Heartwarming / Our Flag Means Death

WARNING: Per wiki policy, all spoilers are unmarked on Moments pages. As such, this page will contain no spoiler markings of any kind. If you have not watched an episode, read at your own risk.

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Season One

1x01 - Pilot

• Since he's not reliant on raiding for operating funds, Stede not only pays his crew regular wages no matter how badly they pirate, he also makes sure they have space for downtime and games on the ship.
• Stede getting the crew to design their own flags for the ship and planning on taking a vote for the best one to fly. The end of the episode reveals he's chosen to fly all of them.
• As odd as Buttons is, he gives Stede some decent advice on how to win his crew's favor and accords him the level of deference usually due a captain despite his inexperience.
• The crew are all on edge around the naval officers, but they keep up the charade until the disrespect from their "guests" gets a little TOO personal.
  • Despite having been on the brink of mutiny only hours before, as they listen to Captain Badminton reminisce about bullying Stede as a child there's a clear shift in mood to "screw you, he's an idiot but he's OUR idiot". Lucius in particular seems unsettled by the homophobic subtext to the bullying.
  • When one officer makes a particularly racist remark towards Frenchie, Jim throws one of their knives to pin his hand to the table, triggering a free-for-all of payback.
• The crew decides against mutiny because they want someone who can read bedtime stories to them—at the end of the episode, Stede does just that.
  • Oluwande laments that if they kill Stede they'll never know if the puppet became a real boy. The crew slowly come around to his point as they realize Stede is the best at doing the character voices.

1x02 - A Damned Man

• While Stede could have vented his anger on his crew for running the ship aground, he decides to allow them to take the day off while they wait for the tides to free it. They engage in some rather odd forms of relaxation, but the crew do seem to be enjoying themselves.
• Stede and Black Pete are held in a cage by the indigenous villagers and their first thought is fear for Oluwande. Then he appears doing just fine with a fancy rum cocktail, happily chumming it up with the locals.
  • At the end of the episode, the chief offers Oluwande the option to remain with their tribe instead of waiting for Stede to get them all killed through mediocre piracy, but Oluwande politely refuses, saying he has a reason to stay on the ship. The chief sees him looking at Jim and asks if they are together. Oluwande deflects and claims they are Just Friends, but the chief grins.
• During their trial before the village elders, Stede has a panic attack as the English officers denounce him for Badminton's murder. The chief calls a halt to the trial as "he's clearly very unwell" and one elder lets Stede lay his head on their lap and encourages him to talk through his guilt and confusion.
  • As the ship weighs anchor, Badminton's ghost, who had haunted him since the beginning of the episode, is left behind on the beach, screaming and cursing at Stede. A much calmer and more confident Stede just laughs at the display of impotent rage.

1x03 - A Gentleman Pirate

• Oluwande was apparently the one who both helped Jim gain entry into Spanish Jackie's bar and then aided their escape afterwards.
  • While Jim keeps chomping at the bit wanting to confront Jackie, Oluwande does his best to keep his friend in check and remind them how much is at risk if they get discovered.
• While he's not Jackie's favorite husband, Geraldo clearly adores his wife. He refers to her as baby and calls her one of the most badass people he knows after betraying Stede and his crew to the Spanish.
• Lucius reveals that he stole Jim's dagger back from Spanish Jackie, after he realised that it was a treasured family heirloom.
• Blackbeard's Big Damn Heroes moment with his crew saving Stede and his crew. And even after being stabbed and nearly hanged when Blackbeard speaks to Stede, the latter seems so happy that someone knows who he is.
  Blackbeard: The Gentleman Pirate, I presume.
  Stede: You've heard of me?
  Blackbeard: Oh yeah, I've heard of you. I've heard all about you.
  

1x04 - Discomfort in a Married State

• Blackbeard spends a good chunk of the episode at Stede's bedside while he's recovering from being stabbed and almost hanged. At this point, they've had one conversation lasting all of three seconds with each other, but something about Stede has so interested Blackbeard that he feels the need to be there the moment Stede wakes up.
• For all that their conception must have been unpleasant for both parties, Stede really does seem to love his kids. The only even vaguely happy memory of his life before the Revenge has him playing pirates with them. His own unhappy childhood makes it hard for him to relate to them, but not for lack of caring.
• Despite the fact that their marriage was purely for their families' financial gain and they were miserable with each other, Mary clearly tried to make the best of their situation. She gifted Stede a painting of a lighthouse she'd made herself for their anniversary, and she tried to get him to open up to her after overhearing him crying alone.
• The first thing Stede wants to know when he wakes up from being stabbed and almost hanged? Whether his crew is okay.
• Stede, not realizing he's talking to Blackbeard himself, worries that Blackbeard will think he's a fool and a terrible pirate because of how easily he got swindled and almost killed. Blackbeard reassures him that at long as he's still alive, he's doing better than a lot of pirates.
• Stede and Ed bond over liking fine fabrics, which leads Stede to show him the hidden auxiliary wardrobe he hasn't revealed to anyone else. Stede's just golden retriever puppy levels of happy to be able to share his little secrets and obsessions with someone genuinely interested in what he has to say.
• Izzy clearly does care about Blackbeard (in his weird Izzy way), and despite his frustration with him, he sincerely apologizes to Blackbeard for insulting him and questioning his leadership.
• While there are some insensitive questions (especially from Frenchie and the Swede), the crew quickly come to terms with the fact that Jim is nonbinary and treat them much the same as before.

1x05 - The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well

• Ed's genuine fascination with high society meal etiquette is only matched in sweetness by Stede's gentle and patient explanations of each minute detail.
• The camaraderie between Oluwande, Frenchie and Abshir as they all work together to swindle money from the aristocrats on the ship in a "pyramid scheme". And instead of taking all of their earnings, Oluwande decided to "reinvest them wisely" with Abshir and the other servants.
• Pete is noticeably gentler and less braggadocious around Lucius, especially after they sleep together.
• Lucius compliments Fang on his cheekbones and smile, with Fang being honestly touched and flattered. Lucius then offers to sketch him in the nude. As Lucius works, Fang admits that no one has ever complimented him on his figure before.
  Lucius: Then you've never met anyone worth a damn.
  • It's clear that Lucius is quite sincere in this, too. He may have had an ulterior motive for trying to seduce Fang right at that moment (namely, getting out of the chores Izzy assigned) but he sees beauty and vulnerability even in a grizzled old sea dog.
  • When Izzy tries to blackmail Lucius for erotic sketching with Fang when he's already in a relationship with Pete, Lucius simply laughs and tells Pete himself. Pete is, if anything, amused and impressed, remarking that Lucius has already "sketched" most of the crew. Lucius steps right into Izzy's personal space, remarking "we don't own each other" and offering intimacy. The honest lack of jealousy immediately derails Izzy's authority.
• After finding out that the aristocrats made fun of Edward for mixing up his utensils, Stede immediately goes back to the party and reveals all of the humiliating secrets he learned from their servants, and then watches with glee as they fight amongst themselves.
• "There. Look at that. You wear fine things well."

1x06 - The Art of Fuckery

• The Falling-in-Love Montage between Stede and Edward at the start of the episode really underscores how far their relationship has come in just a few weeks.
• While Stede goes a bit overboard as the director, the crew are genuinely having fun coming up with ideas for the Fuckery. When he comes back later after cooling off, they've already got everything planned out.
• Fang and Pete are concerned over Lucius, who needs his finger amputated, with Roach being the closest thing they got to a doctor.
  Fang: He's a visual artist! You can't chop off his little fingies!!
  Pete: (grabbing Roach's apron) Be real with me, man. There really isn't a better option?
  • As Lucius slowly comes to, Pete tries to calm him down by calling him "baby".
• After trying all episode to work up the courage to kill Stede, Ed has a panic attack and holes up in the bathtub under one of Stede's robes, which is where Stede finds him. He confesses to Stede that he killed his dad and has "always outsourced the big job" since, and can't bring himself to kill Stede and take his identity.
  Ed: [sobbing] I'm not a good person, Stede. That's why I don't have any friends.
  Stede: Hey. I'm your friend!
  Ed: [disbelieving] No.
  Stede: Listen, why don't we just pretend the whole murder idea never happened?
  Ed: We could?
  Stede: I mean, I could, if you could.
  Ed: I think I might like that.
  Stede: Oh, I would love that.
  Ed: Thank you. [leans his head on Stede's hand]
• The crew cheer Stede on and give him advice during his duel with Izzy—they're not sure he can win but appreciate him standing up to Izzy's bullying.
• Black Pete giving Lucius a finger that he whittled for him to replace his amputated one. He gets a gentle kiss in return.

1x07 - This Is Happening

• Lucius upgrades from Stede's Beleaguered Assistant to his Sarcastic Devotee by standing up for him when Blackbeard isn't appreciative of the adventure they went on, ripping right into Ed's hangups and insecurities despite knowing it might well earn him a knife in the face or worse.
• While the crew does grumble about it, they spend most of the episode breaking their backs for oranges to help cure the Swede of his scurvy.
• Ed and Stede talking about Ed opening a bar and grill, with Stede happily saying he'd go to Ed's restaurant.
  • Stede helping Ed get some food that fell into his beard with Lucius dropping the title of the episode in shock and giddiness.
  Lucius: Oh my god, this is happening.
  Ed and Stede: What?
• Jim's Nana, despite her other faults, immediately accepts that her grandchild now uses a different name and pronouns, and never slips up once.
  • Nana happily reminisces on memories of Jim as a child, even though some are unsettlingly violent. Oluwande smiles and laughs while Jim stews in the corner, like any good Rom Com Meet the In-Laws scene.
  • She also seems to be on board for Jim and Oluwande being an item, asking if they were together and being delighted that Oluwande speaks Spanish.
• Oluwande offers to be Jim's new family. The two share an Almost Kiss before Stede interrupts due to his treasure hunting.
• Stede finds a petrified orange beneath the tree at the end of the treasure hunt. Upon learning that the land is Jim's family homestead, he tosses the orange to them, saying it was rightfully their property. Jim then decides against it, as they tell Stede that it was "finder's keepers" and gives the orange back to him.

1x08 - We Gull Way Back

• Despite the clear indications all episode that the crew prefers Calico Jack to Stede, as he has all the piratical traits that Stede lacks, no one on the crew leaves with him when Stede kicks him off the ship.
• Lucius comforts Stede after Blackbeard leaves with Calico Jack, rubbing his knee supportively and taking it upon himself to return Ed's stuff so Stede doesn't have to see them again.
  Lucius: You know, he really liked you. I hope you know that.
• Ed comes back to the Revenge the moment he realises Stede is in danger.
  Stede: You came back.
  Ed: Never left. [winks]
• Stede and Ed lie on the deck grinning lovingly at each other and touching their feet together, totally unconcerned with the fact that they've just been taken prisoner. The moment is soundtracked with Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain", underscoring the bond between them.
• When everyone is asleep on deck at the beginning, you can see Black Pete rolling over and draping an arm over Lucius, who cuddles closer.

1x09 Act of Grace

• During a break in the interrogation sequence, we learn that Lucius managed to conceal Stede's journal when the English Navy boarded the Revenge but hasn't had a chance to throw it overboard. At risk of personal injury, Roach provides a distraction so that Frenchie can run it over to the rail. Frenchie trips and falls immediately...then tries to pass the journal off as fanfiction of his beloved captain. While they don't succeed, it IS heartwarming to see the crew working together to protect their own.
• Ed confesses to murdering Nigel Badminton in an obvious attempt to protect Stede, despite it being very ambiguous whether he even knows what Chauncey is talking about.
  • Either undermining the heartwarming or making it better is that Stede refuses to let Ed take the rap for him, even knowing he will likely hang if he is found guilty. Granted, this is partly out of his own self-loathing, but the fact remains that Stede could've walked away clear if he'd been willing to let Ed sacrifice himself for him, and refused to even consider it despite the fact that he had, at that time, every reason to believe that Ed would be hanged either way.
• The crew rally around Stede a second time to protect him from the firing squad, changing their stories just enough to meet the definition of "real" piracy so the Act of Grace will apply to him. Even the stolen potted plant from the pilot is used as evidence! Stede's overjoyed smile at their support says it all.
  • To make things even better, when we first see the plant it's drooping and brown, but in this episode it's lush and green, representing the way that Stede has nurtured his crew into a healthy and emotionally supportive environment.
• The scene on the docks, when Ed finally works up the courage to tell Stede how he feels about him.
  Ed: I suppose what I'm saying is, right now, I want to do what makes Ed happy.
  Stede: And what makes Ed happy?
  Ed: These past few weeks have been the most fun I've had in ages, years, maybe ever. So, I reckon what makes Ed happy is... you.
  Stede: Well, uh, that's$ [Ed kisses him.] You make Stede happy.
  • And that kiss. Oh, what a kiss!! The sheer aching tenderness in Ed's eyes, the way he holds Stede's face so carefully in his hands, the way they cling together like they can't bear to ever be parted—it's every tender feeling they've ever had for each other pouring out of them at once, and it is heartstopping.
  • Ed in the aftermath of the kiss. He keeps his right arm around Stede, unwilling to move away from him as he ponders their "escape to China" plan, and his left hand is in Stede's. He becomes quieter and more subdued as Stede ponders his offer (and remembers Mary's "one life" speech), as though he expects to be rejected...but when Stede says yes, he lights up, and when Stede shakily confirms that he'll go with him, he becomes an overexcited puppy. For a minute, he becomes a man whose greatest wish has just been granted, and Blackbeard has totally vanished in the face of Ed's happiness...making the end of the episode all the more devastating.

1x10 - Wherever You Go, There You Are

• Before Stede crashes back into their lives, Mary and their children are clearly happier without him there. Louis and Alma are happily running around and bonding with Doug, Mary's career as a painter is flourishing, and her new circle of widowed friends note that she's practically glowing.
  • The widows encourage one of the newest members of their support group to admit that even though she misses her husband, she feels freer and lighter after his death.
• Lucius spends hours hanging out with Blackbeard in the blanket fort and sincerely trying to comfort him. For all that he's been in Stede's corner as their romance blossomed, he wants Ed to be happy, too.
  • Similarly, the crew's attempts to comfort Ed count as well. They're all clearly shocked and a bit weirded out to see a clean-shaven Blackbeard singing a sad breakup song, but they still awkwardly support him, and they're genuinely excited when Ed suggests a talent show.
• Stede goes to a local tavern in his hometown and runs into an old schoolmate who wants to know if the rumors of his piracy are true. Expecting more of the humiliation Badminton laid on him, he's shocked to learn that he's actually respected and revered by the men in town for actually trying to do something with his life rather than wallow in boredom like they do.
• Stede and Mary's conversation about love, undercut by a montage of all the best times Stede had with Ed--all the moments they were falling in love with each other.
  Stede: How does it feel to be in love?
  Mary: It feels...easy? It's just like breathing. He understands my idiosyncrasies, finds them charming, even. We expose each other to new things, new ideas, and we laugh a lot. We just pass the time so well. I'd call those things love. I hope you find that.
  Stede: I think I have.
  Mary: Really? What's her name?
  Stede: Ed. His name is Ed.
  • Even though it's 1717 and Mary and Stede have never liked each other, Mary completely accepts Stede when he comes out to her, and is sincerely happy that he's found someone as suited to him as she is to Doug.
• Alma splits the petrified orange in half so she and Stede can each keep a piece. Despite how angry she was about Stede abandoning the family, she still loves her father.

Season Two

2x01 - Impossible Birds

• Blackbeard has started to take pirating a bit too far and the crew is emotionally exhausted. Fang starts crying and Jim tells him the story of Pinocchio to comfort him. Fang even gently asks Jim to do the voice, and Jim obliges (they do a pretty good job).
• Izzy starts yelling at the crew to throw the treasure overboard on Blackbeard's orders... and the crew's response is to gently ask if he's okay, point out that maybe he's not okay because of his toxic relationship with Blackbeard, and then hug him and hold his hand while he cries.
• Izzy spends the episode repeatedly trying to advocate for the crew (who are not being treated well) and telling Ed that he's worried about him. When Ed starts threatening to shoot himself, Izzy deliberately yells at him to direct his attention towards him.

2x02 - Red Flags

• Frenchie, Jim, and Archie spend the episode secretly taking care of Izzy in one of the ship's secret passages. Jim and Archie end up having to cut Izzy's infected leg off to save his life.
  Archie: What's your interest in this guy, anyway? He seems like a bit of a dick.
  Jim: Yeah, he is, but he's our dick.
• Jim refusing to go along with Blackbeard's lunacy anymore, refusing to kill Archie (whom Blackbeard ordered them to fight with to the death).
• The entire crew banding together to mutiny against Blackbeard.

2x03 - The Innkeeper

• Stede's apologetic, anguished declaration of love to an unconscious Ed becomes this when, unknown to Stede, in the gravy basket a drowning Ed hears him and begins to fight for his life, realizing that Stede is begging him to come back. In the real world, Stede grasps Ed's hand after it begins twitching and he desperately begs Ed to awaken.
• Once Stede has grasped Ed's hand and actively begs him to come back to him, the rope falls away from Ed's waist and Ed sees a light from the surface of the water as he hears Stede. In moments, he sees Stede, incarnated as a merman, swimming to him with a loving expression on his face, an expression that Ed soon wears too. They look so relieved!
  • While Stede as a merman could be taken as silly in the middle of this highly emotional scene, Ed previously listed "massaged to death by mermaids" as a way that he'd like to die. Despite their fearsome reputation, pirates were generally quite superstitious and feared the merpeople, regarding them as dangerous harbingers of doom; as a merman, Stede looks lovingly at Ed, a look that is clearly mutual. Ed's smile implies relief as well as joy that somebody is waiting for him.
  • Ed's near-death experience mirrors Stede's dream of reunion at the beginning of "Impossible Birds". Stede dreams of himself as a dashing, able pirate, perhaps as a projection of what he thinks that Ed would prefer in a mate; Ed, meanwhile, sees Stede as this ethereal, almost otherworldly being who breathed new a life that Ed found increasingly suffocating. He sees this sweet little goldfish (freshwater fish) of a merman out of his element in the salty seas of pirates, but despite all logic Stede exists. Stede's gentle nature is what attracts Ed to Stede rather then the roughness of the life that Ed has known from an early age.

2x04 - Fun and Games

• The divided crew are on edge after their respective months of trauma and are in the middle of a complex Mexican Standoff with each other... and then they see Izzy, who has clearly gone off the deep end mentally since losing his leg, and immediately work together to make him a new prosthetic out of the hooves of the unicorn figurehead.
  • They leave it outside Izzy's room with a note that says "for the new unicorn." A ship's figurehead is supposed to protect the ship and serve as its spirit, and that's now Izzy's role.

2x05 - The Curse of the Seafaring Life

• Lucius proposes to Black Pete, who accepts with a Big "YES!".
• Mirroring their scene from "The Best Revenge is Dressing Well", Ed remarks on Stede's new shirt that "You wear fine things well" before they finally get the romantic moonlight kiss from which they had previously shied away before they knew that it was love.
  • Following that, with both of them agreeing to take things slowly because of their capricious natures, Stede gently takes Ed's hand and asks if holding hands is all right. Ed answers, "It's perfect".
• Stede and Izzy’s relationship improves by leaps and bounds in this episode, with Stede acknowledging Izzy’s expertise and Izzy giving Stede pirating lessons. At the end, Stede breaks out his “captain voice” during a raid and Izzy gives him a look of approval and the “okay” sign.
• The resolution to the curse is an important character development moment for Stede: instead of insisting on his own way and dismissing the crew’s fears, he “admits” the curse is real (with Izzy encouraging him in the background) and takes suggestions on how to deal with it.
• While the sight of Jim, Oluwande, and Archie huddled inside a ring of salt with garlic wreathes around their necks is hilarious, it's also heartwarming to see how devoted they are to protecting each other.

2x06 - Calypso's Birthday

• The latter part of the episode is a mix of this and awesomeness. From Wee John and Izzy doing drag, to the Meaningful Background Event of Olu, Jim, and Archie dancing together, to Ed and Stede finally hooking up as fireworks go off, it's one big feast for the fandom. Con O'Neil's rendition of "La Vie en rose" is the cherry on top.

2x07 - Man On Fire

• Spanish Jackie throwing a party for the Revenge after finding out they killed Ned Low. Nice to know there are no hard feelings. And it turns out the Swede is thriving as one of her husbands.

2x08 - Mermen

• Ed finding one of Stede’s letters to him on the beach, getting proof that Stede wanted him and was thinking of him the whole time they were apart.

• Their reunion during the fight on the beach, where Ed finally tells Stede that he loves him, cemented with heartfelt kisses.

• In the very last shot of the season, a seagull - implied to be Buttons - perches on Izzy's grave, signifying that both these men are now free from their mortal troubles.

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