The Series' Divine Isle Recollection Demonstrates Why Legends Aren't to Be Trusted Without Question

The adage 'History is recorded by the winners' serves as a key motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Popular tales often fail to capture the full truth, including the most powerful characters in this world's complex past. Oden wasn't a silly performer prancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of duty and conviction. Kuma wasn't a merciless antagonist who tore apart the Straw Hats, as well; he was doing them a favor. Likewise, Davy Jones meant more than a buccaneer's game in search of flags and followers.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this theme. The entire Divine Isle story serves as a warning story, advising audiences not to judge the characters too quickly.

Myths frequently fail to convey the complete truth, even for the most powerful characters.

The series's most recent flashback, chronicling the God Valley event, represents one of the series' best arcs to now. Beyond the excitement of witnessing legends in their prime, it's compelling to observe them prior to when they became icons — when their reputation had yet to outgrow their humanity. History, as recorded by the Global Authority and recounted through hearsay stories, shaped our perception of figures like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But each of the government's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them prove unreliable, showing only pieces of who these individuals really were.

The Man Before the Legend

Gol D. Roger may have been driven 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 governed by passion and the desire to explore. When people speak of his legend, they typically refer to his second voyage, the grand expedition in pursuit of the guide stones that point toward Laugh Tale. However not much is known about his first journey, the one that molded him prior to glory discovered him.

At that time, Roger knew little of the globe's hidden history. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he discovered the World Government's darkest realities: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Gorosei, and including the existence of the world's unseen ruler, the mysterious leader. We are yet to witness Roger's thoughts about everything occurring in God Valley, but maybe discovering the child of a God's Knight on his vessel will make him realize his place in the world and seek the reality he glimpsed from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About Rocks D. Xebec

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's account, each to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Xebec as a despicable, ambitious man bent on global control, someone so threatening that Roger and Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, the strategist was not present at the Divine Isle; he was only echoing the Global Authority's sanctioned version of occurrences, the very narrative the sovereign approved to conceal the reality about Xebec and the incident 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 don't know if he was motivated by lust for power, retribution for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he found out the regime's plan to eliminate the land where his kin lived, he abandoned his ambitions of domination to save them.

This love for his relatives became his undoing. After facing the sovereign, he lost his determination and freedom, becoming a puppet controlled to their authority. Currently, with what limited consciousness remains, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Garp to end his life — believing that death would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The reality of Rocks is thus far from the tale narrated by the former Fleet Admiral, and the manga shows him in a favorable manner during the God Valley incidents.

Is He Still Alive Today?

But was Rocks D. Xebec actually die? An intriguing theory is that he is still a servant to Imu in the present day, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the World Government's last ancient stone in continuous movement to prevent the One Piece from being found.

Garp's Hidden Rebellion

A further protagonist of the Divine Isle incident is Garp, who has endured backlash from followers for a long time for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Ace. That feeling only grew stronger after the time jump, when he risked all to save Koby at Pirate Island, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the same for his own grandson. Similar doubts have recently resurfaced with the God Valley recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Navy, aware the Global Authority considers mass murder and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The truth uncovers something distinct. The instant Garp witnessed the Gorosei's monstrous forms, he attacked immediately. His alliance with Gol D. Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an effort to halt the sovereign, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to wipe out everyone in the Divine Isle, even it seems, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is probably the reason Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the present day and why he not once wanted to be promoted to Admiral, reporting directly to them.

History's Unreliable Storytellers

Even though the readers are seeing the God Valley incident through a flashback recounted by Loki, covering viewpoints and occurrences he clearly was absent for, I believe we can treat this account as completely accurate. The series may offer an reason in the future, maybe connected to the giant's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Still, the God Valley event excellently embodies the notion that history is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {