🔗 Share this article

The saying 'The past is recorded by the victors' is a key motif that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the story. Popular tales often do not convey the complete reality, including the most powerful characters in this story's intricate history. Oden was no foolish showman dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he acted out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a ruthless antagonist who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend signified more than a buccaneer's game in pursuit of emblems and crews.

In chapter #1164 of One Piece, we witness the peak of this idea. The whole Divine Isle story serves as a warning story, instructing audiences not to judge the characters too quickly.

Legends often fail to convey the full reality, even for the most influential figures.

One Piece's most recent flashback, chronicling the God Valley event, represents one of the story's finest arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of seeing legends in their prime, it's compelling to see them before they turned into symbols — when their reputation had yet to outgrow their humanity. History, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and including Garp. But both the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Man Prior to the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by purpose and the daring spirit that ignited a new age of buccaneering, but prior to he became the Pirate King, he was a youth ruled by emotion and wanderlust. When individuals discuss his myth, they usually refer to his later journey, the grand expedition in search of the guide stones that lead to the final island. Yet not much is understood about his first journey, the one that shaped him before fame discovered him.

Back then, Roger was largely unaware of the globe's secret past. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the world's unseen ruler, Imu. We are yet to witness Gol D. Roger's reflections about everything happening in God Valley, but maybe discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the world and seek the truth he glimpsed from Xebec's situation.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this recollection, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's version, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He painted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the World Government's sanctioned narrative of events, the very story Imu authorized to bury the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to topple Imu and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by ambition, revenge for his clan, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to annihilate the land where his family resided, he abandoned his ambitions of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his downfall. After facing the sovereign, he forfeited his will and liberty, turning into a marionette enslaved to their authority. Now, with what little awareness remains, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness compared to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the story told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga presents him in a positive manner during the Divine Isle incidents.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks actually die? An intriguing idea is that he is still a slave to Imu in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the World Government's last Poneglyph in constant movement to prevent the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

Garp's Hidden Rebellion

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Garp, who has endured backlash from followers for a long time for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment only grew more intense after the time jump, when he risked everything to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, causing many to question why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandson. Comparable questions have now reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Garp serve the Navy, aware the Global Authority considers genocide and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The truth reveals something different. The instant Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to stop Imu, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, including apparently, including the World Nobles themselves. This incident is likely the reason Garp detests the World Nobles in the current era and why he never wanted to be elevated to Admiral, reporting directly to them.

History's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Even though the audience are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback narrated by Loki, covering viewpoints and events he clearly wasn't present for, I think we can consider this version as entirely truthful. The series may offer an reason later, perhaps linked to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident excellently embodies the notion that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {