I know you have stated your piece on this a few times already, and that people have discussed it with you (quite possibly at length), but I have been away from the forums over the weekend outside of the single post here and there so I haven't read everything I missed in the last 10 pages. Anyways, I thought I would comment here since….stuff. Anyways, forgive me and correct me if I take any of this out of context in some assumptions on the topic.@Greg:
It's a weak story point that was poorly addressed by Oda. God may have three letters like Oda but sometimes he doesn't do everything perfect. This is one of those times. There's no excuse. Yes, there are a million reasons WHY it could have worked out that way I agree. But it remains that Oda left it dangling.
First off, my take on this was simply that Oda didn't tell us why she was given permission or "wanted" to go because one of two things:
- It was a part of her "conditions"; It is still a secret or a surprise or some such that we have yet to see.
- It was a part of her "conditions"; she gives no onscreen reason and we just have to deal with it. In this case I could agree that it is a fairly weak story point given the weight of the situation. I would excuse it because I know it was a "condition", and they probably would have done anything to get her to come.
In the conversation Hancock states she had conditions, and Momonga even replies that under normal circumstances a Shichibukai would not even be allowed near ID. I took that as a matter of her only being allowed since they need her so much, and that she obviously used it as a bargaining piece, "I will come if ______ and ______ conditions are met". As to the whole matter of whether or not she should be allowed to stop there given the state of crisis, I recall you saying this when I glanced at the thread last night:
@Greg:
First at this point Jinbei is a wild card, but having them split up without thinking of the ramifications or having a plan in place would be a huge disaster. Whereas she might be incredibly useful alongside the others, just alone would invite a massacre and destroy any advantage they might have had working 'together'.
Now, I somewhat disagree here. I know I mentioned this either earlier this thread or in the spoiler thread, but digging it up would be a pain. Addressing the issue, we know that Sengoku pulled the Admiral Akbar line, "It's a trap!" and wants everyone to be on alert because there is a possible attack on Impel Down as well as any other place. We also know that Hancock will reach Impel Down first, and Marineford second due to the way the Gates of Justice work. Lastly, the only "big name" we know of on ID right now is Garp. I want to remind that we are on a time frame here. Between now and say, the day of the execution, we know that Ace will be at ID and that there is a possible attack that will take place there (@ ID).
If you have 7 powerhouses, sure you would have a great advantage by having them all together, but which is better: a) Everyone together but the attack happens somewhere else or b) Split up for a time in case the attack happens at one place instead of the other so that they can gain some time to regroup by having a powerhouse 'hold the fort'. It is easier to defend, but if you have no one strong enough to defend then you will be destroyed before you can move your players into the right position. In the same sense, having Hancock (and possibly Jinbei) at Impel Down for a given amount of time could be in their favor if Whitebeard attacked ID. If Whitebeard attacked Marineford, then he will likely only do that once Ace is there. When will Ace be there? Likely only on the last day. So given that, why would it be an issue if Hancock was at ID until Ace is moved?
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