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The saying 'The past is recorded by the victors' is a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Legends often do not capture the full reality, including the most influential figures in this story's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no foolish showman prancing through the roads of Wano Country; he acted out of honor and principle. Kuma was not a ruthless antagonist who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, Davy Jones meant more than a buccaneer's game in search of flags and followers.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we witness the peak of this idea. The entire Divine Isle story serves as a warning story, advising readers not to evaluate the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to convey the full truth, even for the most powerful characters.

One Piece's latest look back, detailing the God Valley event, stands as one of the story's best storylines to now. Beyond the excitement of seeing legends in their prime, it's gripping to observe them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to surpass their humanity. History, as recorded by the World Government and recounted through secondhand tales, painted our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But both the regime's records and the narratives of those who knew them prove unreliable, showing only pieces of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the bold attitude that ignited a new age of piracy, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals discuss his legend, they typically refer to his second voyage, the epic quest in pursuit of the guide stones that lead to the final island. However little is understood about his first journey, the one that molded him before fame found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's secret history. His affection for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the extermination "contests," the monstrous forms of the Five Elders, and even the existence of the planet's unseen ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about all that's happening in the Divine Isle, but perhaps finding the child of a Holy Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the globe and seek the reality he glimpsed from Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's account, both to the viewers and to new Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man bent on global control, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it turns out, Sengoku wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's approved narrative of occurrences, the very story Imu approved to bury the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to eliminate the island where his family resided, he abandoned his ambitions of domination to rescue them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he forfeited his determination and liberty, becoming a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what limited consciousness is left, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that dying would be a mercy compared to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga presents him in a positive light during the God Valley events.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec really meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is still a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the Global Authority's last ancient stone in continuous movement to prevent the ultimate treasure from being found.

The Hero's Secret Rebellion

Another key figure of the God Valley incident is Garp, who has faced criticism from fans for years for doing nothing as Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling became even more intense after the time jump, when he endangered everything to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, leading many to wonder why he was unable to do the same for his own grandchild. Similar doubts have now resurfaced with the God Valley recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, aware the Global Authority treats genocide and slavery as sport for the upper class?

The truth reveals something different. The instant Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' grotesque forms, he struck immediately. His alliance with Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was using Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in God Valley, even apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the audience are viewing the God Valley event through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can consider this version as completely accurate. The series may provide an reason later, perhaps linked to the giant's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Still, the God Valley event excellently exemplifies the notion that history is written by the winners. This attitude is {