Sengoku demands of Shiryuu to tell what happened at Impel Down and how the Blackbeard Pirates managed to reach Marineford. The former warden replies that their presence should be enough of an answer, but tells the Fleet Admiral that they can look for themselves after everything is over. A marine runs up to Sengoku and delievers a belated report that the Gates of Justice have opened, enabling an unidentified warship through. Lafitte explains that he had hypnotized the operators into letting any ship that came by through, which is how Luffy's group had managed to get through. Blackbeard reveals that he became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea for the sole purpose being allowed through the Gates of Justice and into Impel Down to free his new crew members, but now he doesn't need that title anymore.
Whitebeard says that none of that matters to him and he throws out another seismic wave, destroying the execution platform completely. When the rubble settles the pirates walk out of it unscathed, save for Blackbeard himself who got buried under some rocks. Whitebeard says that Blackbeard is the only one of his crew members that he'll never call a son for killing one of his mates, thus breaking the one ironclad rule aboard his ship, and then declares that he'll kill him so that Thatch may rest in peace.
Blackbeard says that that's fine by him and activates his Logia Dark Dark Fruit, covering the ground in darkness with his Black Hole technique. He starts taunting Whitebeard, claiming that he used to admire him, but now he's so old and worn-out to the point of not even being able to save his crew members, despite the fact that he made sure not to kill Ace when they fought on Banaro Island. Whitebeard moves to attack but his opponent gloats that Devil Fruits are useless against him, using his Kurouzu (Black Vortex) move to catch the blow and nullify it, and even manages to land a few blows.
With his Devil Fruit-powered blows useless, Whitebeard switches to his bisento and deals a vicious blow to his opponents shoulder and pins Blackbeard to the ground. While he squirms, Whitebeard states that Blackbeard's weaknesses are his overconfidence and arrogance. Blackbeard squeals that he wouldn't really kill his own son before getting a seismic wave right to the head. The pirates on the other side of the chasm start cheering and urging Whitebeard to finish Blackbeard off, but their cheers fall silent when they realize how much his is weakening their captain, to the point where he can barely move anymore.
However, the old pirate still has a little life left in him and starts to advance once more upon a terrified Blackbeard, who in desperation pulls out one of the pistols tucked in his sash and fires off a shot, the one shot that opens the floodgates. Blackbeard yells for his crew to attack, thus Shiryuu, Doc Q, Devon, Vasco Shot, Pizarro, Burgess, Van Auger, and Laffite move in for the kill, attacking Whitebeard with round upon round of gunfire and blade attacks. Whitebeard can do nothing but take the blows, and the pirates can do nothing other than watch in horror.
Eyecatches: Luffy (twice)
During this brutal attack, we flashback to a scene of Whitebeard and Gold Roger drinking together on an island covered in cherry blossoms. Roger reveals that he's dying, and offers to tell Whitebeard how to get to Raftel, an offer that Whitebeard declines. Roger then expresses indignation at being called Gold Roger when his name is really Gol D. Roger. Whitebeard says that he's encountered people with that initial during his travels, and asks what the meaning behind it all is. Roger decides to tell him, and starts by saying that the story began a long time ago...
In the present the Blackbeard Pirates finally run out of ammo. Blackbeard asks for another gun, but Shiryuu tells him that there's no need. Whitebeard startles them by speaking up, saying that Blackbeard is not the man that Roger is waiting for, and he is sure that someone will one day appear to carry on Ace's will just like Roger's was. He then addresses Sengoku, saying that someone will one appear, with all the knowledge of the world on their back, and challenge the world to battle, something that the World Government has always feared. This great battle will break out once the legendary treasure, the One Piece is found. Then, with a little grin, he bellows to the world, "ONE PIECE EXISTS!!"
With that declaration, Whitebeard's thoughts turn inward. He apologizes to his crew for being responsible for Blackbeard, but thanks them for giving him all he ever wanted: a family. It's been a long journey, but a fulfilling one, and now it's time for it to come to an end.
While Blackbeard gasps at the fact that Whitebeard died standing, the narration kicks in, describing his figure as truly monstrous. Despite being attacked by swords two-hundred-and-sixty-seven times, shot one-hundred-fifty-two times, and struck by forty-six rounds of artillery, he never once faltered and received a wound on his back.
After twenty-six episodes of fighting, and many, many more in build-up, we have finally reached the death of Whitebeard, a moment which will certainly reshape the One Piece universe.
Unlike Ace's death two episodes back, this one wasn't really sad, partially because of all of the foreshadowing, but also in its execution. Ace's death was sudden, tragic, and will no doubt leave a great impact on Luffy. Whitebeard's a more impersonal character, and the theme to it was less a call for mourning, but rather a testament to his life and the impact he had on the world. While Ace's was designed to tug at the heartstrings, this was more of Manly Tears deal. We did get a look at his motivation, and that lay in his crew and a desire for family. Though if you ask me, daydreaming off to the side while your crew mates are partying and having a good time seems a wee bit counterproductive.
The scene of the Blackbeard Pirates unloading on Whitebeard shifted to a black-and-white coloring style save for red blood, similar to effects used in something like Sin City. I thought it was a pretty effective design choice, since despite the average animation used for that scene, it came off as pretty brutal (you'd think most of those 152 bullets came from the Blackbeards) in my eyes. The fight pretty much exposed Blackbeard as a coward when his life was actually in danger, and as a hypocrite, since as Whitebeard says, he mocks people for being too dependant on their Devil Fruits, yet he himself is just as dependant on his. It really exposed his slimy nature, so each and every Villainous Breakdown he'll suffer from here on out over the course of the series will be delicious to watch. Him becoming a Warlord just to access Impel Down only to cast it away immediately after seems a bit weak, given how long that plotline was developed, but the end result of that does fulfill Kuma's prediction in Thriller Bark that he'll bring chaos to the world balance. Other than that, apparently Lafitte can hypnotize people. I wonder if that means he has an owl Zoan?
Prehaps most importantly, is Whitebeard's prediction of someone instigating a grand war once One Piece is found. It seems rather obvious that this person he's referring to is Luffy, though given that Luffy isn't one to really warmonger, especially on that scale, it might not be as simple as that. Whatever the outcome, it'll certainly tie in the D and Ancient Kingdom plotlines.
Anyway, like Ace's episode, the animation didn't really go all out compared to past episodes, but the art was perfectly on-key (though "Gear Second" Whitebeard was a weird design choice), and the episode's ending was very nice, if not quite having the oomph if should've. All in all, a fitting end for a man such as Whitebeard.
