well i don't want the flashback to go on to much longer so i hope last chapter was it, which would mean dead sabo
i just want the SH's back together, i want to see what they were up to and how they got back and how much stronger they've become
I think the flashback is mostly over. Next week we will get the conclusion, a montage of the years passing and Ace leaving, a very quick recap of Ace's death and then half a chapter of present time concluding Luffy's grieving.
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
I don't see a montage or recap of Ace's life coming for this flashback at all nor do i think it needs one. At most a scene when Ace leaves to become a pirate then back to present time like how most flashbacks end.
Wouldn't be surprised if it continued a bit more.
I think the flashback is mostly over. Next week we will get the conclusion, a montage of the years passing and Ace leaving, a very quick recap of Ace's death and then half a chapter of present time concluding Luffy's grieving**. And then we will see Sabo as a Revolutionary on the last page.**
There, fixed that for you.:ninja:
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
I don't see a montage or recap of Ace's life coming for this flashback at all nor do i think it needs one. At most a scene when Ace leaves to become a pirate then back to present time like how most flashbacks end.
Wouldn't be surprised if it continued a bit more.
I think the main story of the flashback has been told and all we need right now is to conclude it and return to the present. I don't know how the flashback could continue, but Oda is hard to predict. Anyway, one more week and we will see what happens.
@Shuhan1288:
There, fixed that for you.:ninja:
I won't deny it could happen, but I doubt it. If Sabo joined the revolutionaries or is alive, I think we will find it later in a future arc.
Assuming next chapter Luffy will still be grieving but Jimbei/Jinbei will be there for him to get back on his feet. My guess is Luffy is going to get motivated to reunite with the other crew members and become pirate king. Just a guess lol… a very obvious guess
Alive, and we'll be seeing him in the New World.
@Del:
Did you read the manga? Pell survived a bomb able to destroy a whole city in his face. With no major injuries… And Sabo is stronger than adults... I mean... o_O In my humble opinion saying "there's almost no way he would survive that" is ridiculous, there are in fact many ways for him to survive that. He could just take it, like Pell.
I swear, Sabo has this card I tell you!
I just realized that this is just like what happened with Ace.
Anyway, I think he's alive. If he's alive, they can't show a dead corpse. If he's day, they can't show a dead corpse because he's a kid. Isn't that great?
EDIT: Sabo being dead would makes things simpler, in the sense that we don't have to wonder where he was for the past ten years and during the war. But taking the storyline that direction sounds too easy…
@Rex:
I just realized that this is just like what happened with Ace.
I thought the last thing we saw of him being his hat (just like Ace after fighting BB) was a dead give away.
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
I thought the last thing we saw of him being his hat (just like Ace after fighting BB) was a dead give away.
So Sabo will get fisted by Akainu too?
It's possible Oda create some way to make he be alive, so I won't completely discard it.
But I go with he being dead.
@Shuhan1288:
I swear, Sabo has this card I tell you!
Why shouldn't he? It's the least rare card in all of One Piece. Everybody besides Ace has at least one of them. 
Pandaman has 30 of those.
i'm pretty sure that Dragon saved him ;) it's so obvious! and probably he became a Revolutionary…;>
If he is alive, it will lessen the impact of the story… :-/
Most of Oda flashback characters do or say something epic right before they die so yeah Sabo isn't dead.
Why shouldn't he? It's the least rare card in all of One Piece. Everybody besides Ace has at least one of them. http://i39.tinypic.com/2lwrla9.jpg
Ace already used them when he was a kid and back when he was facing WB.
I don't think he's dead. Maybe he's the revolutionary that saved Robin? It's a desperate grasp at straws but I don't want him to be dead :(
what if…
sabo is kuma
...
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
I think it's time so lets get it all out here. The topic that's completely dominated past chap and spoiler threads for weeks and will continue for these next two weeks finally gets a poll because apforum polls decide what happen in the One Piece story.
Theories and debates commence.
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/2456/sabolive.jpg http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8074/sdeath.jpg
I only see his hat on the picture. he could have easily jumped in the water and start swimming.
what if…
sabo is kuma
...
We just saw friggin' Kuma as himself in the friggin' same flashback for crying out loud. :getlost:
Don't you guys think that if Sabo does appear alive in the future, that this would weaken in a way the reason why Luffy went so crazy to save Ace? That's what I think this flashback was for. To give us a foundation for those actions of his in this War & Rescue arc. Another thing… Sabo's death also shows us why Ace was protective over his brother. Sabo through the letter forced Ace to look after Luffy, and made us understand Ace's character better. Lastly, Sabo's death also served to understand how corrupt the world is and how it's structured with nobles/world nobles in it. When Jalmack shot and killed a child (presumably?) without a moments hesitation, or even a glimpse of guilt, well that just made me hate the World Nobles at a whole new level. Not that I didn't hate them before... but I liked how it ended with Sabo wanting to be free, setting off to the open sea, and then a World Noble, the whole reason the world is the way it is, shot and killed him. And Sabo's younger brother happens to have one hell of an ambition to take on the whole world to become the Pirate King, and if and when he acquires the truth of all this from Dadan in the future then he'll want to join his father to change the world as well.
I think this flashback with Sabo dead gives us more than him being alive. It gives Luffy the understanding how important being free is, and that both of his brothers are dead because they couldn't fulfill that dream either. If Sabo pops out of nowhere, it kind of cheapens the whole drive Luffy needs to go through to accomplish what his brothers could not. As I've said before in another thread, Luffy needs to understand that his brothers are dead. Luffy needs this pain to accomplish his dream and to move on with his life.
what if…
sabo is kuma
...
We just saw friggin' Kuma as himself in the friggin' same flashback for crying out loud. :getlost:
What if…..
Sabo is inside Kuma?
@mr.french:
Don't you guys think that if Sabo does appear alive in the future, that this would weaken in a way the reason why Luffy went so crazy to save Ace?
Why would it in any way weaken THE REASON Luffy "went so crazy to save Ace?"
You mean to say if Sabo didn't die Luffy wouldn't go to save Ace? He wouldn't go crazy to keep one of his brother's from dying? Even if Sabo's death gives the foundation for Luffy saving his last brother(Ace) it's not like he wouldn't have it if Sabo was alive.
Luffy could grasp the concept of being free if Sabo was alive and had he thoguht he was dead and realized he was alive now he wouldn't lose the concept of being free and how important it is.
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
What if…..
Sabo is inside Kuma?
This is the stroke of genius.
I laughed some 7up into my nose, though.
UsoppSpell!
On the eve of spoilerificaiton, you will wait until you remember it's break week.
Sabo isn't dead untill we see a molten lava fist drilled through his sternum.
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
And if he did Sabo for being eye patch character.
Hoh-lee sheeit.
Seconded!
IMO Sabo is dead.
I don't get the "I wanna see a corpse for a confirmed death"-party.
Yet you can say Saul is alive (because the fire from the BC @ Ohara has molten his ice), Hiluluk is alive (quite the same as Sabo, we just saw his hat),
Kuina (I think of Tashgi!) and Tom are alive as well as Prof. Clover and Olvia since we saw no corpses of 'em.
Cons to his death are:
He was introduced about 5 chaps ago and last chap he died, what a short appearance, but I think other FB-chars who died also hadn't a longer appearance in the story.
Pros to his death are:
As someone posted before, Sabos death would bring the story forward and would explain why Ace was so protective to Luffy. And if Sabo survived the Tenryuubito wouldn't seem that evil and cruel anymore.
So, yeah, those were my points.
I laughed some 7up into my nose, though.
Who drinks 7up anymore? This ain't the 90's. 
Wait….what if Sabo....is 7up!?
Dead, Sabo was just introduced so we can have a better story how Luffy and Ace ended up being blood sworn brothers
Hiluluk is alive (quite the same as Sabo, we just saw his hat),
Kuina (I think of Tashgi!) and Tom are alive as well as Prof. Clover and Olvia since we saw no corpses of 'em.
For Tom and Kuina in particular. Couldn't people have checked to see if they were actually alive after all?
As for Hiriluk… he drank a potion, blew himself up in front of witnesses... and lived? Well... Pell... but... meh... In any case, the mushroom would've killed him. If that disease he already had didn't. So Hiriluk was doomed to die in three different ways....
