EDIT: Oh shit, moderator please make the poll public so I can see who votes what option, thanks. Ace gonna die.
Here's a breakdown of the most popular arguments.
Ace’s “potential”
He’s already failed twice in making it as a top pirate, both times throwing himself headfirst against strong opponents and getting whipped for it.
Ace ,from the moment he’s shown up, has never been shown as that guy who is growing by leaps and bounds, in fact he has been completely static which goes hand in hand very nicely with his lack of personality.
There’s also a lot of talk of him being the son of Roger and having the blood of the Pirate King coursing through his veins, which somehow gives him an untapped potential that Whitebeard and Sengoku have magically seen. This shows a lack of comprehension twofold: that Sengoku is employing a scorched earth policy against Roger’s associates as a symbolic show of power but more importantly, that One Piece has never EVER been about potential or innate abilities or bloodlines or familial ties: the single major theme is willpower, ambition, drive, goals, which also plays very keenly into the concept of Haki.
Anyone pretending Ace has the potential to be a lead with worthwhile ambitions are simply deluding themselves. He stinks as a character and the best purpose he serves to the story is to be executed.
The only expansion of his character was his relationship with Whitebeard which served as a catalyst for this conflict, it had nothing to do with setting up Ace as an awesome badass super-kakkoi pirate in the New World.
I can’t believe people think Ace as a pseudo-Sasuke revenge addled darkness flan is a better fate than dying with his some dignity with a smile on his face a la Roger and FUCKING LUFFY. jesus crist you lot care about Ace as Pirate King more than he does lol, Ace: “my entire goal and dream in life is to make the Whitebeard a pirate king! Believe it!”
Ace as a rival
If Ace survives he would become Luffy’s main rival for Pirate King, obviously dominating the spotlight due to being the son of Roger, a carrier of Whitebeard’s dying will and being a D itself, whatever that will be shown to encompass.
This isn’t Naruto, this isn’t a manga where the arch rival would hog that spotlight while the main character in name alone would blindly claw as a trainwreck.
Then we look to Ace’s willpower and life goals; there is no chance in hell that Ace can be written as a credible rival given what we know about him, that he is essentially a pussy who’s spent the apex of his pirating career as a tool for elevating Whitebeard. Ace is already written as inferior to Luffy, Blackbeard, Kidd, Law, hell throw in the rest of the Supernovae too simply for this fact.
Ace’s importance has never been portrayed as a rival.
“The past three arcs are down the pan if Ace dies”
The past few arcs have not been about Ace and if you think they have then do us all a favour and jump off a bridge. Anyone who has a basic junior school level understanding basic shounen thematic will discern that this run is about the end of an era, the end of the great age of pirates of which Whitebeard and Ace are the final symbolic bastions.
What would go down the pan is the new age of pirates, which has long been foreshadowed and Doflamingo is the biggest proponent of, as Ace surviving is the equivalent of the legacy and will of the old-school surviving.
What would go down the pan is the fulcrum of the conflict between Luffy and Blackbeard, which rests completely on Ace’s head being separated from his body. The major reason that would separate this rivalry from something like Kidd or Ace even is completely destroyed and Blackbeard becomes just another guy vying for the Pirate King crown. Luffy has no reason to hunt down Teach as that would be passed on to Ace, who would have a legitimate gripe following Whitebeard’s death. Blackbeard is not going to be relegated to a role that the Supernovae have been so obviously designated to fill.
These arcs also serve to elevate Luffy’s status as he prepares to enter the New World, creating ties with incredibly strong characters like the Revolutionary army’s Ivankov to Shichibukai Jinbei and Hancock.
Add in that there is no vested interest in seeing Ace “grow” from the readership: this story is about the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates and nothing more. There is no need for another rival, especially one with the personality of a turnip that reads like the wet dream of every brainless fangirl (and boy as I’m sure this thread will attract) I’ve come across.
“Oda doesn’t kill people off”
Whitebeard is going, so why can’t Ace.
Throw into the mixer that Oda equates having goals crushed with death, Ace’s entire life purpose is finished with the Whitebeard making his grave under 50ft of crap. Ace is as good as dead with Whitebeard’s death, and keeping him alive is a roundabout bullshit piece of writing that Oda is far too good to fall into the trap of.
“Ace is a popular character Oda wont kill him”
The castrated Kishimoto killed off a top 2 popular Deidara.
A writer as good as Oda is not going to be swayed to sacrifice the quality of his story for the sake of some basement dwelling gastropods' vicarious wish fulfillment.
“Luffy can’t fail AGAIN”
Why is there this obsession with the fanbase that Luffy must succeed in everything he does. It was the exact same shit when he got shitstomped by Sentomaru, Kuma, Magellan and now the Admirals as Kizaru beats seven shades of shit out of his rubbery backside.
Luffy doesn’t need to succeed in saving Ace for the story to progress naturally. Luffy doesn’t need to save Ace in order to maintain his credibility. This war has basically cemented Luffy as the number one rookie bastard despite being knocked out over and over again by Kizaru without effort, this puts him directly in the nexus of the new era as the old dies with Whitebeard and Ace, which was the entire point of Luffy’s presence.
What makes any of you think this conflict will have a happy conclusion. Seriously.