Quote Originally Posted by The Chancellor
Another thing is, you people seem to think Oda is the master of foreshadowing when he isn't. Everyone is reading waaay too much between the lines of this whole thing.
This is stupid. One piece has been running for almost 12 years now with no plot discontinuity and no worthless sideline characters. Even the second arc villain introduced in the series has managed to regain the limelight in the current arc. Oda has definitely put some thought into the story, and none of the plot points feel superfluous or improvised in any way.

We knew about mermaids, merman island, and Jimbei since way back in the Arlong arc. We knew about the balance of the 3 powers since around that time as well. We knew a musician would join the crew since Zoro's arc. We've even seen Rayleigh in a Buggy flashback during the second arc. Ace's fate has been planned by Oda since his first introduction.

What a baseless accusation you have here.