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The saying 'History is recorded by the victors' is a key theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time integrated into the story. Legends frequently do not capture the complete reality, even for the most powerful figures in this story's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no silly performer prancing through the streets of Wano; he acted out of honor and principle. Kuma wasn't a ruthless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones meant beyond just a buccaneer's game in pursuit of flags and crews.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we see the peak 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 complete reality, including the most powerful figures.

One Piece's latest look back, detailing the Divine Isle event, represents one of the story's finest arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of seeing legends in their prime, it's gripping to see them before they turned into symbols — when their fame had yet to outgrow their humanity. History, as written by the World Government and recounted through secondhand tales, shaped our understanding of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But both the government's accounts and the stories of those who knew them prove untrustworthy, showing only fragments of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Before the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been guided by purpose and the daring spirit that sparked a fresh era of piracy, but before he was known as the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by passion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his legend, they usually mean his second voyage, the epic quest in search of the guide stones that point toward the final island. Yet little 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 hidden history. His affection for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the extermination "games," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and even the existence of the world's hidden ruler, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's reflections about all that's happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe finding the child of a God's Knight on his ship will make him realize his role in the globe and seek the truth he glimpsed from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's version, both to the audience and to young Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, the strategist was not there at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the World Government's approved version of events, the very story Imu authorized to conceal the reality about Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to topple Imu and dismantle the corrupt World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the regime's plan to annihilate the land where his family resided, he abandoned his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his family became his undoing. Upon confronting Imu, he forfeited his will and freedom, turning into a marionette controlled to their authority. Currently, with what limited consciousness remains, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the torment he suffers. The truth of Rocks is thus far from the story told by Sengoku, and the manga shows him in a positive light during the God Valley incidents.

Could He Be Living Today?

But did Rocks actually meet his end? An intriguing idea is that he is still a servant to the ruler in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the Global Authority's last Poneglyph in constant movement to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

Garp's Hidden Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley event is Garp, who has faced backlash from followers for a long time for standing by as Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling became even more intense after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to save Koby at Hachinosu, causing many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandchild. Comparable questions have recently resurfaced with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Navy, knowing the World Government treats genocide and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The reality reveals something different. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' monstrous shapes, he attacked without hesitation. His alliance with Roger wasn't to vanquish some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in God Valley, even apparently, even the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident is probably the cause Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he never wanted to be promoted to Admiral, reporting directly to them.

History's Unreliable Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the God Valley event through a flashback recounted by Loki, covering perspectives and occurrences he clearly was absent for, I believe we can consider this account as entirely truthful. The manga may provide an reason in the future, perhaps connected to the giant's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle event perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {