Alert: This article includes spoilers for One Piece manga issue #1164.
The adage 'History is written by the winners' serves as a central motif that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has long woven into the story. Legends frequently do not convey the complete truth, including the most powerful characters in this world's intricate history. Kozuki Oden was no silly performer dancing through the roads of Wano; he behaved out of honor and conviction. Bartholomew Kuma was not a ruthless villain who separated the Straw Hat Pirates, as well; he was helping them. Similarly, the Davy Jones legend meant beyond just a buccaneer's contest in pursuit of emblems and followers.
In installment #1164 of One Piece, we see the peak of this theme. The entire Divine Isle story acts as a warning story, instructing readers not to evaluate the characters too hastily.
Myths frequently fail to convey the full truth, including the most powerful figures.
The series's most recent flashback, detailing the God Valley incident, stands as one of the story's best storylines to date. Apart from the excitement of seeing icons in their peak, it's gripping to observe them prior to when they became icons — when their reputation had still not surpass their humanity. History, as recorded by the World Government and retold through secondhand stories, shaped our perception of individuals like Roger, Rocks D. Xebec, and including Garp. But both the government's accounts and the stories of those who knew them prove unreliable, revealing only pieces of who these individuals really were.
The Individual Prior to the Legend
Gol D. Roger may have been driven by purpose and the daring attitude that sparked a new age of piracy, but prior to he became the King of the Pirates, he was a youth governed by passion and the desire to explore. When individuals discuss his legend, they typically mean his second voyage, the grand expedition in search 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 world's secret past. His love for the barkeep guided him to the Divine Isle, where he uncovered the Global Authority's darkest realities: the extermination "games," the monstrous forms of the Five Elders, and even the presence of the world's hidden ruler, Imu. We haven't seen Roger's reflections about everything happening in the Divine Isle, but maybe discovering the son of a God's Knight on his ship will make him realize his role in the world and seek the reality he glimpsed from Xebec's predicament.
The Truth About The Infamous Captain
Before this flashback, what we were aware of of Xebec was derived mostly from Sengoku's version, both to the audience and to young Navy recruits. He depicted Rocks D. Xebec as a vile, power-hungry man bent on global control, someone so dangerous that Gol D. Roger and Garp had to team up to overcome him. But as it turns out, the strategist wasn't even there at God Valley; he was only repeating the World Government's sanctioned narrative of events, the very narrative the sovereign authorized to conceal the truth about Rocks D. Xebec and the event itself.
In truth, Rocks D. Xebec, whose true name was Davy D. Xebec, was a principled man who aimed to overthrow the ruler and dismantle the corrupt World Government. We don't know if he was motivated by ambition, retribution for his clan, or a desire for justice, but when he found out the government's plan to annihilate the land where his family lived, he abandoned his dreams of domination to save them.
This love for his relatives proved to be his undoing. Upon confronting Imu, he lost his will and liberty, becoming a marionette enslaved to their power. Now, with what little awareness is left, he begs with Roger and Garp to end his life — believing that death would be a mercy in contrast to the torment he endures. The truth of Rocks is thus very different from the tale narrated by Sengoku, and the comic shows him in a positive light during the Divine Isle incidents.
Could He Be Living Today?
But was Rocks actually meet his end? An interesting theory is that he is still a slave to the ruler in the current timeline, serving as The Man Marked By Flames, maintaining the Global Authority's only remaining ancient stone in continuous movement to prevent the One Piece from being discovered.
Garp's Hidden Defiance
Another key figure of the Divine Isle event is Monkey D. Garp, who has endured criticism from followers for a long time for doing nothing as Admiral Akainu killed Portgas D. Ace. That sentiment became even more intense after the time jump, when he endangered everything to rescue the young Marine at Pirate Island, leading many to question why he was unable to do the same for his own grandson. Comparable doubts have now resurfaced with the Divine Isle recollection: how could Monkey D. Garp work for the Marines, knowing the Global Authority considers genocide and enslavement as sport for the elite?
The truth reveals something distinct. The moment Monkey D. Garp saw the Elders' monstrous forms, he struck without hesitation. His alliance with Gol D. Roger was not meant to vanquish some villainous Rocks D. Xebec, but a bold act of defiance, an attempt to halt Imu, who was using Rocks D. Xebec as a tool to eliminate all in the Divine Isle, including apparently, including the Celestial Dragons themselves. This incident 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.
History's Untrustworthy Storytellers
Although the readers are seeing the Divine Isle incident through a recollection recounted by the giant, including perspectives and events he obviously wasn't present for, I think we can treat this version as completely accurate. The manga may provide an reason in the future, maybe linked to the giant's yet unknown paramecia ability. Nevertheless, the Divine Isle event perfectly exemplifies the notion that history is written by the victors. This mindset is {
