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mxmollusca · 6 months

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A critique I've heard of season two is that we’ve lost a lot of our symbolic objects, archetypes, and motifs. Season one gave us the lighthouse, the kraken, the red silk and the unicorn, the seagull, the auxiliary closet, Gnossienne no. 5, Pinocchio…

And then I think back to Samba sharing a quote from writer Alex Sherman during the ECCC panel:

“Season one is Stede going from a puppet to a real boy, and season two is Stede becomes a man.”

And that’s it, isn’t it? The transformation from object to subject, from something that has things done to it versus someone with agency. We see that transformation throughout season two. Almost every significant object is discarded, every symbol realized in flesh.

The process starts at the end of season one with the throwing away of all of Stede’s things. So much has been written about Stede’s potential response to that act, and so many folks (myself included) held on to the idea that perhaps Ed kept a little bit, maybe the auxiliary closet. Stede literally no longer cares about those things. He originally brought all the things he loved with him to sea because he didn’t have significant personal relationships. That’s why we hear Gnossienne no. 5 as he goes through the empty cabin pulling out all of the knives. The discordant love motif shows how his priorities have changed, how his love has transformed.

The red silk is gone as well, but instead we have Stede, real and in the flesh wearing the exact same color, clutched in Ed’s hand in the moonlight.

The kraken, a giant monster capable of rending a ship in two? Ed becomes that, literally, disassembling the Revenge to sail her into a storm and destroy her.

The lighthouse? A warning, Ned Low in his silver suit, a beacon in the dark warning Stede of what he will become if he continues on his course.

The unicorn, the destroyed masthead, literally becomes Izzy, a man taken apart and rebuilt piece by piece out of the parts of Stede Bonnet to become a beloved and respected member of the crew, and perhaps one of the strongest examples of self-actualization so far.

The attempts at reversing the process are demonstrated to be ineffective. The catalyst is when Buttons becomes a seagull, which shows Ed that the process of change is possible—that someone can become something or someone else. And he tries, he throws away his leathers, dons Button’s old jacket, tries to become an archetype. Stede tries to become a “real pirate”, despite the warning from Low. Even in Ed’s vision of Stede as a merman, Stede is being reduced to the role of symbol—a mythical being rather than a very real, very flawed man. They are both still trying to be the object when they need to be the subject. They need to take action, to realize themselves. And it’s a gruesome process. Jim’s version of Pinocchio is about the horrific transmogrification from wood into flesh and the horrors that need to be faced in order to make that transition.

We, the audience, are experiencing discomfort in this process. We are being held right up against the lighthouse lamp, and it burns. This is the emotional equivalent of body horror. It feels like all of our beloved belongings are being thrown overboard, but I promise they aren’t.

They are becoming.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #our flag means death

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areyoudoingthis · 6 months

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This shot makes me completely insane. Ed's wanted to bury the Kraken and Blackbeard for so long, but now he's literally and symbolically digging himself up from the depths, he's swimming all the way to the bottom on purpose to drag himself back out.

And he does it in part because he's just been told "If you were ever good at anything, go and do that", and then rowed himself back into a nightmare, ships burning everywhere, Stede missing, and British soldiers harassing him while he's barely coping with what he's seeing. Maybe at first this is about bringing the Kraken back out of anger and dissociation, but that's why what happens next is so important. Because whatever his motivations are in this moment, he's doing something. The last time he was underwater he was drowning and Stede's presence saved him, this time he's taking action and doing whatever he can to fight back. And anger is only part of that, has always only been part of what moves Ed to violence.

Blackbeard and the Kraken have always been fueled by love, and fear, and yes, rage against unjust situations that made Ed feel helpless and trapped, and then left him feeling even worse for fighting back. And that last bit is what changes this time around and allows Ed to reintegrate, because for the first time, he's not alone anymore to deal with the aftermath, he's not a kid without a family, he's not a man crying alone in secret in an empty room without anyone to console him.

After he digs himself up, he emerges fully dressed on the shore, Edward Teach literally reborn on a beach at last, leathers back on and determined to do whatever it takes to find Stede. And it's such a powerful shot: he's all in black against the white surf, dripping wet hair completely obscuring his features and trailing tentacle shaped rivulets of water in front of his face.

The next shot we see is his shadow self, his dark, blurry reflection on the sand. The only bit of Ed's actual body we get are his feet stepping determinedly on the wet sand, making his way back to land and to Stede and towards his full self (although he hasn't realized this last bit yet).

But it's not until he finds the soldiers reading Stede's letter -and this is such a lovely representation of how the core of the show is the relationship between these two men- that all the parts of him are finally able to integrate into a single person when Ed embraces the Kraken and Blackbeard and Ed as being of equal value. It's reading the adoring, unhesitating declaration of Stede's love that allows Ed to redefine himself, to see his darker parts in a different light, the light Stede has cast on his life.

He reads the letter, realizes the depth of Stede's love for him, understands he's really committed to Ed for good (in permanent ink), that he didn't push him away by showing him his trauma as he feared, that sharing the story he's never told anyone else about his first and worst act of violence didn't make Stede reject him, that Stede loves him and wants him in his life for good. He has a short cry about it while he reads and processes.

And then he roars "you wrote me a lovely letter" and charges. A lot has been said about how angry in love the line sounds, and yes, he is angry, angry that he almost lost Stede again, angry that the British soldiers would mock the letter, angry that they'd hurt Stede and that they'd think they can do whatever they want just because they have the power, think they can separate them again after everything they've been through.

Ed has been afraid of his anger for so long, made up a tale and a whole different persona to hide it behind, but his anger has always been born of love, of the need to keep his loved ones safe, of rage against abuse and injustice, and this is what he needed to be able to see in order to start healing.

He's in love, Stede's in danger, he needs his protection, and Ed offers it unflinchingly and doesn't hate himself for it this time, sees the part of him that is capable of killing not as monster but as loving protector at last. Because the British are abusing their entirely illegitimate authority, and the man he loves is in trouble and may even be dead, and this isn't even a question for Ed, he'll fight for him.

And once he's safe he'll drop his weapons at their feet to kiss him and tell him what he's finally become able to say: he loves him. He's maybe beginning not to hate himself, and he loves Stede. And Stede reaffirms what he wrote in the letter, tells him that he knows, that it isn't Ed-Blackbeard-Kraken that's a dick, but life.

Is this arc done? No, of course not. Healing happens in stops and starts, it takes a long time, and that's why DJ has said from the beginning that OFMD was always meant to be three seasons long; the last season is going to be all about Ed and Stede dealing with their issues so they can grow and heal. But they were always meant to do it together, because that's when they're strongest, that's when they're able to shed a light on the other's darkest bits and help him see them in a kinder, loving way.

This was an emotionally charged step in Ed's journey of growth and self acceptance, but the issue will probably come back up in the future, especially now that he and Stede are slowing down and taking time to process their mountains of trauma and everything they've been through in a very condensed amount of time.

But this is still an incredibly significant moment for Ed. He's gone from panicking and hiding under a blanket in a bathtub to throwing parts of himself overboard to digging them up from the bottom of the sea towards the shore and the light, and wielding them intentionally to fight for what he loves.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #edward teach #alex watches ofmd #i can't believe i finally finished this it took me like three years

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celluloidbroomcloset · 5 months

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Once more, I return to the stabbing scene vis a vis Izzy and Calico Jack, more or less related to what I talked about here.

Again, this moment is clearly memorable for Ed, as he tells Mary Read, and even perhaps for Stede, who recalls the line "I stabbed you, you nut" via "You nut, why'd you have to go and get yourself killed" when he's sitting by Ed's bedside.

But this is also important in terms of how the representatives of toxic masculinity in the pirate world, Izzy and Jack, conceptualize sex between men.

Both Izzy and Jack clearly view sex as something that is done by someone to someone - I've discussed earlier how Izzy's understanding of the stabbing precipitates his insistence that Ed kill Stede. He's requiring that Ed fix the hierarchical imbalance created when Ed asks an "effeminate" man to penetrate him - something which Ed ultimately declines to do, and which Izzy himself cannot do (because his attempt to kill Stede backfires and effectively unmans him by breaking his sword).

Jack's own view of sex and sexuality is markedly similar. He also attempts to dominate Stede by his account of his "dalliances" with Ed, by reducing their sexual relationship (and all sexual relationships between men) to functions, and finally by pissing on Stede's shoes. It's entirely a performance of dominance - he tries to argue that Stede is ashamed by the thought of "buggery" and drags Ed's own sex life into the open (something which Stede rejects, saying that Ed's past life is his own business and that he respects that). Since Jack was sent by Izzy, one wonders how much he's learned about Stede and Ed from Izzy, and how much he infers on his own. The question - "Are you buggering each other?" - is a frank statement about what Izzy certainly thinks is going on.

Izzy's view of the stabbing scene and Jack's discussion of buggering are entirely about who is doing what to whom - and to them, who does what determines sexual roles and therefore their place in the hierarchy. Dominance and submission is about who penetrates and who is penetrated, and that is ultimately about power, not pleasure, desire, or love.

At no point do either of them imagine that Stede and Ed's relationship could have a romantic or emotional component - Izzy only sees Ed being seduced by Stede, Jack only sees buggery and dalliances. That their sexual roles could be not about power but pleasure and desire, much less an expression of love, is not something Izzy or Jack consider. And that Ed could be topped or even dominated by a gentle man who doesn't use, or think to use, penetration to hurt or shame him doesn't enter into their heads.

Ed, as much as Izzy or Jack, is aware of the power dynamics in sex between men in a way that Stede is unlikely to be. Ed does know the rules by which Izzy and Jack function, and it's consistently shown that he's tired of those rules - hence why he wanted to meet Stede in the first place, and why he continues to reject Izzy and Jack in favor of Stede. But he believes that's who he has to be - he tells Stede "you were always going to find out who I am" before he leaves the ship with Jack.

I've said before that Ed's entire purpose in the stabbing scene is to have Stede hold him. He's unable to ask for the softness he wants and so turns it into a violent game, not so dissimilar from the ones he plays with Jack. He allies a symbolic sexual act with violence because that's the primary way he understands - and, we can infer, has experienced - sex. But what he sees and feels in that moment, and what he remembers when he recounts it to Mary, is a soft man who doesn't treat sex and violence as inextricable, and is only concerned about having hurt him.

By the time we get Calypso's birthday, Ed seems to have fully realized that there is an alternative to the sexual power structure in which he has lived his entire life. That discovery is as freeing for him as it is for Stede, because it means that the soft things he wants, and the desires that he has, are not shameful, nor do they need to be violent for him to find pleasure in them. Being held by Stede is something he can ask for, and being penetrated by Stede doesn't need to be painful. By then, neither Stede nor Ed see their roles, or their choices about their sexuality, as fitting into a masculine power structure.

It is about love.

#ofmd season 2 #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd season 1 #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #ed teach #edward teach #izzy hands #calico jack #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #toxic masculinity #homophobia #guess i had more to say on this topic #as always i'm happy to discuss anything #my wee thoughts

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plantsjustwannahavefun · 5 months

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On Ed and Izzy's relationship

I see the "Izzy was the cunning mastermind manipulator in their relationship while Ed was his helpless innocent victim" take is doing the rounds again...

I honestly just feel sorry for anyone who can't comprehend and appreciate their relationship with its full complexity and nuance. Because it was simply magnificent. S01E04 alone is a masterpiece in character study that encapsulated their mutually toxic dynamic at its peak, and switching the character whose perspective you're watching it from completely switches what it looks like and who seems to be in the wrong. That episode was pure, beautiful, fucked up tragedy. They're both talking past each other. They both refuse to listen. Ed is crying out for help, but Izzy shuts him down. Ed wants to enjoy all those new fun original things on the ship that make him appreciate life again, but Izzy keeps nagging him. Clearly he's just an annoying, mean, insensitive buzzkill, right?

Except the whole time Izzy's terrified they are going to die because they're about to be attacked by the Spanish - something Ed brought upon them with his decision - and Ed seems completely disinterested in doing anything about it. Of course he's not going to indulge Edward playing with a toy ship or have a heart-to-heart in those circumstances. He doesn't insult or mock Ed for being suicidal, he simply points out that they're literally going to die if he doesn't come up with a plan right now. Meanwhile Ed's deliberately withholding crucial information from his own first mate and the rest of the crew, either (less charitable interpretation) for his own entertainment or to flex his skills or (slightly more charitable interpretation) to make a point to Stede.

The rest of it was so masterfully balanced out too. Right up until the point where Izzy betrayed them to the Navy, he didn't actually do anything wrong. Yes, he was still wrong - but so was Ed. Izzy was the "lawful evil". He was the one playing by the rules, while Ed was trying to cheat his way out of having to make a decision. Trying to run away from his problems instead of confronting them head-on (or just crashing into the opposite extreme and trying to violence his way out of his feelings) was literally the major theme of Ed's character. So was his inability to form meaningful relationships without bolting or lashing out the moment he encounters an obstacle. Completely removing this from the equation while putting all the blame on Izzy simply destroys Ed's agency and character depth.

We were literally given a glimpse of his childhood abuse to see where his trauma originated. It wasn't Izzy. Nor was it Izzy who appeared as the embodiment of Ed's self-hatred in the gravy basket. Izzy didn't somehow singlehandedly isolate Ed from forming meaningful relationships with people. He never had this much power over Ed. Their relationship was mutually toxic and codependent, but neither of them was each other's slave, they still had their own mind. We saw Ed constantly ignoring Izzy's advice and his judgment. We literally only saw it work when Izzy had the backup of other crew members and got overruled, and when he struck out at Ed when he was at his weakest and most vulnerable. And Ed wasted no time reestablishing the power dynamic in his favour, where it stayed until they managed to symbolically-and-almost-literally kill each in S02E02. That's what it took. That's how powerful their fucked up toxic relationship was.

That's exactly what I don't get about Ed fans who are Izzy haters (or misunderstanders). They claim to love Ed... and then they strip him of all the darkness and complexity and anything even remotely "unpalatable" that makes him such a richly realised character, and turn him into a cardboard cutout who's so indefensible as a character that the only way they can prevent people from criticising him is by pulling out the racism card. Which is so ironic and absurd because OFMD is amazing at diversity and writing characters equally well no matter what their gender, sexuality or skin colour is. It's also literally a show about one of history's most famous pirates. If someone doesn't want to see PoC characters portrayed behaving violently (even when that violence is shown to be caused by trauma and general pirate lifestyle and not indicative of their moral worth as a person), then OFMD probably isn't for them.

#our flag means death #ofmd #izzy hands

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khruschevshoe · 5 months

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OFMD Critique: Finales, Writing Backwards, and the Importance of Building Relationships

Continuing on the rambling meta bc it turns out there are a couple of people that responded well to my initial thoughts...

Am I the only one that felt like the OFMD Season 2 finale suffered from the exact same problem as the Game of Thrones or the How I Met Your Mother Season finales? Well, not exactly the same, but lemme explain.

The treatment of Izzy Hands in Season 2 of OFMD feels like when they sat down to write this season, they wrote his death scene first (for whatever reasons that might be, though likely for the sake of Ed's arc- we're not going to address my feelings on THAT rn), THEN backfilled his arc for the rest of the season based on that, but then didn't rewrite his death scene to address the stuff that organically happened when writing the rest of the season.

Like, for example, I've seen plenty of people point out that the deathbed apology from Izzy to Ed doesn't really work (I fed your darkness) both in regards to the sheer imbalance of damage shown onscreen between Ed and Izzy, but also doesn't work as a "putting Blackbeard behind us" scene when Izzy figuratively (and literally, if you count him as part of the group with the cannonball) killed his half of Blackbeard in the storm scene in 2x2, with whatever parts lingering in him killed with the unicorn scene in 2x4. After this point, his arc and his focus has very, very little to do with Blackbeard or hell, Ed in general besides the couple of comments made to Ed and Stede that cement that Izzy is happy that Ed moved on and found someone that makes him happy.

Izzy's arc has left Blackbeard behind already. He has already hit the emotional beat that the finale wants to retread.

And then the other part of his deathbed comments to Ed- "the crew loves you, Ed"- makes no sense from the Ed side of things. The show built up an arc for Izzy that would make people care when he died, but that arc was literally about the crew literally putting aside their differences/fear/distrust of each other to help, support, and accept Izzy as their figurehead, their protector, their friend, their recovery, their family, their (insert positive symbolism/metaphor for all of the VARIOUS implied flirtations here).

What did they have with Ed? Other than his moments with Stede and Fang, what relationships were built up before Izzy's death? Calypso's birthday included no scenes of the crew interacting with Ed other than the short Archie/Ed/Stede convo at the beginning. We get none of him talking to them when prepping for the party. He spends 2x7 and 2x8 with Stede, only having scenes with Stede, never building anything with the crew.

THE LAST SUBSTANTIAL INTERACTION ED HAS WITH THE CREW BEFORE IZZY DIES IS THE "INFLUENCER APOLOGY" IN 2X5 (other than with Fang in the boat). Holy shit, I didn't even realize that until I got to this point in the meta. I had realized that something felt wrong/off about the "the crew loves you line," but I thought that it was because 2x1-2x3 cast such a long shadow on the rest of the season that it was impossible to escape. No, there were cracks in the back half of the season as well.

All of which is to say: if you have to kill Izzy (which you really, really don't, btw, it makes little sense in a show where pretty much every character has survived a near death experience with nary a scratch, but for the sake of hypothetical), there is a way you can pull it off: you have the crew at Izzy's side as he dies instead of Ed. You have their relationship with Izzy at the forefront, because their relationship is the one that matters at this point in the narrative. You have Izzy die trying to save one of them, not by random gunshot.

And then after Izzy dies, you finally give the crew their agency back. You let Izzy's death be the last straw in THEIR arcs. You let them tell Ed that they cannot allow him to stay on the ship after everything. You let them tell him that they are putting their foot down, and he can go retire if he wants, but they will not let him destroy this crew anymore.

(Or, you know, you can have all of that with a death SCARE instead of an actual death, and allow Izzy to sail off into the sunset as a first mate instead of as a dead body. Because that would suit the tone of the show and the story better.)

But I have the feeling that point B (Izzy dying/his death scene) was the thing that was decided on first, and so the budget crunch/other factors may have led the writers into making the same mistake as so many before them have: writing point A out organically, and then failing to change Point B when it no longer fit the story they had written.

#izzy hands #ofmd critical #2x08 mermen #ofmd 2x08 #ed teach critical #meta #fix it #kind of #analysis #i know I'm rambling #calypsos birthday #we really ahould have taken the “red flags” episode title more seriously #ofmd meta

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follows-the-bees · 3 months

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How center-framed shots of Ed's back show his emotional state and isolation

The use of negative space (Part Two)

(Part One: the use of greenery in the negative space of episode 1x7: It's Happening.)

This time I want to focus on the center-framed back shots of Ed.

Not pictured but still important and part of this analysis: When he prepares for Izzy to shoot him in 2x2, the opening of 2x8: Fisherman Ed. (There may be more but that's all I could think of/find at the time of this posting.)

Unlike in Part One, where negative space is mainly used to show the relationship between people/nature, these shots are used to show the mental state of Ed, his isolation. There is no one else present in the frames and often not even in the same room as him.

All of these moments have something in common: Ed is at some of his most vulnerable and alone. And this is shown by how small Ed is in the frame and using the open negative space around him.

1x9 and 2x8 Stede's Absence

Ed is first surrounded by the purple symbolizing his love, Stede not showing lip. Ed is looking out into the vast ocean (he feels like he's drowning.) In the second one, he is surrounded by the ship explosions wreckage, the cinematography color grading is tinted grey just like the previous episode when Stede and Ed fought. Once again, his thoughts are on the absence of Stede. Ed looks at the mainland, away from the ocean, fitting this season's theme of finding ground. These similar shots, trains of thoughts (the tracks leading to Stede), the basic colorless outfits, all show the emptiness in these two moments.

(gif:loveexpelrevolt)

1x3, 1x5, 2x3, 2x8 Ed's Other Personas

Throughout the series, Ed takes on different personas/roles: Jeff the Accountant, Jeff the Innkeeper, the Fisherman, Blackbeard/Kraken. And with every intro to this new character Ed's back is the first thing we see. It is a clue to the audience that this isn't the real Ed, these are personas he shuffles on and has to turn around (in frame) to capture.

For both Jeff personas, Ed turns into the frame, like an actor transforming their identity, a switch of the mind. Jeff's story and journey starts positive but quickly derails into fruatration when things don't go as planned. Ed must drop this identity and go back to just being Ed.

The camera movement in 2x8 with Ed's fisherman persona amplifies how it is different than Jeff's. Instead of Ed turning into the shot, more upbeat and smiley, the camera rotates around Ed to reveal his face. Ed's voiceover during this invokes a calm mindset that Ed is trying to encompass. This calmness means he can stare out into the water, content, not psych himself up to be fake upbeat.

While these shots can symbolize Ed's need to play, they also symbolize how he has compartmentalized himself. Jeff is separate, Blackbeard is separate (he works for him), and the Kraken is separate.

