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The adage 'History is written by the victors' serves as a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the narrative. Popular tales often do not capture the full truth, even for the most powerful figures in this world's intricate past. Oden wasn't a foolish performer dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, either; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend meant more than a buccaneer's game in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the culmination of this theme. The whole Divine Isle story serves as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to evaluate the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently do not convey the full reality, even for the most influential characters.

The series's latest flashback, chronicling the God Valley incident, stands as one of the story's finest arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of witnessing icons in their peak, it's compelling to see them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to outgrow their human nature. The past, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through secondhand stories, painted our understanding of figures like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them prove unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these men really were.

The Man Prior to the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the bold spirit that sparked a fresh era of buccaneering, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man ruled by emotion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his legend, they typically refer to his second voyage, the grand expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. Yet not much is known about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to fame found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger knew little of the world's secret past. His affection for the barkeep guided him to God Valley, where he uncovered the World Government's darkest truths: the extermination "contests," the grotesque appearances of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's unseen ruler, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the globe and pursue the reality he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this flashback, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec came almost entirely from Sengoku's account, each to the viewers and to new Navy recruits. He painted Xebec as a vile, ambitious man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's approved version of occurrences, the exact story the sovereign authorized to conceal the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a wish for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to annihilate the land where his family lived, he abandoned his ambitions of domination to save them.

This love for his family became his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he lost his will and liberty, turning into a marionette enslaved to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness is left, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — believing that dying would be a mercy compared to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus far from the tale told by Sengoku, and the manga presents him in a positive manner during the God Valley incidents.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks actually die? An interesting theory is that he is still a slave to Imu in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the World Government's last ancient stone in continuous transit to keep the One Piece from being found.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for years for standing by as Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment became even stronger after the timeskip, when he risked all to rescue Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandchild. Similar doubts have now resurfaced with the God Valley flashback: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Navy, knowing the World Government considers genocide and slavery as sport for the elite?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Gorosei's monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous 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, even it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This incident is likely the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he never wanted to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Even though the readers are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback recounted by the giant, including viewpoints and events he clearly was absent for, I believe we can treat this account as entirely truthful. The series may offer an reason in the future, perhaps linked to Loki's yet unknown paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the Divine Isle event perfectly embodies the notion that history is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {