🔗 Share this article

The adage 'History is written by the winners' is a central theme that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long integrated into the narrative. Legends frequently do not convey the full reality, including the most influential figures in this story's complex past. Oden wasn't a silly showman dancing 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. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend meant beyond just a buccaneer's contest in pursuit of emblems and crews.

In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the peak of this idea. The entire Divine Isle narrative serves as a cautionary tale, instructing audiences not to evaluate the characters too quickly.

Legends often fail to capture the complete reality, including the most powerful characters.

One Piece's most recent look back, detailing the Divine Isle incident, represents one of the story's finest arcs to now. Beyond the thrill of seeing legends in their prime, it's compelling to see them prior to when they became symbols — when their reputation had yet to outgrow their human nature. History, as written by the World Government and retold through secondhand tales, painted our perception of figures like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Monkey D. Garp. But both the government's accounts and the narratives of those who knew them prove unreliable, showing only pieces of who these men really were.

The Individual Before the Legend

The future Pirate King may have been driven by purpose and the daring spirit that ignited a fresh era of buccaneering, but prior to he became the Pirate King, 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 lead to Laugh Tale. Yet not much is known about his initial travels, the one that shaped him prior to glory discovered him.

At that time, Gol D. Roger knew little of the globe's hidden history. His affection for Shakky led him to God Valley, where he discovered the World Government's darkest realities: the genocidal "games," the monstrous forms of the Gorosei, and including the presence of the world's unseen sovereign, the mysterious leader. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything happening in God Valley, but maybe finding the son of a God's Knight on his vessel will lead him to understand his role in the globe and pursue the reality he glimpsed from Rocks D. Xebec's situation.

The Reality About The Infamous Captain

Before this recollection, what we were aware of of Xebec came mostly from the former Fleet Admiral's version, both to the viewers and to young Marines. He depicted Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man determined to achieve world domination, someone so threatening that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to join forces to defeat him. But as it turns out, the strategist wasn't even present at God Valley; he was only repeating the Global Authority's sanctioned narrative of events, the very narrative the sovereign approved to conceal the truth about Xebec and the event itself.

In reality, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a ethical man who aimed to topple Imu and dismantle the decadent World Government. We don't know if he was guided by ambition, retribution for his family, or a desire for justice, but when he discovered the government's plan to annihilate the land where his kin resided, he gave up his ambitions of conquest to save them.

This love for his family became his undoing. After confronting the sovereign, he lost his will and liberty, turning into a puppet controlled to their authority. Currently, with what little awareness remains, 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 torment he suffers. The truth of Rocks D. Xebec is thus far from the story told by the former Fleet Admiral, and the comic presents him in a favorable manner during the Divine Isle events.

Could He Be Living Today?

But was Rocks actually meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is even now a servant to Imu in the present day, serving as the scarred individual, keeping the Global Authority's last ancient stone in continuous movement to keep the One Piece from being found.

Garp's Secret Defiance

A further key figure of the Divine Isle event is Garp, who has endured backlash from fans for years for standing by as Admiral Akainu killed Ace. That sentiment became even stronger after the timeskip, when he endangered all to rescue the young Marine at Pirate Island, causing many to question why he was unable to do the identical for his own grandson. Similar questions have now reemerged with the God Valley recollection: how can Monkey D. Garp work for the Navy, aware the Global Authority treats mass murder and enslavement as entertainment for the elite?

The truth uncovers something different. The moment Garp saw the Gorosei's monstrous forms, he attacked without hesitation. His alliance with Roger was not meant to vanquish some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an attempt to stop the sovereign, who was using Xebec as a tool to wipe out all in God Valley, even it seems, even the World Nobles themselves. This incident is probably the cause Monkey D. Garp despises the Celestial Dragons in the current era and why he not once desired to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, answering directly to them.

The Past's Untrustworthy Narrators

Even though the readers are seeing the Divine Isle event through a flashback recounted by Loki, covering viewpoints and events he clearly wasn't present for, I believe we can treat this account as completely accurate. The series may offer an reason in the future, perhaps connected to Loki's yet unknown paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the Divine Isle incident excellently exemplifies the notion that the past is recorded by the victors. This mindset is {