Heartwarming / The Terror

The Terror is a brutal story about arrogance and human depravity, but it's also a story about dignity, courage, and love in the face of certain death, which is pretty heartwarming.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Episode 1: Go for Broke

• The season starts with a Flash Forward to James Ross having travelled hundreds of miles and enduring serious physical hardship to investigate the disappearance of the Franklin expedition. Although his efforts are fruitless, it's touching to see how much effort he puts in: particularly to find his best friend, Crozier.
• Despite his rather unapproachable nature, Crozier is still comfortable enough with Thomas Blanky to exchange complaints and jokes about having to dine with Fitzjames.
  • Alternately, it's also rather sweet to see how much the other officers of the Terror enjoy Fitzjames' (longwinded) stories, despite how plain Crozier makes his distaste for the man.
• Collins nearly hurling himself into freezing Arctic waters to save Billy Orren. Ultimately he doesn't make it, but it isn't for lack of trying.
• As the sailor David Young is lying on his deathbed, Goodsir reassures the boy that he will be welcomed into heaven by his loved ones. When Young admits that he doesn't know who his parents are, Goodsir instead tells him that there will be angels to greet him. It's a remarkable contrast to Dr. Stanley's cold treatment of Young, and shows us just what kind of man Goodsir is.
• In the context of Blanky's speech in A Mercy, Tozer having Lieutenant Irving's eyeglass to use while on watch is one of these. Compared to Ross' expedition, in which distinctions of rank were kept stringently and to the detriment of the ordinary seamen, it's a fleeting indication that the barriers between officers and conscripts aren't as tightly held as they might be.

Episode 2: Gore

• Goodsir accompanies Gore's scouting party every inch a Fish out of Water amongst the other men. Despite his physical ineptitude and general nerdiness, however, Lieutenant Gore is nothing but encouraging of the man.
• The scouting party's celebrations upon reaching King William Island. It's a brief moment of hope for them after a horrible winter (which, sadly, doesn't last very long).
• When compared to the obvious distaste men like Franklin and Doctor Stanley have for the Inuit people, Crozier is nothing but respectful towards Silence.
• Goodsir's immediate willingness to save the Shaman. Even though it's fruitless, he does everything he can to try and save the man's life.

Episode 3: The Ladder

• Sergeant Bryant taking the time to reassure one of the ship's boys, even though the Marines are shown to be somewhat set apart from the rest of the crew. He also indirectly expresses his regret for mistakenly shooting the Shaman.
• Hartnell's interactions with Silence: paying his condolences for her father's death and sneaking her food. Even his nickname for her - Lady Silence - comes across as respectful, rather than a mean-spirited jibe.
• Tozer and Heather inviting Franklin to stay with them in the blind and have a crack at killing the Tuunbaq. It's clear that they genuinely enjoy his company, and Franklin is obviously touched by the offer.
  • Given how obviously grief-stricken Franklin is by Gore's death, it's also arguable that the Marines can see how much hunting the beast that killed Gore will mean to him.
• When Franklin asks Goodsir if he would like an escort back to ship from the hunting blind, Goodsir says yes just a little too quickly. You would expect the battle-toughened Marines to mock him for this, but their reactions are nothing but affectionate smiles.
• After Franklin's death, the men are gathered below deck. John Morfin starts to sing "The Silver Swan", and all their conversation dies away as they stop to listen.
  The silver Swan, who, living, had no Note,
  when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
  Leaning her breast upon the reedy shore,
  thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
  "Farewell, all joys!
  • John stops abruptly, unable to remember the rest of the verse. Charles Best begins to sing, and slowly, the rest of the crew joins in.
  O Death, come close mine eyes!
  More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise."
• Fitzjames' obvious grief for Franklin's death makes it clear that, rather than Fitzjames being a sycophantic yes-man, he clearly considered Franklin a Parental Substitute.

Episode 4: Punished, as a Boy

• It's a small moment, but when Lady Jane and Sophia are waiting to meet with the Arctic Council, Jane remarks to her niece that she takes great comfort from knowing that Crozier is with Sir John. She may not want Crozier marrying into her family, but at least she recognizes his qualities as a captain and an explorer.
• Doctor Stanley dismisses the brain-dead Heather as a 'pudding'. Doctor Mcdonald immediately counters by saying he sees the man more as 'a cathedral'.
• Someone leaving Hickey a pouch of tobacco in his hammock after his flogging. It's YMMV, considering Hickey's punishment was for kidnapping an innocent woman and disrespecting Crozier, but it's still touching to see the Terror's crew sticking by one of their own.

Episode 5: First Shot a Winner, Lads

• Tozer taking the time to clip a comatose and soulless Private Heather's nails and talk to him about the goings-on around the ship, despite the fact that everyone else has pretty much given up on the private's fate.
• When the Tuunbaq gets onboard Terror Blanky's first response is to direct everyone else on deck off the ship - Marines included, who are typically the first line of defence against a physical threat - so that he can distract the beast himself without anyone else being endangered.
• Blanky insisting everyone shares his rum when his leg is getting amputated.
• When Crozier finally admits to himself (and his officers) that he needs to go cold turkey on his drinking, he receives nothing but support from his men. Jopson's promise that he won't have to worry for a thing during his withdrawal. is particularly touching.

Episode 6: A Mercy

• On Blanky's advice, Fitzjames agrees to let the crews throw a costume party in hopes of boosting morale before they have to abandon the ships and make the long walk south. Once the party is underway, everyone seems to be having a grand time. Fitzjames himself gets dressed up as the goddess Britannia and happily engages in horseplay with his men, chanting "Oi! Oi! Oi!" as they carry him around on their shoulders. After five and a half fairly bleak episodes, there is something very sweet about seeing the men enjoying themselves so much.
• It's sweet to see other officers like Hodgson and Irving letting their hair down and having fun with the men, in direct contrast to how Blanky described Sir John Ross' expedition (in which officers were given luxuries while the ordinary men starved).
• Crozier is clearly pissed at the lapse in discipline that led the men to think it'd be acceptable to set up an elaborate cannibalism joke (sitting in a giant stewpot over a fire) as part of the Carnivale, but he still takes time to praise their work on the Carnivale tent itself.
  Crozier: We've got homes we need to find our way back to. That is what you men are feeling the call of here tonight. Not in daydreams, but in this temple that you've built to honor all that we miss, out of nothing and in little time, with only vision and good work. I marvel at what you men have made.
• Hickey of all people manages to earn a Heartwarming moment in this episode, when he cuts open the tent to save the crews after Doctor Stanley blocks the exits and sets it on fire. It is ruined somewhat by the accidental death of Doctor McDonald, but it's still an uncharacteristically altruistic gesture from the most selfish man on the expedition.
• Jopson combing Crozier's hair and caring for him while he goes through alcohol withdrawal.
  • It's not explicitly mentioned, but Jopson didn't even go to the carnival like everyone else. Even while the rest of the men were enjoying one of the only bright moments of the entire expedition, Jopson stayed by his captain and cared for him rather than running off to have fun and leaving him alone.
• Goodsir immediately rushing to catch Silna when she staggers into the carnival tent, bleeding from the mouth (having cut out her tongue) and visibly unsteady.
• Tozer and his fellow Marines bringing a comatose Heather to Carnivale, just because they think he deserved to be a part of the celebrations. They even make an effort to massage his throat so he can ingest a little of the food. It makes Tozer's futile efforts to save Heather during the fire that much more heartbreaking.
• After the disaster of Carnivale, Fitzjames insists on staying up through the rest of the night to identify the dead men, even though there are other men who could have done the job.

Episode 7: Horrible from Supper

• The scene where Crozier makes Jopson a lieutenant. He gives a big speech about how he is promoting a worthy man, and then gives Fitzjames the paperwork. Fitzjames makes like he's going to leave the tent. Then he stops just past Jopson, and turns to him smiling, to push the papers into his disbelieving hands.
  • To make it better, as Little and Irving realize what's going on, they break into delighted smiles and laughter for the first time in the whole show. It's a moment of genuine joy.
• Hartnell's desire to prove himself and regain the trust of his superiors is rewarded in two scenes with Crozier: firstly when Crozier and Blanky praise the young man's skills on the ice, and later when Crozier asks him to keep an eye on Hickey's co-conspirator Armitage. Hartnell's proud grin in both scenes says it all.
• When Goodsir starts to have a breakdown after Morfin is shot and killed, Lady Silence comes into his tent and tenderly cuddles with him.
  • It's easy to miss, but straight after Morfin has been shot you can see Hartnell kneeling beside Goodsir trying to comfort him.
• It's mostly a Tear Jerker (poor, poor Collins), but Goodsir hugging and doing his best to comfort Collins. After Collins was so cruelly rebuffed by Dr. Stanley in the previous episode, it's nice to see the poor bloke getting even the smallest of breaks rather than being judged or dismissed.
• Irving's meeting with the kindly Netsilik. One of them, a man called Koveyook, gives him some seal meat as soon as he realises what Irving's talking about, and a grateful Irving gives him his eyeglass in return. Shame Hickey had to spoil the moment.
  • It's worth noting that by all accounts, this sort of interaction was the case in Real Life. The Inuit that the crewmen encountered were nothing but helpful and did what they could to aid them, sharing what they could despite the fact what they had was already limited.
  • Of particular note is Irving's delight when Koveyook tries out his eyeglass. After several episodes where various characters make disparaging comments about the 'savagery' of the Netsilik, one might think Irving would look down on the Inuit for not knowing how to use such a device. No: he's just happy to share his technology with them.

