— kraken —

Dragged me into this rinky-dink firm, Murdock, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for it.

How excited he is to meet "a bird guy." Wanting to get one for his ship. Ed is absolutely fascinated with it, and the ship, all of Stede's trinkets and collections, how things run, but mostly: Stede himself. He has hope and whimsy.

Ed even asks "and Karl's the bird then?" While not said in the same context exactly, it rings of the second moonlight scene between Ed and Stede. Ed explains his fish metaphor, about how the fish needs to want to be caught, and Stede replies, "and you're the fish?"

Things change and turn for the bitter with Karl dies. It is the ultimate point where the crew turns on Jack, when Stede goes from letting Jack stay to kicking him off the ship. Stede's philosophy can come into play here too: "we don't banish people, that's not us." But when someone hurts the crew, kills Karl — a seabird, it's bad luck to kill a seabird — out they go.

That is the final straw for CJ. He has crossed a line, several in fact. The audience knows how important the seagull is to the first mate, and CJ essentially killed his friend, but he also crossed a line in a common seafaring belief/myth. Killing Karl also killed any commodore gained with the crew (though we know doing this achieves CJ's ultimate goal, separating Ed from the crew — and Stede.)

We end that episode looking down at Ed and Stede, feet touching, smiling at each other even as they are being arrested. A bird's eye view.

Side note: This bird's eye view of Ed and Stede is actually shown several times, including the previous two episodes. 1x6 when they return to the crew after the bathtub scene and 1x7 when Ed and Stede are sitting next to each other on the log as Lucius cooks the snake.

This bird metaphor continues to be heartbreaking in the first episode of season two. We again get a bird's eye view of Ed and Frenchie at the bow of the ship. (I half expected Frenchie to ask "and you're the bird" after Ed's speech.)

At this point, Ed is taking everything to keep going. The rhino horn, alcohol, the constant raids. It's a distraction, cause if he stops — if he lands — then it will all come tumbling down. He is the impossible bird, not landing but constantly flying, just barely staying alive.

There is also something to be said of the crew eating a seabird after the storm, after they think they have killed Ed. The guilt manifesting that way as Ed's impossible bird antics are a manifestation of him trying to keep up the Kraken persona.

Luckily, even through those dark times, when the bird metaphor turns dark, things take a turn due to Buttons. Buttons comes swinging in with his magical realism and first mate wisdom.

Just like how Ed was fascinated and full of hope the first time he met Buttons, he is filled with this same hope again the last time we see him. Buttons shows Ed that people can change. Birds no longer are an albatross around Ed's neck, they are salvation, hope, whimsy. They are magical. If Buttons can transform into a bird, why can't Stede or Ed change? Why can't they get a second chance of happiness, just like Buttons gets a second life as a bird.

We also have Ed with several bird tattoos—Taika’s own bird in flight, which they choose not to cover and actually feature prominently several times, and a parrot on his arm.

hey first meta post so here we go :) ive been thinking on this a bit and i find it interesting how blackbeard 2.0 (01x10-02x02 ed) comes about, and how it falls on izzy more than anything else.

we see ed right after stede leaves, wearing stede's clothes, crying, and generally coping with his boyfriend leaving unexpectedly. i mean the way he was dealing with it was pretty par for the course imo. not only do we see him in this sad-but-mostly-calm state, we see him actually trying to personally connect with the rest of the crew during this time as well. singing with them, telling them he'd prefer them call him by his actual name, bringing up the idea of a talent show. we see that his initial reaction isn't really volatile at all. like i said, he honestly seemed relatively calm at first considering what had just happened to him. this is ed's reaction. and it doesn't seem all that unhealthy to me.

but then, we get to the scene. yknow, the "namby-pamby in a silk gown" scene. this is the first time we really see ed's attitude change from being just generally (rightfully) upset to actually angry. we see him visually change by the end of the scene, starting out pretty chipper cleaning stuff up, but then ending up completely building his walls back up by the time izzy is done berating him.

at this point, ed reverts to blackbeard 2.0. notably not a direct result of stede leaving.

which brings me to 02x01, "the vibe is poisoned because of your feelings for stede fuckin bonnet."

by this point ed is.. well obviously not doing well at all and is taking it out on the crew, but mainly izzy. this is where i find the conversation gets really muddled with which way people view the abuse and retaliation within ed and izzy's relationship. people tend to say that during this time ed was abusive toward izzy, izzy's abuser, but i think all blackbeard 2.0 shows us is that its the other way around, and always has been.

ed is a sensitive guy who got caught in a whirlwind of a career after a pretty treacherous childhood. yes he is a pirate, but first he is human. and that seems to be something that izzy is deadset on taking away from him.

at this point in the story, izzy doesn't view ed as human. he views ed as blackbeard. a myth. a legend. someone who is supposed to fit into his view of blackbeard. not a human. not a "namby-pamby in a silk gown pining for his boyfriend." blackbeard is strong and manly and masculine. blackbeard can handle anything. blackbeard is an ideal. blackbeard doesn't really exist. at least, izzy's version of blackbeard.

so the second izzy saw that humanity, he did his best to strip him of it. that whole scene with izzy is basically telling ed hey, you're not allowed to cope with your feelings in your own way. you're not allowed to have feelings. or else.

imagine how this felt for ed to hear in such a vulnerable and emotional spot. you just have to suck it up and deal with it? "be a man?" from what we see that isn't how ed deals with things. he actually feels his feelings and lets them out in pretty healthy coping mechanisms (crying, writing music etc). being told that you just have to shove everything down and "put your mean face on or else" is more likely what set ed off to be blackbeard 2.0.

this is my biggest gripe with "your feelings for stede fuckin bonnet". if it was just his feelings for stede, we would've just seen blackbeard 2.0 pop out immediately after ed's return to the ship without him. he essentially would've just been this unstable ex girlfriend trope if that was his genuine first reaction to stede leaving. no, that is his reaction, ON TOP of stede leaving, to being told that he can't be upset about it and deal with it in his own way. so what does he do? he crashes out. understandably imo. because what other choice is he really given?

even as blackbeard 2.0, we see ed crying in private. a lot. like i said, he's quite sensitive and bottling things away probably isn't very much of an option for him. so he cries alone where he probably feels safest to. he's effectively trapped, a caged animal expected to perform a show for his "first mate", constantly. not only has he lost his safe space with stede, but the one other person he considers family is refusing to show compassion or even acknowedge his humanity. "edward better watch his fucking step."

so izzy saying that the ship is toxic due to ed's feelings? i'd argue blackbeard 2.0 and all the agony that came along with it falls completely on izzy. imagine if ed got to just go on with his own grieving process and find connections with people along the way. i don't see how blackbeard 2.0 would've come about had ed been able to just deal with things in his own way. thats why i have such a problem with this wording placing blame on ed. they were gonna have a talent show for christs sake. all up until izzy took it upon himself to dehumanize and break ed down till he was nothing. nothing but "blackbeard."

I read a take that said Ed should just have explained his fog plan to Izzy in simple language, and the date error is therefore all Ed’s fault.

I don’t think this is the first time Ed has studied the clouds, explained their significance, and tried to relay it to Izzy. I mean, they’re sea-pirates; it’s all about the weather, and they’ve worked together for years.

I have no idea if Frankfurter clouds mean fog or if this is simply a show affectation, but in the OFMD-verse it means sea-fog, Izzy! How does he not know this? He’s an experienced sailor. If I say to a layperson over the age of three, gee - those clouds look dark over there, do I then need to explain they might signify rain?

And if Ed had laid out his entire plan to Izzy, do we think he would’ve listened necessarily? Might Ed have laid out creative plans in the past and had pushback? It’s why it’s ‘all so fucking boring’ because Ed is often having to bend to his subordinate and quash his creativity in favour of ‘the plan’.

Ed’s preferred MO is non-violence, not because violence is wrong necessarily, because non-violence is smarter. And fun. It’s fuckeries and the theatre of fear. This isn’t news to Izzy. So when Ed starts asking left-field questions, why isn’t Izzy trusting enough of Ed’s skill? Isn’t Ed ‘the most brilliant sailor’ Izzy ever met? If Izzy had shown interest and reciprocity, then the date mix-up might’ve been realised earlier. Ed’s talent is the creativity, and Izzy should be offering the admin detail. Ed’s the author, Izzy should be the proofreader. Unfortunately, Izzy thinks he’s good enough to be the storyteller, and shows disdain for Ed’s style of tales constantly. I’m not even sure he’s good enough to be the proofreader.

Ed doesn’t need managing he needs supporting. They’re supposed to be a team. Why should Ed carry everything alone? What’s the point of a First Mate if they’re not going to believe in you and help with the mental load? If they just wander about doing overly-loud busywork instead?

Izzy pretty much says this isn’t my style of doing things so I’m not listening, not playing. Well, tough. Izzy’s the subordinate. Either do it the way your boss wants, shape up or ship out. Izzy doesn’t get to decide he doesn’t like Ed’s way and would rather just fire some canons. Except he does.

Ed’s only fault is not firing Izzy’s sorry ass. But that’s not Ed’s fault either and season two really hammers home why.

They like each other immediately and instinctively, largely because they match each other’s freak. And through liking the other, they eventually learn to like themselves.

What I think… had they not developed a romantic attraction, they would’ve still been the best of friends. The story would’ve panned out pretty much the same but with possibly far less kissing.

Their romantic love is built upon a foundation of liking and platonic love first.

Izzy follows up, ‘Why, I’ll never know. But…he does’. It’s one of few seemingly-honest lines Izzy delivers in the show, but it’s still steeped in obfuscation.

Izzy might be trying to get it off his chest. It’s eating him up, and he speaks it aloud to make sense of it. Monsters live in the dark, but if Izzy can speak this ‘awful thing’ into the light - Ed’s feelings - then he can maybe control them.

But mostly it’s a form of manipulation. He adores you, and we want to make him happy. Izzy realises Stede at least likes Ed too. And Stede hates to feel inadequate, that he’s failed. It’s a horrible irony. Izzy uses the truth of Ed’s feelings to manipulate Stede down a path towards death at the hands of the man who loves him. Izzy is also prepared to reveal some of Ed’s feelings because it serves him. Izzy hides the full truth of Ed’s feelings in plain sight by the context in which he speaks them. It’s a horrible subversion of the moment with Ed and Lucius in the next episode where he ‘likes you very much’ is an entirely open statement. There’s no ulterior motive than to get two middle-aged men to stop talking past each other. Whereas Izzy’s incentive is to give just enough truth to prep a guy to walk unknowingly into his own murder. It’s positivity into poison.

I'm missing the gay pirates.

I think I'll need to spend some time with the gay pirates.