#also!!! she added a helpful point that it’s kind of implied that Stede will die eventually just from being a bad pirate

[sunnibits]

y’all asked for my Izzy Hands thoughts here you fuckin go >:) it got a wee bit long sorry

here’s some ‘meta’ that was living in my head rent free about Izzy’s role as Blackbeard’s designated killer and other stuff. some of it is probably bullshit <3

HELLO not to be overly dramatic about Izzy Hands on this good day but. I think a lot about how Ed tells Stede that he’s never actually killed people directly. And like, we can debate how true that is - particularly because honestly, Ed doesn’t seem to have any hesitation when it comes to killing people except for the case of Stede - but taking that as legitimate, he also mentions that he always ‘outsources the big job’. Now, I’ve already seen it pointed out by other people that the person who usually takes this job instead of Ed is Izzy - but, god, the implications of that are making me insane, I need to think about that more…

Because like yeah, it’s obviously not exclusively Izzy that’s doing all the killing, considering Ed has his whole crew and everything. And of course Ed is fine with maiming (love a good maim). But because I am of course crazy about Izzy Hands, I think about how Izzy is elevated above the rest of the crew. Yes, the whole crew is probably fine with doing all of Ed’s killing, but Izzy is Blackbeard’s first mate. His right hand man, his immediate second. By the time we start the show, it almost seems like Izzy is representing Blackbeard at this point - it’s kind of implied in other moments that Ed doesn’t even really get that involved in too much fighting anymore (they just see the flag and run away), and even in the third episode we see Izzy go to invite Stede to the ship on Blackbeard’s behalf. Ed specifically wants him to handle that personally, presumably because Izzy is the closest to Blackbeard. He doesn’t even feel the need to tell Stede who his boss is, because it’s just implied with his own title (but it course, Stede doesn’t know that). I know it’s reaching a bit, but I’m really into this concept of Izzy Hands as like, the primary representative of Blackbeard at this point. He’s Blackbeard’s right hand - and he does the murdering bit.

Because, of course, Izzy is heartless enough for it. As Izzy would see it, Ed is soft hearted. He doesn’t want to kill, but he wants to maintain this terrifying image, so Izzy does it for him. We even see this directly play out in The Art of Fuckery - Ed has to kill Stede. Ed doesn’t want to kill Stede. Izzy, very quickly, volunteers to do it. He’s not even shaming Ed for it, he’s just offering his service. Which like, a little off topic, but that actually ties perfectly into this whole rambling I sent to my friend about the idea of Izzy killing Stede as an act of service. His comparison of Stede to a dog is what really gets my brain churning - because they directly compare killing Stede to putting down a dog, and that’s not an act that is made out of hate. It’s something you don’t want to do, but you do it out of mercy, and you try to get it over quick. (Of course, Ed literally didn’t have to kill Stede, but the way that he saw it and Izzy saw it, it was this inevitable thing he couldn’t avoid it anymore). So by offering to kill Stede, obviously there’s a little bit of personal satisfaction because Izzy hates Stede, but it’s not just that for Izzy. At the heart, it’s an act of service. He’s saying ‘here, I’ll take the gun, you look away’. And in the end, when Ed can’t go through with it, Izzy takes initiative. (‘You’re not doing this - I am’). He’s so sure that this is what Ed needs, and obviously it’s not - (and obviously, like I said, duh Izzy is a bitch and he just wants to kill Stede BUT-) but hey, it’s not unreasonable for him to think that, considering even though he protests at first, Ed doesn’t even try to stop the duel once Stede accepts! He doesn’t intervene, he just sits by and lets Izzy do his job, even though it hurts, because that’s what he’s always done.

It just makes me wonder even more about how many times this has happened between them… Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if this exact thing has happened before! Ed gets attached to people, he falls in too deep, and Izzy has to carry out the kill. And Ed goes back to being Blackbeard, and Izzy goes back to being his right hand man. Maybe Ed cries alone in his room, but Izzy just ignores it, and stands outside the door until he’s done. He tells everyone that the captain is fine, and protects his reputation, and stands in for Blackbeard, like he’s always done. (Just like he does in the finale).

Basically, what I’m saying, if you want to be really poetic; Izzy is the one who gets his hands bloody just so Ed can keep his (mostly) clean. That’s what Izzy Hands does, and that’s probably why Ed needs him and keeps him around!

Gosh, which is just making my brain go off the rails AGAIN because that’s probably why Izzy is so shocked when things change! When Ed refuses to kill Stede, and he just lets Izzy go. Izzy’s like, what the fuck! You need me! You can’t be Blackbeard without me! But that’s just the thing. Because Ed doesn’t want to be Blackbeard anymore. Leaving Blackbeard behind, and not killing anymore, means leaving Izzy behind. He doesn’t need him anymore, he doesn’t need this gritty evil guy to do his evil things for him, and Izzy can’t believe that. (And oh boy, I have a whole fucking thing in my head about Izzy wanting to be needed, but I’m trying really hard to keep that separate because this is already too long). Even in fucking Episode 9! After Ed has literally given him up by just letting him be banished from the Revenge, Izzy still comes back to him and expects Ed to accept him! Hell, he didn’t even need to go to Spanish Jackie’s, but he’s still trying to execute the plan! He’s so fucking deep in denial that Ed has changed! He arranges for Stede Bonnet to be dead, and he arranges to get Ed out, he even says to Ed that this is a quick, humane way to do it!!! Oh my god!! He’s still just offering to put down his dog!! He’s still just trying to make it easy for Ed! He’s not even considering the possibility that maybe Ed has moved on, because Izzy can’t move on, he is going to push until the last minute to make things go back to the way they are. But damn if he isn’t going to try to make it gentle for Ed.

Izzy Hands has fully accepted his role as Ed’s tool to kill, he gladly makes himself into a monster for him, to protect his soft little heart: But then Ed just… gives it up. So all of that was for nothing - all of the killing, all of the years protecting Ed’s reputation, this whole identity that Izzy has constructed around Blackbeard and serving as his right hand man. Ed can leave Izzy behind when he wants to, but Izzy is literally nothing without Blackbeard. He’s just an angry, bitter little man with lots and lots of blood on his hands.