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The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' serves as a central theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Legends frequently fail to capture the full truth, including the most powerful figures in this story's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no silly showman dancing through the streets of Wano Country; he acted out of duty and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a ruthless villain who separated the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend signified more than a buccaneer's contest in search of flags and crews.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this idea. The entire God Valley story serves as a warning story, instructing readers not to judge the characters too quickly.

Myths often fail to capture the full reality, including the most influential figures.

One Piece's most recent flashback, chronicling the Divine Isle event, represents one of the series' best storylines to now. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their prime, it's compelling to see them before they became symbols — when their fame had yet to surpass their humanity. History, as written by the World Government and retold through secondhand tales, painted our perception of individuals like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them prove untrustworthy, revealing only fragments of who these men really were.

The Individual Prior to the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by mission and the daring spirit that sparked a new age of piracy, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a young man governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When people discuss his legend, they usually refer to his second voyage, the epic expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward the final island. However little is known about his initial travels, the one that molded him prior to glory found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's hidden past. His love for the barkeep led him to God Valley, where he uncovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the genocidal "contests," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and even the existence of the world's unseen sovereign, Imu. We are yet to witness Roger's reflections about all that's happening in God Valley, but perhaps discovering the child of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his role in the globe and seek the truth he glimpsed from Xebec's situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's version, each to the viewers and to new Navy recruits. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man determined to achieve global control, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it transpires, the strategist wasn't even there at the Divine Isle; he was only repeating the World Government's sanctioned version of events, the exact story Imu authorized to bury the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to overthrow Imu and dismantle the corrupt World Government. We are unsure if he was motivated by ambition, revenge for his clan, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the regime's scheme to eliminate the land where his family resided, he gave up his dreams of conquest to save them.

This love for his family became his downfall. After confronting Imu, he forfeited his determination and freedom, turning into a marionette controlled to their authority. Now, with what limited awareness remains, he pleads with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a mercy in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the comic shows him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks really meet his end? An intriguing theory is that he is still a slave to Imu in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, keeping the World Government's only remaining ancient stone in continuous movement to prevent the One Piece from being found.

Garp's Hidden Defiance

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced backlash from fans for a long time for standing by as Akainu murdered Ace. That feeling became even stronger after the time jump, when he endangered everything to rescue Koby at Pirate Island, causing many to wonder why he was unable to do the same for his biological grandchild. Similar questions have recently resurfaced with the Divine Isle flashback: how could Garp serve the Marines, knowing the World Government treats mass murder and slavery as sport for the upper class?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp witnessed the Elders' grotesque forms, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Roger wasn't to vanquish some villainous Xebec, but a bold act of rebellion, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was manipulating Xebec as a pawn to wipe out everyone in God Valley, even it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the reason Monkey D. Garp detests the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once wanted to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

History's Unreliable Narrators

Even though the audience are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback recounted by Loki, covering viewpoints and occurrences he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can consider this account as entirely truthful. The manga may offer an reason in the future, maybe linked to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the God Valley incident excellently exemplifies the notion that history is written by the winners. This attitude is {