#izzy meta

he looks at edward with this look in his eyes, he is PLEADING with him, SCREAMING with his eyes like "you can't let this happen edward. you cannot possibly let this happen"

It's pure and utter disbelief. Not because he lost the duel, that was unfortunate and he didn't expect it, but it's the fact that ed is not intervening at all. No, he just gives izzy a look like "sorry mate, you did that to yourself" and it breaks his damn heart

Like you cannot tell me this isn't a look of pure heartbreak that his captain would just let him get banished, for a duel he clearly won even, against a man who edward said he wanted to get rid of.

It's betrayal, disbelief, heartbreak, pain.

And yet, he has to accept his fate. How would it make him look if he turned back now? Ed was the only one who could have said something. And he didn't.

He didn't say anything, so izzy had to leave. And I'm sure he didn't leave thinking about how that hurt, he probably left thinking about how he can get rid of stede. Who so clearly makes ed worse, right? Right??

But damn, his pain is so unusually visible here and it hurts

gifs made by @cononeills

I’ve seen lots of people pointing out that speedrunning character growth is A Thing this show does (time is made up and physics don’t matter) and how given Izzy’s past and trauma and the very specific stressed circumstances that we got to know him in the first place, all of this isn’t necessarily out of character, and I agree with all that.

But I also want to point out that Izzy is canonically drinking heavily if not outright drunk during most of these episodes. Like, we pretty much never see him eat or sleep this season. More often than not, he has a drink or just a whole ass liquor bottle in his hand. This is most evident in Episode 4, sure, when he’s actually falling down drunk, but even in Episode 6, Ed—who’s known him the longest—is commenting concernedly on the drinking.

this is the man who was insisting that Ed conform to the Blackbeard tale no matter what

Izzy and Buttons are both watching the water for the Spanish and I swear this is the only interaction I’ve seen Izzy have with the crew that wasn’t antagonistic.

Seriously. Here’s how the scene goes.

The two of them are standing, alone, away from everyone else, and very close together. Like practically shoulder to shoulder.

(Not exact quotes, from my memory)

Buttons: reckon those wee black dots look a bit Spanish dontcha?

Izzy stretches out a spyglass. Looks. And says: aye

Then he hands the spyglass back to Buttons. Did you catch that? He was BORROWING BUTTONS’ SPYGLASS.

Then Izzy turns away and starts down the stairs going: fuck fuck fuck fuck

And Buttons stares out at the approaching ships and says “Hola”

But seriously. No violence, no insults, no anger directed at Buttons at all. Willing sharing of a tool, working together. Buttons giving Izzy the opportunity to confirm his own opinion. Izzy agreeing with Buttons and respecting Buttons’ skill. We never ever see Izzy interact that way with any of the other crew members. Certainly never with Stede and barely even with Ed because there’s always an unhealthy power dynamic.

Why haven’t I seen anyone talk about this part in episode 9???!! Izzy did the same thing for Ed that Ed did for Stede! He gave up his freedom to ensure Ed’s protection!

I’m not sure, then, why he’s still on the ship after Ed and Stede leave—did Ed signing the Act of Grace make Izzy’s deal with Chauncey null? Is he still supposed to be in service to the king, and that’ll come up in the next season? Or did he just not follow through with his end of the bargain?

In any case, it makes his line, “Think about what you’re doing, Ed. Do you really want to lick the king’s boots?” all the more interesting because you were about to do the same, Israel Hands. You were prepared to go into service for the king to save your Captain. And here he is, doing the same thing, which you know would kill him, for someone else, which kills you.

The husband (Blackbeard/Edward) leaves for work every morning

She performs all of her wife duties, but otherwise she doesn't have anything else going

Every morning, too, she gets visited by the milkman (Lucius), who is a hunk and a half

He's there, available, more than willing

But nooo

Because she's like

Nooo, but I made a commitment (╥﹏╥) we vowed to stay faithful to each other, a good wife always keeps the promises made to her husband

All the while, the husband has been sleeping with his cute new coworker (Stede)

So Izzy losing his? I'd put money on him having to spend hella time after it heals relearning how to do so much even beyond walking. Swordfighting, scaling the rigging, balancing in choppy waters? All sorts of basic pirate things that have been second nature for decades? Back at square one.

That has to be devastating for someone who's persona is built on competence. How can he manage a crew if he can't do basic fucking tasks better than them anymore. Why else have him around if he can hold his own?

And even better, Blackbeard being the one to do that? The man who Izzy basically fucking worships? Fate worse than death.

Not saying it was unjustified, he did cause the chain of events that ended in Ed's arrest and fist heartbreak. And Izzy definitely enjoyed it whant it happened because he's a little fucked but like. Actions have consequences and that sure is a rough way to learn that.

Double angst, those realizations set in when Stede eventually finds them and the Kraken is put to rest. Because until then, Izzy rides on the high of being the only person who knows this version of Blackbeard, and he had far more authority than before because everyone else is fucking terrified.

Like on the surface he puts Blackbeard up on this pedestal, he doesn't see Ed, he doesn't want Ed, Ed doesn't appeal to him.

He wants Blackbeard because Blackbeard is success, he is noteriety, no one can touch him.

And for the longest time, Izzy probably believed he was as close to Blackbeard as he believed a person could be. Maybe they never crossed the threshold of a physical relationship with him, but that was fine, because those people never really stayed in Blackbeard's life anyway. Izzy was his only constant.

And then, just like that, Blackbeard meets Stede and a wall just crumbles. He's able to be himself in a way that he wasn't able to since childhood. Maybe ever.

And it enrages Izzy, of course. It makes him jealous and frustrated and scared of losing Blackbeard.

But I think it's also safe to say he is also worried about Blackbeard's mental and emotional wellbeing. He's not being objective about it, but based on what little he knows of Blackbeard's past and how long they've known each other, he probably drew the conclusion that Ed became Blackbeard to keep himself safe (probably true) and that he has to stay Blackbeard to stay safe (remains to be seen) and that letting his guard down, letting others in, and changing as a person means losing everything he built and everything he was (not necessarily true).

Basically, Izzy absolutely has tunnel vision and maybe he's a bit repressed when it comes to his own sexuality, but under his surface level possesiveness and anger, there does seem to be care there. It's just not directed at the true core of who Edward Teach is as a person. He's too focused on believing Blackbeard - and leadership as a whole - has to be something specific and solid and strict and vicious because if you show your weakness, people WILL hurt you.

His fundamental flaw is that he can't respect Ed's right to make his own decisions about what is and isn't worth the risk. He wants Blackbeard to feel safe with him and him alone, but he doesn't realize Blackbeard never will because of all the expectations immediately placed on him.