🔗 Share this article

The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' serves as a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the narrative. Popular tales often do not capture the full truth, including the most influential figures in this world's complex past. Kozuki Oden wasn't a foolish showman prancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones meant more than a pirate's contest in search of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we see the peak of this idea. The whole Divine Isle narrative serves as a warning story, advising readers not to judge the individuals too quickly.

Legends frequently do not convey the full truth, including the most powerful characters.

One Piece's latest flashback, detailing the God Valley incident, represents one of the series' best arcs to date. Apart from the excitement of seeing legends in their prime, it's gripping to see them before they became icons — when their fame had still not outgrow their human nature. History, as written by the World Government and retold through hearsay stories, painted our understanding of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Garp. But both the regime's records and the narratives of those who knew them turn out to be untrustworthy, revealing only pieces of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the daring spirit that sparked a fresh era of piracy, but before he was known as the Pirate King, he was a young man ruled by emotion and wanderlust. When people speak of his myth, they typically refer to his second voyage, the epic expedition in search of the guide stones that lead to the final island. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him before fame discovered him.

Back then, Roger was largely unaware of the world's secret past. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's most sinister truths: the extermination "games," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and even the existence of the planet's hidden sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about all that's happening in the Divine Isle, but perhaps finding the child of a Holy Knight on his vessel will make him realize his place in the world and pursue the reality he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's account, each to the viewers and to new Marines. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man determined to achieve global control, someone so threatening that Roger and Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it turns out, Sengoku wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was only echoing the World Government's approved version of occurrences, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to conceal the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by ambition, revenge for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the regime's plan to annihilate the island where his kin lived, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to rescue them.

This love for his family became his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he lost his determination and liberty, becoming a marionette controlled to their authority. Now, with what little consciousness is left, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus far from the story narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga shows him in a favorable light during the God Valley events.

Is He Living Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec actually die? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, maintaining the World Government's last Poneglyph in continuous transit to keep the One Piece from being found.

Garp's Secret Rebellion

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle event is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured backlash from followers for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Ace. That sentiment became even stronger after the time jump, when he risked all to save the young Marine at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he was unable to do the same for his own grandson. Comparable questions have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, aware the Global Authority considers mass murder and slavery as entertainment for the elite?

The reality uncovers something different. The moment Monkey D. Garp saw the Elders' monstrous shapes, he struck without hesitation. His alliance with Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to eliminate all in the Divine Isle, including apparently, including the World Nobles themselves. This incident is likely the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be elevated to Admiral, answering directly to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the readers are seeing the God Valley incident through a recollection narrated by Loki, including perspectives and events he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this version as entirely accurate. The series may provide an reason in the future, perhaps connected to the giant's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the God Valley incident perfectly embodies the idea that the past is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {