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The saying 'The past is written by the winners' is a key theme that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the narrative. Popular tales often do not convey the full truth, including the most powerful figures in this story's intricate past. Oden wasn't a silly performer prancing through the streets of Wano; he acted out of honor and conviction. Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who tore apart the Straw Hat Pirates, either; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's contest in search of flags and crews.

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

Myths often fail to convey the full truth, including the most powerful figures.

The series's latest flashback, detailing the Divine Isle event, represents one of the series' finest arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of seeing legends in their peak, it's gripping to observe them prior to when they became icons — when their fame had still not outgrow their human nature. History, as written by the Global Authority and retold through hearsay tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But both the regime's accounts and the stories of those who knew them turn out to be unreliable, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Man Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been guided by purpose and the bold spirit that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by emotion and wanderlust. When people discuss his legend, they usually mean his second voyage, the grand expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to the final island. Yet not much is understood about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to fame found him.

Back then, Roger knew little of the globe's hidden history. His love for Shakky led him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's most sinister realities: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Gorosei, and including the presence of the world's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's thoughts about all that's happening in God Valley, but perhaps discovering the son of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his role in the globe and pursue the truth he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Xebec came almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's account, each to the audience and to new Marines. He depicted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned version of events, the exact story Imu approved 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 guided by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a desire for fairness, but when he found out the regime's plan to eliminate the island where his kin resided, he gave up his dreams of conquest to save them.

This love for his relatives proved to be his undoing. Upon confronting Imu, he lost his will and liberty, becoming a puppet controlled to their authority. Currently, with what limited awareness remains, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that dying would be a kindness compared to the torment he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the tale narrated by Sengoku, and the comic presents him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Living Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec actually die? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant movement to prevent the One Piece from being found.

The Hero's Hidden Defiance

Another key figure of the Divine Isle event is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced backlash from fans for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment only grew more intense after the time jump, when he risked all to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, causing many to question why he couldn't do the identical for his biological grandchild. Comparable doubts have now reemerged with the God Valley recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp serve the Navy, knowing the Global Authority considers mass murder and slavery as entertainment for the elite?

The reality reveals something different. The instant Garp witnessed the Gorosei's monstrous shapes, he attacked without hesitation. His partnership with Gol D. Roger wasn't to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to halt Imu, who was manipulating Xebec as a pawn to eliminate all in God Valley, even apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is likely the reason Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he not once wanted to be elevated to Admiral, reporting straight to them.

The Past's Unreliable Narrators

Although the readers are seeing the God Valley event through a flashback narrated by Loki, including viewpoints and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can consider this version as entirely accurate. The manga may offer an explanation in the future, perhaps connected to Loki's yet unknown paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the God Valley event excellently embodies the notion that the past is recorded by the winners. This attitude is {