human selves, allowing the people of Drum Island to finally begin to heal.
Does Tony Tony Chopper become a Straw Hat?
He sure does! But it takes some convincing. Chopper was all alone when Dr. Hiriluk (Mark Harelik) found him injured in the snow and became the reindeer-boy’s very first friend. After Hiriluk’s tragic death, Dr. Kureha granted Chopper’s wish to train as a doctor, but Chopper still struggled with feeling like he didn’t belong.
“He’s the lonely little reindeer boy who’s just looking for his place in the world,” Tracz explains. “He feels that he is someone who will never find a place because there’s no one else in the world like him.”
So when Luffy invites Chopper to “go be pirates together,” Chopper is skeptical that he could ever fit in with the crew. But Luffy enthusiastically asks him a second time, and he relents.
“What Chopper finds in the Straw Hats is the family he never even dreamed was possible for him,” Tracz notes.
For Iñaki Godoy, who plays Luffy, Chopper is a “character that a lot of us can relate to. It’s easy to feel insecure about yourself, and I think that Chopper is going to be able to heal a lot of those feelings for a lot of people. And he’s such a cutie patootie.”
What about Princess Vivi?
A flashback in Episode 6 hints at the civil unrest plaguing Vivi’s father, King Cobra of Alabasta (Sendhil Ramamurthy), and his realm. “[Vivi] knows that her father is a good king and so, if there’s a rebellion brewing, it’s because someone’s planting those seeds,” Tracz says of Vivi’s motivation.
When she crossed paths with the Straw Hats, she wasn’t looking for help; she initially viewed them as her ride home. “But when she starts to have these adventures with them, [and] she sees how they operate under fire,” Tracz says, “she starts to realize, ‘These aren’t the people I thought would help me, but maybe they’re exactly the people I need.’ ”
Charithra Chandran, who plays Vivi, notes, “When you are undercover like Vivi is as Miss Wednesday, it’s an incredibly lonely life. She really struggles to trust people and let them in. The Straw Hats force her to accept their help, and it teaches her that it’s OK to depend on people.”
Who is Sir Crocodile?
Throughout Season 2, Baroque Works leader Mr. 0 (Joe Manganiello), a mysterious figure adorned in ornate gold jewelry, calls the shots from behind his desk. Then, in Episode 8, a wanted poster flashing across the screen reveals his true identity as Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This powerful group of pirates was first introduced in Season 1, with the appearance of the warlord Mihawk (Steven John Ward). The Seven Warlords of the Sea carry out their dirty business in exchange for working with the World Government.
Now another warlord, Sir Crocodile, is stirring up trouble for Vivi’s homeland. The Straw Hats “barely got away from that last one,” Tracz says, “so how are [they] going to survive facing off against this one?”
What is Miss All Sunday’s true identity?
Mr. 0’s second-in-command, Miss All Sunday (Lera Abova), is the one who’s “out there in the world moving the pieces in place for [him],” notes Tracz. “She’s mysterious and lethal and deadly, but she’s also got her own agenda.”
A bounty poster in Episode 8 reveals Miss All Sunday’s real name is Nico Robin. “You see that picture, and it’s an 8-year-old girl,” Tracz points out, adding that “we will continue to learn more about who this woman is.”
What is Operation Utopia, and what does it have to do with Alabasta?
Details about the plan Mr. 0 and Miss All Sunday have dubbed Operation Utopia are scarce, but we do know it’s the reason that Mr. 0 has been meddling with Vivi’s homeland and stirring up trouble among its citizens.
With a civil war brewing, “Vivi went undercover, risked her life, and lost her partner to discover who was the head of this organization plaguing her kingdom,” Tracz says. At the end of Episode 8, she tells the Straw Hats that she’s learned the name of this cryptic leader.
Heading into Season 3, Tracz emphasizes, the crew “has a big fight ahead of them.”
Who is Dragon, the man in the hood?
According to Tracz, Dragon is “one of the more enigmatic characters we’ve met in the series.”
He first appears in Episode 1 as the mystery figure who saves Luffy from Smoker (Callum Kerr). In Garp’s (Vincent Regan) conversation with Smoker in Episode 2 we learn that Dragon is the leader of the Revolutionary Army. The organization “gains supporters every day in its quest to overturn the World Government,” Garp tells Smoker.
We get another hint about Dragon in a flashback to the Reverie in Episode 6, in which a young Vivi eavesdrops on the meeting between world leaders. The scene reveals that the World Government has considered Dragon a threat for some time. But for now, Tracz says, “he’s meant to be a mystery.”
What did Smoker and Tashigi uncover in that snail recording?
Marine commander Smoker and his protégé Tashigi (Julia Rehwald) view pirates as a scourge that must be stopped. So when they listen to the remnants of that snail recording in Episode 8, in which Mr. 0 says the Straw Hats have taken Princess Vivi, they “hear just enough to jump to all the wrong conclusions,” Tracz explains.
The broken audio is from Sanji’s conversation with Mr. 0 in Episode 5, during which Sanji poses as Mr. 3 (David Dastmalchian). When Mr. 0 asks for the speaker’s real name, the Straw Hats’ masterful chef identifies himself as “Mr. Prince.”
“It’s not a big leap for [Smoker and Tashigi] to hear that recording and assume that it means the Straw Hats and Sir Crocodile are in cahoots,” says Tracz. “That’s something that’s going to play out in Season 3, as we see that they’re so close to the right information and yet, they just can’t see past their own bias to realize the Straw Hats are not the enemy.”
What is Luffy’s connection to Gold Roger?
Toward the end of Episode 8, Dr. Kureha and Dalton discuss the similarities between Luffy and the former Pirate King Gold Roger. But she refers to the latter as Gol D. Roger — the same middle initial as our Straw Hat captain, Monkey D. Luffy.
“Ever since Loguetown, we’ve been showing the parallels between Luffy, who wants to be King of the Pirates, and the last man to have that title,” Tracz says. “But Kureha’s information, and her reference to the ‘Will of D,’ is a big clue that those parallels may not just be coincidence. ‘What is Luffy’s connection to Gold Roger?’ is very much a question that we want audiences to be asking.”
What’s in store for the Straw Hats in ONE PIECE Season 3?
Before the Going Merry sets sail for Alabasta, Dr. Kureha delivers one last miracle for her mentee, Chopper. Taking the potion Dr. Hiriluk created just before his death, in hopes of curing the people of Drum Island, she fires the concoction into the sky. Stunning pink cherry blossoms rain down on the winter island.
“This [is the] moment Dr. Hiriluk always dreamed of showing the people of Drum Island,” explains Tracz. “Something miraculous, something impossible, to prove that there’s no dream too big.”
As the Straw Hats take it all in, the display “just reenergizes them all,” he adds. Vivi assumes she and her new friends will part ways once they reach Alabasta, so she’s relieved when they decide to stick with her.
“They say, ‘Of course, we’re not going to let you go your way. You’re part of us now. Look what we’ve been through together. We’re going to fight for your kingdom and help you save it,’ ” according to Tracz.
Season 3 will see a few new faces boarding the live-action series, including Xolo Maridueña (Blue Beetle, Cobra Kai) as Portgas D. Ace and Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!, Search Party, Big Mouth) as theatrical assassin Bon Clay.
Plus, the Straw Hats will have their hands full with two more Baroque Works agents hitting the high seas as recurring guest stars: Daisy Head (Shadow and Bone, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) as Miss Doublefinger and Awdo Awdo (the upcoming Subversion) as Mr. 1.
In addition, Hoover as Chopper, Manganiello as Sir Crocodile, Abova as Miss All Sunday, and Ramamurthy as King Cobra have all been upped to series regulars for the third installment.
ONE PIECE Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix. Learn more about the cast of Season 2 here, and get intel on the Baroque Works agents chasing our crew through the Grand Line here.
Meet the Global Voices Behind Chopper in ONE PIECE Season 2