One Piece Episode 485

[neflight86]

So I guess that means Ace and Jinbei and Crocodile aren't that strong?

Actually... they really don't appear to be. At this stage of the game, not even having entered the new world where even more monsterous powerhouses surely await, also assuming that prisoners of impel down were caught by somebody, does not bode well to these characters' longevity to the main story.

Concerning those three specifically, we all know that losing a serious battle is 99 out of 100 times crippling to any non-main character in a shounen series as that effectively assures the audience that they are no longer a legitimate threat to anyone of the current power level/bounty/whatever. Ace lost his battle to Teach, Croc lost his battle to the blue-screen, and a few episodes back Jinbei lost his small battle with Mihawk, though whether that counts as serious is tough to decide. If One Piece ever resurrects an old enemy as a main dish (Enel, perhaps?), then I will certainly reconsider my stance on character gimping...

My actual complaint, that may well be accidentally hidden within my wording, was that Teach gave up a very useful government position in a flashy sort of way to do what seems pointless to me right now. I mean, surely he has some other reason to step into a war I doubt he could influence with second-hand crew he just acquired at the cost of his position, and essentially make enemies of EVERYONE, than to simply watch Whitebeard die. It boggles my mind.

[DarthEnderX]

also assuming that prisoners of impel down were caught by somebody, does not bode well to these characters' longevity to the main story.

Depends who caught them. For all we know, it could have taken a half a dozen Vice Admirals, or even multiple Admirals to catch one of these guys.