If someone just kissed Izzy ONCE when he does that creep move where he angrily pulls someone close and stares at their lips, I think a demon would fly out of his mouth and the curse would finally be broken.
Only Con O'Neill could safely inhabit the deranged psyche of Izzy Hands because he is inoculated with his own inscrutably strange yet endearing energy.
Only Con O'Neill could safely inhabit the deranged psyche of Izzy Hands because he is inoculated with his own inscrutably strange yet endearing energy.
On the importance of guilt: another reason why babyfying Stede annoys me is because he’s not stupid or pure or all sunshine and rainbows. Besides just being bitch sometimes the man IS also a lunatic, and has done some really terrible things. I mean the man glorifies pirating, he dreams of crime. He set a ship on fire and let an entire party burn alive and drown because like 7 people were mildly mean to his boyfriend. His main concern when Lucius was missing and possibly dead was that it would ruin the vibe.
I feel like this is so important to his character, particularly that he is objectively a Bad Dad. He left, there’s really no excuse for that. I’ve seen people talk about how hard it must have been for him to be rejected and ignored by his own children in the flashback and coming home, but they’re little kids. If they had that attitude towards him before he left, I have to imagine he was a pretty emotionally absent father, even if he had some positive moments with them. Mary has to remind him to play with his children because he’s got his nose in a book- I think we’re supposed to understand that’s how we was most of the time. Because of course he was, he engaged in so much escapism he ran away to become a pirate.
And I think it’s important the audience knows that the guilt he feels is justified and he should feel guilty, because Ed has also done unforgivable things. He steals he maims he sets ships on fire. That’s part of why there’s so much chemistry in their bond- they both have pasts they regret and are truly hard to look past, they both are arguably not good people in a lot of ways. But it’s for that reason that they understand each other and can look past it, and someone forgiving them for their unforgivable sins changes their self perception. They can start healing the parts of them that caused them to hurt others; heal their inner child whose fathers made the feel emotionally or physically unsafe. By seeing the other, really seeing them, they are able to become better people for each other, and for themselves.
I thought about writing a meta comparing Izzy eating his own toes to Ouroboros the snake who eats its own tail but imagining earnestly diving into that idea actually just makes me laugh too much
You may have noticed that Ed wears Stede’s black necktie/cravat from the episode 4 clothing swap throughout the rest of the series, even after he becomes the Kraken. He threw away everything of Stede’s, he even threw away the silk his own mother gave him. He shed all material things with any residue of sentimentality on him, except for the cravat. Why? This has been interpreted in a lot of different ways, some have said it’s like a noose he wears carries around his neck, foreshadowing the death of Edward for the Kraken. Others have called it a collar, representing the chokehold that Stede has on him. Personally, I think it’s an albatross.
Quick spark notes time for anyone who didn’t have to read this in high school: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a late 18th century epic poem by Samuel Taylor Cooleridge. It’s thought to signal a shift towards modern literature, similar to the artworks referenced in Mary’s paintings which I did a deep dive into here. The significance of transitional periods and 1717 generally being a time of extreme political, philosophical and artistic change is something I might explore in another post.
Anyways,The Rime of the Ancient Mariner tells the story of a sailor returned from sea. He was part of a crew trapped in the ice flows of Antarctica, when an albatross (a giant seabird with a 10ft wingspan) appears in the sky. The bird leads the ship to safer waters and is hailed as a good omen. But the sailor shoots it out of the sky, bringing a curse and misfortune to the crew. As punishment, they make the sailor wear the dead albatross around his neck so that he must carry the heavy burden of his sins. After a time, Death appears to claim the lives of his crew mates, while a ghostly woman named Life-in-Death claims the sailor, who gives him “a fate worse than death.” Time passes, and the sailor observes slimy sea creatures swimming around in the water. He begins to appreciate their beauty, which lifts the curse. He’s returned home, and is commanded to wander the earth to tell others his tale.
There is strong evidence that this poem was on the minds of the OFMD writers. A seabird is killed in the show, and for this crime Calico Jack is ostracized and cursed to die. But more to my point, the albatross has become a common metaphor in popular culture for a heavy burden that one must carry. Ed found something to lead him out of the life his was trapped in, and he thinks he’s shot it out of the sky by showing his true self and scaring it away. He wears this cravat, a gift from Stede, something that once belonged to him, as a burden of guilt for the crimes he’s done that caused Stede to reject him, as penance for becoming the monster he thinks he truly is, and as a reminder to never let someone close to him again.
The poem is also famous for the popular quote, “Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.” When Ed returns to the ship, despite his heart break, he is surrounded by support and love. The crew literally surround him and listen to him sing about his feelings, they cheer him on for more. Lucius offers him the possibility of life after death. But Izzy tells him that for this he’s suffered “a fate worse than death,” just like the ghost who damns the sailor. Water, like love, is everywhere, but Ed won’t accept any of it. Not now. He will need to realize on his own that there is beauty in heartbreak and learning to love again. Maybe then he can lift the curse, and return home to himself.
Let’s not pretend that Izzy loves Ed. Izzy is in love with the idea of Blackbeard and as soon as Ed changed, as soon as Ed expressed wanting to evolve, Izzy treated Ed horribly.
Yea it’s a pirate show. Yes pirates aren’t good people. That isn’t an excuse for Izzy’s awful, abusive behavior.
As soon as Ed was beginning to process Stede’s abandonment, Izzy swoops in and ruins it. He sees Ed happy and hates it. That’s not love. That’s obsessions and abuse.
Izzy is an interesting character and I’m looking forward to more of his story but the way the fandom has so swiftly romanticized his behavior is weird.
Fandom spaces are a flat circle and it’s just bizarre to see people doing the same weird shit over and over and over again.
everyone keeps calling izzy a short little man I AM THE SAME HEIGHT AS ISRAEL HANDS WE ARE 5’8” EVERYONE ELSE IS JUST FREAKISHLY TALL
I know - XD I actually googled Con’s height when I first watched because I was like “!!” “Short like me!?” But no, he’s a perfectly respectable height, it’s just he somehow exudes shortness in a way I can’t explain, and therefore my 5'2" ass has adopted him as an honorary Short.
Technically 5'8" is below average height for a cis guy in the US/UK; the average is a little over 5'9". My dad is 5'8" and he is considered short. Even guys who are considered very short are probably going to be taller than my 5'2" ass: Jon Stewart is 5'6" and is the same height as my sister, and I dated a guy in high school who was 5'4" and he was still taller than me.
Basically, Con O'Neill is short for a dude, but also they didn’t do some of the techniques they ordinarily do to disguise the fact that he’s short, so he comes off even shorter.
Anyway…
He acts short, somehow. I’m not enough of a body language expert to interpret it in a smart way but I’m married to a man who is 5’3” (don’t knock it til you’ve tried it) and so much of Izzy’s posture and mannerisms is hauntingly familiar to me, it’s like watching a scene in a TV show that is also taking place inside your living room. Idk this is probably also why I find him hot.
