If there’s one thing certain about the adventures of the Straw Hats, is that you never know where they’re going to end up next!

Join us on this adventure with the Straw Hats as they journey through some non-canon adventures and then into the sky itself in search of the mythical Sky Island!

Sky Island Saga | Summary & Recap

Goat Island Arc (Filler)

While being pursued by three Marine ships led by Officer Minchey, the Straw Hat Pirates spot foggy waters ahead filled with dangerous reefs and whirlpools. Nami, the crew's skilled navigator, decides to steer the Going Merry into these treacherous waters to lose their pursuers.

As cannonballs fly around them, Luffy, Chopper and Usopp seem more focused on their hunger than the attack, while Sanji secretly serves food to Robin. Nami yells at them to focus, but Zoro points out the fog ahead, and for once time ever they decide to follow Zoro’s direction.

The Going Merry deftly maneuvers through the rocks and currents, causing two of the chasing Marine ships to crash into each other and become damaged. Minchey is informed these are Class-One Danger Zone waters, making pursuit impossible. Though one marine suggests continuing the chase, Minchey withdraws, knowing Captain Moore ordered the Straw Hats' capture.

Arriving at Goat Island, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp chase after a goat to eat until they are surrounded by a herd of goats. As Zoro and Sanji prepare to fight back, Chopper talks to the goats and learns an old man ordered the trap. They find the old man and Zoro cuts away the branches trapping him, but the shock causes his heart to stop. The goats lead them to the old man's home where he revives.

To make up for the scare, the old man orders the crew to do chores. Zoro explores the island and finds a pirate ship strangely stranded atop a mountain. Though confused, the Straw Hats decide to leave and avoid the work. But Chopper learns the old man only has three days to live, so they stay to fulfill his wishes, including building his coffin-shaped boat.

The old man reveals he is Zenny, a former pirate who also lent money to others. After stealing treasure long ago, he washed up here with his riches which the goats ate. Meanwhile, Minchey learns of Zenny's history and sets a trap to capture his rumored wealth and the Straw Hats.

On the third day Zenny didn't die as was expected and the Straw Hats prepare to leave, but Nami lost their ship gambling with Zenny. Robin ends up beating Zenny at chess to reclaim the Going Merry. Zenny remarks he's never met such delightful pirates and they celebrate.

The next morning, Marines arrive led by Minchey, who discourages a fight, claiming he only wants the Straw Hats to leave, but the crew realizes it's a lie. Zenny launches down the mountain in his coffin boat to attack Minchey's ship. The Straw Hats and Zenny defeat the Marines and stop Minchey's betrayal; it is revealed that Zenny’s fortune was eaten by his goats, which he now considers to be his biggest treasures.

To repay them, Captain Moore allows the Straw Hats to pick the location for their next encounter. Luffy chooses the rocky fog, and Moore's ships become trapped and wrecked.

Ruluka Island Arc (Filler)

The Ruluka Island Arc begins with the Straw Hats barely escaping a fleet of Marine ships led by Major Rapanui Pasqua and Isoka. Their ship, the Going Merry, makes its way to Ruluka Island, ruled by a dictator and former pirate who overtaxes the people to construct the Rainbow Tower.

On the island, scientist Henzo conducts research on the mysterious Rainbow Mist, sponsored by the crooked mayor Wetton, a former pirate. The Going Merry, carrying all but Sanji, Nami, and Chopper, gets caught in the Rainbow Mist. There, the crew discovers a group of children whom have been trapped for years.

Upon discovering an escape route, the Straw Hat crew surfaces, only to encounter a group of marines who, astonishingly, turn out to be the children they once helped. These grown-up individuals explain their mission to apprehend the Straw Hats. However, due to the cells being occupied by the detained Wetton and his gang, the Straw Hats are permitted to go free.

With their departure from Ruluka Island, our heroes set off on a new adventure, but their journey takes an unexpected turn when a ship plummets from the sky.

Jaya Arc

Reaching For The Skies

With their Log Pose directing them straight upward and the ship that fell from the sky, Robin explains this phenomenon means they are being drawn towards a rare Sky Island - an island floating high above in the sky.

Luffy is thrilled at the prospect of exploring a fantastical floating island in the clouds. He imagines magnificent waterfalls cascading from island to island and dreams of looking down on the world below from such great heights.

While investigating the ruins of an enormous ancient ship that fell from the sky named the St. Briss, they discover an old map and books describing a place called Skypiea, solidifying evidence of these mythical sky islands. Hungry for adventure, the Straw Hats decide to aggressively salvage the wreckage for more clues about how to get there.

But their exploration is interrupted by Masira, a salvage pirate who claims all shipwrecks in this area as his own property. Angered by the Straw Hats trespassing on "his" wreck, Masira begins rapidly salvaging the St. Briss before they can investigate further.

This prompts Luffy, Zoro and Sanji to physically attack Masira's crew underwater as they work. Chaos ensues until a massive turtle suddenly appears and swallows the St. Briss whole before they can recover anything useful!

Though they escaped the giant turtle, Robin stealthily stole an Eternal Pose leading to the nearby Jaya island from Masira's ship before it descended. She deduces Jaya may hold clues about reaching these mythical sky islands.

Arriving at Jaya's lawless port town Mock Town, the Straw Hats encounter the Bellamy Pirates, led by the arrogant and cocky Bellamy. He overheard them talking about sky islands and ruthlessly ridicules the crew for believing in such foolish fairytales and chasing empty dreams.

Bellamy explains that in this "New Age" of piracy, only what's right in front of you matters. Searching for things like treasure maps to Cities of Gold is absurd when real treasure is everywhere for the taking.

To demonstrate his might, he violently stabs the hand of rival pirate Roshio the Executioner over a poker dispute, then shoots him dead. Zoro prepares to fight the murderous Bellamy, but Luffy insists they stand down for now.

A Pirate’s Dream

At a tavern in Mock Town, Bellamy continues mocking the Straw Hats' dreams and assaults them for believing in myths like sky islands. He attempts to temper Luffy's defiant spirit by forcing him to abandon his unrealistic ambitions.

Though Nami urges Luffy to fight back and defend his dreams, he calmly endures the abuse, recalling how his idol Shanks once chose not to fight back when attacked. Luffy's wise restraint against adversity impresses Blackbeard, a pirate who encourages Luffy to maintain faith in his goals.

Venturing inland, the Straw Hats meet Montblanc Cricket, a descendant of "Liar Noland," an infamous adventurer who told fanciful tales of a City of Gold. Cricket has dedicated his life to proving Noland's stories true, nearly killing himself in the process with dangerous diving attempts to find evidence of this mythical city.

Admiring Cricket's tireless determination, the Straw Hats offer to help him pursue his ancestor's legends by riding the massive updraft Knock Up Stream into the skies to find any sky islands that exist.

Cricket's salvage allies, Masira and Shoujou, assist in modifying the Going Merry to withstand the turbulent Knock Up Stream. Bellamy overhears that Cricket found some gold relics in his diving, and viciously attacks him and steals his hard-earned gold treasures, nearly killing Cricket.

A furious Luffy marches back to Mock Town and confronts Bellamy, who arrogantly dismisses Luffy's new 100 million bounty poster as fraudulent. But with one devastating punch, Luffy defeats Bellamy and reclaims Cricket's stolen gold, proving his wanted reputation and bounty is very real.

A Huge World

With preparations complete and a south bird to guide them, the Straw Hats courageously ride the monstrously huge Knock Up Stream up into the skies above. There they glimpse an astounding winged ship sailing through the clouds in the White Sea of the sky. Their incredible mission to reach the legendary sky island is finally beginning!

Meanwhile, critical events unfold around the Grand Line. Ace tracks down Buggy the Clown, who remains bitter about Ace's past defeat of him, and offers to help search for his brother Luffy. Though Buggy is initially unhappy to see Ace, they agree to work together.

The great pirate Shanks attempts to politely request a meeting with Whitebeard by letter, but Whitebeard angrily destroys the message and demands Shanks speak with him face-to-face. Shanks agrees to prepare for this long-awaited discussion.

At Marine HQ, the World Government and Warlords convene to discuss replacing Crocodile after his defeat. Shockingly, Blackbeard Pirates member Laffitte crashes the meeting to arrogantly nominate his still unknown captain for the role.

When Blackbeard later hears of Luffy's impressive 100 million bounty, he decides to finally make his move on the upstart rookie. But before Blackbeard can act, the Straw Hats are propelled skyward, far beyond his reach for now.

Skypiea Arc

After riding the Knock Up Stream into the sky, the Straw Hats find themselves drifting in a new ocean in the clouds. They're suddenly ambushed by a mysterious masked man riding the clouds. Just when all seems hopeless, veteran knight Gan Fall shows up, saving them and explaining the challenges of fighting in the thin air. He hands the Straw Hats a whistle, instructing them to blow it if they need his help, before he leaves.

At Heaven's Gate, they're ordered to pay 1 billion "extols" each to enter, but that currency is foreign to them. Going in anyway marks them as criminals in Skypiea. On Angel Island, Conis and Pagaya greet them and explain the powers of these strange things called Dials. While testing out a waver jet ski, Nami accidentally veers into the off-limits Upper Yard territory, sparking Luffy's desire for adventure there.

On the shore, White Beret officers led by McKinley accuse them of being criminals and demand exorbitant fees. After Luffy easily knocks them out, the crew's threat level increases, attracting the priests' attention. Suddenly, a massive shrimp grabs their ship and hauls it up to an altar in Upper Yard's forbidden zone.

Deceived by Conis, Luffy's group goes to Lovely Street where she reveals it was a trick under God Enel's orders, earning his lightning strike. But they proceed into Upper Yard's dangers regardless.

Battling for the Forbidden City of Gold

In Upper Yard, some Straw Hats face sinister trials by Enel's priests while desperately dodging giant predators and lethal traps. Zoro's group makes a shocking find - Upper Yard is the missing golden city from Jaya's lore, catapulted skyward long ago. Priest Shura later ambushes Chopper and the ship until former Skypiea leader (the official title is "God"), Gan Fall, heroically intervenes. Somehow, the badly busted ship is completely fixed overnight.

Sharing intel, the Straw Hats strategize to have one stealthy group infiltrate the ancient golden city ruins seeking treasures, while the others escape Skypiea with Gan Fall. At a wild celebratory bonfire, Gan Fall explains the sacred value of Vearth soil in Skypiea's history before warning them about alerting enemies.

Meanwhile, Shandia leader Wyper attempts to seize Upper Yard from the priests but bails from their powerful abilities. With a survival game kicking off, both the Shandia and Straw Hats advance into the island. After intense battles, the united pirates prepare to sneak into the legendary lost city and swipe its gold before leaving Skypiea.

The Survival Game Begins

Luffy's group heads for the gold city but encounters a giant python that separates them, with only Robin staying on the right path. On the ship, Gan Fall recounts Skypiea's history and demonstrates the Impact Dial's power.

Meanwhile, the Shandia battle Priest Shura and his Ordeal of String before Wyper defeats him with a Reject Dial. Enel then releases his 50 Divine Soldiers led by Yama to fight the Shandia.

Various battles unfold - Zoro defeats Shandia warrior Braham, while Luffy battles Wyper until being eaten by the python. Chopper defeats Priest Gedatsu, causing him to fall into the Blue Sea and Robin defeats Yama in the ancient ruins.

On the ship, Enel electrocutes Sanji and Usopp before Hotori and Kotori get revenge and instead the two are defeated by Nami and Gan Fall. As Aisa tries reaching Upper Yard, she is rescued by Conis and Pagaya, who later meet Nami on the ship.

The battles continue as the Survival Game participants dwindle. After Robin reaches the gold city to find no gold, she learns a Poneglyph is on the golden bell. Chopper encounters Priest Ohm, who badly wounds him, while Nami and Aisa escape the python but end up lost in the jungle.

Escalating Tensions

Wyper and Gan Fall arrive at Ohm's domain, where Zoro also lands. As they battle, Nami and Aisa arrive but are saved from Wyper by Gan Fall and Pierre before being eaten by the python.

Inside the python's stomach, the group finds Luffy in there too. Meanwhile, in the city ruins, Robin tells Enel about the gold bell, intriguing him. Enel attacks his soldier and Pagaya before destroying the clouds above, sending Zoro, Wyper and the python falling.

With six survivors left, Enel asks who should be eliminated, and they unanimously decide it should be Enel himself. Enel then explains his goal to reach Fairy Vearth, a theoretical endless land where God should live. Despite Gan Fall's attack, he is defeated, thus making Enel's prediction of the final five survivors come true.

The Final Showdowns

When Robin protests destroying Skypiea, Enel attacks her for being manipulative. Zoro fights back but Wyper disables Enel's powers with Seastone and seemingly kills him with the Reject Dial before Enel revives.

Left with just Nami, Enel reveals his escape plan - the flying Ark Maxim powered by his electricity and the city's gold. Meanwhile, Luffy's group escapes the python as Aisa offers to guide Luffy with her Mantra.

On Angel Island, Conis tries convincing people to evacuate, earning her the label of being a heretic until the White Berets restored order, letting her guide the Straw Hats' escape.

Luffy finally reaches Enel, and as they begin to battle, in an anticlimactic turn of events, Enel is completely unable to damage Luff due to his rubber Devil Fruit powers.

Their intense battle escalates as Enel unleashes Deathpiea, a thunderstorm generated by Enel's lightning devil fruit, and amplified with the Ark Maxim. Luffy manages to gain an advantage in the battle, but Enel knocks him back down to Upper Yard.

Undeterred, Luffy ascends the beanstalk, engaging in a final showdown with Enel. Ultimately, Luffy overpowers the tyrant, hurling him into the golden bell, symbolizing victory and unity among Skypieans and Shandia, while revealing Skypiea's existence to the world below.

Aftermath and Celebration

With Enel and the giant golden bell fallen into the clouds below, the sky clears over Skypiea. Everyone gathers on Upper Yard as the Shandia warriors recover and Pagaya is revealed to be alive. Those forced to build Enel's Ark Maxim reunite with their families.

That night, Wyper awakens and tries to convince his chief they must keep fighting to control Upper Yard. The chief explains that war is far from everyone's minds, and it's a time to celebrate; Wyper sees his friends and former foes rejoicing together.

Meanwhile, on his ark, Enel awakes and decides to continue to the moon alone, to head to the mythical "Fairy Vearth." Skypieans, Shandians, and pirates celebrate the end of the war.

The next day, they find the golden bell caught in the fallen beanstalk. In unity, Shandians and Skypeople work together to raise it up. On the bell's base is a Poneglyph that Robin deciphers, learning the location of the ancient weapon Poseidon. With this, the Shandians no longer need to protect the bell and can end their fighting.

To Robin's surprise, a message from Gol D. Roger also exists on the gold. She realizes the Rio Poneglyph is on Laugh Tale. As thanks, the Skypieans offer a massive pillar of gold from the belfry which Robin accepts.

Departing Skypiea

Using his with and deception, Usopp trades some rubber bands (pretending they're from Luffy's triumph over Enel) for some of the island's Dials. Meanwhile, in the snake, the crew "steals" a bunch of gold they found there. Upon seeing Robin with the pillar, the Straw Hats think they are being attacked and flee.

Led by Conis and Pagaya, they reach Cloud End and return to the Blue Sea, aided by an octopus balloon.

Back on the ocean, their adventures continue. In the anime they land at G-8; in the manga they land at open sea. Finally, Gan Fall is made "God" of Skypiea once again.

G-8 Arc (Filler)

When the Straw Hats land at the enormous marine base G-8, they're forced to abandon their ship as countless marines surround it. Separated, the crew disguises themselves as marines to escape the assault. To their horror, this marine base is comprised of a huge mountain surrounded entirely by water and towering sheer rock cliffs.

