#i kid...

One thing that seems consistently left out in discussions of Izzy and his relationship with Edward is that when he comes back to the Revenge in episode 9, he does so having made a deal of his own with the King’s Navy. We’re informed of this at the end of Chauncey’s investigation, where after informing Ed of his sentence he is told that he will not face further justice as a deal has been made with Captain Hands, who agreed to serve the Crown in exchange for Ed’s life and freedom. Technically Izzy has signed away his life as a pirate to be able to save Edward from death (as represented by Stede’s pirate fantasy, of course). An agreement that is outside the bounds of the Act of Grace but that still ties him to service as a privateer. It’s most likely that he already decided what once Ed was safe, they could just go back to how things were, Blackbeard as captain and telling the English to fuck off. And probably almost immediately after hearing it, Ed understood just that (considering they’ve known each other for years and Ed takes Izzy’s loyalty for granted).

Ed is understandably pissed off with this stunt and reads it as the disobedience that it is, because here comes his first mate Izzy busting into his vacation and again trying to get rid of this guy he really fucking likes, who has shown him genuine kindness, tenderness, and the possibilities of another way to live that is fun, soft, filled with beautiful things. You know? Izzy understands this and takes the punch.

Alas, Stede is not in the deal and he is up for execution. Now Izzy has to watch Edward, desperate to save Stede’s life, make a deal of his own.  While a lot has been rightly written in terms of how Ed signed his life away for Stede, I think it’s not really considered how that signing was seen from Izzy’s perspective. Here he is having done all he could to safe Edward from death/himself/Stede, including signing away parts of his life on paper, and Ed looks at him and pretty much tells him ‘I don’t want your help’/ ‘I don’t want what you have to offer’ as he signs an agreement what would take him away from their shared life. And that must have hurt much more than that punch to the face.

I don’t think Izzy’s whole thing is just about the character of ‘Blackbeard’, he is not necessarily in love with that extreme persona but with Edward himself (with all his silly and nasty bits). He is the person who knows Ed best, he has probably been Ed’s confidante for years but the dominant facet of their relationship is work as captain and first mate. Izzy is Ed’s subordinate; he responds to Ed and Ed probably sees a lot of the niceties that Izzy may do for him as part as his role on the crew. Izzy may have been a shoulder to cry on during sad drunken nights, and Ed knows what whatever he shares is safe with Izzy but all of that he considers principally as first mate loyalty. That’s likely why Ed doesn’t see Izzy as a friend. And Izzy is aware that Ed is tired and dissatisfied in their work, but the nature of their lives really doesn’t allow for the break Ed needs. Because that break would likely mean death, in a raid or in the hands of naval officers. So, he has to be a hard-ass, no-fun-allowed type of guy because the ship has to keep running, the crew kept alive, and the authorities at bay.

Then Stede comes along, and Izzy is spending weeks seeing the man he loves and has devoted his life to falling for what he considers a fool and his fantasy life, that will end with all of them dead or at the very least arrested. A bit later and it’s Izzy picking up the pieces of the climax he helped put into motion, still protecting Ed as he can by allowing him to wallow in privacy and whatnot. But in an attempt to snap Ed out of it, he pushed too hard on all the buttons and ends up with a mutilated foot for his troubles.  

I’m kind of disturbed by Izzy’s strange, sad wet chuckle at the end of episode 10 after he says “Blackbeard is himself again”. He is probably in a lot of pain, but the quality of the expression is loaded and complicated. Yes, Blackbeard is back but he knows this is not right….this is not exactly what he meant, this is worse. Edward is still unhappy, and it looks like Izzy and the crew are going to bear the brunt of it.