Oda foreshadowed the God Valley Incident on multiple occasions, elevated it to one of the Grand Line’s defining historical moments, and even framed some of One Piece‘s best characters as participants. As the Final Saga brings the God Valley flashback to an end, fans were more upset than glad to see such epic brawls and battles reduced to the bare minimum, often only filling a panel or two. Considering its overarching impact, the God Valley Incident deserves a lot more attention than a few stray chapters ensconced within the Elbaph Arc.
The God Valley Incident Changed the Course of the World Itself
The God Valley Incident has been teased for hundreds of chapters, with readers only learning snippets dropped at Oda’s convenience. It wasn’t until the manga’s most recent flashback that Oda finally plunged into the gist of the God Valley Incident. Unfortunately, the flashback that began with Chapter 1152 spent the next few installments featuring King Harald of Elbaph, his young son Loki, and the introduction of the Rocks Pirates.
The Five Elders’ appearance on Egghead Island raised the stakes and revealed their strange powers and apparent immortality. The subsequent introduction of the Knights of God in the Elbaph Arc proved that the World Government was quite prepared for the all-engulfing final war, especially with Imu’s Domi Reversi power. Oda deftly wove the Elders and God’s Knights into the God Valley flashback, further highlighting some of the latest characters to show their prowess on the battlefield.
Overall, the ransacking of God Valley was both a symbolic and literal blow against the World Government. Not only were countless lives saved, but the strongest pirates (and Garp) finally realized the true plague that still sits atop the Empty Throne. Imu had already been gaining relevance since their exercise of power during the Egghead Arc, where they punished Jaygarcia Saturn with instant death. This emphasized the irony of Imu’s selfish cruelty, particularly in the context of their hybrid with Saturn on God Valley.
Oda Barely Covered the Many Fights of the God Valley Incident
The Grand Line would never be the same again, transformed utterly and completely by the God Valley Incident. It was here that Monkey D. Dragon recognized the evils of the World Government and the Celestial Nobles, potentially convincing him to establish the Freedom Fighters and the Revolutionary Army. Bartholomew Kuma and Emporio Ivankov stood against the terror of Big Mom, and Monkey D. Garp became the “Hero of the Marines.” The Roger Pirates grew stronger than ever, whereas the Rocks Pirates disbanded to form their own phenomenal crews.
Oda might be in a hurry to complete One Piece — and now that he’s getting closer to the finish line, he could speed up further. Nowhere was this troubling trend more evident than in the God Valley Incident, whose best battles were either reduced to punchlines or taken off-panel. Fans did enjoy some genuinely awe-inspiring scenes, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough.
Rocks D. Xebec’s heartbreaking backstory paired perfectly with his unparalleled strength. Rather than getting to experience Rocks on the battlefield, fans were left wanting by vague implications of his combat prowess. Monkey D. Garp blazes into God Valley with his eyes set on Gol D. Roger, but One Piece distills their interactions down to quotable lines and reaction shots. Even the soon-to-be iconic panel of Garp and Roger defeating Rocks was empty spectacle — a gloriously final display of power with nothing concrete behind it.
The beauty of One Piece comes from its exquisite attention to detail, and that includes the manga’s fight scenes. Every major battle features preludes, multiple backstories, intersecting timelines, complex movesets, and consequences. Expecting so much information from a flashback sounds overly demanding, but fans would have at least preferred a few more chapters. In fact, elaborating on Rocks’ encounters with the Knights of God, giving the Garp-Roger team-up proper time to shine, and expanding the fall of Rocks would have been more than enough.
The God Valley Incident Can’t Be a Reference Frame for Future Battles
If One Piece does end up dedicating another chapter or two to God Valley, fans would like to see the next steps taken by Imu. Roger will inevitably discover Shanks and the future Emperors are going to escape, along with characters like Dragon, Kuma, Ivankov, Ginny, and others. But that doesn’t mean everyone leaves unharmed. And more importantly, how did Garp become the “Hero of the Marines” after committing the unforgivable crime of attacking Imu?
Satisfactorily rounding out the God Valley Incident could go a long way in improving the fandom’s assessment of the flashback, which is somewhat positive despite the sped-up pace. However, One Piece should also never repeat the same mistake again, even for a flashback. The ending is nigh, that much has been clear for the last two years — and when it happens, it happens. But One Piece also doesn’t need to play catch-up with itself. It behooves Oda to remember what made his magnum opus one of the Big Three in the first place: fights must feel earned.
