Episode 461

"The Beginning of the War! Ace and Whitebeard's Past!" is the 461st episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Whitebeard reveals his Devil Fruit powers in front of the Marines. Whitebeard and Ace's past are shown: Ace was the captain of the Spade Pirates. Ace confronts Jinbei to meet Whitebeard since Ace turned down an offer to become a Shichibukai. Soon after Whitebeard offered Ace to join his crew when his battle has ended, Ace attempted to kill Whitebeard to no avail. Whitebeard allowed Ace to become division commander. However, when Blackbeard turned against the crew and killed Thatch, Ace left Whitebeard on a mission to capture Blackbeard. When Ace tells Whitebeard on the execution platform that he ignored his advice, Whitebeard says that he was the one who sent Ace to confront Blackbeard when he originally told him not to go, to cover Ace's mistake in his rescue attempt.

Long Summary
Three other ships, along with the Moby Dick, have infiltrated the bay. Whitebeard himself from the deck of the Moby Dick, comments that it would be better if his son, Fire Fist Ace, is alright.

Ivankov asks Luffy if Monkey D. Dragon will come and save Ace, as he would never let his son get killed. Luffy replies that although his father is Dragon, Ace's father is in fact Gol D. Roger.

Ace then remembers all the events that led him to being the Whitebeard pirates Second Division commander. (Parting with Luffy, his days of him as the captain of the Spade Pirates, a meeting he had with Shanks on a winter island, etc.)

It also shows about his battles with Jinbe and Whitebeard, and him joining the Whitebeard pirates. At first he continues to fight Whitebeard but eventually accepts him as his leader and adopted father and befriends the rest of the Whitebeard pirates. It shows his rise among the crew as he is later promoted to become the Second Division Commander. The flasback ends with him going after Blackbeard (for killing Thatch) against the wishes of Whitebeard, who told him to stay. The episode ends with Ace asking why they came to his rescue even when he disobeyed them, and Whitebeard replies that he is his son.

Anime Notes

 * In this episode, Thatch and Ace are seen fighting the Decalvan Brothers, that didn't happen in the manga.
 * Even though it is mentioned that Thatch was killed by Teach, how exactly he killed him was never mentioned in the manga. In the anime, Teach stabs him in the back.
 * When Ace meets Shanks, it can be seen that Shanks still has both arms, even though he lost his left arm to the Lord of the Coast. This however, appears to be an error.
 * In earlier episodes, Whitebeard doesn't laugh as in the manga (his Gurarara laugh). This is the first time he laughs as in the manga.
 * This is the first episode where Ivankov is voiced by Mitsuo Iwata, following the arrest of Norio Imamura.