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The saying 'History is recorded by the winners' serves as a key theme that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the narrative. Popular tales frequently fail to capture the complete reality, even for the most powerful characters in this story's intricate history. Oden was no silly showman dancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, as well; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's game in pursuit of emblems and crews.

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

Myths often do not convey the full reality, even for the most influential characters.

One Piece's most recent flashback, chronicling the God Valley incident, represents one of the series' finest arcs to now. Beyond the excitement of seeing icons in their peak, it's gripping to see them before they turned into symbols — when their fame had yet to surpass their humanity. History, as recorded by the Global Authority and retold through hearsay stories, shaped our understanding of figures like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But both the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them turn out to be unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these individuals really were.

The Man Before the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a fresh era of buccaneering, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a youth governed by emotion and wanderlust. When individuals discuss his legend, they typically mean his later journey, the epic expedition in pursuit of the guide stones that point toward the final island. However little is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him prior to glory discovered him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger knew little of the world's hidden past. His affection for Shakky guided him to God Valley, where he discovered the World Government's darkest realities: the extermination "contests," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and even the existence of the world's unseen ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a God's Knight on his vessel will make him realize his place in the globe and seek the truth he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this flashback, what we knew of Xebec came almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's version, each to the audience and to young Marines. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it turns out, Sengoku wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was merely repeating the World Government's sanctioned version of events, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to conceal the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the decadent World Government. We don't know if he was guided by ambition, revenge for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the regime's plan to eliminate the land where his family lived, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he forfeited his will and liberty, turning into a marionette controlled to their power. Now, with what little awareness remains, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness compared to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale narrated by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a positive manner during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks really meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is still a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, acting as the scarred individual, keeping the Global Authority's last Poneglyph in continuous movement to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Rebellion

Another protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced backlash from followers for a long time for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That feeling became even more intense after the timeskip, when he risked all to save Koby at Hachinosu, causing many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandchild. Comparable doubts have now reemerged with the God Valley flashback: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the Global Authority treats genocide and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The moment Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Roger was not meant to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to eliminate all in God Valley, even it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This event is likely the reason Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never wanted to be elevated to Admiral, reporting straight to them.

History's Unreliable Storytellers

Although the audience are seeing the God Valley event through a recollection narrated by the giant, including perspectives and occurrences he obviously was absent for, I believe we can treat this account as entirely truthful. The series may provide an reason later, perhaps linked to the giant's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident excellently embodies the notion that history is written by the victors. This mindset is {