Episode of Sky Island

Episode of Sky Island is a television special of the One Piece anime. It is an abridged and slightly-edited retelling of the Sky Island Saga, including the Jaya and Skypiea Arcs.
==Short Summary==
The Straw Hats discover that their next island on the Grand Line is Skypiea, an island floating in the sky. After using a current to travel to the island, they liberate the country from the tyrannical false god Enel.
==Long Summary==
===Investigation in Jaya===
After accepting former Baroque Works officer Nico Robin as a permanent crew member, the Straw Hats sail to their next destination. However, they witness a full-sized ship fall from the sky. Nami also finds that her Log Pose points straight up, indicating that their next island is a sky island. Despite being eager to visit a sky island, the Straw Hats lack the means to do so, they stop at the island of Jaya to find a way.
Docking in Mock Town, they travel to the other side of the island to meet Mont Blanc Cricket, a man who they believed would have knowledge about the Skypiea. Upon meeting with Cricket, they discover that his ancestor, Mont Blanc Noland, interacted with a tribe that later mysteriously disappeared. Noland suspected that the tribe may have been moved to the sky, suggesting the existence of a sky island.
Members of Cricket's pirate alliance equip the Going Merry with the improvements needed to reach Skypiea. Riding a Knock Up Stream, a powerful, vertical water current, the Straw Hats successfully reached the clouds, being able to ride on top of the clouds to the Skypiean mainland.
===Entry into Skypiea===
Upon reaching the coast, they met mercenary and "Knight of the Sky" Gan Fall, as well as a woman named Conis. They discover dials, a powerful technology from Skypiea that serve a variety of purposes. They discover that Skypiea is ruled by the god Enel who is served by four priests.
One of the priests, Satori, confronts the Straw Hats and punishes them with the "Ordeal of Balls" for their illegal entry into the island. Using various Surprise Balls, clouds which release random objects when touched, Satori battles Sanji, Usopp and Luffy. Inside his gloves are Impact Dials, dials that release shockwaves, and he also uses Mantra to predict his opponents' moves. Despite this, Luffy manages to restrain Satori, and Sanji defeats him with Concassé, knocking him unconscious.
As they were battling, the Going Merry is carried away by a Speedy Shrimp with Chopper on it. Nami, Conis, Robin and Zoro pursue the ship. The ship is taken to Upper Yard, Enel's home, where the ship is offered on the Sacrificial Altar as a sacrifice. Chopper meets the priest, "Sky Rider" Shura, who uses a lance heated with a Flame Dial to damage the ship. Gan Fall arrives at Chopper's aid, but he finds himself unable to move. Shura introduces his "Ordeal of String," where he uses String Clouds to restrain his victims.
Members of the Shandian tribe, a group of guerilla fighters who rebel against Enel's reign, hear Satori's battle and rush fight the priests. Battling the two remaining priests, Gedatsu and Ohm, the tribe leader, Wyper, reaches Shura near the altar. After a brief duel, Wyper defeats Shura with a Reject Dial, a more powerful version of an Impact Dial.
===Shandian===
The history of the Shandian tribe is revealed. Initially part of the island of Jaya below four hundred years prior, the tribe was afflicted by a mysterious disease. Believing the disease to be a curse, the tribe leader Kalgara attempted to sacrifice a young girl to Kashigami, a snake they believed to be a god. However, explorer Mont Blanc Noland arrived and stopped the sacrificial ritual, killing Kashigami and saving the girl.
Noland revealed that the disease was curable using conine, a substance from the Kona tree. Cured of their disease, the Shandian tribe initially treated Noland with hospitality, showing the explorers vast quantities of gold that were in the region. However, the Shandian tribe discovered that Noland cut down a forest of sacred trees, as Noland deduced that the infected trees were causing the illness. Due to the misunderstanding, Noland was expelled from the island.
Kalgara eventually discovered the truth about the disease, shouting to Noland at the shore to return. Noland agreed, and reported his findings to his king. However, when he returned, he found that the section of the island containing the Shandian tribe had disappeared entirely. Believing that Noland had deceived the king, authorities arrested him and he was executed for his crimes.
In the present day, the Straw Hats discover that Shandia had not disappeared, but was torn away from the island of Jaya and launched into the sky by a Knock Up Stream. The tribe, now led by Kalgara's descendant, Wyper, now aim to liberate Skypiea from Enel's reign and ring the Light of Shandora, a bell.
===Beginning of the "Survival Game"===
Gan Fall explains to the Straw Hats that he was initially the god of Skypiea, but Enel arrived from another island and usurped the throne, enslaving many of Gan Fall's officers. Enel appears on the Going Merry, revealing his Devil Fruit ability which allowing him to manipulate electricity. After knocking out Usopp and Sanji, he declares a "survival game," in which Enel's officers, Shandian forces and the Straw Hats would all battle, leaving only five winners out of seventy-five.
The game begins, and many combatants on all sides would be eliminated in battle. Chopper defeats Gedatsu, causing him to fall into the Blue Sea below. Enel unleashes his attack, 1,000,000 Volt Vari, instantaneously eliminating twenty people with electricity. Zoro is then kidnapped by a bird and thrown into an arena halfway up a giant beanstalk against Ohm, who battles against him in the "Ordeal of Iron." Although Ohm's Eisen Whip can change shape as its blade is made of Iron Clouds, Zoro managed to break through the Eisen Whip, defeating Ohm.
Enel releases Sango, eliminating all survivors except for just six people who were on the beanstalk cloud, including himself. After he defeats Gan Fall, he congratulates the remaining four survivors, and as a reward, Enel allows them all to ride on his ship, the Maxim, to his next destination, the Fairy Vearth. Robin, Zoro and Wyper all refuse to ride with Enel, so he strikes all three of them down before taking Nami to the Maxim.
