#i mean its great for people who love monstrously unhealthy relationships with white dudes who are cruel and possessive

[chuplayswithfire]

I've always seen Ed's robe era as a standard break up response - crying in your room, making sad creative projects, wearing your ex's clothes that are still at your house, eating ye olde ben and jerry's aka marmalade - and I remain firmly convinced that this is what the show is going for, because this is a romcom, after all.

But if I were to take it as a serious cry for help, an experience of extreme mental distress and signs of a man having a breakdown and losing himself... then like damn Izzy fucking sucks. How are the Crew of the Revenge collectively having more empathy, compassion, and care for a man they've known for a few weeks than Izzy is for a guy he at least claims to view as his captain and as a man he respects?

Like fucking hells bells man, the crew are concerned about Ed's well-being, listen to his song with bafflement but offer encouragement when they understand it's sincere, and are more than willing to meet Ed where he is and call him Ed when he asks. They're down for the talent show because they're a bunch of silly and delightful people, but also they're encouraging someone who's going through a rough time and pulling himself out of it. They're being compassionate and they're genuinely eager to share their talents and see if Ed likes them.

If Ed were genuinely having a mental health crisis (which again is not how I interpret these events but if one did), then this is a great way to respond. They're encouraging Ed to reach out to them by accepting the lowering of a previous boundary (call me Ed, not Blackbeard), they're accepting of his interest in trying new things and changing up his old life, they're genuinely invested in and value his opinion of them in a way that demonstrates that they still think he's cool and admirable despite his changing his whole look and ditching the job persona that they all initially looked up to him for. The crew in general are not just hero worshipping Edward Teach who is Blackbeard, but actively like Ed the man and want him to like them too.

We also see that this is effective and healing for Ed, because after lowering his barriers and singing for the crew, having them accept him in this very vulnerable moment and respond encouragement and genuine excitement for him suggesting they do something totally new, after asking them to call him by his name and treat him like a peer instead of an untouchable idol, the next time we see Ed is him being calm, cleaning his living space, letting in the light instead of wallowing away, even acknowledging that he was not living well by commenting that he can't believe he was "living like this".

Being supported and encouraged helped him to get back on his feet and regain his equilibrium, and he gets that from the crew, a group of men and Jim who have known him for a handful of weeks.

Meanwhile, Izzy stews in his distaste for everything that's happening with Edward, and doesn't decide to engage with him about any of it until he sees Ed doing better and yet still not being the man Izzy wants him to be. Izzy's responses consist of telling Edward that he should have been killed rather than be able to live as the man he is right now, dehumanize him as a thing rather than a person, and cap on a threat to watch his step if he doesn't start acting like the man Izzy wants him to be. For some reason, this threat isn't always taken seriously in the fandom, but I'd remind everyone that the only reason Stede, another pirate Izzy doesn't respect and sees as worthless, isn't on the ship in episode 10 is because Izzy went and found the British Navy in an effort to have him killed. He told Ed that having Stede killed by firing squad - the same death he's saying he should have "let" happen to Ed - "is a humane way of ending this". Ed wasn't prepared for Izzy's treachery because he didn't take Izzy's last threat - that he would rue this day - seriously.

Izzy is perfectly willing to follow up on his threats. And he was making a threat, a serious one, right after saying that he should have had Edward killed as part of his last plan.

Like, look, Izzy's response in episode 10 is always wildly off the wall - there is no situation where it's appropriate or even reasonable for him to dehumanize Ed, threaten him, or tell him that he should be killed for trying new means of expressing himself, but if we approach episode 10's robe era as Edward being in a state of genuine mental health crisis and distress?

Then Izzy's fucking abominable. Absolutely horrendous. There's no defense. It would only further highlight that Ed was right to say he has no friends in episode 6 - because no friend would react that way even if you were just going through a breakup, let alone a genuine mental health crisis.

A group of people who only knew Ed for a few weeks have more compassion for him than Izzy.