🔗 Share this article

The saying 'The past is recorded by the winners' serves as a central motif that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Legends frequently do not capture the full truth, including the most powerful figures in this world's complex past. Kozuki Oden was no foolish performer dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's game in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we witness the culmination of this theme. The whole God Valley story serves as a warning story, instructing audiences not to judge the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently do not capture the complete truth, including the most powerful figures.

One Piece's latest flashback, detailing the God Valley incident, represents one of the story's finest arcs to date. Beyond the thrill of witnessing legends in their peak, it's compelling to observe them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to surpass their human nature. The past, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, painted our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's records and the stories of those who were acquainted with them prove unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Prior to the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the bold attitude that ignited a fresh era of buccaneering, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a young man ruled by emotion and wanderlust. When people speak of his legend, they typically mean his later journey, the grand expedition in pursuit of the guide stones that point toward the final island. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that shaped him prior to glory found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's hidden history. His love for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's most sinister realities: the genocidal "contests," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe finding the son of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his role in the globe and seek the reality he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this flashback, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec came almost entirely from Sengoku's account, both to the viewers and to young Marines. He painted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it turns out, the strategist wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only echoing the Global Authority's approved version of events, the very story the sovereign approved to conceal the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the regime's plan to annihilate the land where his family resided, he gave up his dreams of domination to save them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his undoing. After facing Imu, he forfeited his determination and liberty, becoming a puppet enslaved to their power. Currently, with what limited consciousness is left, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a mercy in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga presents him in a favorable manner during the God Valley incidents.

Could He Be Living Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec really die? An intriguing theory is that he is still a slave to Imu in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the World Government's last ancient stone in constant transit to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Rebellion

Another protagonist of the Divine Isle event is Garp, who has endured backlash from followers for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he risked everything to rescue Koby at Hachinosu, leading many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandson. Comparable doubts have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Garp work for the Marines, aware the World Government considers mass murder and enslavement as sport for the elite?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The instant Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' grotesque forms, he struck without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger wasn't to defeat some evil Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an effort to halt Imu, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even apparently, even the World Nobles themselves. This event is likely the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Although the audience are viewing the Divine Isle incident through a flashback narrated by Loki, covering perspectives and events he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this version as completely accurate. The series may offer an reason later, perhaps connected to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle event excellently exemplifies the idea that the past is recorded by the winners. This mindset is {