And Ace said he'd meet Luffy at the top as well.
Look what happened there.
And regardless of whether you think Blackbeard is the final villain or not (he's absolutely not going down before the final war) it doesn't change the fact that Mihawk doesn't have a place at the sides of either of the two main villains going into the end. Him being a Warlord was the last hope of him being a final fight, and that's gone.
Eh, if you are someone, like me, who believes it's actually Shanks who's going to be final battle or confrontation, then it's very easy to believe Mihawk may partner with Shanks current 9 main member (or 10 counting Rockstar, but he wasn't in the Marineford double spread so idk) crew towards the EoS when Luffy finally returns the hat.
Remember, Oda has known the ending since the beginning, and the original plotline only involved beating Yonko not Shichibukai (who he blames for extending the story so much). The only person who has been around since the beginning other than Luffy is Shanks. The major themes from Chapter 1 are Luffy becoming pirate king and returning the hat to Shanks. Shanks being the "end" of the story allows the story to come full circle. Not to mention, he's the only Yonko actually present the entire series.
Blackbeard was teased 140 chapters in and revealed 230 chapters in. While he has an immense villain presence, his power is a byproduct of the Shichibukai system and a dead Yonko, something we have no idea was planned from the beginning by Oda. So the only full constants this series has are:
- Luffy
- Shanks and his crew
- The Strawhat
It's why I think Mihawk is an "addition" to the Shanks plotline by the end. Shanks has been very weird lately too:
- Odd connection to the Gorosei/Respect from the Marines
- Constant "evil" face looks when Luffy is mentioned or around.
- Mysterious desire for "something". He asked Roger something before Roger died and cried immensely. This is unknown.
I'm not saying Shanks is evil, but I think he's a very morally grey character and we are going to find out why soon. To me, Shanks makes for an emotional end to the series, not Blackbeard. Blackbeard will be the epic battle, Shanks will be a hell of a lot more personal, especially if Mihawk is present for Zoro and Usopp and his father have a confrontation.
The "stakes" in this case are about personal conflict. I think Shanks/Mihawk will represent that for Luffy/Zoro. We don't know enough about Shanks regardless and it's important we keep our minds open about it.