🔗 Share this article

The saying 'The past is written by the victors' is a central theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic creator Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Popular tales frequently fail to convey the full reality, even for the most influential figures in this story's complex history. Kozuki Oden was no foolish showman dancing through the roads of Wano; he acted out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend meant beyond just a buccaneer's game in search of emblems and followers.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the culmination of this idea. The whole God Valley narrative serves as a cautionary tale, advising audiences not to evaluate the individuals too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to capture the complete truth, including the most powerful figures.

The series's most recent look back, detailing the God Valley event, represents one of the series' finest arcs to date. Apart from the excitement of witnessing icons in their prime, it's gripping to see them prior to when they turned into icons — when their reputation had still not surpass their human nature. The past, as written by the Global Authority and recounted through secondhand tales, shaped our understanding of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Garp. But both the government's accounts and the stories of those who knew them turn out to be unreliable, revealing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Individual Before the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by purpose and the daring spirit that ignited a new age of piracy, but before he became the Pirate King, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his legend, they typically refer to his second voyage, the epic expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. Yet little is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him before glory found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's hidden past. His affection for the barkeep led him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the Global Authority's darkest truths: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's hidden ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything occurring in God Valley, but maybe finding the child of a Holy Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the world and seek the reality he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec came mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, both to the audience and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it turns out, the strategist was not there at God Valley; he was only echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the exact story Imu approved to conceal the reality about Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the decadent World Government. We are unsure if he was guided by lust for power, revenge for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the government's scheme to annihilate the land where his family resided, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his family became his downfall. After facing the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, becoming a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what little consciousness remains, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that dying would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a favorable light during the God Valley incidents.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks really die? An intriguing idea is that he is still a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, maintaining the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant transit to prevent the ultimate treasure from being discovered.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further key figure of the God Valley event is Garp, who has endured criticism from fans for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the time jump, when he endangered all to save Koby at Pirate Island, causing many to wonder why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandson. Similar doubts have now reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Garp work for the Navy, knowing the World Government considers genocide and slavery as entertainment for the upper class?

The reality uncovers something distinct. The instant Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Roger was not meant to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an effort to halt Imu, who was manipulating Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even apparently, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is likely the reason Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, answering directly to them.

The Past's Unreliable Storytellers

Even though the readers are viewing the God Valley incident through a flashback narrated by the giant, including perspectives and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I think we can treat this account as entirely accurate. The series may offer an reason in the future, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the Divine Isle incident perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {