‘Black Sails’ Biggest Twist Happens at the End

The big picture

• black sails
  portrays a tragic story of loss, betrayal and war, with characters caught in a web of destruction and redemption.
• Captain Flint's journey from fierce warlord to peace-seeking lover features unexpected twists and bittersweet endings for the characters.
• Despite the temporary relief of the show's happy endings, viewers are reminded of the dark fates that await the characters, as dictated by history and novels.

black sails it's a show with ever-rising stakes. What begins as a story about pirates trying to capture a legendary warehouse, soon becomes the story of one man, or perhaps a group of men, trying to secure the independence of a small Caribbean island. Fast forward to Season 4, and our characters are fighting an all-out war against civilization itself, fighting the English and the Spanish while the two nations fight each other in a much larger conflict. In the midst of all this chaos, two men go from enemies to uneasy allies to partners to true friends, with many meeting their fates by sword, gallows, or worse. It's the kind of story that has “tragedy” written all over it. The kind of story that no one can expect a happy ending from, especially considering the tragic deaths that many of its characters had in real life. But, upon reaching Season 4, Episode 10, we can't help but breathe a sigh of relief as happiness raises its colors on the horizon.

Well, at least to some extent. The end of black sails not exactly the happiest there is. After all, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) the war against civilization is lost before it has a chance to properly begin, its Maroon allies forced to accept terms that endanger their own existence, and the Nassau pirates forever condemned to be monsters in the stories told by called enlightened men. But hey, it's not all doom and gloom in this scenario. Generally, the characters of black sails get a good deal out of the show, and Captain Flint in particular gets a happy ending that no one could have seen coming, not even the best spy on the market. In a series full of little twists and turns, by Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz) stealing Urca's gold from everyone in Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy) going from victim to de facto leader of Nassau, pairing Flint with his long-lost lover who everyone thought was dead, will definitely take the cake.

Captain Flint was always a tragic character in Black Sails

In season 2 of black sailswe learn that Captain Flint—or James McGraw, as he was formerly known—had a threesome with his Nassau partner Miranda Barlow (Louise Barnes) and her late husband, Lord Thomas Hamilton (Rupert Penry-Jones), back in England. The three were not only lovers, but like-minded people who wanted to put an end to piracy in Nassau through pardons. Ridiculed and betrayed by a man they thought was an ally, they have their affair exposed, and Lord Thomas Hamilton is sent by his father to an asylum where he supposedly takes his own life. James and Miranda are forced into exile, and from this horrible tragedy Captain Flint is born.

From the beginning, Flint is a character fueled by anger and pain. He feels the pain of his lover's death, and he also feels the rage that comes with being torn apart and rejected by society. These feelings only grow stronger when Miranda is killed in Season 2, right after exposing Lord Ashe's (Nick Boraine) betrayal, and during the last two seasons of black sails, it's pretty clear that Flint's character is on a path of self-destruction. As seasons 3 and 4 progress, this begins to become clear to his allies, from the traitorous Billy Bones (Tom Hopper) to fake-cook-turned-pirate-king Long John Silver (Luke Arnold). As Flint's plans become increasingly risky, endangering the lives of those around him, they begin to diverge on how best to deal with him. Billy tries to kill him, but Silver sees another way out: he wants to convince Flint to give up his role as a general and leave the war behind, which is starting to look a lot more like a lost cause than anything else.

Doesn't sound like a plan that will work. At this point, black sails He's been setting the stage for quite some time for Flint to emerge on the other side of his war as a hero or die a dramatic death fighting for the rights of pirates, maroons, and all sorts of outcasts out there . There's just one problem: black sails it is not only an action show, it is also a prequel to a very famous novel, Robert Louis Stevenson's treasure island. And, in accordance with treasure islandCaptain Flint died a peaceful death alone in his bed, died from drinking too much rum. So he must live to see another day. However, history tells us that there was never a fully independent, brown-led pirate republic in Nassau, and black sails it also has deep roots in the real world. Showrunners Robert Levine i Jonathan E. Steinberg they had a big pickle in their hands. How did they order it? Giving Captain Flint a more than deserved happy ending.

'Black Sails' sees Flint reunited with his lost lover

In the final episode of black sailsSilver tells Madi (Zethu Dlomo-Mphahlele) who has located, against all odds, Thomas Hamilton. He tells her that the disgraced gentleman was never sent to an asylum, but to a convict farm. and other undesirables in Georgia. After divulging this information to Flint, he convinces the captain to leave the war to reunite with his lover in this farm. It's a bittersweet ending for the pair, as Flint and Thomas will never be free again, but the show does show us footage of them kissing and cuddling, suggesting they'll at least be able to live out their love away from the English. society

Not bad for a character who seemed to be doomed by the narrative for at least a couple of seasons. And, in addition, Flint isn't the only one either black sails hero to get his own version of a happy ending. Silver himself eventually manages to earn Madi's forgiveness after convincing his mother and the other browns to agree to terms to end the war. The show suggests that they continue to live a peaceful life, also far from the rest of society, but much freer than Flint and Thomas. Max, who begins the show as a prostitute victimized by Charles Vane (Zach McGowan), ends his journey as the de facto leader of Nassau, the power behind the throne upon which sits Jack's former steward, Mr. Featherstone (Craig Jackson). As for Jack, he and his beloved Anne Bonny (Clara Paget) resume sailing, now in the company of a new shipmate, Mark Read (Cara Roberts). Even Mrs. Hudson (Anna-Louise Plowman), Eleanor (Hannah Nova) maiden who secretly spied for the Spanish, arrives home with her children whose lives were often threatened.

Of course, there are casualties along the way. Charles Vane and Blackbeard die horribly. Miranda never knows what happened to her beloved husband, his life cut short by a bullet to the head. Eleanor joins Woodes Rogers (Luke Roberts), becoming his most trusted wife and adviser, and is killed by a Spanish soldier. However, most of the characters who started the show as somewhat crowd-pleasing and made it to the final season are alive and well. at the end The only exception is Billy Bones, who is thrown from a ship and left for dead on an uncharted island.

The happy endings of “Black Sails” are a temporary relief

There is something we should keep in mind when looking at the many happy endings black sails. As Captain Flint's lonely, alcohol-fueled death suggests, they're just insulation from what's to come. The showrunners decided to end the series on a high rather than delve into the darkness that most of their characters would face, but said that darkness awaited them anyway. According to Stevenson's novel, John Silver will one day tire of his life on earth and return to his Long John Silver days, traveling as a ship's cook and obsessing over the treasure that Captain Flint buried somewhere on Skeleton Island. The story, in turn, tells us that one day Rackham, Bonny and Read will be captured by pirate hunters. Rackham will be hanged, while Read will die in prison. Bonny's fate is unknown.

Still, there's comfort to be found in the way things are wrapped up black sails. And honestly, considering how rare weird happy endings are to this day, there's also a lot to commend when it comes to how they handled Captain Flint. Instead of ending a strange love story with both couples dead, one by suicide and the other by liver failure, the showrunners chose to bring them together. Maybe one day they will die horribly, but we don't have to see that. After all, we all die eventually, but our stories end when we decide it's time to stop telling them. black sails decided to end his story in a hopeful moment. Quite a turn for a show that starts with blood splattering everywhere.

black sails is available to stream on Netflix in the United States

Watch on Netflix