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The saying 'The past is written by the winners' serves as a key theme that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has for some time woven into the narrative. Legends often do not convey the full truth, including the most influential characters in this world's intricate past. Oden wasn't a silly showman dancing through the streets of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Kuma was not a merciless villain who separated the Straw Hats, as well; he was helping them. Likewise, Davy Jones signified more than a buccaneer's contest in pursuit of emblems and followers.

In chapter #1164 of the manga, we witness the culmination of this idea. The entire God Valley narrative serves as a warning story, instructing audiences not to evaluate the characters too quickly.

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

One Piece's most recent look back, detailing the God Valley incident, represents one of the series' finest arcs to now. Beyond the excitement of seeing legends in their prime, it's compelling to observe them prior to when they turned into symbols — when their reputation had yet to surpass their humanity. The past, as recorded by the World Government and recounted through secondhand tales, shaped our perception of individuals like Roger, Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But both the regime's records and the stories of those who knew them prove untrustworthy, revealing only pieces of who these men truly were.

The Individual Before the Myth

The future Pirate King may have been guided by purpose and the bold attitude that sparked a new age of buccaneering, but before he became the Pirate King, he was a youth governed by emotion and the desire to explore. When people discuss his legend, they typically mean his later journey, the epic quest in pursuit of the guide stones that lead to Laugh Tale. However not much is understood about his initial travels, the one that molded him before glory found him.

Back then, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's hidden history. His affection for the barkeep led him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's most sinister realities: the extermination "games," the grotesque forms of the Gorosei, and even the presence of the world's hidden ruler, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about all that's occurring in God Valley, but perhaps discovering the child of a God's Knight on his ship will lead him to understand his place in the globe and pursue the truth he caught a glimpse of from Xebec's predicament.

The Truth About The Infamous Captain

Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Rocks D. Xebec was derived almost entirely from the former Fleet Admiral's version, both to the viewers and to new Marines. He painted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, ambitious man bent on global control, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to join forces to overcome him. But as it transpires, Sengoku wasn't even present at God Valley; he was merely echoing the World Government's sanctioned version of occurrences, the exact narrative the sovereign authorized to bury the reality about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.

In truth, The captain, whose real name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who sought to topple Imu and dismantle the corrupt Global Authority. We are unsure if he was motivated by ambition, retribution for his family, or a wish for fairness, but when he discovered the regime's scheme to eliminate the island where his family resided, he abandoned his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This love for his relatives became his undoing. Upon facing the sovereign, he forfeited his determination and liberty, becoming a marionette controlled to their power. Currently, with what limited consciousness remains, he begs with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp to kill him — thinking that death would be a kindness compared to the torment he suffers. The reality of Rocks D. Xebec is thus very different from the tale told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic shows him in a favorable manner during the Divine Isle incidents.

Could He Be Still Alive Today?

But did Rocks actually meet his end? An interesting idea is that he is even now a slave to the ruler in the present day, acting as the scarred individual, maintaining the Global Authority's only remaining ancient stone in constant transit to keep the ultimate treasure from being found.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further key figure of the God Valley event is Monkey D. Garp, who has faced criticism from fans for a long time for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu murdered Portgas D. Ace. That feeling only grew more intense after the timeskip, when he risked all to rescue the young Marine at Hachinosu, leading many to wonder why he couldn't do the same for his own grandchild. Similar doubts have recently reemerged with the God Valley flashback: how can Monkey D. Garp serve the Marines, aware the Global Authority treats mass murder and slavery as entertainment for the elite?

The reality uncovers something different. The instant Garp saw the Gorosei's grotesque forms, he struck without hesitation. His alliance with Gol D. Roger wasn't to defeat some evil Xebec, but a courageous act of rebellion, an effort to halt Imu, who was manipulating Xebec as a tool to eliminate everyone in the Divine Isle, even apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This event is likely the reason Garp despises the World Nobles in the present day and why he not once desired to be promoted to Admiral, answering straight to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Storytellers

Even though the readers are viewing the God Valley event through a recollection recounted by the giant, including perspectives and events he obviously was absent for, I think we can treat this version as completely accurate. The series may offer an reason in the future, perhaps linked to Loki's still mysterious Devil Fruit. Nevertheless, the God Valley event perfectly embodies the idea that history is recorded by the victors. This attitude is {