🔗 Share this article

The saying 'The past is recorded by the victors' serves as a central theme that Eiichiro Oda's epic author Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Popular tales often fail to capture the complete reality, even for the most influential characters in this story's intricate past. Kozuki Oden was no foolish performer prancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of duty and principle. Kuma wasn't a ruthless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, either; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones meant beyond just a pirate's game in search of flags and crews.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the culmination of this theme. The whole Divine Isle narrative serves as a cautionary tale, instructing readers not to evaluate the characters too hastily.

Legends often fail to convey the full truth, even for the most powerful figures.

One Piece's latest flashback, detailing the Divine Isle incident, stands as one of the story's best arcs to now. Apart from the thrill of witnessing icons in their prime, it's compelling to see them before they turned into symbols — when their reputation had still not surpass their humanity. History, as written by the Global Authority and retold through hearsay tales, shaped our understanding of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's records and the stories of those who knew them prove unreliable, showing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Man Before the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the daring spirit that sparked a fresh era of buccaneering, but prior to he became the Pirate King, he was a youth ruled by passion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his myth, they usually mean his later journey, the grand expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to the final island. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him before glory discovered him.

At that time, Roger knew little of the world's secret past. His affection for Shakky led him to God Valley, where he discovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the extermination "contests," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the planet's hidden sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in the Divine Isle, but perhaps finding the child of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his place in the globe and seek the truth he caught a glimpse of from Rocks D. Xebec's predicament.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Prior to this flashback, what we knew of Xebec came mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He painted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man bent on world domination, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it turns out, Sengoku wasn't even present at the Divine Isle; he was merely echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of events, the exact story Imu authorized to conceal the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the decadent Global Authority. We don't know if he was guided by ambition, revenge for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the regime's scheme to annihilate the land where his kin resided, he gave up his dreams of conquest to rescue them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his undoing. Upon confronting Imu, he lost his will and freedom, turning into a marionette enslaved to their authority. Currently, with what limited consciousness remains, he pleads with Roger and Garp to kill him — believing that dying would be a kindness in contrast to the torment he endures. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by Sengoku, and the manga presents him in a favorable manner during the God Valley events.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec really die? An intriguing theory is that he is still a slave to Imu in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in constant transit to keep the ultimate treasure from being found.

Garp's Secret Defiance

Another key figure of the Divine Isle event is Garp, who has endured criticism from followers for years for doing nothing as Akainu murdered Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the time jump, when he endangered all to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he was unable to do the same for his biological grandson. Comparable doubts have now resurfaced with the God Valley recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the World Government considers mass murder and enslavement as sport for the upper class?

The truth reveals something distinct. The instant Garp saw the Gorosei's monstrous shapes, he struck without hesitation. His alliance with Roger was not meant to defeat some evil Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a pawn to wipe out everyone in God Valley, including it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This event is probably the reason Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he never desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, answering straight to them.

History's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Although the audience are viewing the God Valley event through a flashback narrated by the giant, covering viewpoints and occurrences he obviously was absent for, I believe we can treat this account as entirely accurate. The manga may provide an reason later, maybe linked to the giant's yet unknown paramecia ability. Still, the Divine Isle event perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the winners. This mindset is {