🔗 Share this article

The saying 'The past is written by the victors' serves as a key theme that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the story. Legends frequently fail to capture the complete truth, including the most powerful figures in this world's intricate past. Oden was no foolish showman prancing through the roads of Wano Country; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma wasn't a ruthless antagonist who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's contest in pursuit of flags and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this theme. The entire Divine Isle narrative acts as a warning story, advising readers not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

Legends frequently fail to capture the full truth, even for the most influential figures.

The series's most recent look back, detailing the Divine Isle incident, stands as one of the series' finest arcs to date. Beyond the excitement of witnessing icons in their prime, it's compelling to see them prior to when they became icons — when their reputation had yet to outgrow their humanity. The past, as written by the World Government and retold through hearsay tales, painted our perception of figures like Roger, Xebec, and even Garp. But both the regime's records and the stories of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be untrustworthy, revealing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Individual Prior to the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been guided by purpose and the daring attitude that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by emotion 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 Laugh Tale. Yet little is known about his first journey, the one that molded him prior to fame discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's secret past. His affection for Shakky led him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the World Government's darkest truths: the genocidal "games," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's hidden sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but perhaps discovering the child of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his place in the world and pursue the reality he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's version, each to the viewers and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even present at the Divine Isle; he was only echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of events, the exact narrative Imu approved to bury the reality about Xebec and the incident itself.

In reality, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was motivated by ambition, retribution for his clan, or a wish for justice, but when he discovered the government's scheme to annihilate the island where his family lived, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his family proved to be his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he lost his will and freedom, becoming a puppet controlled to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness is left, he pleads with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — believing that death would be a mercy in contrast to the living hell he endures. The reality of Rocks is thus very different from the tale narrated by Sengoku, and the manga shows him in a favorable manner during the Divine Isle incidents.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks actually meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is still a slave to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, maintaining the Global Authority's last Poneglyph in continuous movement to prevent the ultimate treasure from being found.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for years for standing by as Akainu killed Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to save Koby at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandson. Comparable doubts have now reemerged with the Divine Isle recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the Global Authority treats genocide and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The truth reveals something different. The moment Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he struck without hesitation. His alliance with Roger wasn't to vanquish some evil Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an attempt to stop Imu, who was manipulating Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, including apparently, even the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the reason Monkey D. Garp detests the World Nobles in the current era and why he not once wanted to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, reporting straight to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the Divine Isle incident through a recollection narrated by Loki, covering viewpoints and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this account as completely accurate. The series may provide an reason in the future, maybe linked to the giant's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Still, the God Valley incident perfectly exemplifies the notion that the past is written by the winners. This mindset is {