Video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOtKggG8aQs

Thanks to this Chapter, we now know that Jaygarcia Saturn is the name of one of the Gorosei! But if you’re a Japanese speaker, this name has massive consequences, as the specific kanji that is used and the secret etymology of the word “Gorosei” in Japanese is such a big deal that it may very well hold the secrets to both the identities of the Gorosei as well as the identity of Imu-Sama! So let’s break it down!

WHAT DOES “GOROSEI” MEAN?

So for starters, what does the word “Gorosei” even actually mean? Well, its etymology holds a massive secret that you likely never knew about if you don’t speak the language. So in Japanese, Gorosei is formed by three kanji: Go, Rou, and Sei. The first, Go, is quite simply the Japanese number 5, while the the term “rou” refers to “elder”. Which makes their name so far the “Five Elders”, the official English name Oda has used in the manga too. However, the final term is a lot more tricky, because it’s “sei”, which means “star”. This has led most to translating their names as “Five Elder Stars”, but that’s technically not correct. Because the word “sei” in Japanese does not just refer to stars.

You see, in English we tend to differentiate celestial bodies with different terms: we have stars, planets, satellites, etc. But in Japanese, at least in a non-scientific setting, a single word is used to encompass all of them: sei. This is mostly because in older times when this etymology was first made, there wasn’t such distinction, in the same way that in English we would also refer to planets as the “stars in the sky”. So “sei” can mean “stars”, but also “planets”, or “satellites”, essentially all and any celestial bodies we can see in the skies. So in this case their name isn’t translated as “Five Elder Stars”, but actually the “Five Elder Planets”. Which if we take into account this Gorosei’s name it suddenly starts to make a lot more sense.

But you see “Gorosei”, or the “Five Elder Planets” is actually referring to a very specific astrological element that existed in real life. This is because in ancient times, the necessary tools needed to be able to identify the planets in our solar system further away than Saturn did not yet exist. The three farthest planets of our solar system were only discovered in the past three centuries, which means that prior to that only the first 5 planets were visible and identified as such, which is why they are commonly referred to as the “Five Elder Planets”, or the five planets in the old astrological system. So the term Gorosei quite literally refers to how the planets of our solar system were classified in ancient times.

In fact this could potentially also be reflected in the One Piece world in the globe we saw at the Library of Ohara, which many mistake as being multiple moons, but actually are likely the one singular Moon in addition to, you guessed it, five elder planets that form the solar system.

However this goes way deeper, as this chapter reveals that one of the Gorosei is called “Jaygarcia Saturn Sei”. Now for starters, the “sei” here is commonly translated as “Saint”, as in case you didn’t know, the Gorosei were confirmed to be Celestial Dragons, the highest ranking among them. Though “Saint” isn’t really the most accurate translation in this context, as you could more directly translate it as “his holiness”, or quite literally just “god”, because it’s a Japanese title that refers to a god, someone holy. Which makes sense since the Celestial Dragons are currently considered the gods of this world rather than saints, so this “god” title is to indicate their holiness. Similarly, Mary Geoise is referred to as the “Holy Land Mary Geoise”, but a more literal name may be that of “God Land Mary Geoise”.

This would make this Gorosei, God Saturn, part of the Jaygarcia family, which would supposedly be one of the 20 founding families of the World Government, alongside the Nefertari and Donquixote families, as well as the Figarland if those are Celestial Dragons too. Interestingly, much like Donquixote, “Garcia” is a name of Spanish origin. But eitherway, as you may have realized “sei” is not just the word for “god”, because if written with different kanji, just like we mentioned before, “sei” becomes “Star”, or “Planet”. So quite literally Oda is likely using this term as a play on words as his name can be read as both “God Saturn” as well as “Planet Saturn”.

THE FIVE ELDER PLANETS AND THE TRINITY OF PLANES

So the obvious conclusion that you can come from this name is that, much like the name “Five Elder Planets” itself suggests, each of the Gorosei is named after the five elder planets that compose the ancient understanding of the solar system. While we can’t deduce the family names of the other ones yet of course, it’s a safe guess that their names will be “God Jupiter“, “God Mars”, “God Venus”, and “God Mercury”.

However, as you likely know, through modern science we discovered that the five elder planets are not the only planets of our solar system, as across the past centuries three additional planets were identified. Now it’s important to keep in mind that in 2006 the scientific community agreed that the last planet Pluton did not qualify for the standards of planet, so it was removed from the category of planet, but it should be noted that this decision was made well after the Gorosei were introduced in the manga. Meaning that the vision that Oda had of all the planets 20 years ago is still the old version where Pluton is still included, just to keep that in mind.

Which would leave us with the three final planets of the solar system: Uranus, Poseidon, and Pluton.

And those names should sound familiar because in One Piece these are the names of the three ancient weapons. And combining the Five Elder Planets with the three ancient weapons gives us all the planets of our solar system. This further adds up by the fact that the three ancient weapons, Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus, were all named after three gods within the One Piece world. But this goes double in the fact that the same holds true for our world, as Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus are not just the names of planets, but the names of three Greco-roman gods, which represent the trinity of the planes, being the skies, the oceans, and the underworld, above, middle, and below.

And this further extends to the five elder planets as well too, as all the planets in our system are named after the Greco-roman pantheon of gods. Now, keep in mind, both Greek and Roman pantheons technically have slightly different figures, each language featuring different names for them, which is why you may hear two differently interchangeable names, such as the planet Neptune sometimes being called “Poseidon”, but these gods are generally grouped together as the same figures, so let’s go down the list of each planet and each of the gods they represent:

For starters, as mentioned, the final three planets represent the trinity that ruled over the three planes:

• First, Pluton, or Pluto, alternatively also Hades, was the god of the underworld, associated with the afterlife and the dead
• Poseidon, or Neptune, was the god of the oceans, embodying the sea, storms, and earthquakes
• Uranus, or Caelus, was the god of the skies, associated with heaven and weather

Now as for the Five Elder Planets, they are also named after other Olympian gods:

• Saturn, or Cronus, was the god of time, as well as agriculture
• Jupiter, or Zeus, was the god of thunder, and also the chief of the Olympian gods
• Mars, or Ares, was the god of war, embodying both courage and bloodlust
• Venus, or Aphrodite, was the goddess of love, also including beauty and fertility
• And finally, Mercury, or Hermes, was the god of wealth, blessing both merchants and thieves alike

Furthermore, I think it’s also worth bringing up the Japanese names of the planets, as they are also likely to bear reference in the story. The five elder planets were originally named after elements that matched the color in which they appeared in the skies, named after the five elements of Eastern belief that surround the Yin and Yang:

• Mercury is called “Suisei”, or “Water Planet”
• Venus is called “Kinsei”, or “Metal Planet”
• Mars is called “Kasei”, or “Fire Planet”
• Jupiter is called “Mokusei”, or “Wood Planet”
• Saturn is called “Dosei”, or “Earth Planet”

However, the final three planets, since they were discovered in more recent times, were given names based on their Greco-roman counterparts translated in Japanese, referring to the trinity of gods and their respective plains:

• Uranus is “Tennousei”, or “Sky King Planet“
• Poseidon is “Kaiousei”, or “Sea King Planet”
• Pluton is “Meiousei”, or “Underworld King Planet”

Does that start to make more sense now? Shirahoshi is quite literally Poseidon because in Japanese the planet is called “Sea King Planet”, and Shirahoshi is the King of all Sea Kings. Similarly, Uranus can translate to “Sky King”, though “ten” can also be the heavens, while “mei” is the underworld but can also refer to darkness itself. Which makes sense since Pluton is said to be encased beneath the ground under Wano, and also means that Uranus is likely to be associated in some form, even if just vaguely, to the skies.

This would further the theory that all ancient weapons are actual people, or that at least there is always a necessary human key to each of the ancient weapons in order to use them. This is corroborated by the fact that the Gorosei mentioned how the borders of the Wano Country and the unleashing of Pluton could only be caused by Zunesha, who only Momonosuke can control. Meaning that Momonosuke is the stand-in for the god Pluton as he is the only person who Zunesha will obey, since it was noted that not even Oden could get Zunesha to listen to him, with Momo being the only person capable of unleashing Pluton upon the world, which is specifically why Yamato and Oden noted that it was essential for Momonosuke to stay alive for the sake of the Dawn of the World.

