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The saying 'The past is recorded by the winners' is a central motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the narrative. Legends often fail to convey the complete reality, including the most powerful figures in this world's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no foolish showman prancing through the roads of Wano; he acted out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who separated the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Similarly, Davy Jones signified beyond just a pirate's game in search of emblems and crews.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this idea. The whole Divine Isle narrative acts as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to judge the characters too quickly.

Legends frequently do not convey the complete truth, even for the most powerful characters.

One Piece's most recent flashback, detailing the God Valley event, represents one of the story's finest storylines to date. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their prime, it's compelling to observe them prior to when they became symbols — when their fame had yet to outgrow their human nature. The past, as recorded by the World Government and retold through secondhand tales, painted our perception 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 turn out to be unreliable, showing only fragments of who these men truly were.

The Man Before the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the bold attitude that ignited a new age of buccaneering, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by passion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his myth, they usually mean his second voyage, the grand quest in search of the guide stones that point toward the final island. However not much is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him before glory found him.

At that time, Roger was largely unaware of the globe's secret past. His love for Shakky led him to God Valley, where he discovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the extermination "games," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the planet's unseen ruler, Imu. We are yet to witness Roger's thoughts about everything occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe finding the son of a God's Knight on his vessel will make him realize his place in the world and pursue the truth he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's version, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so dangerous that Roger and Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it turns out, the strategist was not present at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's approved narrative of occurrences, the exact narrative the sovereign approved to bury the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to overthrow Imu and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by ambition, retribution for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the government's plan to eliminate the land where his family lived, he gave up his dreams of domination to save them.

This love for his relatives became his downfall. After facing Imu, he forfeited his determination and freedom, becoming a marionette enslaved to their power. Currently, with what little awareness remains, he begs with Roger and Garp to end his life — thinking that death would be a kindness compared to the torment he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the story told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a positive manner during the Divine Isle events.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks really meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the World Government's last ancient stone in continuous transit to keep the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to rescue the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to wonder why he was unable to do the same for his own grandson. Similar questions have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle flashback: how can Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, aware the World Government considers genocide and enslavement as entertainment for the upper class?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp saw the Gorosei's grotesque forms, he struck without hesitation. His partnership with Roger was not meant to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to stop the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, even apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he never wanted to be elevated to Admiral, reporting straight to them.

The Past's Unreliable Storytellers

Even though the readers are viewing the God Valley event through a recollection narrated by Loki, including viewpoints and events he clearly was absent for, I believe we can consider this account as entirely accurate. The series may offer an explanation in the future, maybe connected to Loki's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {