Still thinking about your Marco laugh post from yesterday and how you hurt me with that end bit but it also got me wondering your thoughts on Marco re: the Payback War and how that loss effects him.
Oh… whew.
Unless I’ve missed an update somewhere there’s not a whole lot we know canonically of the Payback wars. We might get something in the final arc, if Marco and Teach end up in the same space (pls no, honestly 😭)
So pretty much everything is conjecture, but the only survivors we know of for sure are Izou and Marco.
It’s possible more crew survived, it’s possible some of them didn’t even participate - I can imagine Marco gave the people who needed it plenty of space to leave. They’d already lost a lot.
Teach’s betrayal and Thatch’s loss had been hard enough, and Pops likely stopped them from hunting down Teach because killing your own brother would be hard enough on his sons, but there would be losses on top of that.
It wouldn’t be just Thatch and Teach at the end of it.
So I get where Newgate was coming from.
Then we got Marineford, and those losses. — everyone knew not everyone would walk away from a war with the marines, so I do think some of the impact of those losses were mitigated.
Though Pops and Ace were harsh and heavy losses. And the kind of indirect fault of Teach - adding to his treachery. Pops would’ve died no matter what, but the war wouldn’t have happened if not for Teach, both his initial betrayal and his decision to hand Ace over to the marines on top of it.
I think the defilement of Newgate, and subsequent theft of his DF was the breaking point for Marco and the others. When there wasn’t anymore weight to the word “brother” with Teach. When all that anger and grief came to a head and needed some kind of release.
And thus the Payback War.
I’ve waffled on how it probably went down, but it’s hard to say who all actually survived.
The Phoenix Fruit is a sweet, sweet prize, and I feel like Teach would not let that fruit slip through his fingers if he could have done anything about it. I can see him offering to let all the other crew members off the hook if Marco handed himself over, but the WBP crew as a whole would not allow for something like that.
Teach would know so he might not even offer, or he’d offer just as jeer vs any actual sincerity - leaving Marco to wonder after the fact who would’ve lived if he had accepted. Well, Teach isn’t like that, but his crew would be.
I also feel like, despite their rage, the WBP weren’t at 100%. The grief was too heavy and it could not be easy to face their father’s DF in the hands of his killer. Especially when that killer used to be part of their family.
In the end, I think it was a defeat that could’ve been a stalemate if the WBP crew hadn’t been so worn down from loss prior. Marco was also likely prioritizing his crew’s safety over fighting. We’ve seen him tank Big Mom and then King and Queen, plus heal/save hundreds of infected soldiers after flying from his island to Wano and knocking a ship out of the sky without a break.
The man is incredibly strong.
He might have actually had a better chance going after Teach with less of his crew involved. (I think this is why Teach hasn’t shown up on the island, and maybe also because some part of Teach respects Pops just that teeny tiny amount enough to leave it as a sanctuary).
I realize I’m bias, but just based on what we’ve seen him do canonically, I don’t doubt Marco could’ve been an Emperor if he had the desire for it. He’s got the strength, stamina and skill - I just don’t think he ever had the drive. Which isn’t a problem, by any stretch, but my point is that Teach was up against an unstoppable force that likely only retreated because Marco could see the inevitable losses piling up.
Revenge for Ace and Pops and Thatch (and everyone who died at Marineford), was going to be pointless if everyone else died to make it happen.
All of that to say this: in the end of Wano Marco makes a statement about how he survived, again. I don’t doubt at some point during the Payback War he was ready - and willing - to die if it took Teach down with him.
I don’t think he’s suicidal in the strictest sense, but I do feel like he was willing to that point.
Survivor’s Guilt is heavy as hell, and he keeps surviving, and I don’t doubt there’s part of him that views his DF as a curse, as much as he sees it as a blessing. He’s definitely saved his brothers many times over, and he uses it even while on Pops’ home island. So he doesn’t despise that part of himself, but I imagine he’s more than just a little weary.
Taking care of the village was probably the best way he could start to heal. No piracy, no revenge, no treasure. It was a weight for the next generation to carry, he did his time. (And I feel like after about age 35 Marco was becoming more and more about the quiet life than not).
I know he probably grieved for months. Grief will find him in the quiet moments of the early morning, and the dark silence of the night and he’ll let the tears fall, and he’ll find comfort in the memories and he’ll smile for the village kids and heal their scrapes and bruises and woe be unto anyone who lands on that island while he’s there.
I think going to Wano was part of that healing for him, honestly. He says something at one point about how he’s not after Kaido - yet. He’s effectively just there to help Ace’s little brother (and Izou, likely), and so his focus is support and utility.
And if needed of him, sacrifice.
