it's aimee

Endings are written into the story on a lot of levels. Our story begins with Stede leaving his old life behind, and Ed desperate to find his way out of the life he feels trapped in. We're told that the "only retirement we get is death," but the narrative refuses to accept that line of thinking. Characters are rewarded for carving new paths for themselves when everyone else says it's time to stop trying and just accept what you've got. The endings of those chapters of their lives are what prompt Ed and Stede forward to learn more about themselves and who they really want to be. What really matters in OFMD isn't what you did yesterday, it's what you're choosing to do today.

And OFMD is set at a transitional time. Historians debate when the European Golden Age of Piracy ended, but most consider the end to be a gradual thing, lasting between about 1710-1730. There's something there, about how Ed has devoted his life to piracy, became the best in the business, and now that way of life is ending. There's something about Stede finding his stride in it as it's dying.

And it would be so easy to think about how we left Ed and Stede as an end. They've got each other, they both know they're committed to each other, they've decided to retire together. In a lot of stories, that would be it. Curtains, no more to say. But this isn't an end! Not at all! It's framed as a beginning. Ed and Stede are beginning their lives together, and they'll have setbacks along the way, but it's the start of a new chapter in their lives.