Brook’s flashback just took its darkest turn yet, and One Piece Chapter 1185 ends on one of the most gut-wrenching images the Final Saga has given us so far.
The chapter picks up right where Brook’s story left off. After Chapter 1184 showed us how Prince Reuven pulled a young Brook out of poverty and gave him a future in music, this chapter slows down to spend real time inside the Esperia Palace.
We watch Brook train under Candelle, the kingdom’s royal guard, who teaches him swordsmanship alongside basic etiquette. Alongside that, we get a quieter, sweeter thread: Brook’s growing friendship with Shuri. At one point, Candelle opens up to Brook about her feelings for Reuven, admitting she loves him but is perfectly happy serving as his guard instead of pursuing anything more.
It’s a warm, almost peaceful stretch of pages. Which makes everything that follows hit so much harder.
What Happens at the End of One Piece Chapter 1185
The mood shifts the moment a World Government ship, escorted by a Celestial Dragon, arrives in Esperia. Not long after, Candelle falls seriously ill. She eventually recovers, and in a moment that briefly feels like a happy turning point, Reuven announces their engagement.
Then time skips forward. A strange fog rolls over Esperia and doesn’t leave. It lingers for years, slowly wrecking the health of the people and ruining the musical instruments on which the kingdom’s economy depends. With Esperia unable to pay its tribute to the Celestial Dragons, the World Government delivers its ultimatum: hand over the citizens as slaves.
Reuven refuses. He chooses to fight back, and that decision drags Esperia into a war that ends with the kingdom engulfed in flames.
That’s the backdrop Brook runs into. He rushes toward the palace to report what’s happening outside, and what he finds there is the chapter’s final, brutal image: Shuri, mid-stab, with Reuven beneath her. The very last page pulls back to show both of them transformed, with demon-like wings and horns visible on each of them. It’s the kind of ending that makes you flip back to the start of the chapter just to process the whiplash.
Is Domi Reversi Behind Shuri’s Betrayal?
That wing-and-horn imagery immediately points toward Domi Reversi, the still-unexplained power Imu used against Loki and Luffy earlier in the Final Saga. Oda hasn’t spelled out what Domi Reversi actually does, but the timing here feels deliberate. If Shuri and Reuven were both affected by it in that final moment, then Esperia’s destruction might not be a straightforward story of war and tribute. There could be something working underneath all of it, something Oda is saving for later.
That reading also recontextualizes everything we just spent the chapter falling in love with. Shuri and Brook’s friendship, Candelle’s quiet devotion to Reuven, and the kingdom’s slow unraveling. If neither Shuri nor Reuven were fully themselves in that final moment, the tragedy of Esperia becomes even heavier.
What This Means for Brook’s Story
This is shaping up to be one of the most painful backstories Oda has written, and it’s easy to see why. Whatever Brook witnessed in that palace clearly stayed with him long before he ever picked up a guitar with the Rumbar Pirates or joined the Straw Hats.
For now, fans are left sitting with the image of Shuri and Reuven’s transformation. One Piece is taking a two-week break after Chapter 1185, so any answers about Domi Reversi, Esperia’s fate, or what really happened to Shuri will have to wait until June 28.
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