🔗 Share this article

The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' is a key motif that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the narrative. Popular tales frequently do not capture the complete reality, including the most influential figures in this story's intricate history. Oden wasn't a silly performer prancing through the roads of Wano; he acted out of duty and conviction. Kuma was not a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, either; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, Davy Jones meant more than a pirate's contest in pursuit of flags and crews.

In chapter #1164 of One Piece, we see the peak of this theme. The entire God Valley story acts as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to judge the characters too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to capture the full reality, even for the most influential characters.

One Piece's latest flashback, detailing the God Valley event, represents one of the series' finest arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of witnessing icons in their prime, it's gripping to see them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to outgrow their human nature. The past, as recorded by the Global Authority and retold through secondhand tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the stories of those who were acquainted with them prove unreliable, revealing only pieces of who these men truly were.

The Man Prior to the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of buccaneering, but prior to he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a youth ruled by emotion and the desire to explore. When people discuss his legend, they usually mean his later journey, the grand quest in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward Laugh Tale. However little is known about his first journey, the one that molded him before fame found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the globe's hidden history. His affection for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's darkest realities: the extermination "games," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and including the existence of the world's unseen ruler, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in the Divine Isle, but perhaps finding the child 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 Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's account, both to the viewers and to new Marines. He depicted Xebec as a despicable, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it transpires, the strategist was not there at God Valley; he was only echoing the World Government's sanctioned version of events, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to bury the truth about Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the decadent World Government. We don't know if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a wish for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to eliminate the island where his kin resided, he abandoned his ambitions of domination to save them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. Upon confronting the sovereign, he forfeited his determination and freedom, 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 end his life — believing that dying would be a mercy compared to the torment he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga presents him in a positive light during the Divine Isle incidents.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec really meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is still a slave to Imu in the present day, acting as the scarred individual, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant transit to keep the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Hidden Defiance

Another protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu murdered Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the time jump, when he risked all to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he was unable to do the identical for his biological grandson. Comparable questions have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle flashback: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the World Government considers genocide and slavery as entertainment for the upper class?

The reality reveals something distinct. The instant Monkey D. Garp saw the Gorosei's grotesque shapes, he struck immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger wasn't to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out everyone in God Valley, even it seems, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is probably the reason Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he not once desired to be promoted to Admiral, reporting directly to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the Divine Isle incident through a recollection narrated by Loki, covering perspectives and events he obviously was absent for, I believe we can consider this account as completely truthful. The series may offer an explanation later, maybe connected to Loki's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley event perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {