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The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' serves as a key theme that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the story. Popular tales often do not capture the full reality, even for the most powerful figures in this story's intricate history. Kozuki Oden wasn't a silly performer dancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was helping them. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend signified more than a pirate's contest in pursuit of emblems and crews.

In chapter #1164 of One Piece, we see the culmination of this theme. The entire God Valley narrative serves as a warning story, advising readers not to evaluate the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to convey the full reality, including the most influential characters.

One Piece's most recent look back, chronicling the God Valley event, represents one of the story's finest storylines to now. Beyond the excitement of seeing icons in their prime, it's gripping to observe them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to outgrow their humanity. The past, as recorded by the Global Authority and retold through hearsay stories, shaped our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and including Garp. But each of the government's accounts and the stories of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Individual Prior to the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the bold spirit that sparked a fresh era of piracy, but prior to he became the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his myth, they usually refer to his later journey, the grand quest in search of the guide stones that point toward Laugh Tale. Yet little is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him prior to fame found him.

Back then, Roger knew little of the world's hidden history. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the genocidal "contests," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and including the existence of the planet's unseen sovereign, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Gol D. Roger's thoughts about all that's happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe finding the child of a God's Knight on his ship will make him realize his place in the world and pursue the reality he glimpsed from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's account, both to the viewers and to young Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it turns out, the strategist was not present at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's approved version of occurrences, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to bury the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We are unsure if he was guided by lust for power, revenge for his clan, or a desire for justice, but when he discovered the regime's plan to eliminate the island where his family lived, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his undoing. After facing the sovereign, he forfeited his will and freedom, becoming a puppet enslaved to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness remains, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that dying would be a kindness compared to the torment he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic presents him in a positive manner during the Divine Isle incidents.

Is He Living Today?

But did Rocks really die? An interesting idea is that he is even now a slave to Imu in the present day, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining ancient stone in continuous movement to keep the ultimate treasure from being found.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured criticism from fans for a long time for standing by as Akainu murdered Ace. That sentiment only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he risked all to save Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandchild. Similar questions have recently reemerged with the God Valley flashback: how can Garp work for the Navy, knowing the World Government treats genocide and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The reality reveals something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous shapes, he struck without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out everyone in God Valley, including it seems, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Garp detests the World Nobles in the present day and why he never wanted to be elevated to Admiral, reporting straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Narrators

Even though the audience are seeing the Divine Isle event through a flashback narrated by Loki, including perspectives and occurrences he obviously was absent for, I believe we can treat this version as entirely truthful. The series may offer an explanation later, perhaps connected to the giant's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle event excellently embodies the notion that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {