One Piece: The manga confirms that the Holy Knights aren't Yonko Level

With the latest spoilers for mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series, fans saw the Holy Knights continue to establish control over Elbaph. More specifically, they did so not only by making an announcement to the country, but also capturing some of the Straw Hats. Gunko is primarily responsible for this, and even assaults her captors in the upcoming chapter 1147.

However, Saint Shepherd Sommers is seen telling her to stop this unnecessary abuse due to it not being a part of their mission and what it could lead to. The latest spoilers claim that Sommer specifically says that he doesn’t want to get in trouble by fighting a Yonko and their crew. While this seemingly references a fear of punishment on the surface, there’s likely a deeper meaning.

It’s likely that Oda is using Sommers’ words here to communicate that the Holy Knights are not Yonko level despite how impressive they are. The fact that Sommers, shown to be incredibly cruel and take great pleasure in being so, is advocating against abuse supports this. While fear of punishment may be at play here, it’s difficult to believe this would outweigh his sadism.

In turn, the only logical explanation for why Sommers is directing Gunko to not get involved with a Yonko crew is his knowing they can’t finish what she’d start. This is also further supported by additional comparative scaling from Yonko-level threats in One Piece’s Elbaph Arc. Unsurprisingly, the Accursed Prince of Elbaph is at the center of these comparisons.

Holy Knights’ handling of Loki in One Piece’s Elbaph Arc proves they aren’t Yonko level

Early on in the Elbaph Arc, it’s confirmed that Shanks was the only one able to defeat and restrain Loki. Shanks also became a Yonko around the same time he defeated Loki, suggesting that this victory earned him such recognition and status. In other words, Loki can be identified as a Yonko-level threat since it took a soon-to-be Yonko to defeat and restrain him.

Before Gunko and Shamrock readily attacked Loki, they attempted to convince him to join them. In other words, they preferred to bring Elbaph’s ex-prince over to their side rather than make an enemy of him. While they still attacked him after he rejected their offer, it doesn’t change the fact that they clearly viewed making him an ally preferable to him being an enemy or neutral party.

This suggests that, despite how strong One Piece’s Holy Knights are, they still aren’t Yonko-level if they felt Loki’s help was necessary to achieve their goals. If they were a Yonko-level force, then recruiting Loki to their cause would serve no major benefit. While it would certainly further secure their victory, it wouldn’t be what guarantees their victory.

Gunko’s dialogue about fearing Nika more than anything earlier in One Piece’s Elbaph Arc further supports this idea given Monkey D. Luffy’s Devil Fruit is Nika Fruit. She is implicitly and effectively saying that what she fears most is Luffy, one of the Yonko. Since one would naturally fear what is stronger or more powerful than them, Oda’s true meaning behind Gunko’s words here is clear.

Final thoughts

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With the Holy Knights clearly going out of their way to avoid earning Luffy’s ire, Oda is likely communicating how they stack up to Yonko-level fighters. Loki being recruited to the Holy Knights further supports this, as his history with Shanks confirms him to be a Yonko-level fighter. Fans can expect to see this confirmed when Luffy finally returns to the Sun World.

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