@Airflow:
How would Sabo serve a better purpose? As a dead character that took up 5+ chapters just to make Luffy feel alright again in a corny little flashback or as a future antagonist?
@Airflow:
I said Sabo's death would be pointless. You responded with "But that makes every flashback death pointless". Why aren't you following this, it's fairly simple.
Why would you wrap in quotations your interpretation of what I actually said? lol. So anyway, you said, "Sabo dying would make his inclusion in the manga entirely pointless", which first and foremost, assumes you know Sabo's purpose in its entirety. That is, all the development from here on out until his proposed death, as well as the potential impact it has on Ace and Luffy. Second, my question was a fierce generalization equating his (Sabo's) involvement in the story to that of Olvia, or Saul, or Yorki, or Usopp's mom. All this giving you the benifit of the doubt that the theoretical death of Sabo only serves as emotional baggage, when there could be even more Oda has planned that we have not yet seen. Again, just playing devil's advocate.
@Airflow:
Oda could get Luffy to reaffirm his dreams after something happens to someone he cares about, just like he did in the 1st chapter. It's a possibility that he could rehash a flashback and kill off a potentially useful and interesting character just to get Luffy motivated again.
Chapter 1 has Luffy promising Shanks he will become a stronger pirate, and even the Pirate King. While this is suggestive, it isn't until this flashback with Ace that the "freest person" talk really gets addressed. If you consider Sabo's position, that of a noble bound to a lifestyle he doesn't want, then Luffy choosing to live a life without regrets, to the fullest, and held by no bounds, would be similar to the rest of the crew stepping up their dreams and reestablishing themselves right before truly joining the crew. I find it interesting that this occurs while Luffy is without his crew, and will need to rejoin them. Just saying.
@JERK:
Except their deaths aren't redundant. Ace's death is a personal one for Luffy. Whitebeard's death is a major political, social, rupture that changes the world of the story right before the intermission/halfway point of the journey is crossed.
I see how the two can have impact on different areas of the story, which I agreed with even back then, so I don't contest that. Like I said, I agree with most of what you are saying, I am just not ruling out the possibility. For example, Sabo's death would compliment Ace and Luffy's characters, giving more purpose to their promise on the hill to live life free and without regret. (see above to Airflow). Not all that different than some of the other flashback deaths. Ace's death is also shared among other people in the present, so Luffy isn't alone. Jinbei, for example, is right there. Ace's entire crew, etc. At present, we feel more loss for Luffy, of course, but as a character both Sabo and Ace would be shared losses. Again, similar to Franky sharing his with Iceburg, Zoro sharing his with Kuina's father, Nami's with Nojiko, or even Sanji's with Zeff. Of course I am not trying to equate them all, just noting similarities.