Kizaru Appears! A Trap Aimed at Tiger!

Fifteen years back, Neptune cradles a baby Shirahoshi and notes that Tiger's strike on Mary Geoise will keep the island from the World Summit for some time. Across Fish-Man Island the people hail Tiger as a hero, drowning out Otohime as she tries to gather migration signatures, and a youthful Hody Jones wishes he had been there. The Sun Pirates are then assailed by a Marine battleship under Kadar, who demands the freed slaves back, only for the furious fish-men to overwhelm the soldiers and condemn them for prizing Celestial Dragon property over ending slavery.

The fish-men strip the Marines of their belongings, and Arlong quietly murders one of them. At Marineford, Vice Admiral Kizaru hears reports of the dangerous crew and issues bounties on its deadliest members, Tiger and Jinbe. Aboard ship, Tiger rebukes Arlong for the killing and preaches liberation over vengeance, yet privately confides to Jinbe that demons within him still long to slaughter humans. The pirates are later asked to escort a battered slave girl, Koala, to her home, which Tiger reluctantly accepts. As Arlong beats her for being human and the crew watches her terror with pity, Tiger removes her slave brand and replaces it with a sun, and Koala at last allows herself to cry.

The anime drops the manga scene of Arlong striking unconscious Marines and instead adds one where a Marine provokes Jinbe. Tiger's clash with Kadar is extended, including a false threat to throw the officer into the sea, and Kadar's fear of Tiger is original to the broadcast. The townsfolk who first met Koala are shown to be former slaves as well. A continuity error renders Jinbe's silhouette during Strawberry's report with his current 46-year-old look rather than his 31-year-old appearance. This episode debuts Kadar and Koala and carries no preview, likely because the next installment is a crossover special.