🔗 Share this article

The adage 'The past is written by the winners' serves as a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Popular tales often fail to capture the complete truth, including the most powerful figures in this world's complex past. Oden wasn't a foolish showman prancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and principle. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a ruthless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Similarly, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's game in search of flags and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the peak of this idea. The entire Divine Isle story acts as a cautionary tale, advising audiences not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

Legends frequently do not capture the full reality, even for the most powerful figures.

One Piece's most recent look back, detailing the God Valley incident, stands as one of the series' best arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their peak, it's gripping to observe them before they became symbols — when their reputation had yet to outgrow their humanity. History, as recorded by the World Government and retold through hearsay stories, shaped our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the stories of those who knew them prove unreliable, revealing only pieces of who these individuals really were.

The Man Before the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the bold attitude that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but before he was known as the Pirate King, he was a youth governed by passion and wanderlust. When individuals speak of his legend, they typically mean his second voyage, the epic quest in search of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward the final island. Yet little is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him prior to glory discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the globe's hidden history. His affection for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the World Government's darkest realities: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Five Elders, and including the presence of the world's unseen sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about everything occurring in God Valley, but maybe finding the son of a Holy Knight on his ship will make him realize his place in the globe and pursue the reality he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the viewers and to new Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it turns out, Sengoku was not there at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's approved version of events, the very story Imu approved to bury the reality about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was guided by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he discovered the government's scheme to annihilate the land where his family resided, he gave up his dreams of domination to rescue them.

This love for his relatives became his undoing. Upon confronting the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, turning into a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what little consciousness remains, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks is thus very different from the story narrated by Sengoku, and the manga shows him in a favorable manner during the Divine Isle incidents.

Could He Be Living Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec actually meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant transit to keep the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

Another key figure of the Divine Isle event is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from fans for a long time for doing nothing as Akainu murdered Ace. That sentiment became even stronger after the time jump, when he risked everything to save Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he was unable to do the identical for his own grandson. Comparable questions have recently resurfaced with the Divine Isle flashback: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, aware the Global Authority treats mass murder and enslavement as sport for the elite?

The reality reveals something distinct. The instant Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous shapes, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to stop the sovereign, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to wipe out all in God Valley, including apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he never wanted to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

History's Unreliable Storytellers

Although the readers are viewing the God Valley incident through a flashback narrated by Loki, including perspectives and events he clearly was absent for, I think we can consider this version as entirely truthful. The series may provide an explanation in the future, maybe connected to the giant's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident perfectly exemplifies the notion that the past is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {