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The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' is a key theme that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Popular tales frequently fail to convey the full reality, including the most influential figures in this world's complex history. Oden was no foolish performer dancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a ruthless villain who tore apart the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones signified more than a buccaneer's game in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we see the peak of this idea. The whole God Valley story serves as a warning story, instructing audiences not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

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

The series's most recent flashback, detailing the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the story's best storylines to date. Apart from the thrill of seeing legends in their prime, it's gripping to see them before they became icons — when their reputation had still not outgrow their human nature. History, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, shaped our perception of figures like Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the government's records and the narratives of those who knew them turn out to be unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Prior to the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the daring attitude that sparked a new age of piracy, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man ruled by passion and wanderlust. When individuals discuss his myth, they usually mean his later journey, the epic quest in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. However little is known about his first journey, the one that shaped him before glory found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the globe's secret history. His affection for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the genocidal "games," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and even the existence of the planet's hidden sovereign, Imu. We are yet to witness Roger's reflections about all that's happening in God Valley, but maybe discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his role in the world and seek the truth he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's version, both to the viewers and to young Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it transpires, the strategist wasn't even present at God Valley; he was merely repeating the Global Authority's approved narrative of occurrences, the very narrative the sovereign approved to bury the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to topple the ruler and dismantle the decadent World Government. We are unsure if he was guided by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the government's plan to eliminate the island where his family lived, he abandoned his ambitions of domination to rescue them.

This love for his family proved to be his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, becoming a puppet controlled to their power. Currently, with what limited consciousness is left, he begs with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that death 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 shows him in a positive light during the Divine Isle events.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec really die? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining ancient stone in constant movement to keep the One Piece from being discovered.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced backlash from followers for years for doing nothing as Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered all to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, causing many to wonder why he was unable to do the identical for his biological grandchild. Comparable questions have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Garp work for the Navy, knowing the World Government treats mass murder and enslavement as entertainment for the upper class?

The truth reveals something different. The instant Garp saw the Elders' monstrous shapes, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger wasn't to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an effort to stop the sovereign, who was manipulating Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even it seems, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is likely the reason Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once desired to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Even though the audience are viewing the God Valley incident through a recollection narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and events he clearly wasn't present for, I think we can consider this version as entirely truthful. The series may offer an reason later, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious paramecia ability. Still, the God Valley event perfectly exemplifies the notion that the past is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {