Gunko's Actual Rank (ch. 1191+) and the implications for Holy Knights in the Future

Gunko's Actual Rank (ch. 1191+) and the implications for Holy Knights in the Future.

After chapter 1186, despite being a Holy Knight, it's very likely that current day Gunko

1. Has the Abyssal Covenant, same as the Gorosei

2. Has a beast transformation just like the Gorosei and we already partly saw it

3. If Gunko has a different contract, it has implications on the lack of an 8th Holy Knight but still leaves a slot for another unknown knight.

Part 1

• Gunko is the only Holy knight that doesnt age, like the gorosei. We have seen Garling, Sommers, and Shamrock age as Holy Knights.

• We have seen Imu possess 3 characters: Gunko, Saturn, and Mars. Gunko is the only non Gorosei. At first, it was unclear if Imu could possess both Gorosei and Holy KNights. With Mars in Esperia though, there was no reason established for Mars specifically to be there other than as a medium for Imu. Otherwise he could have used the Holy Knight present (Glow). Of these 3 posession scenarios, this one was the one that seems to strongly imply Imu can posess only those of abyssal rank and Mars had to go to Esperia alongside Glow just for that. This also somewhat correlates with the general trend of Imu having greater influence over your body the deeper you go in ranks.

• Chapter 1186 gives a potential reason for why Gunko would be given a covenant beyond her official rank to begin with: her special eyes and their awakening, whatever they may do, Imu values their potential enough to keep them around long term, perhaps even trying to create a different outcome than Glow who never awakened his.

• It's never been explicitly stated there can only be 5 abyssal ranks. The explanation in ch 1167 was that the total number of covenants for holy knights and gorosei is 13. We logically assumed the split was 8 and 5, but it could be currently 7 and 6 for the covenants.

Chapter referenceChapter 1167 · page 6covenant total is 13, never shown to be 8 and 5

Part 2

The wings that Gunko sprouted when Imu first possessed her are probably from her beast transformation that her covenant provides. The Gorosei all seem to get a demonic transformation that the Holy Knights seem to not get, thus if Gunko has the deepest covenant, she would logically have one too.

When Imu first possessed Gunko and she transformed, fans assumed that it was Imu's transformation directly. However, Imu's wings in his “true” form are feathery like a bird, not batlike as when he possessed Gunko at all. Below are direct comparisons.

Chapter referenceChapter 1150 · page 4The form of Gunko when posessed by Imu Chapter referenceChapter 1180 · page 10Imu displaying wings from his ability

Additionally, each time Imu has possessed the Gorosei, when they transform partly into Imu, they also transform into their beast forms partly. In God Valley, when Imu took over Saturn, we can see the monster traits were all Saturn’s spider form.

Chapter referenceChapter 1163 · page 1Imu possessing Saturn while also transforming

In chapter 1186, Imu is possessing Mars who is already in his somewhat in his bird state.

Chapter referenceChapter 1186 · page 2Imu possessing Mars who is also partially transformed

There is only one panel where Imu possessing Saturn regressed to Saturn's normal body, while still retaining Imu's eyes, at the very end of God Valley when he was no longer using abilities, and resembled the first panel of when Imu took over Gunko. Pics below for comparisons.

Chapter referenceChapter 1165 · page 11Imu possessing Saturn as he is leaving God Valley Chapter referenceChapter 1149 · page 16Imu initially appearing in Gunko.

Thus, the features of the wings we saw in Gunko-Imu form are likely part of whatever monster ability she got from the abyssal contract.

• Unfortunately, batlike wings too vague to ascertain what kind of demonic beast this would be. There is many possibilities, like vampire, succubus, a yokai, gargoyles, various devil archetypes, even dragons have batlike wings.
  
  Domi reverseied subjects also have batlike wings and a lot even formed tridents. However Domi Reversei itself being similar to a covenant makes me feel like Domi Reversei features (like the strength boost, gain of regeneration) happen to overlap from covenants and dont disprove this theory when considering the total body of evidence. On a side note, Domi Reversied subjects were shown on God Valley before Imu appeared and it is unclear if Saturn or Garling brought them forth, so it was too vague to speculate that Domi Rerversi is an ability granted to abyssal contracts or if Imu has to do it himself.

Part 3- Future of the Holy Knights

If there is truly only 7 covenants for the Holy Knights, it makes the speculation of the 8th knights identity a bit confusing. However it means that Gunko never took the 7th slot, thus there is still a slot for someone to have had the 7th Holy knight covenant all along. If we consider the history of the Holy Knights

Before God Valley: 1 existing knight is shown: Manmayer Glow

During God Valley: 7 Holy Knights are shown, of which 3 are named: Garling, Sommers, Maffey. Glow is not amongst them. There are 4 unnamed ones.

After God Valley: Shamrock, Shanks, and Herald were slated to take 3 slots, so there must have been 3 free slots. Shanks and Herald didnt pan out. So these 3 became Shamrock, Killingham and Gunko.

However, if Gunko instead became a higher tier, that leaves room for the 3rd slot to have been taken by someone else, such as many speculating : the Man Marked by Flames. The Man marked by Flames taking the final poneglyph happened sometime after Roger and Oden visited it. His activity occuring in recent decades lining up with the relatively recent opening of a Holy Knight slot would match therefore.

If Gunko does not persist as an antagonist beyond Elbaf, her covenant slot could be opened up. Perhaps it would could go to Shamrock, which would have massive implications for Shamrock's role in the finale as well as room for other characters to take his spot as a Holy Knight. After all, there is already a vacancy left by Garling's spot. Or maybe the covenant could go to the Man Marked by Flames

Bonus theory

3 slots after God Valley were filled by 3 Holy Knights, and if my theory of there only being 7 slots is true, that means 3 amongst the 7 at God Valley are no longer Holy Knights. I figured it must be 3 of the unnamed 4, but had no clue which 3. This is the bonus theory:

Manmayer Glow was still alive as a Holy knight and was the skulled Holy Knight at God Valley. It is interesting that Oda didn't name 4 holy knights at God Valley yet named the one in Brooks flashback. Given the role of this character for Brooks story, would it not be fitting for him to be a parallel to Brook's design? Both old age characters living past their normal lives? Both now skeletal like? If he is still alive at present day and wasnt just at God Valley, he would make for a meaningful opponent for Brook. Additionally, Imu debuted one of the founder 20 weapons against Gaban, a sword that roughly translates to Bone Eater, and Imu commented on it doing damage to Gaban, implying it was damaging his bones. If this weapon belongs to the Manmayer family and is lended to a Glow who was alive (who would still need an explanation on how he is living as he should still age), would that not make for a fight designed for Brook by Oda? If Gunko is a Manmayer who never intended to be an antagonist long term, would it not make sense that he planned for another Manmayer who will wield their family weapon in the finale?

So assuming that Glow is the man with the skull and scythe at God Valley. It would leave the 3 unnamed Holy Knights: the lady with the lance, the person with the cap, and the beastman, as the 3 holy knights who were replaced and likely will not be present in the modern day.

Ultimately if Killingham and Sommers are defeated for good in elbaf, and if Gunko loses her covenant, and someone like Shamrock or the Man Marked by Flames leaves their spot vacant, and also Garling left behind a vacancy, we could be looking at 2, 3, or even 4 newly made Holy Knights after Elbaf

(original theory posted by me on reddit, reposting here with new thoughts)