#to some extent
i’ve been thinking about miranda’s death more and more lately. as devastating it is i don’t think i’ve ever seen it as a useless or pointless death as some on here have said over the years; miranda’s death is the last straw which pushes flint completely away from the idea of reconciliation with the empire. in s1 flint says that going back to live in boston requires an intolerable sacrifice from him, namely that if he goes back he proves england right. and in s2 when miranda convinces him to reconcile he seems to make peace with the idea of proving england right – as long as what thomas wanted comes to pass. miranda’s death shows flint that there is in fact no amount of negotiation with the empire no amount of supplication or self flagellation or humiliation or indeed apology that will make civilization hesitate before taking things from him again. even if he went to london and got hanged they would take things from him by inscribing him into their history as a twisted monster, and he seems resigned to that (even relieved at the thought of dying, i would argue) when ashe demands it of him but miranda is not. miranda steps a toe out of line and she’s instantly extinguished. and i don’t think miranda’s death radicalizes flint in the sense that he sees revolution as inevitable – his state of mind in early s3 is not revolution, it’s simply to bleed the empire and be a thorn in its side for as long as possible until he himself at last dies. it’s not until silver reaches out to him and tells him “i don’t want you to die” it’s not until he’s trapped on Maroon island that he realizes he doesn’t have to struggle uselessly all by himself, that he isn’t alone in wanting the empire to crumble, that in the end he and the Maroons want the same thing, that they need each other to mount the kind of resistance that has a chance to threaten whitehall. i don’t think any of this could have happened without miranda dying. if miranda hadn’t died in that scene in all likelihood they both would have died trying to escape after a fight of some kind after ashe’s revelation or if miranda had stayed silent (she couldn’t have) flint would have been brought back to london in chains to be humiliated and hated (and inevitably hanged, imo). i understand people hate the fridged woman trope but i think her death is one of the most meaningful deaths i’ve seen and the show takes great pains to show the reverberations of it throughout the next two seasons
and thinking about her death also makes me think about eleanor’s death, which i think got a similar reaction on here in relation to fridging her. but eleanor’s death is also not without point – eleanor dies at the hands of the same empire that killed her mother, eleanor dies because she tries to ingratiate herself into england’s civilization to get out of jail, to get revenge, and england turns around and punishes her for it. imo eleanor simply delays her own death for a few months she never averts it (which, arguably, is what max and co do as well. how long they manage to delay it for is up for discussion). in some ways eleanor is dead already when they take her to london, hornigold kills a part of her when he takes her away from nassau. and again and again after that point she continues to kill the “uncivilized” parts of herself (of which vane is a piece and nassau is the biggest piece) in order to contort herself (“mutilate myself”) into someone who can exist in the empire. and once again when she ceases to be of use to it, when she moves against it (i.e., against rogers), when she at last wants to just leave it all behind, civilization says no actually i will come into the quiet house the quiet life the uncertain and isolated life you’re starting to contemplate for yourself in this moment and kill you in it. again, i do not think that is pointless at all
You cannot choose to follow an empire like that and then pick and choose when you deny it
