#ch576

Brook got this shirt for the sole reason of making skull jokes about not having a metabolism

An interesting question to ponder is whether Blackbeard's laughing at the fact Whitebeard's finally dying or that he completely fucked over the World Government with his final words

It's quite bold of Oda to say the WG's afraid of the coming great war during the tail end of the biggest war the manga had seen thus far, which the WG started without hesitation.

The lens flair sun imagery is almost identical to Luffy at the end of Arlong Park. While I do think this is mostly to make Whitebeard look like a badass, he did die helping pass on Roger's will while indirectly marking Luffy as Roger's successor.

The lack of mustache puts this flashback of Whitebeard's during his pre-Rocks days, which was 40 years ago. Whitebeard was a pirate for a long time, and had to wait a long time to find the family he was looking for. No wonder he protected them so fiercely .

There's always been an otherness to Blackbeard setting him apart. One of the first things we learn about him in Jaya is that there's something weird and different about him, and here in a couple pages Whitebeard will exclude him from Roger's legacy. He's a man that doesn't sleep. His oddness was marked when he was a member of Whitebeard's crew, and even in a group characterized by inclusiveness and family he set himself apart as different than the rest by killing Thatch. Much later on we'll find out that his family was hunted even more than the average member of the D clan, yet he doesn't fit with what we see in other D carriers. No matter how you slice it, he just doesn't fit.

If Blackbeard has a weakness, it's his over-reliance on his stolen power