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XXVII.
XXVII 3
Season 3
Number 27
Date Aired March 19th, 2016
Writer Brad Caleb Kane
Director Steve Boyum
Previous XXVI.
Next XXVIII.

Eleanor puts everything on the line to save Rogers. Billy recruits allies. Flint and Silver prepare for war.

Synopsis[]

The episode opens on the Walrus still being pursued by Benjamin Hornigold, where Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny now sit in the hold on top of their cache of pearls. Rackham has locked and thrown away the key of the cache, believing that it represents Charles Vane’s sacrifice and potentially his life if Vane cannot be rescued in time.

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In Nassau, Eleanor Guthrie speaks with Vane in his cell. She accuses Vane of taking her father away from her just as the two of them were reconciling their differences. Vane immediately calls her out on her fantasy, reminding her that her father ultimately betrayed her, and accuses her of siding with any man who would satisfy her ambitions. Inflamed, Eleanor bloodies her knuckles on Vane.

Afterwards, Eleanor finds that Woodes Rogers has been confined to bed with a fever. She insists that she is now ready to move forward from her history with Vane. Rogers last coherent orders to his advisors are to put Eleanor in charge until he recovers.

Back on the Walrus, as it approaches the Maroon Island, James Flint and John Silver pull a daring move to turn the ships broadside on Hornigold. With a small army of escaped slaves amassed on the beach, Hornigold is forced to fall back to tell his superiors about this new development. Flint informs the Maroon Queen that they now have a week to prepare for the English attack.

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This is not the only concern at the moment. Mr. Scott is dying. As they wait for the inevitable, Flint discusses Silver’s recent actions. Flint recognizes a darkness boiling up inside Silver and warns him of its costly effects if it is allowed to remain unchecked. Mr. Scott soon passes away peacefully and the entire community mourns his death. Silver approaches Madi to offer her some sort of condolence and the two embrace as Madi cries.

Back in Nassau, Mrs. Mapleton discovers that Idelle is the spy helped Rackham escape, and informs Max. When Max questions her loyalty, Mrs. Mapleton explains that she has no respect for Eleanor and believes that she is sowing the seeds of her own destruction.

Meanwhile, Billy Bones rouses hatred for Eleanor as a tyrant, and the demand for Vane to tried fairly in Nassau, rather than be shipped off to England. This should give them enough time to mount a rescue. However, Eleanor catches wind of the rabble rousers and fast tracks Vane’s trial and conviction overnight.

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While gallows are quickly erected, Pastor Lambrick administers the last meal to Vane. Vane gently admonishes the pastor for his holier-than-thou attitude, and refuses to ask for God's forgiveness. Vane is shuttled to the town square of Nassau where he will be executed. Billy and those loyal to him take up places in the crowd intent on a desperate rescue attempt. However, Vane makes eye contact with Billy and gives him a silent order to stand down. Vane delivers a calm, heart-wrenching speech designed to stir up a rebellion, knowing that his death, in this moment, is the spark that was needed to truly get the people to rise up against England. In a final act of defiance, Billy’s men step forward to pull Vane down to hastened his end. An act of mercy and a reminder to everyone, of the brotherhood Nassau’s pirates once shared.

Back on the Maroon Island, as they observe the community’s funeral for Mr. Scott, Rackham asks Flint to command the Walrus during the battle. Rackham will strive to meet Vane’s own ideals and avenge his name.

Back in Nassau, Eleanor attempts to anticipate Flint’s plans, and proposes to involve more men and ships to wage war against Flint and his men. Meanwhile, word of Vane’s death travels rapidly and soon reaches Blackbeard’s ears. Only time will tell how Blackbeard will retaliate.

Memorable Quotes[]

"Charles Vane's sacrifice is in that box. If your man is unsuccessful in seeing to his rescue, Charles Vane's death is inside that box." Rackham contemplates the cost his rescue.

"When my men brought him to me first, he begged for mercy. Then he promised to make me rich. But when he realized neither had any effect, he promised to deliver you to me. Promised to exchange your life for his. That is who your father was, Eleanor. And you know it's true." Vane calls Eleanor on her bullsh*t.

"Eleanor Guthrie used that chair not just to vanquish her enemies, but to create new ones. Because some people can only understand themselves through the eyes of those who hate them. They thrive only on sowing the seeds of their own eventual destruction. Miss Guthrie has new clothes now. Miss Guthrie has new friends now. But to my eye, she looks the same." Even nasty old Mrs. Mapleton has standards.

"And the more you deny its presence, the more powerful it gets, and the more likely it is to consume you entirely without you ever even knowing it was there." Flint recognises the darkness in Silver.

“These men who brought me here today do not fear me. They brought me here today because they fear you. Because they know that my voice, the voice that refuses to be enslaved, once lived in you. And may yet still. They brought me here today to show you death and use it to frighten you into ignoring that voice. But know this: we are many, they are few. To fear death is a choice. And they can’t hang us all. [To the hangman] Get on with it, motherf**ker.” Vane's final words.

Trivia[]

  • The risky maneuver pulled off by Flint and Silver is known as "club hauling." The term comes from nautical clubbing (dragging the ship’s anchor across the seabed) and the term hauling (changing direction). It refers to when a ship turns sharply into the wind by dropping one of the front anchors so it would snag on the seabed and use the momentum of the ship to turn faster than it could be by turning normally.
  • Jacob Garrett's desire for fame is brought up again as a reason he is supporting Billy's resistance movement. He mentioned that he wanted to be famous in his first appearance in XV.
  • The Peering Pirate portrayed by Gavin Werner in XII. returns as Davis in this episode.
  • When Eleanor confronts Vane in his cell, she says "When Charles Vane takes something from a man, he looks him in the eye and gives him a chance to deny him," referencing what he said in his effort to convince her to side with him during the Assault on Fort Nassau in XIV.
  • In real life, Vane was caught in a storm in the Bay Islands and was marooned on an uncharted island. Upon being discovered by a passing British ship, he was arrested and brought to Port Royal where he was eventually tried and hanged in March 1721.

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  • Lieutenant Perkins
  • Russell
  • Medicine Man

Deaths[]

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