YES!!! This Is All I've Been Able To Think About Since Thursday!!!

YES!!! This is all I've been able to think about since Thursday!!!

WHAT IF...

Ned 'Edward' Low is not dead? What if he somehow got himself out of his bounds?

He could want to take revenge on Stede Bonnet. In my humble opinion his character could've been the master villain (like Moriarty was/is to Sherlock Holmes), the one that gets under their skin, the one that is breathing down their necks, always behind them wanting to hurt them, hurt Ed or Stede to hurt the other.

Even if we don't get that in season 3, which we don't know if it's going to happen (would be stupid of MAX not to commission season 3) I hope someone writes a fanfiction where Ned survives and is after Stede and everyone he holds dear.

It's just a though I had while at work.

Not until the finale! I won't be burned again! Lol!

Everyone say thank you David

ending the series with lucius and peter getting married and ed and stede starting an inn? PERFECTION

Ed really said "You're not worth the poison." and then Stede truly said "No. But you are." and then killed a man for him

I want to talk about Stede Bonnet's very strange day. Let's look at the progression of just what Stede sees.

He spends the night with his boyfriend for the first time, and his boyfriend brings him breakfast in bed like Doug did for Mary. They talk about their reunion. Stede is very happy right now!

His boyfriend tells him that he envisioned him as a beautiful merperson and that he thinks he saved his life.

They get dressed, and they go out on a breakfast date on the town. Stede tells Ed about the letters he wrote, and Ed loved that!

Stede then discovers he has a fanclub! Ed laughs and is happy for him! They're going to go down to Jackie's so Stede can enjoy this some more!

Ed throws in some light banter/teasing about this turn of events, and Stede literally squeals before they run off giggling together.

They get to Jackie's, and Ed continues to encourage Stede!

Ed leaves him to it! "Enjoy the night" are his parting words.

So Stede enjoys the night!

He's being accepted! And he still talks about his boyfriend while being fawned over!

Everyone tells him he's awesome! He offs an assassin while saying something cool! No one is making fun of him!

After a bit, he goes to find Ed to share in his fun! He's had a great day.

Only, he's immediately met with this with no context: Ed regrets being with him! Ed is leaving immediately!

Remember: Ed's last words to him were "Enjoy the night!" This is complete emotional whiplash. Stede knows right away what the problem is, but Ed shuts it down.

Ed wants to be a fisherman! A proclamation completely out of the blue! Stede tries to talk him down. That fish wasn't so awesome that it should completely change Ed's life trajectory, casting Stede out of the way.

Ed disagrees and abandons Stede with no real explanation or listening to what Stede was trying to say, which isn't a great move for a healthy relationship.

Basically, Stede spent a few hours (only a few hours!) enjoying himself (in a manner that Ed encouraged him to!). He did nothing awful (because murder is cool in this show), and was a lot tamer than what Ed and company were doing in 1x8 (turtle vs crab is mean!).

I'm going to go more into Stede defense in another post. "Last night was a mistake" is an egregious phrasing to use with the man you love who has self esteem and trauma issues (we know what he means but it can be interpreted much worse), but Stede took it in stride. But for some reason people act like Stede committed war crimes with the fish comment? Ed sharing his day and Ed excising himself from Stede's life are different contexts and the fish is viewed differently in each lens. It was an OK fish, and Stede did nothing wrong. Stede is right that Ed is a coward, and I don't think Stede saying a few slightly harsh things in the heat of the moment when being blindsided like this is a character flaw.

Ed behaved appallingly in shutting down the conversation and refusing to even give context to what was going on. With 1x9&10 and Stede deciding Ed was better off without him, I saw plenty of comments about how Stede couldn't make a major life decision for Ed like that. With this, Ed has made a major life decision for Stede (I'm going to dump him and remove myself before he can choose piracy over me!), but I have yet to see the same comments, and I know exactly why that is.

...

More Stede defense!:

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Mel

After seeing some rather awful bad faith takes flying around after 2x7, I'm throwing out a beginning defense of Stede Bonnet (loml). It seem

i haven’t actually seen the episode in full yet but uh. something i’ve observed I suppose?

Izzy Hands. He dies yes? Yes. It makes sense narratively. I can understand being upset, but I’m telling you!! Izzy was the last attachment Ed had to being Blackbeard; the last reminder that he was this bloodthirsty pirate, the last reminder that he was unhappy. Izzy Hands was never a character for the sake of a character; he was written as a plot device, and will continue to be one if we get a season 3, I’m sure.

Just because you love him doesn’t mean him dying is illogical. It makes sense. It is Blackbeard finally being dead. It is Edward Teach finally being free. Izzy was queer, Izzy was depressed, Izzy was tortured. We saw this coming. Some people are saying “We thought DJenks would be better than this!!” but this is storytelling. Thinking about Izzy as a plot device rather than a separate character shows a lot more— he is used as a direct analogy. He represents Blackbeard. The death of Blackbeard was long time coming. Blackbeard wanted to die; Ed wanted to live. Izzy singing and becoming comfortable as himself is literally an analogy for Ed becoming comfortable as Ed.

That out of the way, here’s my thoughts about the seagull on Izzy’s grave.

One idea is that the seagull is Buttons. He is a symbol of magic this season, obviously. So, in theory, because magic is real, we could be getting Izzy back via Buttons magic.

My other theory is that Buttons being on Izzy’s grave is a reference to “to love […] requires change”

In order to love Stede the way Stede needs to be loved, Ed needed to change; Blackbeard needed to die. If this is the case, then Izzy was the remaining part holding Ed back from changing.

Anyways sorry about this but it’s so frustrating having people complaining about this. Being upset is fine, but the show writing itself is absolutely magnificent. Bury your gays does not apply to this situation because these are the “bury your gays” definitions:

Gay Guy Dies First: When the often only queer character dies early on, before straight characters.

Gayngst-Induced Suicide: When an LGBT+ character commits or attempts to commit suicide because of reasons connected to or caused by being LGBT.

Homophobic Hate Crime: When a character is attacked and often murdered by homophobic characters.

Out of the Closet, Into the Fire: After a character comes out they are quickly killed, harmed, or cosmically punished.

Tragic AIDS Story: The story involves the miseries of HIV/AIDS, often starring gay men, sometimes treated like a punishment for homosexuality.

Vasquez Always Dies: The most lesbian-coded character, or the closest thing the work has to a butch character, always seems to get killed off, or has the most violent and drawn-out death.

The closest possible one, if this were bury your gays, would be “Out of the Closet, Into the Fire”. HOWEVER!!!!!! Izzy is not killed because he’s queer. He’s not killed “after he comes out”. Plus, literally every main character in the show is queer. Every single one. I do not believe this is a bury your gays. I believe this is a purposefully heartbreaking kill; you’re SUPPOSED to like Izzy by now! Because Ed likes Ed now. He’s accepted himself. That’s what Izzy was for; showcasing Ed’s internal journey.