[ONE PIECE ODYSSEY SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH]

One Piece Odyssey even builds up further upon this, as it revealed in the game that in ancient times a tribe off-shoot from the Birkans also created a fourth additional ancient weapon of sorts, known as “God’s Breath”, or “Breath of the Gods”, said to be capable of destroying the world as well, though it likely was made more as a countermeasure outside of the original three ancient weapons. This weapon consisted of a giant technologically advanced robot in the shape of a goldfish which could control and unleash any type of weather. And similarly, it would only listen to the orders of a prominent figure within their culture, being the Sky Priestess, with the one that originally existed in the Void Century known by the name of Rita Suerte. Through technology of the ancient kingdom, Rita has made it all the way to the present story, being reborn under the form of the young girl Lim, now the new Sky Priestess. Something that matches fairly similarly the stories of people like Shirahoshi or Momonosuke, which also match being royal heirs of kingdoms who were part of the ancient kingdom, now reborn in the present to be guided by a new Joyboy to change the world and bring its Dawn.

THE SUN GOD

But if we’re talking about gods of the One Piece world, are we not forgetting about what is potentially the most important god of the series? Of course, that would be God Uso-

Sorry, I mean, of course that would be Nika, also called by some as the Sun God Nika. Which of course would complete the Pantheon as the most important element of the Solar System, being the “Sun” itself. And it’s fitting because Nike, occasionally called Nika, was also a goddess in Greek mythology, being the goddess of victory. Meaning that potentially during the Void Century, this is the pantheon of gods that people revered: The Trinity of Gods Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus, the Five Elder Gods Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, and most importantly the Sun God Nika.

THE EARTH GOD

But among all those we are leaving one final deity and one final planet behind: of course our home planet, the Earth. The Earth, or in Japanese Chikyu, quite literally “earth globe”, is also associated with a deity in Greco-roman mythology: Gaia, or Terra, the goddess of the Earth, also known as the mother of nature.

Does that sound familiar? Because of course, this is also a deity in the One Piece world. There is a figure that is quite literally called “Mother of Nature”, much like Gaia, that is referred to being the Sea itself. Or as it is called in Japanese, “Umi”. And when read backwards, the name Umi becomes… “Imu”.

Meaning that Imu-sama could quite veritably be the figure that some revered as the deity “Mother of Nature Umi”, placing it right alongside the Gorosei within the gods of the One Piece world. Leaving us with a pantheon composed by the Sun God and the Three Ancient Weapons on one side, and the Gorosei and Mother Nature Umi on the other. While modern technology proves that the 9 planets revolve around the Sun, in ancient times it was believed that the five elder planets revolved around the Earth, or in this case, Imu-sama, which explains why the Gorosei quite literally revolve around Mother Nature herself, Imu-sama.

WHO ARE THE GOROSEI?

So then, who exactly are the Gorosei? Well, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that they are beings from the Void Century, especially being named after its gods, but we still need to maintain the possibility that they are simply elected from the most prominent of Celestial Dragons to fulfill the position, thus inheriting the title of a planet as their new name. But still, the possibility that they may be perennially youthful beings who have been alive ever since the Void Century is certainly an alluring idea as well. Many people also believe Imu-sama to be a perennially youthful being form the Void Century, which would fit if they really are the Mother of Nature Umi, but this does bring into question as to how all 6 of them could be perennially youthful, as the Ope Ope no Mi can only grant that power to one person theoretically.

There’s a theory I really liked that we talked about in the last One Piece YouTuber Reverie, which was brought up by TheHiddenIsland, in which we discussed if the Gorosei could actually be satellites of Imu. After all, Vegapunk must’ve gotten the technology to split into satellites from the Void Century, meaning someone might’ve used it before back then. And it would be very fitting if the Gorosei so far were all parts of Imu-sama operating on their behalf, and would even explain why they are all perennially youthful. After all, satellites can also be called “sei”, so the Gorosei could quite literally be considered satellites much like the Punks. Really the only hole in this theory would be why would the Gorosei have family names that seem to be part of the Celestial Dragon families, but I’m sure that could be explained too.

