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The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' is a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time integrated into the narrative. Popular tales frequently do not convey the full reality, including the most powerful characters in this world's intricate past. Oden wasn't a foolish performer dancing through the roads of Wano Country; he acted out of duty and principle. Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, either; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, Davy Jones meant more than a buccaneer's game in search of emblems and crews.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this idea. The whole God Valley story acts as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to judge the individuals too quickly.

Legends frequently fail to capture the complete truth, even for the most influential figures.

The series's latest flashback, detailing the Divine Isle event, represents one of the series' best storylines to date. Apart from the thrill of seeing icons in their peak, it's compelling to observe them before they became icons — when their reputation had still not surpass their human nature. The past, as written by the Global Authority and retold through secondhand tales, painted our understanding of individuals like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But both the regime's accounts and the stories of those who knew them prove unreliable, revealing only pieces of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the daring attitude that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but prior to he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his legend, they typically refer to his later journey, the grand expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward Laugh Tale. Yet not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that shaped him before fame discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's hidden past. His love for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's most sinister truths: the extermination "contests," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the world's hidden sovereign, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Roger's reflections about everything happening in God Valley, but maybe discovering the son of a God's Knight on his ship will make him realize his place in the world and pursue the truth he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Prior to this recollection, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec came almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's account, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a vile, ambitious man determined to achieve world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it turns out, the strategist wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was only repeating the World Government's approved narrative of occurrences, the exact story the sovereign approved to conceal the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We don't know if he was guided by ambition, revenge for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the government's scheme to eliminate the land where his kin resided, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to rescue them.

This love for his family proved to be his downfall. After facing the sovereign, he forfeited his determination and freedom, becoming a marionette controlled to their authority. Currently, with what little awareness is left, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that death would be a mercy compared to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks is thus very different from the story narrated by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle incidents.

Could He Be Living Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec really meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the World Government's last ancient stone in continuous movement to keep the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for years for doing nothing as Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the timeskip, when he risked everything to rescue the young Marine at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he couldn't do the identical for his own grandson. Similar questions have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle flashback: how can Garp work for the Marines, aware the Global Authority treats genocide and enslavement as sport for the elite?

The truth reveals something distinct. The instant Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous shapes, he attacked without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an effort to halt Imu, who was using Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, including it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This incident is probably the reason Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he not once wanted to be elevated to Admiral, answering directly to them.

The Past's Unreliable Narrators

Even though the readers are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he clearly wasn't present for, I think we can treat this account as entirely truthful. The series may offer an reason later, perhaps linked to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley event excellently exemplifies the notion that the past is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {