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The adage 'The past is written by the victors' is a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the story. Popular tales often do not convey the full reality, including the most powerful characters in this story's complex past. Kozuki Oden wasn't a silly showman dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Kuma wasn't a ruthless villain who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Similarly, Davy Jones signified more than a buccaneer's game in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In chapter #1164 of One Piece, we witness the culmination of this theme. The entire Divine Isle narrative serves as a cautionary tale, advising audiences not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

Myths often fail to convey the full reality, even for the most influential characters.

The series's latest look back, chronicling the Divine Isle event, stands as one of the series' best arcs to date. Apart from the thrill of seeing icons in their peak, it's gripping to see them before they turned into icons — when their fame had still not outgrow their human nature. History, as written by the World Government and retold through hearsay stories, shaped our understanding of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and including Garp. But both the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be untrustworthy, revealing only pieces of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Prior to the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by purpose and the bold attitude that ignited a new age of piracy, but before he became the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by passion and wanderlust. When individuals speak of his legend, they usually mean his later journey, the grand quest in search of the guide stones that point toward Laugh Tale. Yet little is understood about his first journey, the one that molded him prior to glory found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the globe's hidden history. His affection for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's darkest realities: the genocidal "games," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and including the presence of the planet's unseen sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his vessel will make him realize his place in the globe and pursue the reality he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's version, each to the viewers and to new Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man determined to achieve global control, someone so dangerous that 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 merely echoing the World Government's sanctioned version of occurrences, the very narrative the sovereign approved to conceal the reality about Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, revenge for his family, or a wish for justice, but when he found out the government's scheme to annihilate the island where his family lived, he abandoned his ambitions of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, becoming a marionette enslaved to their power. Now, with what little consciousness remains, he begs with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that dying would be a mercy compared to the living hell he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the tale narrated by Sengoku, and the manga presents him in a positive manner during the God Valley incidents.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks really meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is even now a servant to Imu in the current timeline, acting as the scarred individual, maintaining the World Government's only remaining Poneglyph in constant movement to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

The Hero's Hidden Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from fans for a long time for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the timeskip, when he endangered all to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he was unable to do the identical for his biological grandchild. Comparable questions have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle flashback: how could Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, aware the World Government treats mass murder and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The reality uncovers something distinct. The moment Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous shapes, he attacked without hesitation. His alliance with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, including it seems, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is likely the cause Garp detests the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering directly to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the readers are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he obviously was absent for, I think we can consider this account as entirely accurate. The series may provide an reason later, maybe connected to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle incident excellently exemplifies the idea that the past is written by the winners. This attitude is {