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The adage 'History is recorded by the victors' serves as a central motif that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Popular tales frequently do not convey the full reality, including the most powerful figures in this world's intricate history. Oden wasn't a silly performer dancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of duty and conviction. Kuma wasn't a merciless antagonist who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend meant beyond just a buccaneer's game in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this theme. The whole Divine Isle story serves as a warning story, advising readers not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

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

One Piece's latest flashback, detailing the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the series' best arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of seeing icons in their peak, it's gripping to see them before they turned into icons — when their reputation had still not surpass their humanity. The past, as recorded by the World Government and recounted through secondhand tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and including Garp. But each of the regime's records and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be untrustworthy, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Man Prior to the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by mission and the bold spirit that ignited a new age of piracy, but prior to he became the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by passion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his legend, they typically mean his second voyage, the grand expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. However not much is understood about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to fame discovered him.

Back then, 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 discovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the extermination "contests," the monstrous forms of the Five Elders, and including the presence of the planet's unseen ruler, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Roger's thoughts about everything occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the child of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his role in the globe and seek the truth he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec came almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's account, each to the audience and to new Marines. He painted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it turns out, the strategist was not present at the Divine Isle; he was only echoing the Global Authority's approved version of events, the very narrative Imu authorized to conceal the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to overthrow Imu and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the government's scheme to eliminate the island where his kin lived, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his family became his undoing. Upon facing Imu, he lost his determination and freedom, turning into a marionette controlled to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness is left, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Garp to kill him — thinking that dying would be a mercy compared to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus far from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a positive light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Living Today?

But was Rocks really meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a slave to Imu in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's last Poneglyph in constant transit to prevent the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

Garp's Hidden Rebellion

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured criticism from fans for years for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the time jump, when he endangered everything to rescue Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandchild. Similar questions have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle recollection: how could Garp work for the Navy, aware the World Government considers mass murder and slavery as sport for the upper class?

The truth reveals something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Gorosei's grotesque shapes, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Gol D. Roger wasn't to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was using Xebec as a tool to wipe out everyone in God Valley, including it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This event is likely the cause Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be elevated to Admiral, reporting straight to them.

The Past's Unreliable Storytellers

Although the readers are viewing the Divine Isle event through a recollection narrated by the giant, including perspectives and events he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this version as entirely accurate. The manga may offer an reason in the future, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley event perfectly embodies the notion that history is written by the victors. This mindset is {