And if Sabo survived the Tenryuubito wouldn't seem that evil and cruel anymore.
I don't know about that. If the Celestial Dragon meant to kill him and thought he did kill him, and Sabo managed to escape on his own, without the Celestial Dragon knowing, I don't see how the Celestial Dragons would be less cruel and evil.
Yet you can say Saul is alive (because the fire from the BC @ Ohara has molten his ice)
Tom are alive as well
This is where Saul and Tom are:
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="
The two guys are Gorusei and Indy is Garp.
Hiluluk is alive (quite the same as Sabo, we just saw his hat)
He was dying anyway form a terminal illness. So if you didn't think he died then, he would've died from that.
Unless you believe he also cured that.
Kuina (I think of Tashgi!)
She died in her house. her father and the other students in dojo confirmed it. The way that flashback went what exactly would be the worth of her surviving when she already acknowledged she was going to end up a weakling and failure? She had no will to pursue her promise or live on. She probably threw herself down the stairs.
Prof. Clover and Olvia since we saw no corpses of 'em.
The island was destroyed, their escape ships were destroyed. Then Oda shows us only Robin leaving. However, if you want to speculate their survival after how that flashback went down Oda's left the door cracked open for you.
Pros to his death are:
As someone posted before, Sabos death would bring the story forward and would explain why Ace was so protective to Luffy.
The reason Ace was protective of Luffy is because that's his brother. There was added motivation cuz of Sabo's letter and him thinking he was dead. Lets not act like Ace has been holding Luffy's balls throughout this story fighting his battles. He's been protective of him when he died and when BB said he was going for Luffy's head. It's not like he was a huge part of the Alabasta arc.
You don't need a family member to die to be protective of them.
And if Sabo survived the Tenryuubito wouldn't seem that evil and cruel anymore.
This is bullshit. The world nobles are portrayed as evil because of their acts and intentions not the outcome of them. The world noble shot that guy at SA and Zoro got him to a hospital, cuz the guy didn't die is Charlos seem more of a nice guy? Hachi didn't die is Charlos a nice guy? Not to mention their attitudes and their ideals displayed in the story so we coudln't misconstrue their character, it's what allows you to call them evil in the first place.
You know what? Because Sabo was shot by a World Noble, he gets injured but lives. I have no doubt that the Tenryuubito don't actually care whether their shots are lethal or not. As long as dissidence is erased, they ignore what happens afterward. So Sabo survives, possibly with memory problems.
I actually whished I could doubtlessly see Sabo as dead while reading the chapter. I even told myself so to enjoy the full impact of the letter at the end.
But the way it was presented just made me feel the other way around. I don't have a doubt that Oda intended the reader to believe Sabo is dead, so until proven otherwise it is the more likely answer. But if you just have a bit of a feel on how things usually work in OP, Sabo living is the only option. For me the most determining part was the way he "died": Nobody except for a fodder was there to witness his death. You can almost smell the ambiguousity in this development and the doors for future twists opened by it.
Honestly? I seriously doubt that Sabo is dead.
I mean… Yeah it was a good flashback to show how Luffy and Ace grew up, but seriously, why add a chr like that into the story and have him die in such a fashion... It does help add to the fact that those people of which I cannot spell are douchebags, but to leave it open like that when you have tons of possibility... That's just wastefull. At least make him a villan.
Sabo Vs Luffy! Totally.
Oh hey look, a chicken.
This poll needs an "i dunno, whatever is possible" option. In place of that i voted that he was alive.
@Dan:
This poll needs an "i dunno, whatever is possible" option. In place of that i voted that he was alive.
That's the Schroedinger's cat option.
Oh. I didn't even pay attention to that. Just thought "LOL physics joke (not enough of those around)" and moved on. Derp de derp.
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
That eyepatch does not suit him at all…
D<
Dun. Dun. Dunnnn 
@Fuwa:
That eyepatch does not suit him at all…
D<
Well I wasn't really sold on the hair.
@AdmiralYonkouMt.Bandit:
Well I wasn't really sold on the hair.
Agreed, it looks like Bascud's hair from movie 4.
Dun. Dun. Dunnnn
The theory I've come up with was only mentioned briefly a few pages ago (least that's the only occurrence of the word "slave" in this whole thread).
My theory is that Sabo, if alive, was taken from his ship by the Celestial Dragon aboard it, who promptly declared the boy his newest slave. It is perhaps the only way for Sabo to be alive that wouldn't be a dramatic cop out. It legitimately explains why he never attempted to contact Luffy or Ace (he couldn't) and, if I've got my timelines right, this takes place after Fisher Tiger's attack on Marie Jois so he wouldn't have been freed since then, more likely than not.
Ever since Shabody, a conflict has been brewing between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Celestial Dragons. Luffy's attack on Charlos, Sharlia's determination to make them pay, the Boa sisters' backstory, and now the Goa Kingdom flashback, with or without Sabo being alive, puts the odds in favor of Luffy picking a major fight with the World Nobility at some point. And if it's going to happen, Fishman Island has high odds of it, since it puts Luffy in prime position to pull a repeat of Fisher Tiger's Crowning Moment of Awesome.
If so, then what better catalyst for such a fight than for Luffy to learn, right after losing one brother, that the one he thought dead all this time is still alive. The brother who craved freedom above all else has spent the last decade a slave. Is there a single person on this forum who believes for one moment that Luffy won't go charging off to Marie Jois if he should discover this. Also note that, at this point in the present, Luffy is with Trafalgar Law, who has in his crew an ex-slave of the Dragons who owes Luffy partially for his freedom. If he knows Sabo, and realizes Luffy does, too, then that's all that's needed for all hell to break loose.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Waldorf: You know Statler, after watching the last one thousand episodes of One Piece, I think I've come to a conclusion.
Statler: No you haven't.
Both: DOHOHOHOHOHO!
Voted comedy option.
My theory is that Sabo, if alive, was taken from his ship by the Celestial Dragon aboard it, who promptly declared the boy his newest slave.
I actually think the best chance for Sabo to be alive is that he's a slave.
However, I have no idea of what would become of Sabo after he's free again. What would be his role in the story then?
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
Can I take back my vote?
I'm going to go with the cat thing.
Cuz I just now know what it means.
I deserve a cookie.
The theory I've come up with was only mentioned briefly a few pages ago. Also note that, at this point in the present, Luffy is with Trafalgar Law, who has in his crew an ex-slave of the Dragons who owes Luffy partially for his freedom. If he knows Sabo, and realizes Luffy does, too, then that's all that's needed for all hell to break loose.
I presented the same theory for the same reasons in the spoiler and chapter thread, minus the last part I left in your quote above, so I agree with you. That last part about Jean Bart is particularly interesting. I remember spamming the chapter threads about Jean Bart before we knew who he was because it seemed like Oda was going out of his way to include him in panels. Likely just a lucky guess on my part, but when he was freed I thought for sure he would play a semi-important role eventually (excluding his joining Law's crew). Ironically enough, up until you mentioned him just now I had completely forgot about him. Whether or not Oda will use him is another matter entirely, but I thought I would point out that I liked the thought behind that tidbit of speculation.
I actually think the best chance for Sabo to be alive is that he's a slave. However, I have no idea of what would become of Sabo after he's free again. What would be his role in the story then?
Oda had him thinking a lot about what freedom really is, so if you consider his background (noble), present condition (slave), and experience (pirate/thief/peasant), it seems fairly obvious his best role would be in the Revolutionary Army. There is more than enough reason for them to be included in that portion of the story, so that isn't really an issue. Also, given they didn't exist when Sabo was young, there was no way for him to know that he would have preferred that over piracy. In that aspect, it doesn't hurt his "dreams" of freedom, sailing, and writing at all.
Sabo lives. He has to grow up to be a huge badass
SABO LIVES!!!
…WITH DRAGON'S ARMY!!
On a side note, wouldn't it be a hell of a twist if it turned out that, not only had Sabo been alive and a member of Dragon's Revolutionaries, but that he was later "stripped of his powers" by Teach in the same manner as Whitebeard? Just a random thought.
