Portgas D. Ace stood on that execution platform, chained and surrounded by Marines, the entire world watched. But one man sat closer than anyone else — Vice Admiral Garp, his grandfather.
The man who raised him, spent happy moments with him, scolded him and believed he could take a different path. That same man in his last that moment, didn’t save him. What a turning point in his life. To many of us, that silence & heartbreaking stillness felt like betrayal. But the truth is far more complicated than we thought. What Garp did and didn’t was the result of a lifetime of conflict between duty and love.
To see how, what and why it happened, we need to go back in time and find the real cause behind the reason.
Story of Marineford (is Story of Birth)
Portgas D. Ace was born into a war he never started. He didn’t chose death but inherited it because being the real son of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King & Portgas D. Rouge (Mother) Ace carried a bloodline the World Government feared more than any weapon. To them, Ace isn’t a child, he is a potential future threat. When Roger turned himself in, he asked Vice Admiral Garp (a true rival and odd friend) to protect his unborn son. Garp did it not because he believed in Roger but because he believed in giving the kid a chance. He left Ace with Dadan in the Goa Kingdom and looked over him like a grandfather. Unfortunately Ace didn’t grow up free of shadows. He hated his father’s name. He hated being born with it and even doubted if he deserved to live. These emotions burn deep into Ace’s soul and in the end bring him to the New World under the flag of Whitebeard.
How it all Started
Ace as Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates went after Blackbeard for killing a crewmate. Due to Blackbeard’s broken Devil Fruit he defeated him and hand over to Marines, giving them a golden opportunity to Execute the Pirate King’s son. The real reason behind Ace’s death is to prove the World Government’s dominance. Garp still a high ranking Marine was placed right next to Ace, watching it unfold. The same man who once trusted to protect him, now standing by as he faced death.
What Happens Next & Garp’s Role
As Ace’s execution neared, the world turned its eyes to Marineford but the story didn’t end with chains and a platform. Whitebeard in his final form enraged at his “son” being sentenced to die, launched a full scale assault on Marineford with his fleet, allies and some of the most powerful pirates in the world. The war became more than a rescue. It become a declaration that the old era wouldn’t fall quietly.
Then came Luffy straight out of the sky with his band of allies including former prisoners from Impel Down, ready to fight the world’s strongest Marines to save his brother. In the middle of battle, Luffy made it to the execution platform and rescued Ace with the help of Whitebeard’s crew. For once everything felt under situation, Ace was free now. But later Akainu came into action and messed up the whole situation completely. Creating a history in the whole anime world.
You know how that scene felt to me and most of the people who watched this . This redditor comment justifies it completely — “probably rewatched the summit war arc 4-5 times and still catch the feels. (Also bought this arcs volumes, read the manga and it was still a tear jerker). The first time, the emotions hit hard for a couple episodes after. Then when the Dan-Dan scene w/ Garp came on, literally felt like I lost someone in my life”
Now Comes the strongest marine part, how he could let all that happen
Where was Garp when Ace died
Garp was on the execution platform just a few steps away from Ace when he died. As Vice Admiral, Garp was assigned to stand beside Ace during his public execution at Marineford, placed there by the Marines as a symbol of loyalty and power. When Ace was freed from his chains by Luffy and the war scens changed, Garp still stayed by the execution platform, silent and tormented. After Akainu struck Ace with the fatal magma punch, Garp watched it happen in front of his eyes. Though he wanted to attack Akainu in rage, Sengoku restrained him, holding him back physically. But be honest, do you think holding the person titled as “Strongest Marine” ever was that easy to stop. Even the word holding is feels unsuitable for him. Stopping Garp from doing something would start a greater war in itself, if it has to. So what actually happened
Why Didn’t Garp Save Ace ?
Because he was torn down the middle. He was a Marine & he was Ace’s grandfather. Both the situation are bipolar to each other. Saving Ace would mean turning against his duty, his rank and everything he had upheld for decades. But not saving him meant betraying family.
And that’s the real pain, real reason: Garp didn’t choose the Marines over Ace— he froze, stuck between the two identities he couldn’t reconcile. So, Garp was right there when Ace died, close enough to intervene but trapped by duty, loyalty and heartbreak. There’s one thing which Garp wanted to do but didn’t got the chance, which is Would Garp Have Saved Ace If Ace Asked ?
Well, that’s the haunting part. As Ace never asked Garp to save him. Neither begged nor cried just a deep down emotion, he understood and accepted the faith. He was aware of the life he chose and he accepted the cost. Had he begged, maybe Garp would have moved and saved Ace. He stood up on that platform and fought back and the entire war might’ve shifted. He was strong enough to stall or even kill Akainu, especially in a fit of rage and he was respected enough that many lower ranking Marines might have hesitated to fight him but doing so would spark a civil war inside the Marines & more importantly, it would made Garp a traitor—something he spent his life avoiding.
Second scenerio could be a exchange of life in a fair deal, in that Garp would be the one to get executed by the end of the day. The decision must be of course his but actually, neither one was the type to say the thing that mattered now, when it was already too late.
Now, Did Garp actually Regret not Saving Ace?
Absolutely more than anything in his life. When Dadan (Ace’s foster mother) confronts him, Garp let her beat him down without fighting back. He doesn’t defend his decision and say a word because he knows very well that he failed maybe not as a marine but as a grandfather.
So, Garp didn’t save Ace because he couldn’t choose between the system he was into and the family he had. Accepting the truth he was too old to change, too deep in the code of justice to fight back. Watching Ace die, watching Luffy scream, Whitebeard fall and the war rage around a boy he once promised to protect, broke something in him that can’t ever be fixed. Ace’s death wasn’t Garp’s fault alone but Garp will carry it like it was, Forever.