One Piece's God Valley Flashback Demonstrates Why Legends Aren't to Be Believed Without Question

The adage 'The past is written by the winners' serves as a key motif that Eiichiro Oda's epic creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the narrative. Legends frequently fail to convey the complete reality, including the most powerful characters in this story's complex past. Oden wasn't a foolish showman dancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and principle. Kuma was not a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, either; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, Davy Jones meant more than a pirate's contest in search of emblems and crews.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we witness the peak of this idea. The entire Divine Isle story serves as a warning story, instructing audiences not to judge the individuals too hastily.

Myths often fail to capture the complete truth, including the most influential figures.

The series's latest look back, chronicling the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the series' finest arcs to date. Apart from the thrill of witnessing legends in their peak, it's compelling to observe them prior to when they became icons — when their fame had yet to surpass their human nature. The past, as recorded by the World Government and retold through hearsay tales, painted our understanding of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and even Monkey D. Garp. But each of the regime's accounts and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only fragments of who these individuals really were.

The Individual Before the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been guided by mission and the bold spirit that ignited a fresh era of piracy, but before he became the King of the Pirates, he was a youth ruled by emotion and the desire to explore. When individuals speak of his legend, they usually mean his second voyage, the grand quest in search of the Road Poneglyphs that point toward Laugh Tale. However little is understood about his first journey, the one that molded him before fame found him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the world's secret past. His love for Shakky led him to God Valley, where he discovered the World Government's darkest truths: the genocidal "contests," the grotesque forms of the Five Elders, and including the existence of the world's unseen sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Gol D. Roger's thoughts about all that's happening in God Valley, but perhaps discovering the son of a God's Knight on his ship will make him realize his role in the globe and pursue the truth he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's situation.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, both to the viewers and to young Marines. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man determined to achieve world domination, someone so dangerous that Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it transpires, Sengoku was not present at God Valley; he was only echoing the World Government's sanctioned narrative of occurrences, the exact story Imu authorized to bury the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the incident itself.

In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the corrupt 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 regime's plan to annihilate the island where his family lived, he abandoned his dreams of conquest to save them.

This love for his family became his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, turning into a marionette controlled to their power. Currently, with what little consciousness is left, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Garp to kill him — believing that dying would be a kindness compared to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus far from the story told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga shows him in a favorable light during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Living Today?

But did Rocks actually die? An interesting idea is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the Global Authority's last ancient stone in constant transit to keep the ultimate treasure from being found.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has endured criticism from followers for years for doing nothing as Akainu killed Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the timeskip, when he risked all to save the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandchild. Similar questions have now reemerged with the God Valley recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, aware the World Government considers genocide and slavery as sport for the elite?

The reality reveals something distinct. The instant Monkey D. Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he attacked without hesitation. His partnership with Roger wasn't to defeat some villainous Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to halt Imu, who was manipulating Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in God Valley, including it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This incident is likely the cause Monkey D. Garp detests the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he not once desired to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Although the audience are seeing the God Valley incident through a recollection recounted by the giant, covering perspectives and occurrences he obviously wasn't present for, I believe we can consider this version as completely accurate. The manga may offer an reason later, perhaps connected to the giant's still mysterious paramecia ability. Still, the Divine Isle event perfectly exemplifies the notion that the past is written by the winners. This mindset is {