🔗 Share this article

The saying 'History is recorded by the winners' is a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the story. Legends frequently fail to convey the complete reality, including the most influential figures in this world's intricate history. Kozuki Oden wasn't a foolish showman prancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend meant more than a pirate's game in search of flags and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this theme. The entire God Valley story acts as a warning story, advising audiences not to judge the individuals too quickly.

Legends often do not capture the full reality, even for the most influential figures.

The series's latest flashback, chronicling the God Valley event, represents one of the series' best storylines to date. Beyond the excitement of seeing icons in their prime, it's gripping to see them prior to when they turned into icons — when their reputation had yet to surpass their humanity. The past, as written by the World Government and retold through secondhand stories, shaped our understanding of figures like Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But each of the government's accounts and the stories of those who knew them turn out to be unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of buccaneering, but before he was known as the Pirate King, he was a youth governed by passion and the desire to explore. When people discuss his legend, they typically mean his later journey, the epic quest in search of the guide stones that lead to Laugh Tale. However little is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him prior to fame discovered him.

Back then, Roger was largely unaware of the world's secret past. His love for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the World Government's most sinister realities: the extermination "games," the monstrous appearances of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his place in the globe and pursue the truth he glimpsed from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Xebec came mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the viewers and to young Marines. He depicted Xebec as a despicable, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it transpires, Sengoku was not there at the Divine Isle; he was only echoing the World Government's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the exact narrative the sovereign authorized to conceal the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a wish for justice, but when he discovered the regime's plan to eliminate the land where his family resided, he abandoned his dreams of domination to rescue them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his downfall. After facing the sovereign, he forfeited his determination and liberty, turning into a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what little consciousness is left, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — thinking that death would be a mercy compared to the living hell he endures. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story narrated by Sengoku, and the comic shows him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle incidents.

Is He Living Today?

But did Rocks really die? An intriguing idea is that he is still a slave to Imu in the present day, acting as the scarred individual, maintaining the Global Authority's last Poneglyph in constant movement to keep the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

The Hero's Secret Rebellion

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for a long time for doing nothing as Akainu killed Ace. That feeling became even stronger after the time jump, when he endangered everything to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the same for his biological grandchild. Similar doubts have recently resurfaced with the Divine Isle flashback: how could Garp work for the Navy, aware the World Government considers genocide and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The reality uncovers something different. The instant Garp witnessed the Elders' grotesque forms, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Roger wasn't to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, including it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he never desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, reporting straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Even though the audience are viewing the Divine Isle event through a recollection narrated by Loki, covering perspectives and events he obviously wasn't present for, I think we can treat this account as completely truthful. The series may provide an reason later, maybe linked to the giant's still mysterious paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the God Valley event excellently embodies the notion that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {