Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 566: Raid

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2009-10-19

Summary

The Summit War at Marineford reaches the plaza. Luffy explodes forward in Gear Second toward Ace’s execution stand but is intercepted (“Too slow”) and knocked back. Sengoku orders the execution carried out immediately — two executioners raise their blades over Ace — but Crocodile slices them down at the last instant. He is not switching sides: he means to kill the dying Whitebeard himself and refuses to let the Marines claim a victory first (“I’ll erase that dying old man later”). Doflamingo confronts him, teasing a shared past (“You rejected me and now you’re joining Whitebeard?”); Crocodile snaps back, “I’m not joining anyone.” A Marine officer who professes a debt to Luffy’s grandfather Garp moves to cut Luffy down anyway, but Boa Hancock shields him (“Don’t you dare lay a hand on Luffy!!”) and Marco, the Phoenix and First Division Commander, drives back an Admiral. Out in the frozen bay, Whitebeard’s devil-fruit fighters leap toward the giant Little Oars Jr.; a second coated ship that had been hidden underwater all along surfaces (Whitebeard: “I never said I’d brought out all my ships”), and the maimed Little Oars Jr. hauls the paddle-ship ashore and uses his own enormous body to smash through the encirclement wall — opening the path to the plaza the pirates needed. He collapses reaching toward the platform (“Ace, I’m gonna…”). Whitebeard himself arrives at the plaza, swings his bisento, and rallies his men: “We’re going to save Ace!! And destroy the Navy!!”

New reveals

• Crocodile saves Ace from the executioners (pp. 5-6) — but out of his own grudge, not loyalty; he intends to be the one who kills Whitebeard (“I don’t want to see any of you celebrating before that!”).
• Crocodile is allied with no one — “I’m not joining anyone” (pp. 7-8), correcting the assumption that he had joined Whitebeard’s side.
• Doflamingo and Crocodile share a history — Doflamingo once made Crocodile an offer Crocodile rejected (“You rejected me and now you’re joining Whitebeard?”, p. 7).
• Whitebeard concealed reserve coated ships underwater — “I never said I’d brought out all my ships” (p. 11); a paddle-ship surfaces inside the Marine encirclement.
• Little Oars Jr. breaks the encirclement wall (pp. 13-16) — though already maimed, he drags the surfaced ship ashore and rams the wall with his body, clearing the route to the plaza, then falls reaching for Ace.
• Whitebeard reaches the plaza and gives the raid order: “All right, men!! We’re going to save Ace!! And destroy the Navy!!” (pp. 18-19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy (Gear Second charge, blocked; shielded by Hancock) · Crocodile (cuts down Ace’s executioners; “I’m not joining anyone”) · Doflamingo (confronts Crocodile re: a past overture) · Hancock (“Don’t you dare lay a hand on Luffy!!”) · Marco (First Division Commander, “the Phoenix”; repels an Admiral) · Whitebeard (reaches the plaza; orders the raid) · Ace (on the execution platform) · Sengoku (orders the execution carried out) · Garp (watching; a Marine cites a debt owed to him) · Little Oars Jr. (pulls the ship ashore, breaks the wall, falls)
• Groups / crews: Marines · Whitebeard Pirates · Seven Warlords of the Sea (Crocodile & Doflamingo) · Giants (Little Oars Jr.)
• Concepts / fruits: Ship Coating (hidden coated reserve ships) · Suna Suna no Mi (Crocodile’s sand)
• Locations: Marine Headquarters (Marineford — the frozen bay, encirclement wall, execution plaza)

Notable panels

• Pages 1-2 — Two-page chapter-opener splash: the (separated) Straw Hats relaxing at a lodge/onsen — Nico Robin reading, Sanji and Brook lounging with drinks, Franky, and Luffy soaking in a wooden tub. Ace’s smiley-face hat is shown hanging on the wall — a poignant prop given Ace’s situation in the war proper.
• Pages 3-4 — Luffy activates Gear Second and rockets at the platform; an unidentified Marine officer blocks him (“Too slow.”) and sends him flying.
• Pages 5-6 — Executioners ordered to behead Ace (“Do it!” / “Yes, sir!”); Crocodile cuts them down — “Crocodile!!” — and declares he’ll kill Whitebeard himself.
• Page 7 — Doflamingo vs Crocodile: “You rejected me and now you’re joining Whitebeard?”
• Pages 10-13 — A hidden coated ship surfaces in the bay; Little Oars Jr. drags the paddle-ship ashore (“He pulled the ship ashore!!”).
• Pages 14-16 — Oars Jr. smashes the encirclement wall (“They’ve broken through the encirclement wall!!”), opening the path; he falls reaching for Ace (“Oars!!”).
• Pages 17-19 — Whitebeard swings his bisento at the plaza and rallies the raid: “We’re going to save Ace!! And destroy the Navy!!”

Open questions raised

• Will Crocodile actually reach Whitebeard to settle his grudge — and what happens to Ace if he does?
• Who is the Marine officer indebted to Garp, and what is the nature of that debt?
• Can the Whitebeard forces exploit the breach Oars Jr. opened and reach the platform before the execution is carried out?
• What was the offer Doflamingo once made to Crocodile?