Sanji and Luffy disguise themselves as the famous Marley Brothers cooks who coincidentally arrived at G-8 the same time as the Straw Hats. Sanji immediately falls for Jessica, the attractive head cook, and tries to impress her with his superior cooking skills after she insults his food.

Nami escapes on her Waver jet ski disguised as a lowly janitor. She deliberately misdirects the real Marley Brothers, causing them to become hopelessly lost in the maze-like fortress. She also accidentally gets Zoro captured by the laid-back Vice Admiral Jonathan, G-8's base commander.

Usopp and Robin initially stick together but split up when Usopp insists they flee while Robin advocates gathering intel. She knocks out Special Investigator Shepherd, who had arrived to expose G-8's uselessness as a "peace crazy" base which rarely deals with threats.

Usopp disguises himself as a rookie marine but is quickly exposed by the vigilant Lieutenant Drake, one of Jonathan's top men. When Robin arrives disguised as Shepherd, Usopp futilely claims to be her blundering assistant before Robin outs him. He's thrown in the brig with Zoro and the real Shepherd.

Chopper hides himself in a crate of medical supplies and ends up helping Dr. Kobato, a pediatrician afraid of blood, operate on injured marines while all the other doctors are away. Nami reunites with Chopper, disguising herself as a nurse.

Luffy and Sanji attempt to free Zoro from prison but fall into a clever ambush set by Lt. Drake on Jonathan's orders. After blowing open the cell, they escape but are relentlessly pursued onto a massive bridge by Drake's "Hot Wind Marines" before plunging into the ocean.

At Dock 88, the crew takes Dr. Kobato hostage to escape onto the Going Merry, hiding it in an abandoned dock. Usopp uses junk to disguise Merry as a naval ship. The crew splits up to retrieve their gold and Nami's Waver but are ambushed yet again until the bumbling Shepherd accidentally opens the door, allowing them to escape.

Nami and Luffy sneak into Jonathan's plush office and boldly steal back their gold. But at 9pm, the inner lake becomes too shallow, stranding Merry on reef. Using their new Dials and an octopus balloon, the crew blasts off over the walls under cover of darkness, finally escaping the relentless forces of G-8.

Sky Island Saga | Review & Analysis

A Controversial Saga

The Sky Island Saga takes the Straw Hats adventure beyond the sea and into the skies, where they explore legends and lost history. It is quite a creative leap for the series, but remains a very controversial saga among fans.

The saga expands on One Piece’s world and potential tremendously despite there being major pacing issues. The imaginative worldbuilding is fantastic, introducing the mystical Mantra ability and Vearth.

One Piece Villains

One of the best ways you can judge a saga or arc is for how good their villains are, and the Sky Island saga has some really strong points here. For one, Enel is simply excellent, his powers are above and beyond all prior villains, and would have been a complete victory for Enel if Luffy was not quite literally the only person unaffected by his powers.

But even the secondary villain of the saga, Bellamy, is an excellent character. Even though his appearance is short, he is as effective for the story as a secondary villain can be. Not to mention that there’s also the brief moment where Luffy meets the mysterious pirate who turned out to be Blackbeard, one of the main antagonist for the rest of the series, and in many ways, Luffy’s rival.

Oda's Creative World

The new environments, culture and lore showcase Oda's worldbuilding abilities and creativity. Even though some characters like Zoro and Nami are underused throughout the saga, Usopp and Sanji get some chances to shine making it a decent saga in terms of participation for the other crew members. 

Many criticize this saga for being too slow and “irrelevant”, and while the pacing complaints are justified, this saga becomes more important as more time passes in the series. The foundations it lays are key for the develovement of the story moving forward.

Though imperfect, the saga is fun and it builds and expands on the world of One Piece. Not to mention that it has pretty much one of the best filler arcs in the entire series, the G-8 arc.

Overall, the Sky Island Saga gets a well-deserved 8/10

Final Score: 8/10