People saying Zoro never beating Mihawk is necessarily bad writing are wrong

I think it could be amazing writing, if handled well.

Like, the beginning of Zoro’s story starts with him having a broader dream (to become the greatest swordsman in the world), and a more immediate goal: to defeat his best friend Kuina in a duel. However, tragically, Kuina’s life is unfairly lost, and Zoro never gets to defeat her. But he resolves to carry on and fulfill both of their dreams

So, Zoro’s story, at this point, is about trying to fulfill his dream, despite his missed opportunities weighing on him.

And now, after the timeskip, Zoro and Mihawk seem to have an amicable relationship, as well. So why not have a similar storyline happen, where Zoro believes he’s become strong enough to beat Mihawk, he fails, and before Mihawk has the opportunity to strike him down, Mihawk is unfairly killed.

Maybe Zoro despairs after this, due to his relationship with Mihawk, and the sheer amount of time and energy he put into trying to surpass Mihawk, specifically.

And hell, I think this could give us a fresh, interesting look at Zoro. We’ve seen some stuff about how he acted after Kuina’s death, but maybe this is where he finally breaks down, and his despair and exhaustion over the years actually overwhelm him, for a little while, until he decides to pick his sword back up, and keep going for the World’s Strongest Swordsman Title, for both Kuina’s and Mihawk’s sakes, with him working his way up to challenging whoever currently holds the title (Nusjuro, probably).

Obviously it doesn’t have to go exactly like this, but I think this is a very compelling direction to take Zoro’s character, and I think people are too wrapped up in saying Zoro 100% has achieve every goal he’s laid out, even though his story begins with him despairing over his missed opportunities.

I think it could be amazing writing, if handled well.

Like, the beginning of Zoro’s story starts with him having a broader dream (to become the greatest swordsman in the world), and a more immediate goal: to defeat his best friend Kuina in a duel. However, tragically, Kuina’s life is unfairly lost, and Zoro never gets to defeat her. But he resolves to carry on and fulfill both of their dreams

So, Zoro’s story, at this point, is about trying to fulfill his dream, despite his missed opportunities weighing on him.

And now, after the timeskip, Zoro and Mihawk seem to have an amicable relationship, as well. So why not have a similar storyline happen, where Zoro believes he’s become strong enough to beat Mihawk, he fails, and before Mihawk has the opportunity to strike him down, Mihawk is unfairly killed.

Maybe Zoro despairs after this, due to his relationship with Mihawk, and the sheer amount of time and energy he put into trying to surpass Mihawk, specifically.

And hell, I think this could give us a fresh, interesting look at Zoro. We’ve seen some stuff about how he acted after Kuina’s death, but maybe this is where he finally breaks down, and his despair and exhaustion over the years actually overwhelm him, for a little while, until he decides to pick his sword back up, and keep going for the World’s Strongest Swordsman Title, for both Kuina’s and Mihawk’s sakes, with him working his way up to challenging whoever currently holds the title (Nusjuro, probably).

Obviously it doesn’t have to go exactly like this, but I think this is a very compelling direction to take Zoro’s character, and I think people are too wrapped up in saying Zoro 100% has achieve every goal he’s laid out, even though his story begins with him despairing over his missed opportunities.