Episode 500

"Stolen Freedom! The Nobles' Trap Draws Near the Three Brothers" is the 500th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Sabo, Luffy and Ace are caught by the Bluejam Pirates. Sabo returns to High Town and finds out about the nobles' plan to burn "all the shame" in Gray Terminal from the new brother his parents adopted when he ran away. Sabo runs away to warn Luffy and Ace.

Long Summary
The episode starts with the base of Ace, Luffy and Sabo being hit by a windy storm. Luffy had responsibility to look after their pirate flag being "uncool" to lose their flag. A huge gust of wind comes and blows Luffy off, Ace and Sabo laugh at Luffy. The three brothers go to the Gray Terminal to search for materials to rebuild their hideout being destroyed by the storm. Luffy wants a telescope, but Ace tells him that they will not find useful things there. On their way to the Gray Terminal, they are being watched by people hidden behind some trees.

While looking for parts, Sabo find a telescope but realizes that he is surrounded by the Bluejam Pirates. Bluejam states that he did not know that one of the "three infamous brats" was a Noble. The Bluejam Pirates attempt to grab Sabo, but he puts up a fight when Ace and Luffy appear in a barrel. The three of them put up a good fight when until Bluejam pulls out a gun. While unprepared, the Bluejam Pirates grab all three of the brothers. Then Outlook III appeared, and Sabo was wondering why he was so desperate to get him back by hiring Pirates to retrieve him. Sabo's Father gets upset that the pirates hit Ace, since he got his "trashy kids blood" over him. Sabo was scared that the Bluejam Pirates were gonna kill Ace and Luffy, so he agreed to listen to his Father since they are his brothers. Sabo starts crying since it's the end of his dreams, dropping the telescope that Luffy wanted and breaking it. Ace and Luffy were taken back to Bluejam's hideout where he unties them and offers them jobs on his pirate crew, Ace and Luffy agrees. Their job with the other pirates was to take some barrels to certain locations. Luffy does not like the idea of Sabo being gone, but Ace says they do not know what is best for Sabo so they will see what goes. Sabo is being investigated by a person to see if he was a criminal. Sabo said that Ace and Luffy had nothing to do about his judgment. Sabo's Father threatens Sabo what will happen to his two brothers if he does not listen, but Sabo states that they did these crimes by their freewill, which makes his father angry and kick his chair and make Sabo fall. Sabo's Father in the end bribes the investigator to say nothing has happened so as not to ruin the family's reputation. Sabo is taken home where he meets his new brother Sterry. Sterry was adopted by Sabo's family since he had lots of promise. If Sabo wouldn't be the successor then Sterry would replace him.

Sabo was in his room when Sterry came in and told Sabo that he had "devils luck". Sterry tells Sabo that if he had stayed in the Gray Terminal, he would have died. Sabo grabs Sterry's shirt and demands him to tell him everything. Sterry tells Sabo that only if there is a fire at the Gray Terminal, "then this country will be clean". Sabo realizing this escapes from his house and runs away. Sabo overhears his Father's men saying that the Bluejam Pirates will burn down the Gray Terminal.

Back at the hideout of the three brothers, Luffy is missing Sabo. Ace reminds him that they agreed to let Sabo go, but Luffy still has dreams of Sabo (and a telescope).

Sabo waited till the next morning to see peoples' reactions of the fire that day if the fire is true or not. Sabo notices that everyone is so calm and thought that everything should be fine. Sabo's Father states it's a great windy day... for a fire, then finds out that Sabo is not in the house studying and thus orders his men to look for Sabo. Sabo goes up to a couple of people about if there will be a fire in the Gray Terminal, and everyone knows. The people of the town are being quiet about the subject since they do not want people from the outside to learn about it, which shocks Sabo, wondering if anyone cared. Ace and Luffy is seen with Bluejam, and Bluejam tells them that they have a big task tonight about their barrel jobs. Sabo finally realizes why his Father hired pirates to search for him, to save him from the fire and maintain his status. Sabo starts running to the Gray Terminal to tell Ace and Luffy, but he is seen by Sabo's Father's men. The episodes ends with Sabo saying "Run! Ace! Luffy!".

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Portgas D. Ace
 * Sabo
 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Bluejam
 * Outlook III
 * Porchemy (flashback)
 * Sabo's mother
 * Sterry
 * Goa King

Anime Notes

 * While not shown in the manga, the three brothers briefly fought with Bluejam's men before Sabo's father appeared.
 * Not shown in the manga, one of the people in High Town expresses sympathy when talking to Sabo about the destruction of Gray Terminal.
 * FUNimation celebrated this episode's release on their official website by uploading all of the episodes that were dubbed at the time (Episodes 1 - 202) on the site for one week.
 * The preview for the next episode is very brief, only stating the title of it.

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Episodi 500