Ace and Luffy finally learn of the plan to burn down the Grey Terminal when Bluejam tells them that the boxes they've been setting up contain gunpowder and other explosives. Having told them this, Bluejam has his crew tie up the two boys, and says that there's one last thing he wants to ask them: where's their treasure stash?
That night Bluejam's crew spreads out across the junkyard and detonate the boxes, which soon results in a giant conflagration that paints the night sky red, and is even visible from the hideout of the Dadan Family on the other side of the forest. The soldiers help evacuate the citizens of Edgetown, but when the Grey Terminal denizens try to get within the town walls they end up getting chased out back into the inferno, which by now has managed to cut off all possible escape routes. While surveying the destruction, Bluejam laughs to himself and says that now his dream will be complete, as in exchange for their assistance in starting the blaze, the king of Goa offered to grant him and his crew the status of nobility. Once they get to the gate though, the pirates find it shut against them too, and their hails unanswered. Bluejam realizes that they've been had and set up to take the blame, and curses the king in his fury. Meanwhile, Ace and Luffy manage to escape from Bluejam's hideout just as it collapses from the flames.
In Edgetown Sabo, having managed to once again escape his home, reaches the gate and tries to operate its locking mechanism so that he can get to Ace and Luffy, but the soldiers stationed there roughly apprehend him and toss him back to the empty streets. The wind picks up, and a clocked figure approaches the boy's fallen body. The man asks what happened, and Sabo grabs the hem of his cloak and claims that the fire was caused by the royal family and the nobles, and that he's ashamed to have been born one. At this, Dragon is appalled that a child would be driven to say such a thing. He tells Sabo that though he himself was born in this country, he does not yet have the power to change it, and that he will never forget Sabo's words.
Eyecatches: Zoro and Nami
The Bluejam Pirates find that the fire has spread to their own ship now, and Bluejam swears to the king what he'll remember this. They soon run into the now-lost Luffy and Ace, who wonder what Bluejam is doing still hanging around here after starting the fire. Bluejam yells at them to shut up before going on to comment that it's funny how, when everything's lost, humans can still find reason to laugh. Ace notices that the crew is starting to go crazy, and once again, Bluejam asks him where his stash of treasure is. Ace expresses disbelief at him putting treasure over his own life, but Bluejam says that he doesn't care if he has to stoop to something like this; he'll make a comeback no matter what.
Despite Luffy's protests, Ace does give up the treasure's location, but then Bluejam's men grab both of them as insurance in case they've lied. Bluejam goes on to insult the nobles, as well as Sabo, saying that the boy was probably just hanging out with them to kill time and feel superior. Luffy gets angry and tries to attack the man holding him, only to end up getting his face slashed. As the man goes in for a killing blow, Ace screams at the pirates to lay their hands off of Luffy, and they all collapse to the ground, unconscious. Bluejam is momentarily at a loss as to what Ace did, but quickly recovers and furiously pins him to the ground and takes aim with his gun.
A shot rings out.
Nice try guys, but unless they want to cause a time paradox, it's obvious that Ace lives.
So, we've hit the climax of this flashback. Everything being on fire meant that the lighting and shading for this episode was really, really good and atmospheric. They picked the perfect animation director to handle this episode. And hey, they actually managed to make Bluejam look genuinely threatening by the end there.
Dragon, Luffy's father, makes a guess appearance. That scene was handled really well, though unfortunately his voice sounds a little too old for the character and I will forever associate Hidekatsu Shibata's voice with King Bradley, and while that's nothing against Bradley, it's just not the kind of voice I picture Dragon with.
The nobles are still a pain to sit through, with their extreme haughtiness and inflated dialogue. "The people in the Grey Terminal aren't human", "They should've just been born nobles, how stupid of them!" Ugh. That's shallow Card Carrying Villainy as far as I'm concerned. Interesting though that the king's appearance is being hidden. I guess he must have a significant role to play in Dragon's backstory or something.
My big gripe with this episode is, if Ace possessed Overlord's Ambition, knew that he did as shown during Marineford, was crewmates with a bunch of guys who knew Ambition themselves, and sailed a sea that apparently has many Ambition-users...when why did he never once actually use this incredibly useful ability at any point in the story? That's going to bug me until the story's end, I bet.