WHO IS KING IMU?

Still though, if Imu-sama is the Mother of Nature Umi, this could potentially reframe a lot of the myth of the Void Century. Because Vegapunk said that according to myth, since Devil Fruits allow people to evolve way beyond what is naturally possible, these unnatural creations, or even more literally artificial creations, earned the ire of the mother of all things natural, the mother of nature, the sea Umi. This ire made the sea reject devil fruit users, causing them to drown within it.

When you think about it this makes a lot of sense, because all evolution started from the sea. Life on Earth first began in the water and then creatures moved onto land. So with devil fruits, as humanity evolved far into the future, the sea was so irritated by humans playing at being god by taking evolution into their own hands that it rejected them from going back into the sea. Quite literally, humans had evolved so far they could not go back, not being able to return to the water from where they first came from.

But of course that’s just what the myth says, and if Imu really is Umi, then that could reframe a lot of the truth. Because a more literal way to take this is that the ancient kingdom developing the technology of the devil fruits through the application of the bloodline elements earned the ire of Imu, who did something to paralyze them when they enter in water. And this becomes a lot more complicated when we go back to the original myth of devil fruits which was told to us by Shanks in Chapter 19, where he claimed that the devil’s fruits are all the incarnations of the Devil of the Sea. But the interesting thing is that here Shanks attributed the Devil as being “of the Sea”. I’ve been thinking about this for a long while, in fact I even talked about it three years ago in my fan manga Return to the Reverie where I said all of this word by word, but could this potentially mean that the Devil is actually… the Sea itself? Are the Devil and Imu… the same person?

Because when you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense. You see, when we are talking about gods, we have to think about the oldest gods of the Void Century: the Lunaria. Through their advanced technology, the Lunaria were able to develop such powerful bodies to the point that people began to call them as “gods”. As such, their home country came to be known as the “God Country” atop the Red Line. Some revered them as such, while others feared them or envied them. It is quite likely that this sky culture of “gods” is also the reason why Skypiea referred to their ruler under the position of “God” as well.

The thing is though, on the opposite side, the human kings who would later go on to become the Celestial Dragons were instead referred to as “devils”, as their deeds were so wicked and cruel that they were perceived by many as such. So if Imu, or Umi, who united and led the twenty kings under her to defeat the gods of the God Country and the Sun God, was known as the “Devil of the Sea”, it would fit perfectly.

Because after the Void Century history was rewritten and the roles were swapped. The twenty kings and Imu, originally branded as devils, went on to ascend to Mary Geoise to become the new “gods” of the world. Whereas the old gods, the people of the ancient kingdom, went on to become known as devils, an association that became given to anyone trying to unearth the true history, such as the “devils of Ohara”, or the “devil child Nico Robin”. Or in other words, they became the devils, the D. Clan, the “natural enemies of the gods”. One could surmise as such that the D. Clan is the Devil Clan, though personally I think that the D. meant something quite different, and this is simply the twisted meaning that the World Government would give it.

And suddenly everything makes sense. Because the God Country was replaced with the new God Land Mary Geoise. And have you never wondered what “Mary Geoise” actually means? “Geoise” is derived from the term bourgeoisie, which refers to the high class of society, or in other words someone up high in standing. However “geoise” here is written in the singular feminine form, meaning that it’s referring to a single female person high up in power. And who is this certain female? Well of course, Mary. Now you’d be forgiven to think that Mary is just a name of a person, but its etymology is rooted in Latin… deriving from the Latin word… for Sea.

So quite literally, Mary Geoise, refers to a female of high standing referred to as the Sea, or in other words, Umi, now known as Imu-sama.

But then, if the devil fruits originate from the Devil of the Sea, being called the incarnations of it, why would the Sea also later reject them? Or is it perhaps that as the King of all Devil Fruits, the Devil specifically made them all weak to the sea so that none could oppose them? There are so many questions to think about this that we simply don’t have enough information to answer yet, so we’ll have to keep piecing things one by one as the puzzle pieces of the Void Century are all falling into place.