I should probably clarify myself a bit. I wasn't saying Shanks is going to take the hat. I was saying he MAY choose to borrow it for a while and it would be foolish to ignore the possibility. There is a lot of symbolism to be had in Luffy droping the hat and having Shanks pick it up again, especially considering how Luffy has lost everything over the course of this story-arc.

If he does choose not to hang onto it and gives it back, you can pretty much be sure it won't be done in person. Oda didn't conveniently bring him into play right after Luffy was out of commision to have Shanks nurse his wounds and then pat him on the back. If he gives the hat to someone it will probably be Coby, the same person I'm thinking would relay the message if the hat were taken.


Either way Shanks can provide Luffy with the neccisary recognition and motivation whether he chooses to hang onto the hat or not, but I feel like it's a strong possibility. Regardless though Law is already on the move, It seems clear that Luffy will probably wake up without the hat even if Shanks entrusts it to someone to be returned.

I guess my point is that I think it's much more likely for Shanks to hold onto the hat than give it back personally...

Other than that I just considered another interesting thing for the first time. With the power balance of the world shifting and all the damage done by Blackbeard plus some indiscretions by other members of the Schichibukai I am still considering the possibility of the Schichibukai being disbanded. With that in mind it hit me that Mihawk may just join Shank's crew. This seems like an outside possibility but it would really balance out things with regard to Luffy's rivals. With both Blackbeard and Shanks we would have two ultimate rivalries... one hateful and one friendly. Lots of people are talking about the possibility of Marco joining and that's still there, but I like to think about things a little less conventionally.