#because inciting Ed into violence against him is the only way Izzy can get his attention and get through to him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eliza1911o1 · 2 years

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Why, against all better reasoning, does Ed keep Izzy around? Like, just why?

So, shall we start off with why keeping Izzy Hands around isn’t a totally horrible idea? Yes, yes I think we will:

To start, Izzy really is loyal as fuck. Probably his most obvious and one of his only positive traits. He‘s truly the biggest Blackbeard fanboy on the seven seas and is willing to blindly follow him come hell or high water or whatever horrible idea Blackbeard has. He proves that, even despite all his complaining, he is always willing to support Edward; albeit only when Edward acts how he wants him to act, which we’ll get to later

Izzy is very capable. He shows that his fighting expertise, tough (and pretentious) attitude, naval knowledge, and (questionable) leadership skills all make him an incredibly useful and accomplished first mate. Although he lacks charm and isn’t really meant for a captain role, as seen by the crew’s quick resort to mutiny in ep 9, he is still incredibly good at accomplishing the tasks given to him

Izzy has history with Ed. Ed himself admits that he doesn’t have friends and we can gather that he also has no real connection to his family, if any are left. We see Ed is aching for relationships and deeply cherishes the people he holds close, even if they aren’t the best people. It seems he copes with his loneliness by assuming he doesn’t deserve companionship and so has greatly reduced his standards; I mean no person with healthy boundaries is friends with Calico Jack... What I’m saying here is that Izzy has stayed with Ed and Ed is comfortable with him, if only due to their time together. Clearly, at one point, they even shared similar interests and aspirations and got on quite well

Izzy cares for Ed. He does, in his own sick way. We see that he’s going out of his way to try and have Ed make the “right” decisions because he doesn’t want Ed to be ruined or hurt, whether out of loyalty, respect, love, or whatever tf is going on there. There’s a certain level of intimacy that comes with Blackbeard allowing someone to call him “Edward”

And if these reasons were the only factors at work, it would make sense why Ed keeps Izzy around. If anything, he’s actually a pretty great asset on paper. But only on paper. In actuality, there’s a lot more making him an irritating little ball of judgement and unhappiness that ruins lives:

Izzy is a dick. This is a vague term, but I think it just about sums him up as best as I ever could. He’s so miserable literally all the time and just takes it out on everyone. I honestly think it’s safe to say no one really likes being around him

Izzy is what is typically considered a “bad influence”. He enjoys violence, insane drinking, pillaging, stealing — really anything that hurts others and/or yourself. Activities that could possibly get you killed aren’t really great for one’s physical or mental health

Izzy is emotionally manipulative. He clearly has a lot of insecurity, regrets, repressed emotions, and really any other issue a person can have and not deal with. He sees emotions and attachments as a weakness, exhibiting a sense of toxic masculinity and ignorance about healthy relationships. I don’t think he always realizes when he’s being manipulative since there’s no distinction between good or bad actions because of his messed up priorities, but it doesn’t change the facts. He expresses his feelings through attacking others, dealing with them through intimidation or insult, degrading them until they bend to his will or put him in his place. What’s interesting too is that he almost seems to incite others into attacking, like some masochistic plea, even though he appears to have a deep need for power. Either way, it’s messed up and I don’t even know what’s happening but I do know he plays with a person’s emotions

Izzy is a toxic person and brings out the worst in others, even if he isn’t meaning to. Most of the traits on this list could be summed up under this idea or extended into like 10 different terms, but I’ll try my best to sum it up here. Because he can’t get over his own issues, Izzy ends up being blinded to what other people truly need and forces his own opinions/constructs onto others, especially when it comes to those he actually wants to help (namely, Blackbeard). Whether it be his defensiveness over Ed’s new relationships or general lack of approval towards Ed’s happiness, his life goal seems to be unconsciously making others just as unhappy as he is

Izzy’s perception of Ed is different from who Ed really is and wants to be. This idea encompasses really everything on this list but stands alone because it is a direct conflict of Izzy’s interests vs. Ed’s interests existing outside of and/or not due to a personality trait. Izzy wants Ed to stay his Blackbeard and keep him from growing into who Ed needs and wants himself to be. This is a huge reason for Ed’s emotional distress throughout the series and is the cause of quite a few points of tension in the plot, including the big ones (Ed attempting to kill Stede; the British Navy arresting Ed and Stede; Ed being convinced the Kraken is what he needs after Stede leaves)

Izzy, on paper, is a dependable first mate; past evidence proves this point. However, Ed isn’t looking for the same sort of life he’s always had, especially not the one Izzy wants for him. From a pros and cons perspective, it’s hard to argue against Izzy because most of his flaws are emotional/mental and sometimes unintentional, but they’re verrrrrry relevant when you look at the context and what Ed now requires. Ed’s struggles (and really most people are this point in their career) are entirely emotional/mental, which means Izzy both doesn’t have the skills to help him. When we take into account their closeness and extensive time spent together and the fact that Ed actually looks to Izzy for advice/approval/validation as well, he clearly is important and holds influence over Ed. Even when he knows Izzy doesn’t necessarily understand or have his best interests in mind, only what Izzy’s warped and biased view thinks is best, Ed goes along because that’s how it’s always been and he doesn’t have the confidence to think otherwise

Ed isn’t stupid. When Stede comes into his life, he’s shown a healthy relationship where he feels loved and worthy and is shown what it means when someone wants what is best for you. He takes a step back from Izzy, though not entirely because he does still value him; instead of throwing him off board, he tells him no, and tries to make things work. Until, not only does Izzy betray him, but he tries to hurt Stede and maybe Ed can forgive Izzy being an asshole to him, but he’ll never forgive anyone for hurting Stede. He chooses Stede over Izzy in ep 6 and ep 8; he doesn’t choose to live with the abuse

Then Stede leaves and all the progress he’s made comes crashing down around him like it never existed to begin with. When Stede leaves, Ed is thrown into desperation. He’s looking for safety and someone to tell him what’s right because if Stede nice kind Stede left him then something must be very wrong. And Izzy, with his smug little face, is sitting there anxiously waiting as the dust settles and Blackbeard appears again

When Ed dismisses the support of his new caring crew (group of friends) for Izzy’s, fucking Izzy’s, attempt at riling him up, it’s not because he’s gone back to Izzy or “remembers who he truly is” (as the man himself thinks) but because the crew just reminds Ed too much of him. The crew is too much like Stede and Ed is too desperate. Ed wants to just stop hurting all the time and everything Stede makes him hurt so fucking much and it’d be better to get rid of everything Stede rather than feel weak or sad or hopeful because he’s just so tired of hurting all the time

So, Ed doesn’t necessarily choose to be back with Izzy as Blackbeard, but it’s familiar, it’s what worked, it’s what was safe even if it wasn’t really what made him happy (because happiness is Stede and Stede left and took any chance of that away with him the night he left Ed alone at that beach like a goddamn idiot). Ed would rather be angry than, god forbid, feel anything more and Izzy is nothing if not good at making people upset. Izzy also reminds Ed that he was confidence once, that he didn’t need to rely on someone else to be okay. Even when now he knows what it’s like to love and be loved, he thinks going back to his old life will suddenly make it so he never knew why he left to begin with. He thinks, drawing from those memories, maybe he can let go, pretend the only emotions he’s feeling are vengeance and fury and definitely not utter despair because the love of his life walked away in the night after they both promised their hearts to each other

No, Ed did not want keep Izzy around, but Izzy was the only person who could bring Blackbeard back and Ed thinks Blackbeard is what he needs because legendary pirates don’t have hearts and if you don’t have a heart there’s nothing to break

Nothing broken

(I am very up for discussion on the whole toe-feeding-fiasco though. I’m not sure whether that was bravado (false bravado?) proving to himself/Izzy that he could be Blackbeard again, an act of anger towards returning to his old ways and Izzy who caused him to revert, an example of this darker side of Ed we haven’t yet seen (my guess), or something else entirely. It’s sort of it’s own separate thing from ridding the boat of Stede, like throwing Lucius overboard was, so… open to thoughts)

#sad #ofmd #our flag means death #blackbeard #edward teach #stede bonnet #ofmd spoilers #stedeward #blackbonnet #blackstede #gentlebeard #Izzy hands #ofmd meta #ofmd finale #izzy hands #ofmd lucius

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