Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 577: Outrageous Events One After Another

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2010-02-22

Summary

The news that the Whitebeard Pirates failed to save Roger’s son Ace and lost their captain flashes across the whole world; those who witnessed it can only stare in silence. Narration eulogizes Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate — at age 72 the equal of even the Pirate King — who died in battle at the Bay of Marineford, his crew having fought the combined forces of Navy HQ and the Seven Warlords. As his men race to evacuate the unconscious Luffy on Whitebeard’s final orders, Blackbeard drapes a black cloth over Whitebeard’s standing corpse for his “greatest show in the world.” Buggy, terrified, flees the field weeping — and his crew reinterprets his cowardice as a rival’s mercy. A flashback to Impel Down shows Ace begging Jinbei to look after Luffy; Jinbei, having vowed to protect Luffy with his life, is intercepted as Aokiji freezes the sea and Akainu — thought dead — erupts from a magma tunnel beneath them, demanding “Dragon’s son.” The Whitebeard pirates and Emporio Ivankov (“Hell Wink!!”) rally to shield Ace’s brother. Then Blackbeard rises and unleashes a colossal earthquake atop his darkness power: he has stolen Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit and now wields two Devil Fruits in one body. As the Marines reel at the impossibility, Teach broadcasts to the Navy, the World Government, and all pirates that the future of the world has been decided — “my era… begins!!”

New reveals

• Whitebeard confirmed dead — age 72 (pp. 2-3): narration states “this man, Edward Newgate, the equal of even the ‘Pirate King’… died in battle at the Bay of Marineford” and “breathed his last,” his standing corpse shown. First on-page statement of his age (72).
• Blackbeard wields two Devil Fruits at once (pp. 12-17): after covering the corpse, Teach demonstrates the Yami Yami no Mi ‘Black Hole’ (p. 13) AND the Gura Gura no Mi / Tremor-Tremor Fruit earthquake (pp. 13-15) in the same body — “the gravity of darkness that turns everything into nothingness… and the power of the earthquake that destroys everything!!”
• The two-fruit rule, publicly broken (p. 16): Marines — “I thought it was impossible for anyone to have two different Devil Fruit powers!” / “That’s true for normal humans… but Teech isn’t normal!” / “His body is… odd. Maybe that explains it.” The anomaly is shown but the mechanism stays unexplained on-page.
• Ace’s dying request to Jinbei (p. 7 flashback): in Impel Down Ace asked, “…can you please look after my little brother?” Jinbei had answered that he only protects those he genuinely likes — yet at Marineford he declares, “…to protect this man with my life! I’ve decided.”
• Akainu (Sakazuki) survived and pursues (pp. 9-10): “Akainu!! I thought he was dead!! / He melted a tunnel under the ground and circled around us!!” He demands Jinbei “hand over Dragon’s son,” publicly naming Luffy as Dragon’s child.
• Aokiji freezes the sea (p. 8) to block the escape route — “The water froze!! / Keep Aokiji at bay!!”
• Buggy flees (pp. 5-6): runs from the battlefield crying; his crew spins it into a legend of mercy.
• Blackbeard’s era declared (pp. 16-17): “the future of the world has just been decided!… my era… begins!!”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Whitebeard (corpse, named Edward Newgate, age 72), Blackbeard (Marshall D. Teach), Jinbei, Luffy (unconscious), Buggy, Sakazuki (Akainu), Aokiji, Emporio Ivankov (“Hell Wink!!”, p. 11), Ace (Impel Down flashback, deceased), Dragon (mentioned — “Dragon’s son,” p. 10)
• Crews / groups: Whitebeard Pirates, Blackbeard Pirates, Buggy Pirates, Marines
• Locations: Marine Headquarters (the “Bay of Marineford”)
• World-building: Seven Warlords of the Sea (narration — “the combined forces of Navy Headquarters and the Seven Warlords of the Sea”)
• Devil Fruits: Yami Yami no Mi (“Black Hole,” p. 13), Gura Gura no Mi (“Tremor-Tremor Fruit,” p. 14 — now wielded by Blackbeard); Aokiji’s ice (sea frozen, p. 8) and Akainu’s magma (tunnel, p. 9) shown but fruit-names not given on-page this chapter.

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Standalone B&W title-page illustration: two figures leaping across a crocodile-infested swamp.
• pp. 2-3 — Worldwide reaction cutaways to Whitebeard’s death; standing-corpse panel with the “age of 72 / equal of the Pirate King / died at the Bay of Marineford” eulogy narration.
• pp. 5-6 — Buggy flees in tears while his crew mythologizes it as a rival’s mercy (recurring Buggy unearned-legend gag).
• p. 7 — Impel Down flashback: Ace asks Jinbei to look after Luffy.
• p. 9 — Akainu erupts from a magma tunnel beneath the escapees (splash-scale).
• p. 11 — Emporio Ivankov’s “Hell Wink!!” scatters the Marine ships defending Ace’s brother.
• pp. 13-15 — Blackbeard wields darkness (“Black Hole”) and earthquake together; Marineford buildings shatter (splash-scale).
• p. 17 — Full-face panel: Blackbeard roars “…my era…

Open questions raised

• How does Teach’s body sustain two Devil Fruits when it is fatal for “normal humans”? (“His body is odd” — no mechanism given.) See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits, Nature of Devil Fruits.
• Can Jinbei get the unconscious Luffy out past Aokiji’s ice and Akainu’s magma alive?
• With Whitebeard dead and his power stolen, who inherits the vacant Emperor seat — and what does “my era begins” mean for the balance of the Three Great Powers?