 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece and more specifically, Saga's In Minutes, a series that aims to equip you with the basic knowledge to leap into the wilderness of One Piece. And today, we'll be continuing with the most explosive saga in the series to date, with part two of the Paramount War. The Paramount War Saga, as stated in the previous video, is the sixth in the series, consisting of 108 chapters and 122 anime episodes. And where we last left off, Luffy had assembled a makeshift crew of former enemies and newfound friends to escape the world's most secure prison impaled down, and is now en route to Marineford in order to rescue his brother Ace from execution. However, the action is not simply going to wait for our protagonist, as at Marineford a force of roughly 100,000 Marines had been assembled in preparation for a conflict with Whitebeard, one of the four emperors of the sea and the strongest man in the world. Amongst them are a litany of old faces that we've encountered in the series thus far, as well as some new comers to the audience, with a particular note needing to go to Admiral Akainu, a mysterious figure whose brutality and absolute justice is already notorious at this point in the series. His presence also signifies the first time that we have seen the three admirals gathered together in one place, and collectively, they make up the greatest military power that the Marines are capable of mustering. And in addition to this, the five remaining members of the Seven Wallards of the Sea also stand primed and ready for action. However, there is at least one figure who remains tentative about the events to come, being Vice Admiral Garp, grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy, and caretaker of the man sentenced to be executed, Port Gaste Ace. It is then revealed to the world that in addition to being the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace is also the biological son of the former pirate king, Goldie Roger, adding further evidence to the claim that he must be extinguished from the world. However, the world was not simply going to stand by and let this happen, as its strongest man boldly set sail into Marineford, accompanied not only by his 16 core divisions, but also a fleet of Allied Pirates, ready to wage war on the world government in order to rescue Ace. You see, one of the most notable things about Whitebeard is that he does not simply collect comrades and allies. He is a man who values family above all else, and everyone who joins him, even if they aren't a direct member of the Whitebeard Pirates, is considered a son of this man, and so they were more than ready to fight for the life of their brother. As such, the Paramount War would commence with an opening attack from Whitebeard. He used his devil fruit powers to craft a tidal wave that threatened to engulf Marineford, a move which was countered by the ice powers of Marine Admiral Alkegi, and after that, all hell broke loose. To briefly examine Whitebeard's force as the two people of particular note were the first division commander, Marco the Phoenix, who possessed a mythical zone type that allowed him to transform into a Phoenix, and third division commander, Diamond Jozu, who wielded a Paramecia-type fruit, allowing him to transform his body into diamond. And in true top-tier form, these two would go on to have immediate skirmishes with Marine Admiral Kizaru, and Dracule Mihawk respectively, instantly proving that this was no simple conflict and that the world would be irrevocably changed, no matter which side won this battle. Of course, it did not take too long for the casualties to begin, with the first of note being Little Oz Junior, who was fighting because Ace once gave him a hat, which you know is a pretty solid reason for fighting, regardless he was outmatched by Don Quixote Dolflamingo, who sliced off his foot, and was then skewered through the stomach by the powers of Gekko Moria. But it was not simply two sides fighting here, as soon enough Luffy and his jailbreak squad made something of a grand entrance onto the battlefield, captivating the attention of everyone with his group, containing two former Warlords of the Sea and a member of the Revolutionary Army. Oh, and Buggy the Clown was also there. Leaping straight into action in a classic Luffy manner, he got into a verbal argument with the strongest man in the world regarding who was going to save Ace, after which Whitebeard took an immediate liking to Luffy and would go on to order his forces to protect him at all costs, after witnessing his potential, which occurred in the form of a powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki that coated the battlefield. This would not be the only sign of Luffy's potential though. In fact, a far more terrifying ability was prominently on display during the entirety of his campaign at Marineford. You see, the thing is that Luffy did not belong on this battlefield. He was constantly surrounded by figures who dwarfed him in both power and experience. However, Luffy was a true force to be reckoned with here, because wherever he went, a powerful ally would follow. For example, instead of getting into a fight with Gekko Moria, Jinbei stepped in to deal with the Spooky Warlord. Elsewhere after being assaulted by Smoker, Bola Hancock arrived and summarily dismissed him. And when Luffy was faced with Bartholomew Guma, Emporio even covented the fray and allowed him to proceed onwards to free Ace. And all of this was noted by a single individual on the battlefield, being the world's greatest swordsman, Dracul Mihawk, who had his own Luffy moment after the 5th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates Vista leapt in to defend him from certain demise. But even with this, Mihawk came to the realization that despite his lack of strength at this time, Luffy possessed by far the most formidable ability in the world. Although even this power could only take Luffy so far at this time, as eventually he found himself face to face with all three marine admirals. And while he did come up with an unconventionally clever Luffy ploy to attempt to get past them, he was met with a kick from Kizaru and forced back. During this time, Chaos continued to erupt all throughout the battlefield, with match-up after match-up of world figures such as Crocodile vs. Dolph Lamingo, Marco vs. Alkegi, and when Whitebeard got serious, well, he was just casually bringing down giants in single hits. We also probably shouldn't ignore that during all of this, Buggy was failing upwards and gathering a loyal legion of followers as a result of his exceptionally lucky encounters with world figures. This got to the point where his followers stole a visual den den mushy, and Buggy improvised a commercial of sorts for himself, claiming that he was a former member of the Roger Pirates, which, you know, he was, and thus profoundly spreading his name throughout the world in a single burst. Another character of note would be Kobe, who was struggling with the thought of fighting against Luffy, and then when he did finally resolve to do it, he got a swift punch in the face hole for his efforts. And as Ace's execution drew nearer and nearer, Luffy was finally given the chance to get straight up to the platform courtesy of Inazuma. However, this time the man who would stop his advance would be the hero of the Marines, and Luffy's grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, who claimed that if Luffy wanted to pass, then he would have to kill him first. But what happened next would astound everybody as the two began to clash, however Garp was hit by a sudden surge of emotion, remembering Luffy and Ace's children, and so he allowed Luffy to punch him, and Garp plummeted off the bridge, much to the extreme shock of every Marine watching at the time. But with that, Luffy had finally made it to the execution platform, although there was still one unfathomable challenge awaiting him in fleet Admiral Sengoku, who invoked his mythical zoan devil fruit powers immediately, but was countered by Luffy's rubbery, balloony goodness. And now at this stage, I should point out that Galdino, a former enemy and one of the prisoners Luffy sprung from impel down, had infiltrated the Marines in the guise of an executioner, and was currently on the platform with Luffy and Sengoku, and in fact it's all thanks to Galdino producing a wax key that Luffy was finally able to free Ace, and with Firefist Ace proudly on the loose, the tide of battle finally began to turn towards the favour of the Whitebeard pirates. Ace's Logia powers proved so devastating that he even fought Marine Admiral Alkegi to withstand still, however even with his goal accomplished, Whitebeard was determined to continue the battle, issuing a final order to his crew to return to the New World and stating that this would be where they part ways, claiming that no ship would be capable of carrying him into the New Era. But this declaration would not be the end of the tragedy of Marineford, far from it actually, as shortly after, Ace was goaded into replying to Admiral Akeino after he insulted Whitebeard. Ace then thrust himself into combat, only to discover that even his fire was incapable of overcoming the magma abilities of Akeino's devil fruit. However, Ace was able to accomplish one thing and that was saving Luffy's life, because just as Akeino was about to kill him, Ace shielded Luffy with his body and received a fatal blow through the chest. At this moment, a contingent of forces including Jinbei, Marco and Vista arrived to combat Akeino, but they were too late. Ace, mere moments away from death, provided some parting words to Luffy, apologizing for not being able to be rescued, but also telling Luffy that he truly believed that he could become the Pirate King. His final words were then directed at Whitebeard, his fellow crewmates and of course Luffy, as he thanked them for loving him, the son of the criminal despised throughout the civilized world. And with that, the time of portgasty Ace had officially run out. He collapsed in death with a trademark will of de-smile on his face and leaving Luffy in a near catatonic state of despair. Meanwhile, Garp had a very different reaction enraged to the point where he had to be restrained by Sengoku and threatening to kill Akeino for his actions here. Garp was not the only one after Akeino's head though, as he was soon confronted directly by Whitebeard and swiftly beat down by the world's strongest man. Although it should be said that Akeino did manage to blow off a huge chunk of Whitebeard's head in the process. And it would be here at the 11th hour that a new contingent arrived at Marineford consisting of the known members of the Blackbeard Pirates and a cohort of escapings from level 6 of Impel Down. Whitebeard wasted no time in attacking Blackbeard, who was responsible for killing a former division commander as well as condemning Ace to this fate in the first place. But with everything said and done, Whitebeard was unable to deliver the final killing blow and the collective forces of the Blackbeard Pirates assaulted him with a barrage of fatal attacks that would bring an end to the story of Whitebeard. As for his final words, Whitebeard chose to set the world ablaze by claiming that one day someone will arise to challenge the world in shoulder centuries of history and further exclaimed that the one piece did indeed exist before drawing his final breath. From here, we are given a glimpse of Whitebeard as a young man, showing that his dreams in the world of piracy never had to do with wealth, fame, or power. And instead, Whitebeard's true desire in life had only ever been to have a family. Whitebeard then passed from this world after taking a total of 267 sword wounds, 152 bullets, 46 cannonballs, a laser beam through the chest, and a magma fist to the face. But even with all of that, his body remained standing. At this point, Blackbeard enacted the next stage of his grand plan, covering Whitebeard's body and somehow managing to acquire his devil fruit, thus becoming the first known character in the series to wield two devil fruit abilities, which he swiftly put to use, starting a battle with Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Meanwhile, Akayno had recovered and was relentlessly pursuing Luffy, determined to kill him before he became a threat to the world government. In the end, a variety of allies came to Luffy's aid once more, with a particularly unexpected appearance from fellow supernova Trafalgar Law, who offered to facilitate Luffy's escape aboard his submarine. But the most surprising act came from the most unlikely of individuals being Kobe, who stood in the way of Akayno, claiming that the Marines had accomplished their mission and that any further bloodshed was a waste of human life. And while Kobe was prepared to die for his insubordination, this act would be one of the most pivotal moments of the war, as it allowed the time for Emperor of the Sea Red-Head Shanks and his crew, the Red-Head Pirates, to arrive onto the battlefield. And here, they made an ultimatum to all parties, claiming that if anybody still wanted to fight, then they would be going up against them. After which point Blackbeard wisely decided to retreat, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku officially declared that the Paramount War was over. Next time on Saga's In Minutes, this is a bit ridiculous, but we will be going into part three of the Paramount War saga, which will be covering the post-war events. I know I said that this would be split into two videos, but the details of Marineford were a bit too essential, and so this sort of became its own video. That's just how ridiculously epic this saga is. So do look forward to its third installment. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produces in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line if you're Patreon, because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. And if you'd like to see more videos like this but applied to other anime and manga series, then please do check out my second channel, New Bolt Review, for all of your wider needs. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server, where a wide array of shenanigans takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with your thoughts on the second part of the Paramount War saga. This has been the Grand Line Review, and I'll see you next time.