===Battle on the Maxim===
Although Enel previously believed there were only five survivors, it is revealed that Luffy was unharmed by Enel's attack due to him being made of rubber, a natural insulator. Luffy climbs up the beanstalk and onto the Maxim, where Enel's lightning attacks are ineffective against Luffy. So, Enel activates the Maxim, sending it flying into the air. Using Enel's Raigo technique, the Maxim creates a spherical cloud, destroying all of Angel Island below. He then encases Luffy's arm in a large ball of gold before kicking him off the Maxim. Finally, he creates an even stronger Raigo cloud, intending to destroy all of Skypiea with it.
Wyper uses his Reject Dial on the beanstalk, knocking it over towards the Maxim. This allows Nami and Luffy to ride up the beanstalk. Luffy jumps and uses the gold attached to his arm to destroy the Raigo cloud, preventing it from destroying Skypiea. He then strikes Enel off the Maxim, crushing him into the Light of Shandora bell and ringing it. The bell's ringing is heard down below by Cricket, fulfilling the promise made four hundred years prior.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
==Anime Notes==
*An anime version of Namie Amuro is seen with the Straw Hats during the credits.
**She also has a bounty of 25,000,000 as shown on her bounty poster. This is to reference to her 25-year career as a singer, in which she will retire as a singer at the end of September 2018.
*This is the second special to be an abbreviation of an entire saga, with Episode of East Blue of the East Blue Saga being the first.
*Bellamy, the Bellamy Pirates, the Blackbeard Pirates (minus Marshall D. Teach), Amazon, Pagaya, McKinley and the White Berets, the Going Merry's Klabautermann, and Mochi do not appear during the special, despite having roles during the arcs the special is based on.
**Masira, Shoujou, and Yama made only a cameo appearance.
*Nami is wearing her Arlong Park Arc outfit in the beginning.
*Some of the key plot points of the Jaya Arc have changed:
**The Straw Hat Pirates and Masira's salvage missions are omitted.
**The fight with the Bellamy Pirates is omitted.
**The introduction of the Blackbeard Pirates is omitted.
**Masira and Shoujou arriving at Mont Blanc Cricket's house and the introduction of the Saruyama Alliance are omitted.
**The search for the South Bird is omitted.
**The rematch against Bellamy is omitted.
**The Blackbeard Pirates giving chase during the Knock Up Stream is omitted.
*Some of the key plot points of the Skypiea Arc have changed:
**The Straw Hats being attacked by Wyper and meeting Gan Fall and Pierre are omitted. The crew instead meet the two on Angel Beach.
**The Straw Hats' journey from the White Sea to the White-White sea has changed, and the Straw Hats' crime for which they are charged is invasion. Furthermore, instead of Amazon asking for the entrance fee, they are carried there by a Speedy Shrimp.
**Conis' introduction has changed to her being chased by Sky Beasts and rescued by Gan Fall and the Straw Hats.
**Nami test driving the Waver is shortened, and she does not travel to Upper Yard and witness the priests' judgment.
**The Speedy Shrimp takes the Merry to the altar with only Chopper and Su on-board, with Nami following on the Waver, while Zoro, Robin, and Conis travel by another Dial Boat.
**The location of Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji's fight against Satori during the Ordeal of Balls has been changed to Angel Beach.
**The fights between Shura and Gan Fall, and Shura and Wyper has merged to occur after his attack on the Merry as well as happening parallel to the Ordeal of Balls fight.
**Several Shandians are attacked by Holy, Ohm, and Gedatsu.
**The party with the Cloud Wolves and Usopp seeing the Klabautermann repairing the Merry are omitted.
**Gan Fall explaining the Impact Dials by having Sanji attack the dial with a huge sledgehammer is omitted.
**Enel's game has been shown in clips, including the fights between Robin and Yama, Zoro and Braham, Nami and Hotori and Kotori, and several Divine Soldiers and Shandians.
**The Ordeal of Swamp and Ordeal of Iron are only briefly seen instead of being major fights for Chopper and Zoro respectively.
**Since Conis remained on the Going Merry when Enel attacked, she learns about Enel's plot here, instead of later on due to the removal of her father Pagaya and Enel's former soldier who warned them in the original storyline from the special.
**Aisa's role had been severely reduced and she never meets nor befriends Luffy and Nami since she never left the Shandian village on her own. As a result, her ability to use Mantra was never revealed in the special.
**The part of Gan Fall, Pierre, Nami, and Aisa also being swallowed by Nola was omitted.
**Robin discovering the information about the Poneglyph on the Shandorian Golden Belfry Bell is omitted.
**Wyper briefly killing Enel is omitted.
**The Angel Island residents attacking Conis is omitted.
**Gan Fall is used in place of McKinley to help Conis convince the Angel Island residents to evacuate and he and Pierre stay with them and the Shandians until the battle is over instead of with the Straw Hats.
*The credits show the end of the Duel on Banaro Island and the NAMIE AMURO×ONE PIECE collaborative live movie of Hope from Namie Amuro's farewell tour, "namie amuro Final Tour 2018 〜Finally〜", shown in Asia and at the Tokyo Dome.
**The digital release removes the live movie due to licensing issues and was replaced with various clips.
==Trivia==
*As part of the celebration for One Piece Film: Red returning to cinemas in Japan, Episode of Sky Island became available to watch on August 31, 2023 for a limited time on the official One Piece Youtube channel.
==References==
==Arc Navigation==
==Site Navigation==
es:Episodio de la Isla del Cielo
fr:Épisode de Skypiea
pt:Episódio de Skypiea
ru:Эпизод Небесного острова
zh:空島特別篇
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