Episode 732

"Dead or Alive — A Fateful Countdown" is the 732nd episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Gatz broadcasts himself to everyone on Dressrosa in order to tell them that Luffy will return and defeat Doflamingo with one blow. An angered Doflamingo impales Gatz and then forces Rebecca to attack Viola. However, Luffy regains his Haki and blocks Rebecca's attack as he confronts Doflamingo again.

Long Summary
The citizens of Dressrosa run toward the palace plateau and help each other climb it, and Gatz climbs up a different part of the cliff. Meanwhile, Zoro, the samurai, and the Marines push on the Birdcage with their swords, all of them convicted to help Luffy and to honor their organizations. Franky, the dwarves, and various citizens continue pushing the SMILE Factory, and the gladiators push Bartolomeo's barrier. Bartolomeo reminds them that they are inching closer to death and it is up to them to prevent this, but they reply that he does not need to tell them this. Sai is proud of his comrades for their spirit, and Hajrudin states that he does not want to die here because he has a dream he wants to achieve. Bartolomeo then says to keep pushing until their bodies break. Meanwhile, Mansherry continues flying over the city releasing her Chiyupopo into the air, and hopes that everyone will be safe. At the palace plateau, Gatz pulls himself up on a platform, breathing heavily from the effort.

Down below, Doflamingo continues forcing Rebecca to head toward them with the intention of making her kill Viola. Rebecca grows more and more distressed at her powerlessness, and Viola begs Doflamingo to stop, to no avail. Suddenly, Gatz's voice rings out across the island, causing Doflamingo and the citizens to look up at him in bewilderment. The citizens recognize him and tell him to stop fooling around, but Gatz tells them to remember a star that fought in the Corrida Colosseum earlier that day. Cavendish thinks that he is the star and prepares to head out, but suddenly realizes that Law is gone. Gatz talks about Luffy's accomplishments in the Colosseum, which the citizens remember, and reveals that the star was indeed Lucy, or as he was better known, Monkey D. Luffy. Gatz acknowledges that the country may not be so quick to trust a pirate after what happened with Doflamingo, but assures them that Luffy is not like Doflamingo. He says that Luffy was called their hope by Riku Dold III and earlier fought Doflamingo to within an inch of defeat, which causes some of the citizens to place their hope in Luffy and trust him despite apparently being betrayed ten years ago. Gatz follows up by telling the crowd that despite Luffy being knocked out, he promised earlier that he would defeat Doflamingo in one blow, which causes the crowd to cheer.

The fighters pushing the Birdcage react gleefully to the proclamation, and Zoro states that they could not hold out much longer otherwise. As the crowd continues cheering, Gatz builds up his courage and turns to Doflamingo, condemning his actions and proclaiming that this is where he will meet his punishment. Gatz trembles, not caring what Doflamingo did to him, but only desires the Shichibukai to get away from Viola and Rebecca. Gatz congratulates the people on Dressrosa for helping hold off the Birdcage and says that their salvation would come shortly. The people pushing the Birdcage renew their efforts, but the ones revived by the Chiyupopo begin collapsing due to its effects wearing off. Leo states that it will not work twice, and Mansherry begins crying in sadness that she gave the people false hope. However, Kabu tells her that countless people would have died if it were not for her efforts. Mansherry begins smiling again as more people run to help stop the Birdcage, and Gatz proclaims that Luffy will return in ten seconds.

Encouraged by Gatz, the citizens start chanting "Lucy" as Luffy attempts to get up. When the countdown reaches two, Doflamingo impales Gatz with a sheet of string, causing him to collapse. However, Gatz urges the people to keep counting, and his Den Den Mushi speaker falls and rings out as the countdown reaches zero. Nothing happens, and the crowd wonders where Luffy is. Doflamingo states that Luffy is not coming and forces Rebecca to run toward her aunt and kill her. Viola tells Rebecca to close her eyes and pretend this was a bad dream; she would not hold a grudge on her. Viola silently apologizes to Rebecca as her niece begins breaking down, but before she can land the blow, Luffy appears in Viola's place and takes the blow with a Haki-imbued forehead, which snaps the blade in half. Viola appears in Luffy's place due to Law switching the two of them, and Luffy turns to face Doflamingo once again.

Anime Notes

 * The anime adds the following:
 * Baby 5 clinging on to Sai as he is helping pushing the Birdcage back.
 * As Gatz is talking about Luffy, the Dressrosa citizens declared that they will put their trust in him.
 * Sai, Bartolomeo, Robin, and Usopp's reaction after hearing about Luffy's promise to defeat Doflamingo with one blow.
 * Gatz bragging to Doflamingo that Luffy's allies and the people of Dressrosa successfully delayed the constriction of the Birdcage.
 * In the manga, Rebecca cried out for Luffy to save her. In the anime, Rebecca called out to him in her mind.
 * The anime omits the scene of Kyros wondering where Rebecca ran off to.
 * Ten seconds before Luffy recovers, the Dressrosa citizens were counting down the number of seconds left in the manga. In the anime, the citizens were just calling out Luffy's gladiator name repeatedly until two seconds remain.
 * The manga did show Luffy getting back on his feet as the countdown to his recovery closes to zero. The anime omits this scene and when the countdown reaches zero, the people of Dressrosa wonder where Luffy is and Doflamingo is smiling, certain that Luffy isn't returning to the fight.