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The saying 'The past is recorded by the winners' is a central theme that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the story. Popular tales often fail to capture the full reality, even for the most powerful characters in this story's complex history. Kozuki Oden was no foolish performer dancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Kuma was not a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hats, either; he was doing them a favor. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend meant beyond just a buccaneer's game in search of emblems and crews.

In installment #1164 of the manga, we see the peak of this idea. The entire God Valley narrative acts as a warning story, instructing readers not to judge the individuals too hastily.

Myths often fail to convey the full reality, even for the most powerful characters.

One Piece's latest flashback, chronicling the God Valley incident, represents one of the series' finest arcs to now. Beyond the excitement of seeing icons in their peak, it's gripping to see them before they turned into symbols — when their fame had yet to surpass their humanity. History, as recorded by the World Government and recounted through hearsay stories, painted our perception of figures like Gol D. Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and even Garp. But each of the government's records and the narratives of those who were acquainted with them turn out to be unreliable, showing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Individual Prior to the Myth

Gol D. Roger may have been driven by mission and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of piracy, but prior to he was known as the Pirate King, he was a youth governed by emotion and wanderlust. When individuals speak of his myth, they usually refer to his later journey, the grand expedition in pursuit of the Road Poneglyphs that lead to Laugh Tale. Yet little is known about his first journey, the one that shaped him prior to fame discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger was largely unaware of the globe's hidden history. His affection for Shakky guided him to God Valley, where he discovered the World Government's most sinister truths: the genocidal "contests," the monstrous appearances of the Five Elders, and including the existence of the planet's hidden sovereign, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's thoughts about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but perhaps finding the son of a Holy 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 Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we knew of Rocks D. Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's version, each to the audience and to new Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve global control, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat him. But as it transpires, the strategist was not there at God Valley; he was merely echoing the World Government's sanctioned narrative of events, the very narrative Imu authorized to bury the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, The captain, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who sought to overthrow Imu and dismantle the decadent 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 government's scheme to eliminate the island where his family lived, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This devotion for his relatives proved to be his undoing. Upon confronting Imu, he forfeited his will and liberty, becoming a puppet controlled to their power. Now, with what limited consciousness is left, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to end his life — thinking that death would be a kindness in contrast to the living hell he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the story told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a favorable manner during the God Valley events.

Is He Living Today?

But was Rocks actually die? An intriguing idea is that he is even now a servant to the ruler in the present day, acting as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the Global Authority's only remaining Poneglyph in continuous movement to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.

The Hero's Secret Defiance

Another protagonist of the God Valley incident is Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for a long time for standing by as Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That feeling became even stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered everything to rescue Koby at Pirate Island, causing many to wonder why he was unable to do the identical for his own grandchild. Similar questions have recently reemerged with the God Valley flashback: how could Garp serve the Marines, aware the Global Authority considers mass murder and enslavement as sport for the elite?

The truth reveals something different. The instant Garp witnessed the Gorosei's grotesque forms, he attacked immediately. His partnership with Roger was not meant to defeat some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a courageous act of defiance, an attempt to halt the sovereign, who was manipulating Xebec as a pawn to eliminate everyone in God Valley, including it seems, including the World Nobles themselves. This incident is likely the reason Monkey D. Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once desired to be elevated to Fleet Admiral, reporting straight to them.

History's Untrustworthy Narrators

Although the audience are seeing the God Valley event through a flashback recounted by Loki, covering viewpoints and occurrences he clearly was absent for, I believe we can treat this account as entirely truthful. The series may provide an explanation later, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the God Valley incident perfectly embodies the notion that history is written by the winners. This mindset is {