🔗 Share this article

The adage 'The past is recorded by the winners' serves as a central motif that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the story. Legends often fail to capture the full reality, even for the most influential figures in this story's intricate history. Kozuki Oden was no foolish showman dancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma wasn't a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, the Davy Jones legend signified more than a buccaneer's game in pursuit of flags and crews.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we see the culmination of this idea. The whole Divine Isle story acts as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to evaluate the individuals too quickly.

Legends often do not convey the full reality, even for the most powerful characters.

The series's most recent look back, chronicling the God Valley event, stands as one of the series' best storylines to date. Apart from the excitement of witnessing legends in their peak, it's gripping to observe them prior to when they became symbols — when their fame had still not outgrow their humanity. History, as recorded by the Global Authority and retold through secondhand stories, painted our perception of figures like Gol D. Roger, Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But both the government's accounts and the stories of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only fragments of who these individuals truly were.

The Man Prior to the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of buccaneering, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a youth governed by passion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his myth, they typically mean his second voyage, the epic expedition in search of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. However not much is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him prior to fame discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger knew little of the world's hidden past. His affection for Shakky guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the World Government's darkest truths: the extermination "games," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the world's hidden ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the child 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 situation.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from Sengoku's account, each to the viewers and to young Navy recruits. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry 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 present at God Valley; he was merely echoing the World Government's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the very story the sovereign approved to bury the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to topple the ruler and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was guided by ambition, revenge for his family, or a desire for fairness, but when he discovered the regime's plan to eliminate the island where his family lived, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to rescue them.

This love for his family became his downfall. After facing the sovereign, he forfeited his will and freedom, becoming a puppet enslaved to their authority. Now, with what limited consciousness is left, he begs with Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that dying would be a mercy compared to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks is thus very different from the story narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a favorable light during the God Valley events.

Is He Living Today?

But did Rocks D. Xebec actually die? An intriguing theory is that he is even now a servant to Imu in the present day, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the Global Authority's last ancient stone in constant movement to keep the One Piece from being discovered.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

Another protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from followers for years for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment only grew stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to rescue Koby at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the same for his biological grandchild. Comparable doubts have recently reemerged with the God Valley flashback: how can Garp work for the Marines, aware the Global Authority treats genocide and slavery as entertainment for the upper class?

The reality reveals something distinct. The instant Monkey D. Garp saw the Elders' grotesque forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an effort to stop the sovereign, who was using Xebec as a pawn to wipe out all in the Divine Isle, even it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the cause Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

History's Unreliable Storytellers

Although the audience are viewing the Divine Isle event through a recollection recounted by the giant, including perspectives and occurrences he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this version as entirely accurate. The manga may offer an explanation later, maybe linked to Loki's yet unknown Devil Fruit. Still, the Divine Isle event perfectly exemplifies the idea that history is written by the victors. This mindset is {