Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Also, if Ace actually DID know that Roger was his dad, then I can only assume that denying his connections to him and becoming the surrogate son of his father's greatest known rival was his idea of freeing himself of his fate as son of the pirate king. If that was the case, then his plan backfired on him....
But you know, thinking it over now, Blackbeard probably knew about Ace's lineage all along. It's really no wonder that he instantly became a Shichibukai after handing Ace over to the marines instead of Luffy. It's like losing a dollar and finding $100 in its place, no?
Not saying you're wrong or anything, but here's Garp's line as translated by well-known translator Stephen:
I also recall other translations that referred to Luffy and Ace's caretaker as Garp's friend when the chapter originally came out, but unfortunately I can't find them now. Anyways, I think it's too soon to assume that it was a guy who trained the brothers in their youth.....
By the way, a script for the chapter came out. It actually starts out with people all over the world talking about the execution. Of course, there are some who are asking about Whitebeard (interestingly enough, there are some people who think that his age may have caught up with him.....). Also, before Sengoku makes his speech, he tells Garp that he was going to reveal everything to the crowd, but the vice-admiral didn't seem to mind at all......
And now, about the history of Ace's birth: Sengoku says that the marines have actually been searching for him for quite a long time. The only hints they had came from reports from some Cipher Pol agents that had reported his birth, but they still had trouble locating the infant Ace and his mother. The reason for thati s because Portgas D. Rouge managed to trick the marines by keeping her baby in her belly for
20 months, out of sheer willpower. But eventually, Ace was born in Batelira, an island in South Blue, one year and 3 months after Gold Roger's death.....
...Damn, so while she wasn't pregnant for a full 2 years, it was still awfully close. Of course, Sengoku said that she died from the strain of such a massively-delayed childbirth. The rest we already know (about Roger asking Garp to save Ace's life and whatnot). Now I'm more interested in Rouge than ever before. She must be quite an awesome character, considering she's the first female D to appear in the series. To evade the marines' clutches while carrying a baby for so long really does bring to mind the epic feats of other flashback characters like Fisher Tiger and Jaguar D. Sauro. I'm really hoping that we'll get that full flashback on Ace's history within the next few chapters......
Oh, and Buggy's still bragging about how he'll become king of the world when his group is shown outside the gate of justice. Man, I can't wait to see what hijinks he'll get involved in when the war starts! The idea of him accidentally becoming an emporer is becoming a lot more appealing to me at this point after all!
