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The adage 'The past is recorded by the victors' is a key motif that Eiichiro Oda's epic creator Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Popular tales often fail to convey the full truth, even for the most influential figures in this story's complex history. Oden wasn't a silly showman dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he behaved out of duty and conviction. Kuma was not a ruthless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones signified beyond just a buccaneer's game in search of emblems and crews.

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

Legends frequently do not capture the full truth, even for the most powerful characters.

One Piece's most recent flashback, chronicling the God Valley event, stands as one of the series' best arcs to date. Apart from the excitement of witnessing icons in their prime, it's gripping to see them before they became icons — when their fame had yet to outgrow their human nature. History, as recorded by the World Government and retold through secondhand tales, shaped our perception of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the government's accounts and the stories of those who knew them turn out to be untrustworthy, showing only pieces of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Before the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of piracy, but before he became the Pirate King, he was a youth ruled by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his legend, they usually refer to his later journey, the epic expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to the final island. However little is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him prior to fame found him.

Back then, Roger was largely unaware of the world's secret history. His affection for the barkeep led him to God Valley, where he discovered the Global Authority's most sinister truths: the genocidal "contests," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and including the presence of the planet's hidden ruler, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Gol D. Roger's thoughts about everything happening in God Valley, but maybe finding the child of a Holy Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his place in the world and seek the reality he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About Rocks D. Xebec

Prior to this recollection, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec came mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, the strategist wasn't even there at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of events, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to bury the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the corrupt World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the government's scheme to annihilate the land where his family resided, he gave up his dreams of conquest to save them.

This love for his family proved to be his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, becoming a puppet enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what little awareness is left, he begs with Roger and Garp to end his life — believing that dying would be a kindness compared to the torment he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a favorable light during the God Valley events.

Could He Be Living Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec really die? An interesting theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant movement to keep the One Piece from being found.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

A further key figure of the Divine Isle event is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from fans for a long time for standing by as Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the time jump, when he risked everything to rescue the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his own grandchild. Similar doubts have now reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Garp work for the Marines, aware the World Government treats mass murder and slavery as sport for the elite?

The truth reveals something different. The moment Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Roger was not meant to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an attempt to halt Imu, who was using Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, including apparently, including the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he not once desired to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, answering directly to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Even though the audience are viewing the Divine Isle event through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he obviously was absent for, I think we can consider this version as completely truthful. The manga may offer an explanation later, perhaps linked to the giant's still mysterious paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the God Valley event perfectly embodies the notion that the past is written by the victors. This attitude is {