Episode 8: Terror Camp Clear

• The episode opens with a conversation between Crozier and Fitzjames. Driven to despair by the extremity of their situation, Fitzjames begins unburdening himself to Crozier. He tells Crozier that he's a fraud who wasn't appointed to the expedition because of merit, but because he saved the son of one of the most powerful men in the Royal Navy from a scandal by paying someone off. Crozier dismisses this as a mere "surplus of political luck", and reassures Fitzjames that he is better than he thinks he is. This leads Fitzjames to confess his greatest secret: he's an illegitimate child, the product of an affair between a dissolute British diplomat and an unknown Portuguese woman, who has spent all his adult life overcompensating to cover up for the shameful circumstances of his birth. He bitterly declares that all the courageous deeds he's performed in his life have been nothing but the vanity of a man trying to build the life he thought he deserved, and that they have reached a point where none of it matters anymore. Crozier's response leads to one of the most touching exchanges of the series:
  Crozier: Then you are free, hm? Mine your courage from a different lode now. Friendship. Brotherhood.
  Fitzjames: (with Manly Tears in his eyes) Are we brothers, Francis? I would like that very much.
  • On that note, just watch Crozier's face in that scene. The sheer amount of warmth and tenderness in his expression is one of the most wonderful things in the series. He absolutely comes across as a big brother trying to encourage his little brother through a dark time.
• When the Tuunbaq attacks camp Hartnell (as one of the only men with a gun) steps up to defend his fellow crewmates, despite being painfully aware that Tuunbaq could easily tear through him without effort. Luckily he's saved by Fitzjames' rockets, but Hartnell was absolutely willing to sacrifice himself for the other men.

Episode 9: The C, The C, The Open C

• While discussing what to do about the mutineers, Crozier tells Fitzjames that they will leave some food and other supplies behind at Terror Camp, in case anyone has a change of heart. He also refuses to abandon the sickest and weakest men, insisting that they will all continue on together. Fitzjames murmurs "More than God loves them" as Crozier walks away.

• Hartnell telling Golding that it doesn't matter if their dead comrades were loyal men or mutineers: they'll be treated with the same amount of dignity in death.

• At one point, Mr. Hickey says Mr. Goodsir has "cut up more bodies than you can now remember." To which Mr. Goodsir says "Twenty. I've performed on twenty."

• Lady Silence begging her people to give the remnants of the expedition fresh meat to eat and help them south. She is told in no uncertain terms that is impossible. The winter is too cold, they barely have enough food as it is, and the Tuunbaq is killing the rest to spite the expedition. Still, it is moving to see that even after all she's seen and had to put up with from the men, Lady Silence has such deep wells of compassion and goodness that she wants to do whatever she can to ensure they live and see home again. Even the expression of the tribal leader is one less of dismissal, than regret.
  • In Real Life the Inuit reported to Dr John Rae that they had wished they could have done more for the men, but there were simply too many of them, and the Inuit were short of food themselves.

• Crozier ordering his men to live before Hickey and the mutineers take him away.

• Crozier caring for an ill Jopson by washing his face and telling him the story of how he once tried to ride a neighbor's cow.

• Blanky's joy at finding the Northwest Passage, laughing triumphantly as he marks it on his map. He's knows he's going to die, but he dies as the first white man to see the passage, and he's content to sit and smoke until the end.

• On his deathbed Fitzjames asks Crozier to use his body to feed the men, so those who survive him will have a better chance of making it back home. Crozier refuses, but it's a beautiful gesture from a dying man nonetheless.

Episode 10: We Are Gone

• Mr. Diggle offers to break Crozier out of his handcuffs and give him a chance to run for it. Crozier counters by saying that he plans to bring as many of the mutineers back as he can when Little and the others come for them. He may have nothing but contempt for Hickey, but he knows that most of his followers are with him purely out of desperation or fear, and he wants to try and bring them home too.
• Despite being one of Hickey's mutineers, Manson is still innocently polite to Crozier during his captivity, all but apologising to him for not being allowed to call him captain anymore. Crozier gently calls him a good boy in return.
• During their Last Stand against the Tuunbaq Tozer, who was one of the chief engineers of the mutiny against him, working with Crozier to drive off the beast. He even calls Crozier 'captain' in defiance of Hickey's orders.
• When Crozier tells the Inuit leader that all his men died the Inuit chief asks "all?" in an aghast and sad tone of voice. Even though he never knew them mass death, even of complete strangers, saddens him.
• Crozier finally learns Silence's real name. It's a quiet, sweet moment.
• The Inuit adopt Crozier into their tribe without any real hesitation or resentment on their part, and by the final scene it's clear that he's an integral part of their community, to the point where one of their children feels safe sleeping next to him while he hunts seal. Even though his facial expression suggests a degree of lingering trauma, it's clear that he's where he wants to be.

Multiple Episodes/Unsorted

• After Private Heather is mauled by the Tuunbaq and goes into a coma, Sergeant Tozer cuts his nails and tells him what's going on in the ship. He and other men continue to care for him and even bring him to Carnivale so he could 'enjoy' the food and festivities, too. Tozer is also carrying Heather out of the fire. Well… At least he tries to.

• The slowly developing friendship between Mr. Goodsir and Lady Silence.

• The relationship between Bridgens and Peglar; it's very clear how deeply they love each other, and it's a sweet respite from the tragedy in the first half of the show.

• For all his faults, it's clear from the start that Sir John genuinely does care for the men he commands, and that he is well-liked in return.