Ed teaches Stede how to get stabbed safely, explaining that he has survived dozens of stabbings by taking the blade on the lower left side of his abdomen, where he claims there are no important organs. Overhearing their interaction, Izzy worries that Ed has grown too fond of Stede to go through with killing him.
One night, the crew stays up telling scary stories. Ed claims to have seen the Kraken murder his father as a child. He explains to the crew that you can control your enemy by turning their worst fear against them, a technique he calls "the art of fuckery" and which he demonstrates the next morning by putting on a demonic performance that frightens the crew. Stede greatly enjoys the theatrical nature of "fuckery." Izzy, Fang, and Ivan confront Ed about his affection for Stede, telling him he needs to end it. Ed reluctantly agrees to kill Stede, deciding to do it while Stede is doing something he loves. Stede suggests they try to pull a fuckery on a Dutch merchant ship the Revenge is due to cross paths with; Izzy vouches for the idea because it would give Ed an opportunity to kill Stede.
Stede and the crew put together an elaborate theatrical performance that involves luring the Dutch merchants onto the Revenge to let the crew secretly loot the merchant ship. Ed hides behind a curtain to watch the performance and tries to steel himself to kill Stede. However, the end of the performance involves some of the crew pretending to be the Kraken, which causes Ed to break down and fall out from behind the curtain. The sight of Blackbeard terrifies the merchants into running away. Ed crawls away to hide in Stede's bathtub, where Stede finds him. Ed reveals to Stede that he is the Kraken: his father was an abusive drunk, and Ed killed him in order to protect himself and his mother. He confesses that he hasn't personally killed anyone else since and tells Stede about the plan to kill him and take his identity, which Ed cannot bring himself to carry out. Stede comforts him and tells him that they can just pretend the murder plan never happened.
Ed and Stede go up to the deck of the ship, where Izzy decides to take Stede's death into his own hands and challenges Stede to a duel. Izzy disarms Stede and stabs him, but Stede manages to take the sword on the left side like Ed taught him. Izzy's sword gets lodged in the mast and breaks when he tries to remove it; with his sword disabled, Izzy is technically the loser of the duel and is banished from the ship. Izzy goes to Spanish Jackie and proposes that they team up to get revenge on Stede.
This episode provides examples of:
- Chekhov's Skill: Blackbeard's lesson on how to properly get run through with a sword is what ultimately lets Stede win the duel against Izzy.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: The episode's Chekhov's Skill, combined with his knowledge of the ship's construction and Izzy's short temper, allows Stede to pull one off in the climactic sword duel. By positioning his back against the mast when he's non-fatally run through, Stede ensures that Izzy's sword becomes lodged, handing Stede the victory on a technicality.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Zig-Zagged. Blackbeard teaches Stede how to get stabbed safely, and the dialogue about Stede "running him through with his sword" and the noises they both make as they try to get the sword back out all sound quite suggestive. However, while the two of them don't notice the subtext at all, an eavesdropping Izzy is disgusted to the point of tears. The Falling-in-Love Montage that precedes the running-through scene suggests that Stede and Blackbeard were both subconsciously sexualizing the interaction.
- Everyone Can See It: Izzy tells Stede it's obvious that Ed adores him, though he doesn't understand why.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: At the start of the episode between Stede and Blackbeard.
- Fingore: After his splinter gets terribly infected, a mad-from-fever Lucius cuts his finger off to keep anyone else from getting it.
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Blackbeard treats Stede to one of these with his sword during their sparring session.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Stede is ready to cancel the fuckery when the rehearsals do not go well. As Izzy's plan for Blackbeard to kill Stede hinges on him dying "doing something he loves," Izzy comes to Stede's cabin and convinces him to go on because "[Ed] adores you" and they both want to see him happy. The pep talk leads to the fuckery continuing, which triggers Ed into a panic attack that causes him to confess the whole plot to Stede, which would not have happened if the fuckery had been canceled like Stede initially wanted.
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: As Izzy is about to deal the finishing blow during the duel with Stede, Ed turns away from the fight, unable to look.
- Internal Reveal: Stede finally learns about the plan to have Ed kill him and take his identity.
- Species-Specific Afterlife: Fang has an emotional breakdown when he's reminded about his dead dog. When another pirate tries to console him by saying that he's in doggy heaven now, Fang just starts wailing harder because dogs and people go to different afterlives.
- Trauma Button: Ed is triggered by the crew pretending to be the Kraken because it reminds him of murdering his abusive father and has a panic attack. He ends up holing up in Stede's bathtub under one of Stede's bathrobes.
