🔗 Share this article

The adage 'The past is recorded by the victors' is a key motif that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Legends frequently fail to capture the full truth, including the most powerful characters in this world's complex past. Oden was no foolish performer prancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma was not a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend signified beyond just a pirate's contest in pursuit of flags and crews.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we see the peak of this theme. The whole God Valley story serves as a warning story, advising audiences not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to capture the full reality, including the most powerful characters.

One Piece's latest flashback, chronicling the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the series' finest arcs to now. Apart from the excitement of witnessing icons in their prime, it's compelling to observe them before they became icons — when their fame had still not outgrow their human nature. The past, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, shaped our understanding of figures like Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the government's records and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be untrustworthy, showing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by mission and the bold attitude that sparked a fresh era of buccaneering, but before he was known as the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his myth, they typically mean his later journey, the grand quest in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. However little is known about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to glory found him.

Back then, Roger knew little of the world's secret past. His affection for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the extermination "contests," the monstrous forms of the Five Elders, and including the presence of the planet's unseen sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe finding the child of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his place in the world and pursue the truth he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec came mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, each to the viewers and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a vile, ambitious man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it turns out, Sengoku was not present at God Valley; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's approved version of occurrences, the very story Imu authorized to conceal the truth about Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent World Government. We don't know if he was motivated by ambition, revenge for his clan, or a wish for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to annihilate the island where his kin lived, he gave up his ambitions of domination to rescue them.

This devotion for his relatives became his downfall. Upon facing Imu, he lost his determination and freedom, turning into a marionette enslaved to their power. Now, with what little consciousness is left, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — believing that dying would be a mercy compared to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a positive manner during the Divine Isle events.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec really die? An interesting theory is that he is even now a slave to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the World Government's only remaining ancient stone in continuous movement to prevent the ultimate treasure from being found.

The Hero's Hidden Rebellion

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu murdered Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he risked everything to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, causing many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandson. Similar doubts have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp serve the Navy, aware the World Government considers mass murder and slavery as entertainment for the upper class?

The reality uncovers something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' grotesque forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some evil Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even it seems, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the reason Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he not once wanted to be elevated to Admiral, answering directly to them.

History's Unreliable Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the God Valley event through a flashback narrated by Loki, including viewpoints and events he obviously wasn't present for, I think we can treat this version as entirely accurate. The manga may offer an explanation later, maybe linked to Loki's yet unknown paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident perfectly embodies the notion that the past is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {