Shanks is one of the most powerful pirates in One Piece and his Divine Departure has once again set him apart from the masses. However, this stark power difference proves that Ace could have prevented some major events from happening.
The tragic event at hand is Ace’s death. Ace’s death at Marineford devastated Luffy and was a major turning point in his life. However, a fan theory states that Shanks could have easily saved Ace, but chose not to do it.
Kaido Knew About Joy Boy in One Piece
The fan theory states that Kaido probably knew about Joy Boy but did not know who would be the new reincarnated version of him. He is likely to have thought of Ace to be the one since he is Roger’s son as well as a D clan member. He must have also known that Ace wanted to take him down. When Kaido claimed that Luffy couldn’t be Joy Boy, it was likely because he had Ace in mind.
Kaido seems to have a lot of knowledge about Joy Boy and seemed to be waiting for his arrival in Wano just so that he could have someone to beat. The theory states that other than the D name, Joy Boy might have possessed firepower and was supposed to reveal himself in Wano. Since Ace had fire powers and had the desire of beating Kaido, the villain sat there like a duck, waiting for a challenge.
It was only when Luffy transformed in front of his own eyes that Kaido realized the grave error he had committed by mistaking the wrong brother as Joy Boy. In fact, even Shanks might have initially thought of Ace as the next Joy Boy since he was looking for the boy when he visited Luffy’s hometown. However, he left his Straw Hat to Luffy instead.
Shanks Stalled Kaido to Make Sure Ace Dies
When Ace got captured, Kaido had set sail towards Marineford. He was stopped by Shanks and could never reach his destination. But what if Kaido never set out to battle the Whitebeards or the Marines, but to save Ace? He might have decided to hasten his battle, so he could decide if Ace was really Joy Boy or not.
Since Kaido never reached Wano, everyone considered him to be defeated by Shanks. But what if Shanks had actually told something to Kaido which made the man reconsider the trip? Shanks knew that Luffy was Joy Boy, and he also knew that in order for Gear 5 to awaken, Luffy has to go through an intense emotional loss.
Shanks might have considered Ace’s execution the best excuse of them all to make Luffy mature at a faster rate. But Kaido was determined to save Ace so he could battle the latter. Thus, Shanks beat Kaido back or persuaded him. Given Shanks’ Divine Departure power, it is visible why he won, but he used the power not to help Ace but to stop Kaido from saving the boy.
Thus, Shanks sacrificed Ace to make sure Luffy could turn into Joy Boy. This is probably why he never entered the battle till Ace’s death and only interfered once Luffy needed protection. There is a chance that Luffy will find out the ugly truth by the finale of One Piece and confront Shanks.
You can read One Piece on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
