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The saying 'The past is written by the winners' serves as a key motif that Eiichiro Oda's epic creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Popular tales often fail to capture the complete reality, even for the most influential characters in this world's intricate history. Oden wasn't a foolish performer dancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma wasn't a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend signified beyond just a buccaneer's contest in search of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the peak of this idea. The entire God Valley story serves as a cautionary tale, instructing audiences not to evaluate the characters too quickly.

Legends frequently do not convey the complete reality, including the most powerful characters.

One Piece's most recent flashback, chronicling the Divine Isle event, stands as one of the story's finest storylines to date. Apart from the excitement of witnessing legends in their prime, it's gripping to observe them prior to when they turned into symbols — when their reputation had yet to surpass their humanity. History, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, painted our understanding of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them prove untrustworthy, showing only pieces of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Prior to the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the daring spirit that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but prior to he was known as the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his myth, they typically mean his second voyage, the epic expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward Laugh Tale. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him before glory found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's secret history. His affection for the barkeep led him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's most sinister truths: the extermination "contests," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and even the existence of the planet's hidden ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's thoughts about all that's happening in God Valley, but maybe finding the son of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the world and pursue the truth he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's account, each to the audience and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a despicable, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it turns out, Sengoku was not present at God Valley; he was merely repeating the World Government's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the very narrative Imu approved to bury the reality 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 the ruler and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by lust for power, revenge for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the regime's plan to eliminate the land where his family lived, he abandoned his dreams of domination to rescue them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. Upon facing Imu, he lost his determination and liberty, becoming a marionette controlled to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness remains, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — believing that death would be a kindness compared to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic shows him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks actually die? An intriguing idea is that he is still a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the World Government's only remaining Poneglyph in constant movement to prevent the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

The Hero's Hidden Defiance

Another key figure of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has endured criticism from followers for years for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the time jump, when he endangered everything to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandchild. Similar questions have recently reemerged with the God Valley recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the World Government considers genocide and slavery as sport for the elite?

The truth reveals something different. The moment Monkey D. Garp saw the Gorosei's grotesque shapes, he struck immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger wasn't to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, even apparently, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering directly to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Although the readers are seeing the Divine Isle event through a flashback narrated by the giant, including viewpoints and events he clearly was absent for, I think we can consider this account as entirely truthful. The manga may offer an explanation in the future, perhaps connected to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle event perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {