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The adage 'History is written by the winners' serves as a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Popular tales frequently do not capture the full truth, including the most influential characters in this world's intricate past. Oden wasn't a foolish performer prancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a merciless antagonist who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend signified more than a buccaneer's contest in search of emblems and crews.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this idea. The entire God Valley story serves as a cautionary tale, instructing audiences not to judge the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently do not capture the complete truth, including the most influential characters.

The series's most recent flashback, detailing the Divine Isle incident, stands as one of the series' finest arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their prime, it's gripping to observe them prior to when they turned into icons — when their fame had yet to outgrow their humanity. The past, as recorded by the World Government and retold through secondhand stories, painted our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But both the government's accounts and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only fragments of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Prior to the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the bold spirit that sparked a new age of piracy, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man ruled by emotion and wanderlust. When individuals speak of his legend, they typically refer to his later journey, the grand quest in search of the guide stones that point toward the final island. Yet little is known about his first journey, the one that shaped him before glory discovered him.

At that time, Roger was largely unaware of the globe's secret past. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the extermination "contests," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the world's hidden sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the child of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the world and seek the reality he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the viewers and to young Navy recruits. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it turns out, Sengoku wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the exact narrative the sovereign approved to conceal the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent World Government. We are unsure if he was guided by lust for power, revenge for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the government's plan to eliminate the land where his family resided, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he forfeited his will and freedom, becoming a puppet controlled to their power. Currently, with what little awareness remains, he pleads with Roger and Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he endures. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic presents him in a positive light during the Divine Isle incidents.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks really die? An intriguing idea is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as the scarred individual, maintaining the World Government's only remaining ancient stone in constant transit to prevent the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for years for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu killed Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the timeskip, when he risked everything to rescue Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his own grandson. Comparable doubts have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp serve the Navy, aware the Global Authority considers mass murder and enslavement as sport for the elite?

The truth reveals something different. The moment Monkey D. Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to vanquish some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to halt Imu, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the cause Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, reporting directly to them.

History's Unreliable Narrators

Although the readers are viewing the God Valley event through a recollection recounted by Loki, covering viewpoints and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this account as completely truthful. The manga may offer an reason in the future, perhaps connected to Loki's yet unknown paramecia ability. Still, the God Valley incident excellently embodies the notion that history is written by the winners. This mindset is {