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The saying 'History is written by the winners' serves as a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the narrative. Popular tales often fail to convey the full reality, including the most powerful characters in this story's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no silly showman dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he acted out of honor and principle. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend meant more than a buccaneer's contest in pursuit of emblems and followers.

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

Myths often do not convey the complete reality, including the most influential figures.

One Piece's most recent look back, detailing the Divine Isle incident, stands as one of the story's best arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of witnessing legends in their peak, it's gripping to see them prior to when they turned into symbols — when their reputation had still not outgrow their human nature. History, as recorded by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the stories of those who were acquainted with them prove untrustworthy, showing only fragments of who these men really were.

The Man Prior to the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by mission and the daring spirit that sparked a new age of buccaneering, but prior to he became the Pirate King, he was a young man ruled by passion and wanderlust. When individuals speak of his myth, they usually mean his later journey, the grand expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward the final island. However not much is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him before fame found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's hidden past. His affection for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the World Government's darkest realities: the extermination "games," the monstrous forms of the Five Elders, and including the presence of the planet's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's thoughts about everything happening in God Valley, but perhaps discovering the son of a Holy Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his role in the world and pursue the reality he glimpsed from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, both to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Roger and Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, the strategist wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only echoing the Global Authority's approved narrative of events, the very story the sovereign authorized to conceal the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the decadent World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by ambition, retribution for his family, or a wish for justice, but when he discovered the regime's scheme to eliminate the land where his kin lived, he gave up his dreams of conquest to rescue them.

This love for his family proved to be his downfall. Upon confronting Imu, he forfeited his will and freedom, turning into a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what limited consciousness remains, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic shows him in a positive manner during the God Valley incidents.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec really die? An interesting theory is that he is still a servant to Imu in the current timeline, serving as the scarred individual, maintaining the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in continuous transit to prevent the One Piece from being found.

The Hero's Secret Rebellion

A further protagonist of the God Valley event is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced backlash from fans for a long time for doing nothing as Akainu murdered Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered all to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the identical for his own grandson. Comparable questions have recently reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how could Garp work for the Marines, aware the World Government treats mass murder and slavery as sport for the elite?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The instant Garp saw the Elders' grotesque forms, he attacked without hesitation. His partnership with Roger wasn't to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, even it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This incident is probably the cause Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he never wanted to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the Divine Isle incident through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can consider this version as completely accurate. The series may provide an explanation later, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley event excellently embodies the idea that history is written by the victors. This mindset is {