History Awesome / BlackSails

** What really makes the assault so great is that it's one big, semi-meta love letter to Charles Vane. Not only does Anne tie her hair back in a perfect imitation of Vane's hairstyle, the swim-boarding strategy she uses was first used by Vane against Ned Lowe, and to top it all off, the men she leads are Charles Vane's old crew. It all adds up to one crystal clear message: [[AndThisIsFor This is for Charles Vane]].
* Captain Flint's ambush of an entire company of royal marines. In the wake of a long string of apparent defeats for the combined pirate/maroon force, dozens of men burst out of covered shallow holes in the ground and tear the marines to shreds.
** The best moment in this ambush, and quite possibly the most badass thing Flint has ever done, is his killing of Hornigold. He and Hornigold make eye contact from across the field, and Hornigold spurs his horse at Flint, intent on riding him down. Flint drops to one knee and calmly reloads a musket before taking Hornigold through the chest.

** Max is the one reading this letter, and her conflicted emotions sell the scene. She and Silver had never been close, but they had been partners upon a time, and she knows full well how clever he can be. The thought that Silver himself is indeed behind this clearly fills her with dread.

--> "''[[TheDreaded Charles Vane, of the Ranger]]''"

* Flint's plan to regain his captaincy after being deposed using BatmanGambit and ReversePsychology on the crew: as "penance" for his failures and lies he attempts to advise Dufresne on taking a course that would allow the ship to avoid enemy vessels. Dufresne and DeGroot decide against it and take the first ship they encounter to solidify the acting captain's position...only to go pear shaped after they do and the other captain resists after realizing Flint's not in command. Dufresne is undermined, the rest of the crew vote to restore Flint back to captain. The best part is how Dufresne comes to realize this and can only relent to Flint as he has no chance against the man; the last scene of the episode is Flint standing alone in the captain's quarters victorious.

* The battle on the water while the aforementioned is going on: On board the man-o-war, Silver withstands several minutes of torture that eventually costs him his leg rather than sell out the crew, and after enough time has passed, he cheekily asks his torturer if his subordinate has seen the keys to the rest of the crew's shackles' since they took silver away from his men. Cue the crew of the ''Walrus'' charging in and rescuing Silver, with Billy himself killing the torturer.

* The death of [[spoiler:Charles Vane. He's tried and condemned by an ad hoc KangarooCourt set up by Eleanor Guthrie, and then taken to be hanged in the morning. After being told by a pastor that even men who are fearless begin to fear death on their walk to the gallows, Charles truly shows none. When Billy is about to stage a rescue attempt, Vane catches his eye and gives a small shake of his head, telling him not to go through with it. He knows the chances of his escaping hundreds of redcoats are next to none, and he doesn't want Billy to die pointlessly. More than that, Charles wants his own death to make a point. He addresses the crowd with a short speech; when he begins, they're jeering at him, when he finishes, they all look like they're fighting back tears, and they even look disgusted. He tops it all with some of the most hardcore last words ever uttered, to his hangman: "Get on with it, motherfucker." This moment was supposed to be a moment of victory for the British, where they hang one of Nassau's most notorious pirates and symbolically destroy the pirate threat. Instead, it's Charles Vane's finest moment, and [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning all the British get is the beginning of the resistance in Nassau]].]]
-->[[spoiler:"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, a 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."]]
** [[spoiler:What makes it even more awesome is that Flint himself feared that Charles' death would send entirely the wrong message, and had Billy stage the rescue attempt for that reason alone. In one swoop Charles proves that he understands the hearts of the people of Nassau much better than the most feared pirate in the world, and that his belief in freedom and anarchy really is more than just an excuse to do as he likes: he's truly willing to die to facilitate Nassau's eventual rebellion. And so he does.]]
** [[spoiler: Two men out of the crowd (only one of them Billy's revolutionaries) grab Charles as he's hanging and tug him down to hasten his death. It's a sign of mercy to the condemned when the hanging isn't a short-drop neck-break, and it shows with utter clarity that Charles' message hit home.]]
** [[spoiler: Furthermore, watch how Charles dies. The wagon he's standing on starts moving and he doesn't let it be pulled out from under him, he ''walks off of it''. He '''chooses''' to die, rather than be killed by his executioners. Even in death, badass thy name is Charles Vane.]]

** [[spoiler:What really makes the assault so great is that it's one big, semi-meta love letter to Charles Vane. Not only does Anne tie her hair back in a perfect imitation of Vane's hairstyle, the swim-boarding strategy she uses was first used by Vane against Ned Lowe, and to top it all off, the men she leads are Charles Vane's old crew. It all adds up to one crystal clear message: [[AndThisIsFor This is for Charles Vane]].]]

* The Spanish Man o'War. The [[RivalsTeamUp Walrus and the Ranger]] manage to maneuver it in between them and pepper it with volley after volley from both sides before [[HopeSpot a small explosion aboard makes their crews cheer, thinking that they've rendered it helpless.]] Then the warship starts turning, [[OhCrap presents each with a broadside of several dozens of cannon]], and [[CurbstompBattle effortlessly decimates both ships simultaneously.]] One season later, the Walrus has required extensive repairs to even be able to float home. The Ranger is never seen or mentioned again.

* A new captain is debating terms of sale with Eleanor, and finally declares that he'll just take his cargo and sell it in Port Royale instead for a better price. Before Eleanor can say anything else, another man says that doing so is a bad idea. That the last man who did so ended up dead, with his cargo taken back to Nassau for sale. While the new captain proudly states that he'll not be so easy to kill, for he is 'James Bridge, of the Demeter.', he quickly back-pedals and agrees to Eleanor's terms. Why? The man simply states who ''he'' is.

* Flint's plan to regain his captaincy after being deposed using BatmanGambit and ReversePsychology on the crew: as "penace" for his failures an lies attempts to advise Dufresne on taking a course that would allow the ship to avoid enemy vessels. Dufresne and DeGroot decide against it and take the first ship they encounter to solidfy the acting captain's position...only to go pear shape after they do and the other captain resists after realizing Flint's not in command. Dufresne is underminded the rest of the crew vote to restore Flint back to captain. The best part is how Dufresne comes to realize this and can only relent to Flint as he has no chance against the man; the last scene of the episode is Flint standing alone in the captain's quarters victorious.

* The death of [[spoiler:Charles Vane. He's tried and condemned by an ad hoc KangarooCourt set up by Eleanor Guthrie, and then taken to be hanged in the morning. After being told by a pastor that even men who are fearless begin to fear death on their walk to the gallows, Charles truly shows none. When Billy is about to stage a rescue attempt, Vane catches his eye and gives a small shake of his head, telling him not to go through with it. He knows the chances of his escaping hundreds of redcoats are next to none, and he doesn't want Billy to die pointlessly. More than that, Charles wants his own death to make a point. He addresses the crowd with a short speech; when he begins, they're jeering at him, when he finishes, they all look like they're fighting back tears, and they even look disgusted. He tops it all with some of the most hardcore last words ever uttered, to his hangman: "Get on with it, motherfucker." This moment was supposed to be a moment of victory for the British, where they hang one of Nassau's most notorious pirates and symbolically destroy the pirate threat. Instead, it's Chares Vane's finest moment, and [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning all the British get is the beginning of the resistance in Nassau]].]]

* Charles Vane killing Richard Guthrie. Though the actual killing couldn't have been that impressive, Charles accompanies it by pinning his manifesto to Guthrie's body, which makes it clear that his killing of Guthrie was a tool: not only did he hit Eleanor where it hurts, but he also declared his resolve by killing someone so opposed to his ideals. And of course, the note itself, read by Charles in a voice over, is awesome in its own rite.

* The Spanish Man o'War. The [[RivalsTeamUp ''Walrus'' and the ''Ranger'']] manage to maneuver it in between them and pepper it with volley after volley from both sides before [[HopeSpot a small explosion aboard makes their crews cheer, thinking that they've rendered it helpless.]] Then the warship starts turning, [[OhCrap presents each with a broadside of several dozens of cannon]], and [[CurbstompBattle effortlessly decimates both ships simultaneously.]] One season later, the ''Walrus'' has required extensive repairs to even be able to float home. The ''Ranger'' is never seen or mentioned again.

* The Spanish Man o'War. The [[RivalsTeamUp ''Walrus'' and the ''Ranger'']] manage to maneuver it in between them and pepper it with volley after volley from both sides before [[HopeSpot a small explosion aboard makes their crews cheer, thinking that they've rendered it helpless.]] Then the warship starts turning, [[OhCrap presents each with a broadside of several dozens of cannon]], and [[CurbstompBattle effortlessly decimates both ships simultaneously.]]

* The Spanish Man o'War. The [[RivalsTeamUp ''Walrus'' and the ''Ranger'']] manage to maneuver it in between them and pepper it with several volleys before [[HopeSpot a small explosion aboard makes their crews cheer, thinking that they've rendered it helpless.]] Then the warship starts turning, [[OhCrap presents each with a broadside of dozens of cannon]], and [[CurbstompBattle effortlessly decimates both ships simultaneously.]]

** Max is the one reading this letter, and her conflicted emotions sell the scene. She and Silver had never been close, but they had been partners upon a time, and she knows full well how clever he can be. The thought that Silver himself is indeed behind this clearly fills her with dread.

* Though [[{{Understatement}} it didn't end well for her]], Miranda's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Peter Ashe. The man's actions directly resulted in the death of her husband and the destruction of another man she loved, and she holds back none of her spite. Her final words of "I want to see you hanged, and I want to pull the fucking lever myself!" are some of the most awesome yet delivered.

* The Spanish Man o'War. The [[RivalsTeamUp ''Walrus'' and the ''Ranger'']] manage to maneuver it in between them and pepper it with several volleys before [[HopeSpot a small explosion aboard makes their crews cheer, thinking that they've rendered it helpless.]] Then the warship starts turning, [[OhCrap presents each with a broadside of dozens of canons]], and [[CurbstompBattle effortlessly decimates both ships simultaneously.]]