2x1 and 2x2 The Kraken

Ed sits down in the darkened/covered windows of the captain's quarters, arguably in one of the most vulnerable moments we've seen of him. It is the only time Ed is shirtless (other moments of his vulnerability consist of being down to just a t-shirt — the purple of 1x7 and black of 2x3.) While we don't know if the "trust no one" tattoo is new, the ink is darker than his other tattoos, so it at least stands out more. He is surrounded by random objects, bottles of alcohol, and rhino horn.

Missing from here but also part of this conversation is during the scene where he hands Izzy the gun and asks him to shoot him. This is the pinnacle moment of his suicidal tendencies, he puts his arms out in acceptance, his hands free of anything.

These moments are both calm, quiet, both in darkened recesses of the ship (like the darkness of his mind/mental wellbeing at this moment). Ed is at the height of the Kraken persona, but he is also resolute in his final actions. We see this "peace" continue the rest of the episode when he stands at the wheel and turns the ship toward the storm.

The show consistently uses this center-framed shots to visually represent Ed's mental state; the negative space around Ed shows his isolation. The cinematography choices also add to the emotional symbolism, the darkness of the Kraken shots, the grey/purple when Ed's thinking of Stede, to the brighter blue of Purgatory. All this camerawork and cinematography come together in such a beautiful way. I love how good this show is at visual storytelling.

(Part three of this series coming soon.)

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd season 2 #ofmd edward teach #meta analysis #ofmd meta #kracken era blackbeard #blackbeard #cinematography #filmmaking analysis #adopt our crew #renew as a crew #gentlebeard

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achillesangst · 6 months

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Ok, I’ve been through the sobbing and incoherent rage portion of the evening and I’m now into “connecting two dots” territory. Bear with me, I am Sad.

Massive spoilers ahead!

So much of the finale made no sense to me. Izzy’s death being such a fucking throwaway, the complete 180 on Stede and Ed and their relationship dilemma. I’ve seen people say Stede didn’t really love piracy he just liked belonging but I disagree, I think Stede genuinely loves the ship and his crew. He’s a huge nerd about it! So I was deeply, deeply baffled by the Inn thing, especially since Ed’s foray inti fishing also failed so badly, and ESPECIALLY because I actually thought this season would end in a temporary mutual breakup. “We’re going to different places at different speeds” to “inn ownership!” Was a bit of a shock, to say the least.

And I was RAGINGLY pissed about Izzy being buried on land. He’s a sailor down to his bones, I thought the very fucking least they could do would be a full sea burial. And I thought using his leg and kerchief as grave markers was disrespectful and tacky.

And then I started actually thinking. Why WOULD you bury Izzy on land, something he would vehemently hate, and then choose to stay there right next to the grave miles from any potential inn customers? Why would you leave his most symbolic, precious items out to be damaged by the elements, unless you really wanted them to be easily found? And who fucking finds them? Buttons, who is apparently an actual honest to god sea witch. I thought the whole crew were handling his death freakishly (offensively) well, but I actually don’t think any of them believe he’s really gone. I think Ed and Stede are mostly there to wait for an angry, angry man to climb out of a shallow grave, calling them raging cunts for burying him on land.

And I think it’s really interesting that when discussing curses, Izzy says that if the crew believe in a curse enough, it’s effectively true. That even if you don’t believe in magic, other people can believe in it for you and have the same effect.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death #izzy hands #our flag means death meta #ofmd meta #izzy hands meta

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piratecaptainscaptainpirates · 6 months

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I've been thinking about why Izzy's arc this season hasn't been bothering me as much as I feel like it should, and I think I've got it sussed out.

I think it's because I don't care about Izzy very much one way or the other, so I've been viewing him as more of a narrative tool than a character (which is what he really was in season 1, even), and when you look at him through that lens, the bones of his arc really make a lot more sense than if you think of it as a true redemption arc for a primary character.

When we look at what they're doing with Izzy this season, he really represents two big things:

Stede has won. His way of doing piracy is better and this is proof.

This season is all about transformations. Stede and Ed struggle with defining themselves and transforming into who they want to be (a "proper" pirate/"proper" man and "not a pirate anymore"). The crew's relationships change. Buttons literally turns into a seagull to illustrate this point. Izzy trying to shoot himself in ep 2 was the death of that old character, and he was reborn as a symbol of what Stede and the crews' way of piracy and relating to each other can accomplish. A literal symbol, I mean, they gave him a horsey leg and made him into the ship's figurehead. Wasn't subtle.

What happens to Izzy always says more about the crew than it does about him, because at the end of the day, Izzy as a character doesn't really matter all that much. Ed loved him "best he could," meaning Ed's best was never going to be enough to find love when he was forced into being Blackbeard. He's proof "there was a time when life mattered." He's proof Stede's way of piracy can win over those firmly convinced of the opposite. He's proof that queer community can change people.

I'm not saying this is always successful; I really don't think they had time to make it work the way it could have. But the bones are there.

I think what this reading doesn't account for is people who are passionate about this character, whichever way that passion leans. And I 100%, completely understand why a lot of people just hate this arc - a lot of us care about fairness, and this is a show that usually cares a lot about dunking on bigots, so Izzy not having to articulate that he's done something wrong or not having to really earn redemption doesn't sit well. It's an arc that works best when you hardly think of him as a character at all.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death

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sarucane · 5 months

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Why did Ed want to "take it slow"?

Gonna do a few posts analyzing Ed's character development in the second half of S2--it all makes sense but the rush is on starting in ep5, so it's fun to unpack!

Ed came back to the Revenge because he wanted to give his relationship with Stede another go, not because he wanted to go into "recovery." But by the end of the episode he's asking Stede to take things slow, and at the start of e6 he's brooding nonstop about his guilt.

So what gives?

In this episode, Ed gets back to a place not dissimilar to where he was on the beach in S1E9--but he goes deeper. He's not exactly sure who "Ed" is, or what "Ed" wants. Like at the end of S1, changes in clothes directly lead to Ed evaluating his identity.

But while in season 1 Ed turned outward with this, grabbing onto Stede with the China plan and grabbing onto the crew with the talent show business, in s2 he turns inward.

Which is good really, because Ed needed to do that work. Running away to another place or putting on another identity won't let him escape himself.

But here's the bit that stings, but makes total sense: last season, Ed saw Stede as the only solid ground in his shifting identity. This time, while it's good that he's focusing on himself instead of externalizing, he's also not willing to trust Stede. To be a partner who'll help him figure out himself and their relationship. And he's not willing to trust himself with Stede, either.

Like in S1 at the "Wayward Seamen" school, Ed ended up having this identity crisis because of Stede. He went to the school because of Stede, and he came back to the Revenge because of Stede.

When he got back on the ship, Ed didn't want to reform, and he didn't want to deal with the consequences of his actions, on himself or other people.

But he did commit to "abide by the guidelines," and he did surrender all his authority on the ship. Because one part of his speech is sincere: he really wants to be on a safe space ship.

First, Ed sets out to stay busy and try to fix things. He pushes Stede to be a better captain, fixes the door, and looks for a shortcut with Lucius. But then Fang comes along and invites him fishing, and Ed does just that. Jumping right into the water (symbolizing: the subconscious).

And when he's fishing, Ed has practically no choice but to reflect. Ed asks Fang if he thinks Ed's a dick because he wants reassurance--he's shocked and resistant when Fang says "of course" he's a dick. And he's not only genuinely stunned when he learns that he was terrorizing Fang: he immediately apologizes.

And then Ed starts to really think about how his actions have affected people. He starts talking, again trying to figure out what he can do to fix it--and Fang doesn't let him rocket off into some hypothetical or justification. He makes Ed sit and think.

And Ed accomplishes something. He catches a perfectly fine fish and tells a story about it--he's made a controlled incursion into the subconscious, represented by water, and come out with a prize.

And then Ed's torn. He does really want to be with Stede, he's the one who initiates romantic-ness. He wants to be someone who can have "fine things," now represented by Stede's red shirt.

Yet, he also breaks the kiss quite quickly. Same for the hand-holding. And he and Stede do walk off together, but they're not touching, and they're discussing a neutral topic.

Ed knows that "to love the sea as she must be loved requires change." And he knows that he's changing, that what he's figured out about himself today is both important and very open-ended.

Ed and Stede need to talk about this stuff in order to succeed as a couple. But they don't. Stede tries to head off deeper discussion of why Ed wants to go slow, saying "oh I know," etc. And when Ed explains why he wants to go slow, he can only discuss it indirectly. He says "sometimes it's nice to be patient," and "you can't catch catch a fish...," and even admits at the end of the metaphor that he's not sure what the fish represents.

The last time Ed got vulnerable with Stede about his uncertainty around his self-identity, two things happened: Ed followed a whim and unknowingly dragged Stede along, and Stede left him. So, Ed doesn't trust either Stede or himself with Stede.

To Stede, this relationship is solid ground. He's been building it up in his head for weeks, dreaming every night, writing letter after letter, ranting to anyone who will listen. He's created this story and he believes it will become real--and he's not wrong. After all, the Revenge and its safe space is a story he created too, and it's real all around him.

But to Ed, their relationship is a place of risk. It's also a place of hope, but he's painfully aware that despair is the other side of that coin. Stede can say "I love everything about you" all he wants, but Ed has good reasons not to trust that.

Ed's right: the fish doesn't want to be caught. The moon behind them in this scene isn't a perfect romantic dream, it's a work in progress.

That said, fish never want to be caught!

A decision has to be made to do the work needed for a relationship. Stede's made that decision, made it when he decided to write letters every day whether Ed wanted them or would read them or not, made it back on the Red Flag when he began to really understand Ed's damage.

Ed loves Stede, but he doesn't feel safe being vulnerable with him. He doesn't have the solid ground he needs, either in himself or in his bond to Stede, to be able to make a decision like Stede's, to do the work in a relationship.

Not yet.

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #ed teach #blackbonnet #stede bonnet #fang's the best #gentlebeard #edward teach #blackbeard

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finchxs-revenge · 6 months

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I've been having some Oh No Will Izzy Actually Die thoughts that I'd like to stab on the right side so let's get into it.

I don't think Izzy will actually die. He might seem to be dead for a minute for some other plot point to work, or do the whole die then come back to life thing, ala indestructible little fucker. (Though, considering both of these have already been done in the plot, I find it unlikely, unless it comes about as a meaningful parallel, but I won't speculate much on that.) However, permanent, canon character death doesn't seem plausible from the vibe I get off the writing so far in S2 (For context, this post is being made before episodes 6 & 7 have aired). Hopefully not being tainted by the fact Izzy is my favorite character, here is my reasoning.

Of course the writers want us to feel something, so stakes are going to be high and the waves are going to be big. But the writing so far has delivered the emotional impact by catching the audience after the big waves. Stuff this season just lands, and it is sooo good. It wouldn't make any sense to swell up Izzy's plot line/character in so many different ways only to dash him against the rocks at the end. To have him die, even in a way that is symbolically important or for a reason that lines up with his character motivations would just be garish compared to how every single other conflict or plot point has been handled this season.

Yes, some stories do just use the emotional impact of destruction instead of a proper landing. The writer can't or won't do the heavy lifting of actually showing a character work through their shit, opting instead to kill the character with some symbolically emotional fireworks thrown in. It leaves the audience with this ache like, oh, ahh, they were so close to being able to fix their problem or get out of the situation, but at least we get some action and another character will stare whimsically into the flames so their death wasn't in vain.

Yeah, that's not this show.

If Izzy were still yelling at his reflection about "Who are you even" we would at least have a set up for the answer being, "No one" and the only way for him to get out of that situation is to die. It's been done in other stories and it's honestly boring and not what OFMD is even about.

OFMD is about change and being brave enough to confront our own broken and scary parts, and to carve out safe space ships regardless of what society expects of us or even what we expect of ourselves. It's about showing that this work is worth it and life is better on the other side of it.

I don't think this show would have a character begin to find who he is, become a part of the ship (literally), and start mending relationships with all the characters only to choose the destructive-symbolic-fireworks-death ending for that character.

Regardless of Jenkins comments about how the opening scene will be "satisfying" after we have seen the finale, the fact that everything about that scene is the opposite of what actually happens is, I think, a gesture the writers have put in so we might trust them when the wave gets big. We're going to get in over our heads, crew, but at least we know, even subconsciously, that Stede doesn't have a beard and Izzy doesn't die.

Now, regarding the comment Jenkins made about Ed, Izzy, and Stede's fates being intertwined, I think it would be completely unsatisfying, as well as just bad writing, to throw all three of them up in the air only to catch two. Honestly, we've already gotten some solid emotional landings from Izzy's plot (when he shoots the torch out of Ed's hand and when he reads the unicorn note the second time at the front of the ship to name only two), so I feel inclined to believe the emotional landing around whatever happens to Izzy will indeed fall on Ed or Stede. But I have enough faith in the writers and the story that it will not entail dealing with Izzy's death. That he doesn't have to die in order to contribute to their growth and understanding of themselves and the relationships they are in, with each other and with the crew. It's going to be something big, but not death.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what that something big might be, but honestly that just makes me trust the show and writers even more.

At least. That's what I'm telling myself to survive these next two weeks 🦄🦄🦄

#ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd #izzy hands #ofmd speculation #our flag means death

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roz-ani · 6 months

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Izzy deserved to hear that from Ed.

That's Izzy's family. It's Izzy whom the crew loves.

That was Izzy's arc, not Edward's.

Now, please, don't get me wrong. It is a part of Ed's growth. Still, the main focus has always been his relationship with Stede and his identity. You can absolutely dive into the captain's relationship with his crew, but you don't replace a character's arc with another one's, especially at the last minute.

I understand the symbolism of Blackbeard "dying" with Izzy. The gatekeeping, gaslighting, feeding the persona of the world's greatest and most merciless pirate staying in the past... I am also fully convinced that Blackbeard's right-hand man actually passing away to achieve that was unnecessary.

What this season did for Izzy was absolutely incredible. That man abandoned his ego and changed the way he perceived power, respect, loyalty, and support for and because of a group of people he despised at the beginning.

His main purpose has always been looking after any crew he was a part of. He had more contact with them than the captain himself, especially aboard the Revenge when Blackbeard was going through his mental breakdown. In the first season, we saw Izzy wouldn't be the best captain, but he did have the experience and eventually learned how to look after his subordinates. All because he finally experienced proper care himself.

He got his heart broken in more than one way, yet managed to find his people, his family. Izzy finally got to know what real appreciation looks like. He got it from the people he initially mistreated. The crew decided to look after Izzy because "he's their dick". They stopped fighting after seeing him at his lowest. They made him a new prosthesis out of the figurehead of all things, showing the audience how they see him - the crew's protector, the spirit of the ship.

At first, Izzy kept pushing them away. Not out of hatred for them, but for himself. Because healing is difficult, it hurts, it takes incredible strength and willpower to admit to yourself that your environment is harmful and that you might be the problem as well. Especially when leaving it seemingly deprives you of your identity or purpose in life. Besides that, come on, it's Izzy Hands. A man who wasn't heartless, but also not "soft", as he would have most likely put it himself. He was still rough around the edges and cynical. However, after all this time he finally allowed himself to let go and feel comfortable, so some of that bitterness disappeared over time. I still don't believe he was fully healed, but he was on the right path.

Despite changing his outlook on life, Izzy was still respected. He knew what mattered and what to do and say to make sure his crew's issues were properly resolved.

Now, Ed's apology. At first I felt like there didn't need to be any deep talk between the first mate and his captain, because they understood each other well enough. That's not what communication is about though. It's not about taking something or someone for granted. Especially is the conflict escalates to such extent. There should've been more to that. They should've both had a conversation about their relationship and what made them bad for each other. Most importantly, how they could fix that and heal together. If that would require them to part ways, so be it. At least they'd separate on good terms. Now we can only speculate.

I would say my biggest problem is not with Izzy Hands dying. It's about how he died. Although I doubt I'd support this decision in season 3, at least it wouldn't be so rushed. There was no proper build-up to it. Izzy and Richard, of all people, had a deep talk about understanding piracy, a concept that is a base for one's actions. This was probably the biggest red flag, which tragically appeared in the same episode Izzy died. The crew didn't thank him or bid him farewell. He wasn't properly mourned. He was buried in the ground.

"You should've expected that. Things were going too well. A mentor character always dies after regaining hope". I have two HUGE problems with that.

First of all: a mentor character? I guess? For two, maybe three episodes at best? Izzy did meet some mentor archetype points. He was Stede's mentor for a bit, I mentioned his experience and position as the first mate, but I wouldn't say that's his main purpose. The writers did, but we're going to talk about it in a second.

Second of all: this was many people's comfort show. Especially when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. I myself have praised this show for its take on communication and found family portrayal. It was fun, light-hearted, safe.

I understand the need to tell your story, I truly do. I know that people don't have the right to tell someone how to create, because the audience, especially the more pushy members, can be very often self-centered and don't know what's planned for a show's future. Except that these days you really have to be careful with how you plan your story with the corporations holding all the power - that's why we need to support the strikes. You need to be prepared to disclose necessary information in a proper way if needed. You need to pay attention to what you're portraying.

Now, I also believe that media literacy is dead (exaggeration) and people really can't for example understand that stories develop over time, seasons, or chapters unless they're consuming a media piece that has already run its course. They do have the tendency to take things literally and not search for the context.

Still, in the postmodern era of creativity, you need to know you don't hold all the power, despite not owning people anything. Your audience can interpret things on their own. What you believe to have no power or significance can mean the world to your audience. Remember how difficult it was for people to believe this show actually has LGBTQ+ characters and a love story in it? Or how the creator admitted he was surprised by the scepticism? I don't. Not only because I started watching the show quite late, but also because I don't consider myself to be a part of this community. It didn't mean so much to me, because I currently focus on different aspects of the content I consume. However, I know how they perceive media and their products. I may not have the same experience, but I know where theirs comes from. And I know that this show was just different. TV series, books, etc. do not belong only to the creators nowadays. Yes, they are their products, but they are made for an audience that has the right to individually approach and criticise them. And even though overinterpretation is a thing, there is no one right answer to certain issues.

BUT THEN AGAIN: THE MONEY. Was it the budget? I honestly have no idea. Perhaps it was, because literally everything is dependent on it these days...

See, we could argue back and forth about the behind-the-scenes, but I don't think I have enough knowledge of that. I also don't want to get into the topic of disability, suicide, abuse, etc., because I am not the right person for it, even though some of those things are a part of my experience. There are people out there who can give you their thoughts on their perception of Izzy's character and his significance in those areas.

I suppose my point is... I'm mad and genuinely disappointed. I can't remember the last time I was so attached to a character. I absolutely adored Izzy's character and was drawn to him in the first season. I related to him struggling with his toxic environment and finding a safe space. I was ready to see him become a captain. Heck, even if that wasn't planned for him, I still trusted the crew to let the character be happy after everything he's been through. Instead, I got this: "As long as you turn over a new leaf and heal, your death is a good one... Redemption equals no happily ever after... Remember that life isn't fair..." Aren't we tired of such narratives? What does it say about us and the media we consume? Isn't hypernormalisation of such issues exhausting?

I'm disappointed because I had hope. Even after getting betrayed by so many stories in recent years, I still had it. I had hope for a different character. Hope for a different show.

Edit: Just wanted to make something clear because I see more and more people focusing on Buttons sitting on Izzy's grave and David Jenkins liking a tweet about him being a witch. You could call me a hypocrite for pointing out people's lack of media literacy and not even considering the possibility of bringing Izzy back. That was my first thought. I would absolutely love for Buttons to do his magic and revive our man. There is something inside of me still holding onto that hope. I'm just really, really, REALLY tired of having hope in shows nowadays. I'm choosing to remain sceptical. Who knows, maybe I'll be positively surprised. Still, I stand by what I wrote: I think killing Izzy was unnecessary in the first place.

#and so necromancy is the only thing I have left #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death spoilers #izzy hands #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd 2 #our flag means death 2 #mine #roz writes

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transjudas · 2 years

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Following the symbolism of the moon that David Jenkins talked about; “Or the full moon is way too big and unrealistic, but in their minds, that’s what it looks like”, I wanted to look at the way the sky represents their mindsets, emotions, and the place their relationship is in.

*As we all already know from David Jenkins’ quote about it, the big full shining moon when they’re having the “you wear fine things well” moment on the ship is them in that honeymoon (literally) phase. Where everything is so romantic and perfect and beautiful. It’s fantastical. It’s a fairytale.

*And then, after they kiss and after Stede doesn’t show up on the dock we see Ed rowing away with the sea and sky backdrop again. It’s dawn, so that romantic vision and the shadow puppets of new love and a maybe relationship are gone and he is looking at the truth (some objective, some subjective). Objective truth: their relationship wasn’t and isn’t a fairy tale and will take work. Subjective truth as Ed sees it: Stede left because he didn’t actually love him the way he thought.

But see, the sun’s barely come up in that scene. And it is overcast. The light you get is breaking through fissures in a blanket of clouds. So a) he’s not seeing things clearly because he’s understandably hurt and emotional, and b) the view that is overtaking him in this post moon is way too big phase is one of gloom and potential storms ahead.

*Then we have Stede! Having had a bit of time and perspective (and a supportive person to talk to) going out onto the sea with sky behind him and it is all golden. Based on the timeline of the day leading up to this scene, I assume it’s dusk, but he goes into the night knowing that the moon may be waning (but still it may wax! what hope!) and it will not be full and larger than life. And again, the clouds play an important role. They aren’t entirely absent, like we see in their moment together on the Revenge. But there are only a few whisps occupying a broad yellow sky beaming all its light onto Stede and his plans and hopes. He’s going into the night and the often unforgiving sea with clear skies and the belief that he can and will make things right.

Like the old very practical saying, “red sky at night, sailors delight. red sky at morning, sailors take warning”, the sky tells us so much of what we should know for what’s happening in the moment and what is to come.

#ofmdedit #ofmdblog #ofmdaily #ofmd #userkristi #uservici #blackbonnet #ed teach #edward teach #stede bonnet #ed x stede #david jenkins #our flag means death #ofmd meta #this brought to you by the english major in me

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izzysillyhandsy · 6 months

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Death and Change in OFMD

"What if it's not a death? What if life just begins again?"

For a show that's obsessed with change as a result of talking things through, sitting with yourself and healing through community, a lot of change is attempted by death - death of the old self, a stand-in for the old self or a symbolic death.

We see this shortcut to "a better (or more endurable) self" over and over, and depending on the additional work put in, it works - or it really doesn't.

Putting this post together, I was surprised by how often death is used in this show as a catalyst for letting go of the past, for splitting off parts of their own selves that certain characters have outgrown and/or want to escape from.

And how rarely actual people die in these transformative deaths.

Killing Blackbeard - 1 - Ed wants to retire

Although it is unclear if this was actually Ed's plan all along or if he just made it up for Izzy on the spot (S2E4 seems to point to the former, interestingly), here we have the first instance in the show of Ed trying to kill Blackbeard.

Ed wants to leave his old life behind (mainly out of boredom, it seems), and at this point he thinks that all he has to do is convince everyone else he's gone.

This is a very superficial first try - basically stabbing a Blackbeard puppet with all the outer signifiers (clothes, ship) but completely ignoring Ed's inner Blackbeard.

This could never have worked, of course, even if Stede wasn't such a charming guy. But the fuckery set events into motion that would, possibly towards the end of the show, lead to Ed leaving Blackbeard behind for good.

Corpses: 0 Success: not directly - Blackbeard is still very much present in Ed. But the foundations are shaken and Ed&Izzy (a.k.a. Blackbeard) will never go back to who they were before.

Killing vulnerability - 1 - Izzy wants Ed safe (and all to himself)

Izzy goes for a 2-step approach here - the duel and the British Navy (talk about escalating!). All of this is a very complicated and mixed bag of emotions - Izzy's love and jealousy, his fear of change and his extreme confusion about what's actually happening.

But I think the primary reason Izzy tries so hard to go through with killing Stede is fear of (Ed's) vulnerability and the danger that the "new Ed" might bring to both of them, and specifically their relationship. They've worked their way up for years and Izzy is more than aware of the dangers of piracy (and possibly the danger Ed is/was to himself).

Izzy gets it all wrong of course - the change in Ed has already happened and his attempts to kill Stede (and everything that happens after the Navy plot) make Ed the most vulnerable (and unstable) he's ever been.

Corpses: 0 Success: none - Izzy thought that killing Stede would undo what he "did to Ed's brain", but there was so much more at play here. Izzy's misguided attempts actually helped emotionally opening Ed up for Stede, and put Edward further out of Izzy's reach.

Killing the married state - 1 - Mary wants to be free

When Stede comes back and threatens the new and better life Mary has built for herself, she is very quick to turn to murder to keep on growing. Stede as a symbol of her old and unfulfilled life must go.

As soon as they actually talk about it though - and in an honest and open way (which is very unusual for Stede), another option presents itself.

Stede must die for the widow Bonnet to exist. But maybe it doesn't have to be a death?

Corpses: 0 Success: almost there - because they talked it through and discovered they actually wanted the same thing!

Killing the married state - 2 - Mary and Stede want to be free

Both Mary's and Stede's life changes for the better - they've both made peace with each other, recognized the needs of the other and acknowlegded how they were stifling each other's progress.

(the whole thing is made easier by the lack of (obsessive) love on both sides though)

Corpses: 1, but he doesn't mind Success: 100%, both are now free - long may they roam

Killing vulnerability - 2 - Ed wants to be the unfeeling Kraken

Ed is finally convinced that he is fundamentally unloveable by the combined efforts of Stede and Izzy. It's very unlucky for Lucius that he is the perfect stand-in for Ed's vulnerability. Overboard he goes.

Lucius death marks the turning point for Blackbeard - he is now 100% Kraken to everyone around him as the crew (and especially poor Izzy) quickly have to find out.

Alone, Ed is still vulnerable and in pain - but no one else can hurt him anymore. The way he treats Izzy in particular- I don't see a lot of hesitation and regret. Ed himself calls it "the nasty dark stuff" later.

So, for what Ed actually wanted, I'd say he was partly successful. He is firmly on the path to appearing to be an uncaring monster, and he is doing his best to stop everyone from loving/caring for him.

Corpses: 1 (for now) Success: 50% - Ed did change radically in his attitude to the outside world, and only his next death and resurrection-by-Stede snapped him out of it.

Killing Blackbeard - 2 - Ed wants to see the world (and himself) burn

This time, Ed is all in. Literally. He's not only attempting to kill Blackbeard, he feels there isn't anything else left which is worth saving.

As per usual, Ed is outsourcing the job to Izzy, this time clearly telling him what to do. Unfortunately, Izzy is the absolute worst choice - he is the one person who, in a way, loves all aspects of Ed and could never kill him.

As soon as Izzy's gone though, all bets are off. Ed's backup plan works out as planned (finally).

Corpses: 0,9 (an almost corpse) Success: it's a very good start. Ed dying and coming back was the first step to permanent change. He made some progress in the gravy basket - but he also realized that he still has a long way to go.

Killing Blackbeard - 3 - Izzy wants to sever the bond with Ed

Again, Izzy goes for a 2-step approach. First, he tries to kill himself after, for the first time, refusing to "clean up Ed's mess". Again, as always with Izzy, there is a lot at play here - his whole life just fell apart, and he's not thinking clearly - he just wants everything to be over.

But by killing himself, he kills the Izzy half of Blackbeard. And in the end, he doesn't even have to die - when his suicide attempt fails, he drags himself up on deck to save the crew and to break up with Ed. And this time, it's final.

Izzy shows Ed in an absolutely unmistakable way that they (and with them, Blackbeard) are over.

Corpses: 0,5 (a part of Izzy dies here) Success: 50% - Izzy's half of Blackbeard is dead. Izzy has finally acknowledged that this close, obsessive bond and all that it entails has to be cut. Until his own death, he will not be alright again though, and he still loves Ed and suffers for it. The severance isn't complete. But Blackbeard (as in Ed and Izzy) is finally over.

Killing vulnerability - 3 - Stede wants to be a real boy

When Stede kills Ned Low, his first intentional murder, he leaves the part of himself that he (and his father, the Badmintons, etc) perceived as weak behind. This sets him firmly on the way to become a "real pirate", his driving ambition since episode 1.

This season, we didn't have enough time for the full ramifications of this event. My feeling is that his first kill irrevocably changed Stede. He is a pirate now (although not a good one, yet). Is this really what he wanted? In what ways did it change him (apart from being more assertive with Ed and a show-off at Jackie's)?

Corpses: 1 (probably, not 100% sure; also, an evil walk-on character) Success: I truly cannot tell - I'm hoping for S3 to pick it up again. It should have been a "success" and a life-changing moment though.

Killing Blackbeard - 4 - Izzy wants to set Ed free

"I wanna go."

Even though Izzy doesn't get mortally wounded deliberately to set Ed free, he is very quick to accept his death and to use the opportunity to do what he thinks is necessary - free Ed from his oppressive past.

I think that Izzy's half of Blackbeard was already killed in the third attempt. He wasn't egging Ed on anymore - and he wouldn't have done it again in the future, ever. The only thing that remains is Izzy's love for Ed - and that is impossible to kill.

But Izzy lets himself die anyway, so Ed's part of Blackbeard can die with him. Maybe he thinks that Edward needs a clearer cut, a proper, unmistakable death (or sacrifice) to finally be able to let go. To free himself of this thing they've built together and that has taken over Ed's whole self at some points in their lives.

He attributes 100% of Blackbeard to himself here - maybe because he's seen change in Edward, but not enough. It is an incredibly selfless thing to do.

Corpses: 1 (a main character) Success: maybe, it all depends on Ed now - but also (objectively) overkill. Izzy's half of Blackbeard was well and truly dead since their breakup. Was Izzy's real death necessary for Ed to move on? Maybe. But maybe there could have been another way.

So, what worked and what didn't?

Killing the married state: perfect execution, perfect background work, actual talking and mutual understanding. Both got the change they wanted, and it didn't even have to be a real death.

Killing vulnerability: with Izzy and Ed, all attempted murders were committed out of desperation and without looking at the deeper issues. This resulted in making the situation way, way worse.

With Stede and Ned Low, it was a total mess - Stede wasn't prepared for that kind of life-changing event, and Ed and Stede had a breakdown in communication for most of the season. So I expect conflict arising out of this in the future - generally, killing vulnerability seems like a terrible idea in any case.

Killing Blackbeard: I've seen people argue that Izzy's death was necessary from a narrative standpoint because he represents Ed's dark side, and without Izzy dying Ed would never be able to let go of his Blackbeard/Kraken persona. I couldn't disagree more.

The first attempt was of course much too superficial. We've realized, episode by episode, how deep-seated Blackbeard is in Ed's mind. It (combined with the fuckery) set things in motion though.

Ed's and Izzy's death and rebirth were definitely transformative - they set both of them on the right path - so in this instance, both their deaths were necessary (and beautifully written). Again, neither of them really had to die for it. But without the two of them actually coming together and working things through, it wasn't a full success - both would (and did) continue to suffer.

Unfortunately, there wasn't time for a proper reconciliation and for working things through.

So the show and the writers themselves used "death for self-realization" right at the end of S2. And although Izzy's half of Blackbeard died with Izzy shooting Ed, they wanted to give Ed a dramatic and emotionally significant moment to, for once and for all, draw a line under Blackbeard and move on.

This makes Izzy the only character that actually dies as a result of a character needing change, out of the 9 events described here (Ned Low might still be alive, and even if he isn't - he wasn't personally significant to Stede or anyone else).

I've kind of made peace with it though - it fits Izzy's character that he'd use his death to give Ed the clear cut he thought Ed needed. And with Ed, who is a highly imaginative kind of person who loves his rituals and metaphors (the Kraken with the makeup and the goth room, the pink dressing gown, the piece of red silk, "I dreamt that you killed me" etc) this might actually have worked?

Still, I wish they had gone the way of Stede and Mary, talked it through and listened to Lucius: "What if it's not a death? What if life just begins again?"

(and maybe it will - Izzy definitely deserves his own Gravy Basket)

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd meta #izzy hands #stede bonnet #edward teach #lucius spriggs #ned low #why are my posts always so long #this is not a “Why did Izzy have to die” post #these characters love to take emotional shortcuts though #I've even left out some deaths there are so many

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celluloidbroomcloset · 4 months

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I say again: Izzy needed forgiveness. Ed did not.

The crew never think that Kraken is who Ed is. They ask if he’s “better,” a question that wouldn’t even come up if Ed were the man they’ve been seeing. When they kill him, they do it as an act of self-preservation and survival, not because they hate him. They keep his body on board (not for one second do I believe that Izzy was the driving force behind that), and they are all wracked with guilt over his murder. Ed is not Kraken to them; Kraken is something that happened to him, something they don't really understand, and that is what they had to kill to save themselves.

His apology tour isn’t needed or required for a huge section of the crew. Archie, Olu, and Jim accept the initial apology and move on. So do Frenchie and Roach. Ed has a long talk with Fang, a lot of which is him apologizing for things that happened before Kraken as he comes to terms with who he was as Blackbeard. Lucius is the only one really still upset (with good reason), and Ed being pushed off the deck does help him—but he needs to do something else to let go of his own trauma, and that's not something Ed can affect. Even Stede says that it is about Ed’s behavior and reassuring the crew that he’s better. As soon as it is clear that Ed is indeed better, most of the crew move on.

Izzy, however, does require forgiveness—not just for his treatment of Ed but for everything he does through Season 1. The crew see him suffering and they extend the grace to him that has been a part of Stede’s entire philosophy, a philosophy that permeates the ship and that shows them that life means something. Continuing to beat Izzy when he’s down won’t help anyone, so the crew look for ways to heal him…by giving him a job. He doesn’t need to talk it through, but to have a position where he’s valued. Ed can’t and shouldn’t give him that, but the crew can—so they declare him the new figurehead, a symbol of the rebirth of the ship.

But that doesn’t forgive or redeem Izzy. It just extends him an offer that he has to choose to accept. He has to integrate himself into the Revenge crew, and he can’t do that by being his usual nasty self. He has to accept the grace extended to him.

Stede is a part of that too. He steps forward to offer Izzy more opportunity to integrate into the crew, in terms that Izzy is most likely to understand and accept. Izzy has a chance to serve his captain, and Stede is captain. His knowledge and skills still have value. (Note—I don’t think that this is a sign of Stede personally forgiving or forgetting, but of trying to move forward.) Stede is doing for Izzy what he did for every member of the crew, including Ed—showing him he is valued for who he is.

Does Izzy fully understand the grace being given? I don’t think he does. But he doesn’t have to for it to make things better. That’s part of Stede’s ethos too.

So why doesn’t Ed get any of this? Because he already has it. He has the love of the crew. He is already valued for who he is—not Kraken or Blackbeard, but Ed. His skills and knowledge are already valued. He is ALREADY LOVED, and he has no need of redemption or further forgiveness. He does need to heal and to apologize, but it’s a different kind of healing and apology. He shows he is better and can be trusted again by just being Ed.

Ed doesn’t totally regress with Kraken. All that he went through in the first season, including the relationships he has with the crew, is still there. It’s not erased. He is a part of their family and he remains one through everything. Izzy is the one who has to either change his heart or die, who has to decide to accept their grace. Ed already has it.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #ofmd season 2 #edward teach #ed teach #izzy hands #revenge crew #the crew of the revenge #gif

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