User blog comment:Videogamep/Why is Sabo Such a Big Deal?/@comment-1595565-20131212043834/@comment-98.208.223.27-20131212101815

Why isn't there a "Presumed Dead" category? It seems probable this "Aha!" bullshit will happen again (Monet, Vergo), so why not preclude it with a neutral stance? When the magazine makes a mistake like with Zoro's bounty, and you recapitulate it, you're blameless. When many informed characters claim another character is dead, and the visual evidence of the body supports it, like with Brownbeard, and you mark him dead, then sure, Oda's "doing a good job of writing the series," and you again are blameless. But your evidence for Sabo's death was a marginal character, Dogra, reporting him as dead because he saw his ship blow up from a distance, coupled with a report in the dubious databook. If that was all there was, then, sure, it's weak, but it's everything, so call him dead til Oda declares different. But there was "sufficient explanation to argue otherwise" - we had the clearly curious event with the revolutionaries rescuing an injured person, plus the lack of a body or any image of Sabo's corpse. Claiming you were "doing right by the story" seems a bit arrogant because the story encouraged multiple interpretations (successfully, considering the years of debate) with evidence for both sides, so the "encyclopedia entry" should have reflected that uncertainty. You clearly stated your agenda/preference in the first paragraph, that you feel Sabo being dead is more potent story-wise, and that is a perfectly reasonable and persuasive stance, but it seems to have compromised your editorial objectivity. "Blame Pell" is a straw man argument; it seems more like you're wanting to blame Oda for giving fans just enough "hope" to prevent you from painting in black and white without objection. You're absolutely right that, "there is nothing wrong with being wrong if the wrong thing was made to look right." But this wasn't a wrong thing made to look right. This was a grey area you painted black because you had a preference and the power to enforce it. Oda made your job harder, and will undoubtedly do so again. Maybe the entries could stand to embrace uncertainty more gamely going forward?