Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 552: Ace and Whitebeard

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released:

Summary

Whitebeard’s fleet breaches Marineford and the Paramount War detonates. Having passed through the gate with the Impel Down escapees, Luffy casually blurts out that Ace’s father was Gold Roger and that his own father — Dragon — won’t let the Navy execute his son, scandalizing the soldiers around him (p. 2). Whitebeard (Edward Newgate) cracks the air with a flick of his fist, triggering seaquakes that swell into tsunamis on both sides of the plaza (pp. 3-5). The chapter then flashes back to Ace’s history: he set out to sea as captain of the Spade Pirates, became a famous Logia rookie who turned down a Seven Warlords offer, fought Jinbei to a five-day draw, then went to take Whitebeard’s head — and lost. Whitebeard refused to kill him (“It’d be a waste, boy — become my son!”), Ace woke aboard the Moby Dick, tried (and failed ~100 times) to assassinate the sleeping Whitebeard, and at last took the Whitebeard mark on his back and rose to 2nd Division Commander (pp. 6-16). Teach served under him, declined the commander seat, then killed Thatch and fled; Ace gave chase against Whitebeard’s “bad feeling” warning, which led to his capture. Back in the present, Marines identify Whitebeard as the man whose Tremor-Tremor Fruit can “destroy the world”; the 47 New World ships open their attack, and an era begins to end (pp. 17-19).

New reveals

• Whitebeard = Edward Newgate, the “quake man,” ate the Gura Gura no Mi (VIZ on-page: Tremor-Tremor Fruit) — a Paramecia that cracks the air, generates seaquakes/tsunamis, and is said to “have the power to destroy the world” (pp. 17-18).
• Ace’s origin: captain of the Spade Pirates (spade jolly roger), a rookie who acquired a Logia power and turned down an offer to become one of the Seven Warlords (p. 6).
• Ace fought Jinbei (then a Warlord) to a draw over five days before going after Whitebeard (pp. 7-8).
• Whitebeard spared and adopted Ace (“Become my son!”); Ace tried to assassinate the sleeping Whitebeard ~100 times before accepting the back-tattoo mark and becoming 2nd Division Commander (pp. 10-16).
• Teach (Blackbeard) was in Ace’s 2nd Division, “with Whitebeard the longest,” declined the commander post — then murdered Thatch and fled the crew; Ace pursued him against Whitebeard’s explicit warning (pp. 13-14).
• The Whitebeard found-family doctrine made textual: the crew are “strays,” Whitebeard considers them his sons and is called “Pops” (p. 12).
• 47 pirate ships from the New World sail under Whitebeard into Marineford against Navy HQ + the Seven Warlords (pp. 18-19).
• Luffy publicly states Ace’s father was Gold Roger and his own father is Dragon (p. 2).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Ace (present + flashback), Whitebeard, Luffy, Emporio Ivankov, Thatch (first on-page appearance, flashback), Marco, Blackbeard (“Teech,” flashback), Jinbei (flashback), Roger (mentioned), Dragon (mentioned)
• Crews: Whitebeard Pirates, Spade Pirates, Marines
• Devil Fruits: Gura Gura no Mi (named “Tremor-Tremor Fruit,” p. 17), Mera Mera no Mi (Ace’s Logia, p. 8 “Flame Fence!”)
• Locations / structures: Marine Headquarters (Marineford), Gates of Justice (“the gate”), Moby Dick (first on-page appearance), New World
• Groups: Seven Warlords of the Sea (Ace’s declined offer; Jinbei as a Warlord)

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page + start of a new cover serial: Chopper’s “I’m Not Food, You Jerks!!” Vol. 1: “Raccoon Stew Escape” (Limited Cover Series No. 15).
• p. 2 — Luffy outs Ace as Gold Roger’s son and himself as Dragon’s son; “Oh. That’s supposed to be a secret.” Two D-bloodlines coupled in one breath → Will of D.
• pp. 3-4 — Whitebeard’s whale-shaped flagship; he flicks the air and it cracks — first big demonstration of the Tremor-Tremor power (“A seaquake!!”).
• p. 6 — Ace’s farewell to young Luffy + the Spade Pirates jolly roger; rumor-montage of the rookie who refused a Warlord seat.
• pp. 9-10 — “Let my men go. In exchange…”; Whitebeard: “It’d be a waste to kill you, boy. Become my son!”
• p. 12 — The “Pops”/found-family doctrine spelled out; Marco urges Ace to take the back-mark.
• p. 13 — Ace made 2nd Division Commander; Teach (“Ze ha ha ha”) declines the post.
• p. 16 — Ace kneeling with the Whitebeard cross-mark on his back; “Right, Marco?”
• pp. 17-18 — Whitebeard named Edward Newgate; “the Tremor-Tremor Fruit… has the power to destroy the world.”
• p. 19 — Marineford HQ (海軍) vs. the Whitebeard fleet; “an era will end, and a new one will begin.”

Open questions raised

• What exactly did Teach steal by killing Thatch, and why was Whitebeard’s “bad feeling about this one” so specific? (→ Blackbeard Multiple Fruits)
• If the Tremor-Tremor Fruit can “destroy the world,” what is its relationship to the strongest Paramecia / the world’s balance of power?
• Why was the 2nd Division Commander post vacant for so long before Ace, and what is the full Whitebeard division org-chart?