#lov talking about esme's death i could go on for AGES

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I’m curious how do you headcanon Jack became a pirate lord? In tLoTBC it appears that Teague gave the piece of eight to him but I still want to know your thoughts. (and i really hate when people say Esme died so Jack could take her place. just NO!)

well nonnie ...  the short answer is i think esmeralda dying is most likely what happened, sorry to disappoint u <3 most of what we see about inheriting the title comes through their predecessor's death (elizabeth & sao feng, esmeralda & don rafael, and I suppose ragetti and barbossa, briefly!) and esmeralda had it fairly close up to cotbp, so it stands to reason that she was the last one to die before jack got it.

for me personally tpof canon > tlotbc canon so I'm more interested in jack getting the lordship from her ( and also because jack's story mirrors esme's story in interesting ways after he becomes a pirate lord, such as the quest for revenge against the man who betrayed you, functioning as the older mentor figure/love interest to elizabeth as she was to jack, etc etc )  becoming a pirate lord at a relatively young age, inheriting her "nobility" just as she did with the death of don rafael continues that parallel, and it makes the lordship something that's bittersweet: clearly jack wants no part of shipwreck politics, but being a pirate lord would lend him the political capital to return to piracy after setting christophe free, and to be regarded as an equal to the lords. and of course it would always be associated with her, in a way. notably, he keeps the piece of eight resting on the bandana she gave him, which I think supports the idea that it came from her ( as much as any film detail can that existed well before esmeralda's invention )

at the end of the book it's implied that jack and esme go on to form a professional (with benefits) partnership, so what I think probably happened is she went down in a blaze of glory during one of their shipboard frays. I've written up a post somewhere musing about the possibility that she died in the mutiny (given her association with the aztec gold and the foreshadowing that she was involved in the search, and being marooned / killed during this could be a reason why barbossa has a late 1600's dress aboard the pearl), but as I'm typing this up i'm thinking about the sequel ann had planned and the way she brought certain film moments together with the backstory and i'm starting to wonder if venganza being a former navy vessel could tie in to the "I'd rather see her at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of a pirate" and she died as a result either of James or Lawrence Norrington's efforts.  food for thought ! 

the other most likely scenario is that she either died in childbirth or has jack's kid off somewhere, which I personally hate much more than the idea of her dying in battle lol. but it could be supported / foreshadowed by esmeralda and jack always having conversations about childbearing / marie's pregnancy / etc. together, and esmeralda as a character representing family lineage & blood bonds and a more nurturing kind of  womanhood.  if she did have a child, she would give up her position as lord and quit piracy ("shipwreck cove is no place to raise a child") but I find it unlikely that she would give it to jack if she was still alive and they were raising a kid semi-together. luis would be her first choice, unless jack absolutely needed it for political immunity. I suppose I don’t think of esme happily retiring at such a young age, given her own fierceness and fondness for piracy as well the precedent of don rafael’s age on the account, so something would have to force her out of it, be it death or extenuating circumstance.

I don't really think of it in terms of her dying just so that he can take her place, though? for one, jack is always going to have the burden of guilt that he lives while she's gone, and esme always had a more innate connection to politics / aristocracy / etc that comes with being a member of the court than he does, so he’s always going to struggle with that imo. it’s as much a burden as it is a privilege for him. I also think that after jack killed christophe and she wasn't able to finish off her own quest for revenge and get that vindication, the title would feel very hollow to her and she would feel extremely guilty for not justly serving her grandfather's memory, so passing it on is a way for her to move forward. Jack functions as her legacy in a way (if she didn't have children), as he's formed in her image as much as he is in Teague's imo.