 God Valley still exists and the reveal of the figureland family may just be our biggest clue on what exactly happened to this mysterious island. One piece is currently on one of the best runs in the manga's rich history. The latest reveal introducing us to Saint Garling figureland, a renowned figure whose position and history is linked to some of the greatest legends in the story and promises to be a window through which we will finally find out more about the intriguing top secret event, the God Valley incident. Perhaps even completely recontextualizing what we thought we knew about this legendary event. Since leaving the events of Egghead Island from chapter 1079 with the much awaited display of Shanks's true power, ending with chapter 1086 where we are introduced to someone who is heavily suggested to be Shanks's blood relative. Oda both started and ended his recent fire run of chapters with the figureland promising this new family to be a critical part of the story going forward. But what is the significance of the figureland family? The figureland name was only first mentioned in one piece film read where the Gorosei were discussing Uta, Shanks's adoptive daughter not knowing the circumstances between Shanks and Uta's relationship only knowing her as Shanks's child. The Gorosei presumed that Uta may be from the figureland family. And from this short scene we were given two major suggestions. One that Shanks is also a part of the figureland bloodline, hence why Uta as his supposed daughter would also be considered a figureland. And two, the figureland family is an important bloodline not to be easily interfered with such as being one of the celestial dragons. In film read and the special volume four billion, we also see the circumstances of how Shanks came to join the Roger Pirates, escaping the marines after the events of God Valley. The Roger Pirates are checking their loot when they hear cries coming out of one of the treasure chests only for the chest to reveal a redhead baby baby Shanks. Putting these details together it was highly speculated that Shanks is indeed a celestial dragon as a member of the figureland family who was hidden in the treasure chest to keep him safe. Fast forward almost one year and here we have the first and only canonically confirmed member of the family, Saint Garling figureland the supreme commander of the gods knights. His title, Saint Garling is a dead giveaway that fits the naming theme of all the other celestial dragons all being referred to as Saint. So in addition to the Gorossae's discussion in film read it's practically confirmed that the figureland family are celestial dragons. Meaning that if Shanks is also a part of the figureland family as he has been highly suggested to be then Shanks is also by blood a world noble. Explaining his extreme influence that we've seen throughout the story most notably being able to gain an audience with the Gorossae. It also adds an interesting meaning to his use of Roger's attack Divine Departure which could then be read as a link to his own former godly slash celestial status. But the other big piece of information we are given about Mr. Figureland is his relationship to the mysterious God Valley. First of all the increasing number of big names being tied to this event promises this God Valley flashback to be epic. And this requires a deeper look because the possible translations make Garling's role at God Valley actually quite unclear. Although widely translated to be the former ruler or king of God Valley this isn't the only way that Garling's status can be understood rather than being the former ruler of God Valley. Another translation may be to call him the champion or hero of God Valley which suggests a totally different meaning. The highly secret God Valley incident where Roger and Garp teamed up to take down the Rocks Pirates which ultimately led to the disappearance of both the island itself and Rocks Dezabek as well as the disbandment of the powerful crew. For a while we've known that this war centered around two legendary crews the Roger Pirates and the Rock Pirates as well as the involvement of at least one legendary marine monkey D. Garp knowing that the world nobles were also said to be present during the conflict and now with the appearance of Garling figureland. This suggests that the nobles weren't just bystanders but also direct participants in the battle. At least Saint Garling anyways especially if the accurate translation for Saint Garling is that he is the hero of God Valley possibly suggesting that he too fought in the event. In which case this raises a very interesting relationship between the head of the Gods Knights and Garp who also emerged from the God Valley incident as a hero of the Marines. So far we know that Garp earned his legendary status for his feats during the incident which not only involved him working with the Roger Pirates but also protecting Celestial Dragons and their slaves during the process and it is exactly his involvement with these two groups that stops Garp from ever talking about the incident himself. Both Pirates and Celestial Dragons being counterposed to his own sense of morality but with Saint Garling also potentially being known as the champion or hero of God Valley it raises very intriguing questions about the nature and extent of Garp's actions during the conflict especially if you go back to chapter 957 when Sengoku is retelling the events. A particularly notable line is that he says according to news reports a seemingly throwaway line included to emphasize the fact about the God Valley incident now being a largely forgotten event but another way to interpret this is that this is the official story that was told to the rest of the world but not necessarily what happened. Immediately after this line Sengoku goes on to explain that the Rocks Pirates were an unstoppable evil force taken down by Garp which is how he earned his title of Navy hero and then Sengoku says that although Garp never likes to talk about it for the sake of historical record that he will explain Garp's involvement with Roger and his protection of the Celestial Dragons for the sake of historical records again a very intriguing choice of words in retrospect. On the initial reading it could be understood as Sengoku merely explaining that this is a historical event that must be passed down through the generations of Marines or it can also be interpreted as Sengoku saying that this is the official story that should go down in history but again not necessarily the truth of exactly all that happened I don't question that Garp allied with pirates or protected Celestial Dragons or that Garp is ashamed for doing both those things we know enough about his character that these seem like totally believable factors but it does make me wonder whether another part of the story is that Saint Garling was also involved perhaps played a bigger role than we realized enough to be deemed the hero or champion of God Valley but officially and in the public's eyes this title was given to Garp instead. Now personally I'm not a huge fan of this potential scenario because I don't like the idea of Garp not actually earning his impressive title but it would certainly add to our understanding of Garp not wanting to talk about this event and it could also add to our understanding of his grudge against Shanks because so far this has been understandable as Shanks was the pirate that influenced Luffy to become a pirate but there could also be an added reason that Shanks has always been a constant reminder of Garling whom Garp has a very complicated relationship with or if Garp played a direct role in helping protecting Shanks we could have an ironic full circle scenario where Garp saved the Celestial Dragon Kid who saved his grandson but then inspired the Marines grandson to become a pirate or another way to interpret this is that Saint Garling isn't necessarily the hero of the God Valley incident and instead is the champion of God Valley as in earning his title prior to the God Valley incident he was simply their strongest warrior in the same way that Kyros was for Dressrosa or Odyn was for Wano also this doesn't mean that the official translation of Garling being the ruler or king of God Valley is incorrect personally I think it may be vague on purpose after all Odyn may not want to reveal all his cards and secrets about God Valley too soon and if Garling is really the former king of God Valley this raises even more intriguing questions how can a Celestial Dragon member be a king we know that the world nobles renounced all their former kingdoms to move to Mary Joie so what does this suggest about God Valley it's always been directly linked to the world nobles given the fact that they were present on the island as well as its name God Valley maybe this suggests that God Valley was a special island reserved for the world nobles outside of Mary Joie especially now with the introduction of the Gods Knights and Garling's presence on the island and the explicit link in their names God Valley and Gods Knights maybe it was the training base for the Gods Knights this could explain why Garling was the ruler maybe not necessarily king as per some translations but the head of God Valley especially if he was already the commander of the Gods Knights back then because the island was specifically inhabited by the Gods Knights and their families with Garling as their leader this would also give more significance as to why rocks attacked God Valley of all places contrary to how the incident was first introduced where it seemed like the Celestial Dragons just happened to be on the island whereas in reality rocks was attacking the military base of the Celestial Dragons a very calculated strategic move to overthrow the world government and interpreting Garling as the ruler or leader of God Valley recontextualizes how the battle of God Valley might have gone down in response to rocks' attack the way I always imagined it we have a situation where the main character is Roger similar to how Luffy is in every arc Garp is an ally similar to the role that Law played in Dressrosa or both Law and Kid at Wano and their opponents are rocks and his top commanders those being obviously Whitebeard Big Mom Kaido and I also suppose Captain John and Wang Zi now with the addition of Garling I picture him as a secondary main character of the arc similar to how wiper is at skypeer heroes at Dressrosa or Momo and the scabbards at Wano and so while Roger and Garp are dealing with rocks himself as Sengoku explained Garling is on the other hand defending his island against the likes of Whitebeard who is second in command the two men receive many scars from each other and this is who Whitebeard is referring to when he spoke to Shanks in chapter 434 again on first reading of that conversation the man that Whitebeard is referring to seems like it would be Roger but now it also seems like Whitebeard may have been referring to Shanks' potential relative Garling but this would raise another interesting question the Shanks know of his heritage because during that conversation Shanks seems to be aware of who Whitebeard was referring to which would make sense if it was Roger but if Whitebeard was indeed referring to Garling then this may mean that Shanks was in fact very much aware of his bloodline and his presence at Marijua may even hint that Shanks at some point already made contact with his Figerland family especially because during his conversation with the Gorosei they tell him that they only agreed to meeting with him because of who he is again not really hiding the fact that Shanks holds some special status which he seems to be aware of even using it to his advantage unless of course this figure speaking to the Gorosei was in fact another Figerland member like Shanks' brother as has been highly speculated at the end of the day just because Garling has been revealed doesn't mean that the speculations that Shanks has a brother is completely disproved because if anything the confirmation that the God's Knights is commanded by a Figerland adds further intrigue to Oda's choice of making one of the silhouettes resemble Shanks but if it was Shanks can you imagine if revealing Shanks' family lineage was the secret that Roger whispered to Shanks and made him cry and speaking of secrecy why is this first time we are hearing of Garling's relationship to God Valley why did Sengoku not mention Garling or the God's Knights at all when he was explaining the incident to the rest of the Marines it's not like the existence of the God's Knights is exactly a secret seeing as dragon seems to be aware of them and knows that they could be mobilized against external forces like the revolutionaries so it's not like the God's Knights are necessarily only reserved for matters involving solely the celestial dragons unless they actually are a secret and dragon only knows about them because of his history either potentially as a former Marine or having found out during his escapades as a revolutionary but going back to Sengoku's words which the more I read the more suspicious it becomes this time surrounding the disappearance of God Valley with Sengoku noting that the island that the world government wanted to hide actually did disappear entirely so it does seem like God Valley and therefore potentially the God's Knights are all things that the world government did want to keep hidden and now with the recent reveals it has me wondering whether their desire for secrecy extends beyond what happened with Rocks Deezerbeck especially with the island now it has me wondering whether the island itself forms part of the mother frame I've mentioned before what a big inspiration that the Ghibli film Laputa Castle in the Sky served for Otis creation of One Piece and now more recently Vegapunks creation the hovering weapon mother frame or alternate translation mother flame also bears quite a resemblance to an ancient floating weapon in the sky that is able to destroy an island in the film that ancient weapon is connected to an island that sits above it making me wonder whether God Valley which was already a military base was converted into a weapon and is now attached to the mother frame and this is why there is so much secrecy surrounding God Valley it may also explain why the world government chose God Valley because of its history being attacked by pirates for all we know Garling may have used the floating God Valley itself as a vehicle to travel to marriage while to execute Saint Mure's Guard which is in line with Imu's choice of choosing the closer island Lu Lucia to test the mother frame and given the introduction of the weapon now in the same arc that the God's Knights and figureland Garling are being introduced it certainly seems like these are all going to revolve around Shanks the figureland family and God Valley and because I'm such a history geek and love knowing the possible inspirations for Otis writing I can't resist discussing the fact there is actually a real life place in the world called Valley of the Gods in Utah in the United States a well-known location for its scenery which I have to say geographically bears a very close resemblance to the silhouette we've seen of God Valley and it also seems more than just coincidence that Utah from film red is how we were introduced to figureland family in the first place Saint Garling being the hero ruler slash champion or king of God Valley which seems to be inspired by a place in Utah the Valley of the Gods is also a very culturally significant area for the Navajo people and given the themes of racial tension and bigotry is particularly evident with the celestial dragons and definitely with Garling it would be interesting to see whether this is further developed in relation to God Valley's history as well for example is it a similar scenario to what happened to the Lunarians who were chased off the red line now moving on to Shanks and how he ties into all of this Garling is seen to use a saber with a hilt very similar to Shanks sword group on their swords and swordsmanship seeming to be another very obvious way to connect the two characters which again raises the question of how Shanks acquired his sword is the sword a family heirloom or part of some family tradition that they are all accomplished swordsmen with special swords similar to the significance of special katana for noble families of Wano which would again point to his potential awareness of his family lineage or is it by pure coincidence that he has ended up with this sword also when the silhouettes of the Gods Knights are shown in chapter 1083 Oda very deliberately drew a shadow that resembled Shanks to be the leader now having seen what Garling looks like we can say he doesn't look like Shanks at all unless this is a scary foreshadowing of what's going to happen to Shanks's rugged good looks when he grows old and those silhouettes are of dragon's memory of what the Gods Knights look like when they were younger or is this a case of Oda changing the designs of his characters similar to how Kaido's design was changed after we were first introduced to the silhouettes of the Yonko or are there simply more than nine members of the Gods Knights and there is in fact another figureland member such as Shanks's brother or perhaps Shanks's father if Garling is Shanks's uncle who does in fact resemble Shanks something interesting about Garling's design is that his crescent moon shaped head and hair seems to be based on crescent moon galley the antagonist of romance dawn version one the prototype for one piece and although galley would continue to play a minor role in the main series eventually it seems like Oda may have always considered this crescent moon themed figure to play a major role as an antagonist in the story the crescent moon is obviously a very symbolic image throughout the series and has also often been used in connection to the good guys such as the kuzuki family for example and thus linked to the allies of joyboy but it has also been used to portray mysticism and death such as captain kuro's murderous side coming out during the crescent moon but given that we are deep into the celestial imagery in recent times with the reveal of the goresi names as planets luffy as sun god nika and the highly speculated space related theme for imu as well garling and perhaps the figureland family or even the gods knights having a moon theme as well is very intriguing and fitting especially if this applies to garling's role as one of the gods knights whose role is to protect the celestial dragons which represents the idea of the moon circling around a planet but intriguingly shanks as a baby was drawn with all three symbols on his pajamas the crescent moon the sun and stars and if we were to read into it it would be a very interesting detail if shanks is therefore being linked to the figureland family as the gods knights celestial dragons and the allies of joyboy potentially making him also a d clan member which could result in all sorts of speculations about shanks's mother perhaps being of the d clan where shanks's father was a figureland member or vice versa somehow making shanks an offspring of a forbidden union which seems unlikely if we assume that garling is shanks's father given garling's bigotry revealed in chapter 1086 because he seems to be like the majority of celestial dragons who look down on those who are not world nobles particularly non-human races which is an interesting contrasting dynamic to shanks as one of the good guys who protects the weak or this could be the start of a tragic backstory where garling figureland lost his wife shanks's mother during the god valley incident while shanks was protected by being kept hidden and the loss of his wife is actually what caused garling to turn into this hate filled brutal figure who has no qualms about killing his own fellow celestial dragon in some sort of twisted mindset that he is in fact protecting his own friends in a way and therefore justified in this brutal execution which brings us back to the gods knights although it's unclear whether the authority to carry out an execution against the world noble extends to all the gods knights or is solely reserved for the supreme commander it's clear that their political power and jurisdiction far surpasses that of the marines and while the full extent of the group's true strength is still unknown their involvement is enough to be noted to be troublesome by the likes of both dragon and sakazuki a comment made by these two powerful figures is a sign that we should not take the gods knights abilities lightly and now with garling someone established to be of the same era as the legends of old we have a new addition to the small list of strong old men dominating the young man's game another legendary figure who fought and survived the epic war at god valley and with the added family drama of shanks's likely lineage also being a figureland member with potentially others still to be revealed the figureland family is not a name to be overlooked but let me know your thoughts on this extremely hyped family by leaving a comment below don't forget to subscribe for more videos thank you to our patreon and channel members and thank you to everyone for listening to another one of my ramblings this is joy girl and i'll see you again soon