This episode really shows us more of Usopp being honorable than the previous one. In the end, his inner monologue is so full of integrity as he strives to do whatever he can to save the people in the village where he grew up. He isn’t focused on his own success or fortune or anything but truly wants to help the people he knows to survive the impending pirate attack. It seems that he clings to these people who helped raise him because his father abandoned him and we don’t know anything about his mother. The other villagers likely have a bad attitude towards him but still see him as one of their own. Usopp is very proud of his heritage and his father and shows that he is not just a lying bad guy but a troubled youth with a good heart who.
When I started taking notes for this episode, I googled how to spell Klahadore & got spoilers which I thought would be for much later but it was just for the end of the episode lol. I was pretty sure he was a manipulative bastard before seeing those spoilers and that he killed Kaya’s family, which was mostly true, just because of his cold emotionless responses to Kaya while being intentionally overly emotional to ward off Usopp & Luffy & their crews. He is also very condescending about Usopp’s heritage & ancestry which is almost always the sign of a villain.
I like that throughout the last half of the episode, we are shown a crab who keeps trying to climb up the cliff above the water and keeps falling. I think at first glance, this seems like some comedic relief, but the timing and persistence of the scenes is very metaphorical or allegorical or whatever. We first see it during the speech where Klahadore is revealing his past as Captain Kuro & how he wasn’t executed, in which he failed and was caught but escaped justice to try again, much like the crab that keeps trying. Then, as Luffy reveals himself having overheard their plans, the crab begins climbing again. After Luffy is put to sleep & Klahadore tells Usopp how no one will believe him, the crab climbs again, and so it seems obvious that the crab represents Kuro who is persistent with his 1000 plans to attain eventual victory as a wealthy villain with fortune and power, but at the last scene, the crab falls one more time, hopefully foreshadowing that this butler will fall once again.
The crab clearly symbolizes the plight of Sisyphus, forever pushing a boulder up the mountain only for the boulder to roll back down again. I think this is a stoic attitude presented clearly throughout many One Piece characters, continuing to try despite repeated failure, and I appreciate that we also see this cultural element from the antagonists such as Captain Kuro. I think this is something sorely lacking in contemporary society where people expect things to be handed to them easily without any effort.
Last note, I think the creepiest thing about Jango is just his voice. He is otherwise pretty unremarkable for a pirate on this show & not that weird compared to many other characters.