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The adage 'The past is recorded by the victors' is a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has for some time integrated into the story. Popular tales frequently fail to capture the full reality, including the most powerful figures in this world's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no silly performer dancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of duty and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who tore apart the Straw Hat Pirates, either; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend meant more than a pirate's game in pursuit of flags and crews.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we see the peak of this theme. The entire God Valley story serves as a warning story, advising readers not to evaluate the individuals too quickly.

Legends frequently fail to capture the full reality, including the most powerful figures.

The series's most recent flashback, chronicling the God Valley event, represents one of the series' best arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of seeing legends in their prime, it's gripping to see them prior to when they became icons — when their reputation had still not surpass their human nature. History, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, shaped our understanding of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Garp. But both the government's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them prove untrustworthy, revealing only pieces of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Prior to the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by purpose and the daring spirit that ignited a new age of buccaneering, but before he became the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by emotion and wanderlust. When individuals discuss his legend, they typically refer to his second voyage, the grand expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to the final island. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that shaped him before fame found him.

Back then, Roger was largely unaware of the globe's hidden history. His affection for Shakky guided him to God Valley, where he discovered the Global Authority's most sinister truths: the extermination "games," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and including the presence of the world's hidden sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's thoughts about everything occurring in God Valley, but maybe finding the child of a Holy Knight on his ship will make him realize his role in the world and pursue the reality he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we knew of Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's version, each to the audience and to new Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it transpires, Sengoku was not there at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of events, the very narrative Imu approved to conceal the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by lust for power, revenge for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the regime's plan to annihilate the island where his kin resided, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his downfall. Upon confronting the sovereign, he forfeited his will and freedom, turning into a marionette controlled to their power. Currently, with what limited awareness remains, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — thinking that dying would be a mercy in contrast to the living hell he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga presents him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks really die? An intriguing idea is that he is even now a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant transit to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further key figure of the Divine Isle event is Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for years for standing by as Admiral Akainu murdered Ace. That sentiment only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the identical for his biological grandchild. Comparable questions have now resurfaced with the God Valley recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the Global Authority treats genocide and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The truth uncovers something different. The instant Monkey D. Garp saw the Gorosei's grotesque forms, he attacked without hesitation. His alliance with Roger was not meant to defeat some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out everyone in God Valley, even apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is likely the cause Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the current era and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, reporting directly to them.

History's Unreliable Storytellers

Even though the readers are seeing the God Valley event through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering viewpoints and events he obviously was absent for, I believe we can consider this version as entirely accurate. The manga may provide an explanation later, maybe linked to the giant's yet unknown paramecia ability. Still, the Divine Isle event excellently embodies the notion that history is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {