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XIX.
Walrus and other ship
Season Three
Number Nineteen
Date Aired January 23rd, 2016
Writer Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine
Director Alik Sakharov
Previous XVIII.
Next XX.
"We're fighting a war to protect Nassau. A war in which our most effective weapon is the fear that we can instill in our enemies."
―Captain Flint[src]

Flint and his crew wage war against the world; Eleanor is offered clemency; Vane takes issue with Rackham's methods; one of Nassau's most notorious individuals returns.

Synopsis[]

The episode begins off the coast ofBath, Carolina. Several men approach a seated character inside a ship, stating that they are his brothers-in-law and demanding that he keep his vows to their sister Mary. The seated character then rises and reveals himself to be Blackbeard. Blackbeard then kills these men with pistols shots.

Somewhere in a colony in the Americas, a band of masked men destroy a colony, murdering anyone that opposes them. These men are soon revealed to be Captain Flint and members of the Walrus crew. Flint confronts the magistrate of the Colony, stating that any magistrate who hangs men for piracy must die. Although the magistrate and his wife beg for Flint's clemency, he shoots them both.

On the high seas, Captain Vane's ship tracks a Dutch merchant ship. As his ship approaches the merchantman, the Dutch captain begins to throw his cargo overboard. His cargo are slaves. Vane puts out longboats to retrieve the slaves thrown overboard. Vane then boards the merchantman and murders the Dutch captain by throwing him overboard with weights tied to his legs.

In Nassau, in Max's tavern, a mock trial is taking place. The men are mocking Eleanor Guthrie's forthcoming trial back in England. Max and Mr. Scott discuss how sad it is that the men in Nassau are not taking Eleanor's trial seriously, considering how much she did for all of the men on the island. Mr. Scott states that the Urca gold has been split up between Flint, Rackham, and Vane. He tells Max that although he has been placed in charge of restoring the fortress at Nassau, he cannot get any men to do the work and the restoration has come to a halt.

3 jack rackham and charles vane

In the Governor's Mansion, Anne Bonny confronts Rackham about his lack of oversight concerning the restoration of the fortress. Rackham is then confronted by Vane, who has returned from his last expedition. Vane suggests that Rackham purposely had Vane attack a ship that had slaves on it so that the slaves could be used to rebuild the fort. Vane is averse to using slaves for the fort's restoration, likely stemming from his experience as a forced laborer under Albinus, but Rackham's convinces him that it is the only way to rebuild the fort.

Aboard the Walrus, Quartermaster John Silver attempts to convince Flint that he needs to stop going ashore on the raids against magistrates. Silver states that there is an escalating danger of Flint being killed and that the men of Nassau can't afford to lose Flint. Flint rejects the idea, claiming that the name "Flint" is what scares people and that he must go ashore each time. Later, Dr. Howell inspects Silver's stump and tells him that if he doesn't continue to clean it, he'll have to remove more of Silver's leg.

2 john silver

A ship is then spotted in the distance, with her sails up, flying the colors of Captain Hallendale. Silver gives the order to move in and investigate. Flint tells Silver that he feels that they shouldn't go investigate because it will cause unnecessary delay, but goes along with it anyways. When they board the ship, they find it completely empty, save for the corpse of Captain Hallendale, chained to his chair inside the Captain's cabin. He had apparently been marooned by his crew and went mad from drinking sea water. Billy Bones and Flint can't figure out why would he be marooned on a ship rather than being left on an island to be marooned. It soon dawns on both of them that it is a trap. At the same time as their realization, Silver spots sails in the distance; it is a large and powerful Royal Navy hunter heading right for them. Flint states the approaching ship has them in a terrible spot.

As the ship approaches, it is revealed to be Captain Hornigold and his crew who have now become pirate hunters, sanctioned by the Royal Navy. Hornigold tells the Walrus crew that if they surrender peacefully, he has the power to grant all of them pardons, as he had previously done with Captain Hallendale's men. Flint then gives an impassioned speech to his men, stating that he will never surrender to that thing, England, that has done so much harm to him. He then convinces his crew that they should never surrender either, stating that they are winning the war. Since he cannot outrun and cannot outgun Hornigold's ship, he sails the Walrus directly into a massive storm, knowing that Hornigold will not pursue.

Black-sails-season-3-luke-roberts-hannah-new

In England, Eleanor lingers in her dank jail cell. A man enters and tells her that if she cooperates with him in restoring order to Nassau, he can grant her a full pardon. He tells her that his name is Woodes Rogers, the new governor of New Providence island. He demands that she make a list of names of men who can be swayed and those who cannot be. She tells him that if he wants to civilize Nassau, the only name he needs to concern himself with is Charles Vane. She tells Rogers that as long as Vane is alive, that Rogers cannot succeed.

Back in Nassau, Vane and Rackham sit in the room where all of their gold is hidden. They discuss how the gold has brought them very little so far. Vane states that he fears they have upset the order of things so much, that the response from England or Spain will be completely overwhelming.

Elsewhere in Nassau, Blackbeard arrives and asks for the location of an old friend of his: Charles Vane.

Memorable Quotes[]

“I can think of at least three lies she must have told you to bring that about. First, I imagine she told you I retired from a prosperous trade to settle with her here. But what she likely did not mention is that that trade was high seas piracy. Second, she told you my name was Drummond, but when I plied that trade, I was called Teach. And third, she clearly led you to believe that you could point your sword in my direction and survive the experience. This, too, was something less than the truth.” Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Mr. Edward Teach

“You know who I am? What you cannot know is where I come from, what I once was. If you knew that, I imagine you would've made different choices today.” Charles Vane to Dutch captain

“You have wormed your way into the heads of the men out there. And they've granted you authority over them because of it. But in my head, you are not welcome.” James Flint to John Silver

“I say to offer to pardon something one fears is the act of a coward. To offer them in volume suggests that their fear of us is becoming unmanageable, that we have shown them what we are capable of and it terrifies them.” James Flint

“What we're doing here, sitting on Spain's gold on England's island, demands a response. What that response will be, what form it will take, what face it will wear... by the time we do know it, there will be no time to prepare for the blow that follows.” Charles Vane to Jack Rackham

“Excuse me, sir. I wonder if you could help me locate an old friend of mine. His name is Charles Vane.” Edward Teach returns to Nassau

Trivia[]

Muldoon s1e8 reused footage
  • Several shots from episode VIII. and X. are reused in this episode when Hornigold opens fire on the Walrus. These include:
    • A shot of the Walrus crew loading a cannon, actually a shot from the Battle in Division Bay from VIII. (pictured right)
    • Another shot of Walrus men preparing for battle, reused from the chase leading to the Boarding of the English Merchant Ship in X.
    • A shot of the Orion's cannons firing, actually the footage of the Walrus's cannons firing in episode VIII., as evidenced by the red stripe visible at the waterline, whereas the Orion has a blue stripe.
  • Edward Teach is introduced in this episode in Bath, passing through on his way to Nassau. Historically, Teach actually settled in Bath after accepting a Royal Pardon, though he continued to tacitly practice piracy, which eventually led to his death.
    • Furthermore, Teach's alias is stated to be "Drummond." At least one historical source claims that Teach's real surname was Drummond.
    • Teach's most recent wife is named as Mary. In real life, after settling in North Carolina, Teach married Mary Ormond, the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.
  • Jack Rackham is seen reading a newspaper titled The Jamaica Courant while in the privy. The Jamaica Courant was a real newspaper that was printed on a weekly basis. However, it was founded in 1718, several years after this episode takes place. 
  • The issue also lists the date as Wednesday, August 5, 1715, but it was a Monday in real life. This does however mean that the events of the episode take place sometime in summer (the newspaper issue could be a few weeks or even older).
  • In the background of the scene where Rogers and Eleanor arrive at the Thames where the fleet is docked, the Tower of London can be seen on the opposite bank in the background. 
  • The layout of Nassau Town appears to be slightly retconned in this episode. Formerly, the main street in Nassau that contained the Inn and the Tavern continued into a densely packed street. Now, it leads to a large open square that the Governor's Mansion (which is introduced in this episode) overlooks.
  • Flint now sports a shaved head, a sign of mourning in a number of religions. It's also possible that this is because Flint's actor, Toby Stephens, starred in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, where he plays Glen Doherty, one of the GRS operatives killed in the 2012 Benghazi Attack, and may have shaved his head for that role.
  • This episode marks the first appearance, albeit as a corpse, of Hallendale, a frequently mentioned but never before seen pirate captain.
  • Max says to Anne that everything she has built is built on sand, and is therefore unstable, calling back to two prior comments made by her. Max had previously told Eleanor Guthrie that Nassau was "just sand" and could not love her back in episode II., and that one of its virtues is that nothing is fixed or permanent on sand in episode VIII.
  • In real life, Woodes Rogers was a famous sea captain and privateer. Born to a wealthy shipping family, he eventually was appointed Governor of the Bahamas in 1718, where he was successful in ridding the colony of pirates.
    • Billy Bones mentions that someone much more powerful than Hornigold had to be behind the pardons, as it took Captain Francis Hume all the leverage he could muster to simply obtain 10, while Hornigold now has dozens that he can hand out at will. The shot then cuts to the introduction of Woodes Rogers, the newly named governor. Historically, King George I issued the Acts of Grace in September 1717, which promised a pardon to any pirate who surrendered to the proper authorities. Rogers was then appointed governor in January 1718.

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