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The adage 'History is written by the winners' serves as a central theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the story. Legends frequently fail to convey the full reality, including the most influential figures in this story's intricate history. Kozuki Oden wasn't a foolish showman dancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hat Pirates, either; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, Davy Jones meant beyond just a buccaneer's game in search of flags and followers.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this theme. The whole God Valley narrative serves as a cautionary tale, instructing audiences not to evaluate the characters too quickly.

Legends frequently fail to convey the complete reality, including the most powerful figures.

The series's latest flashback, detailing the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the series' best arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their peak, it's compelling to observe them before they became icons — when their fame had still not surpass their humanity. History, as written by the Global Authority and retold through secondhand tales, painted our perception of figures like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including 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 fragments of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a fresh era of buccaneering, but prior to he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a youth governed by passion and the desire to explore. When people discuss his myth, they typically mean his second voyage, the grand expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to the final island. Yet little is understood about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to fame found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's hidden history. His affection for the barkeep led him to God Valley, where he uncovered the World Government's most sinister truths: the extermination "games," the grotesque appearances of the Five Elders, and even the existence of the planet's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his ship will make him realize his place in the globe and seek the reality he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Xebec was derived mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, each to the audience and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so threatening that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even present at the Divine Isle; he was only repeating the World Government's approved narrative of occurrences, the exact narrative the sovereign approved to bury the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the corrupt World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by ambition, revenge for his family, or a desire for fairness, but when he found out the regime's plan to eliminate the land where his kin resided, he abandoned his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his relatives became his downfall. After facing Imu, he lost his will and freedom, becoming a marionette controlled to their power. Now, with what limited consciousness is left, he begs with Roger and Garp to kill him — believing that dying would be a mercy in contrast to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus very different from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a positive manner during the God Valley events.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks actually meet his end? An interesting idea is that he is still a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the World Government's last Poneglyph in constant movement to keep the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured criticism from followers for years for standing by as Admiral Akainu murdered Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the time jump, when he risked all to save Koby at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he was unable to do the identical for his own grandson. Comparable doubts have recently resurfaced with the God Valley flashback: how can Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, knowing the World Government considers mass murder and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The truth uncovers something different. The instant Garp saw the Gorosei's monstrous forms, he struck without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a bold act of rebellion, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in God Valley, even it seems, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he never desired to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Unreliable Narrators

Although the audience are viewing the Divine Isle event through a recollection recounted by the giant, covering perspectives and events he obviously was absent for, I think we can consider this version as entirely accurate. The manga may offer an explanation later, perhaps linked to the giant's yet unknown paramecia ability. Still, the God Valley event excellently exemplifies the notion that history is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {