Black Sails (2014–2017): Season 3, Episode 10 - XXVIII. - full transcript
Hornigold and the British come for the pirates; Rackham and Bonny face impossible odds; Silver demands answers from Flint; Billy crowns a king.
SILVER:
Dobbs assaulted him,
and he believes him responsible
for choosing the men
to be interrogated by them.
But it's been sorted.
I had three men hold him down
while Dooley and Wayne
administered a beating.
ELLERS:
The governor in Nassau
hanged a pirate in the square.
The pirate was Charles Vane.
What do you want to do about it?
BILLY: He knew it was
the only way to start it.
[ speaks softly ]
Start what?
The resistance in Nassau
is now under way.
QUEEN: How long before
their force arrives? A week.
Then we have much preparation
to do and little time to do it.
Captain Hornigold
will be sailing
in consort with you.
I know this enemy.
He took that cache
with the express purpose
of compelling us
to commit your force
to a battlefield
of his choosing.
If you allow him to dictate
the terms of battle,
you court a disastrous outcome.
[ theme music playing ]
[ crickets chirping ]
[ shoveling ]
[ shoveling ]
[ grunting ]
SILVER:
You sure this is wise?
At the end of the day,
secrets among friends
are the source of all
good things gone wrong.
Is that what we are now?
Friends?
RACKHAM: He wasn't
talking about you.
He's talking about
our hostess, the queen.
That said, you're wrong.
He's right.
The safest place for this
isn't behind walls
or guarded with guns.
The safest place
lives outside the realm
of anyone's awareness.
If the English can't find it,
they can't take it.
I told her we were taking
it, just not where.
She agreed it was best for all
for its whereabouts
to remain unknown,
provided that you
were among the circle
that knew of it.
You they trust above any of us
not to betray for money.
The irony wasn't lost
on either of us.
Well, now that
you've been fetched,
much to do.
A war to plan for.
I've heard you use that
word a thousand times.
A war against England,
now a war to reclaim Nassau.
But hearing him use it just now,
so near the actual
arrival of it,
it sounds different.
It feels different.
Not far from here, the
fortifications are already built...
from which in a few days' time
you'll look out and stare
down King George's navy.
Are you having second thoughts?
Aren't you?
All the blood
that's about to be spilt,
all the things about to
be lost... aren't you?
Well, I wish
it wasn't necessary,
if that's what you're asking.
[ grunts ]
When we were becalmed,
I told Billy I believed
your darkest thoughts
somehow had the ability
to manifest themselves
upon our reality.
That your anger over
the murder of Mrs. Barlow
became the storm
into which we all battled.
That your despair over her death
became the doldrums
into which we all sank.
In my defense, I hadn't had anything
to eat or drink in a while.
But the truth of it,
I'm not sure it was far off.
Your demons are a part
of our reality.
Now, such is the nature
of the influence you wield.
Ah, some of those demons
I've come to know...
but the one in whose name
this war is to be fought...
it is still a stranger to me.
Before this war actually begins,
I'm asking where
it actually began.
Will you tell me?
[ cannons firing ]
[ men shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ shouting ]
[ cannonball whistling ]
[ screams ]
[ screams, groaning ]
[ men shouting ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ ship's bell ringing ]
[ speaks softly ]
Oh, Jesus.
They are not fuckin'
around, are they?
We're supposed
to sail into that?
One ship against
their entire fleet?
Favorable wind.
We'll be upon them quickly.
We'll take fire, obviously.
If we can just get our vanguard
aboard one of their ships,
we could disrupt
their entire line.
Do not look at me like that.
This is the plan.
Harass their line.
We create uncertainty
in the minds of their
soldiers on the ground
and undermine their
confidence in their command.
Yeah, and I know
how they'll feel.
MAN:
Sails! East-southeast!
East?
[ suspenseful music playing ]
Six ships.
British colors.
Who the fuck is that?
Reinforcements, likely.
It seems Governor Rogers
was able to enlist
the aid of one
of his colleagues.
I'll put a launch
in the water now.
What for?
To inform Captain Flint
so he can make his retreat.
[ chuckles ]
There could be hundreds of
soldiers aboard those ships.
The captain's battle plan
does not take into account
a force that large.
Captain Flint's battle plan
does not take
into account is retreat.
There is nowhere to retreat to.
And given how much we have
sacrificed to earn this battle,
how can we do anything
other than see it through?
My friend may have given his
life to earn this battle.
I understand the obligation
you are feeling to succeed,
but there comes a certain point
when one must accept
what is painfully obvious.
How many ships?
What?
The second fleet...
How many ships?
MAN:
Six sets of sails!
Describe them, please.
What difference does it make?
Shut up.
The flotilla...
Describe them.
Three tall ships!
Two sloops!
One man of war.
And one man of war.
Make a course for that
second flotilla, please.
You're going to attack them?
Time is short, please.
Get us under way.
Get us under way!
[ guns cocking ]
[ whistle blowing,
men shouting ]
[ shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
[ yelling ]
MAN:
Right flank, kneel!
[ suspenseful music playing ]
Fire!
[ man shouting ]
[ gunfire, shouting continues ]
[ grunts ]
MAN:
Reload!
MAN:
Bring the mortars forward!
Mortars.
Mortars!
Concentrate on the mortars!
[ screaming ]
[ screams ]
MAN:
Reload!
MAN ♪2:
Three paces forward!
Present!
Fire!
Company, form into two ranks!
Now!
Second cannon!
MAN:
Take cover!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN:
Ready the gun, ahh!
MAN:
Fire!
Second rank!
Mortars in position!
Fire!
[ screams ]
Fire!
[ screams ]
Captain, it's time!
Not yet.
Fire!
MAN ♪3: Two inches!
Two inches!
Fire!
[ screaming ]
[ gunshots,
cannon fire echoing ]
Captain, we need to fall back.
Fire!
[ yelps ]
Smoke!
MAN: Smoke!
MAN ♪2: Smoke!
MAN:
Form into two ranks!
Line facing forward!
Fall back!
MAN: Fall back!
MAN ♪2: Retreat!
FLINT: Fall back!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN:
Hold your fire!
MAN ♪2: Hold your fire! First
company, prepare to move out!
I wouldn't do that.
Beg your pardon?
MAN:
Stand easy!
He asked for this fight, Major.
He didn't do so without a plan.
And I promise you,
bumbling into a hasty retreat
wasn't a part of it.
Bumbling?
They were overwhelmed
by a superior force.
He wants us to pursue him.
He wants you to pursue him.
A tactical withdrawal
to guide us into an ambush.
Am I to believe he sacrificed
over 50 of his men,
led them into
a massacre deliberately,
just to entice us to chase him?
You don't know that
man, Major, but I do.
He's quite capable of
what you suggest and more.
[ chattering ]
[ murmuring ]
reflected there.
Is everything all right?
Show her what you showed to me.
[ sighs ]
"To the first to betray,
I offer the first
chance to repent.
Remove the captain.
You have until nightfall."
Where did you get this?
It was sitting
at the foot of my bed
when I awoke this morning.
Someone left it while I slept.
The message,
it would seem, is clear.
There is a voice out there
yet to identify itself
that wants to see
Captain Vane's remains
removed from the gibbet
in the square.
Why does it look like this?
An old wives' tale.
Pirate lore.
Avery's maiden crew
was said to deliver
the black spot
as a warning
to wayward crew members.
Ignored on pain of death.
THROCKMORTON: I knew men when I
was young who sailed with Avery.
It was a bullshit story then,
and it's no less
a bullshit story now.
Ma'am, cowards send notes.
The form of the threat
may not likely be the issue.
We are aware there is
dissent on the street.
Perhaps removing the gibbet
would go a long way
towards settling
whatever unrest may be brewing.
SOAMES: You're suggesting
that the governor comply
with an anonymous threat?
I am suggesting the gibbet
could be seen by some
to be inflammatory.
The point has been made.
The law has been satisfied.
It is a well-settled
statement of resolve
to maintain the display.
If it is removed
in the light of this threat,
in the light of Captain
Flint's standing ultimatum
against the use of it, would it not
worry you that it might appear weak?
It certainly worries me
to make
self-defeating mistakes
out of fear of appearing weak.
ELEANOR:
No, he's right.
He's right.
Gives me no pleasure
having it there,
no matter what
the street may say.
But to remove it in this moment
threatens to
undermine confidence
in the governor's leadership.
That said, the end
of three days' time,
I want it down and gone,
not a minute longer.
If you would like me
to form a small detail
to offer you protection
in the meantime...
If anyone has a problem with
my allegiance to the Crown,
my men and I are happy
to address it with them.
Ma'am?
Excuse me.
[ murmuring ]
You should be in bed.
I've spent enough time in bed.
I did what I did.
I know how it seems,
to the street, to you,
but please understand...
[ speaks softly ]
It seems...
as though a very
difficult thing was done.
It seems as though
I am fortunate
you had the courage to do it.
You have enemies here.
Then let them be
my enemies as well.
Any and all of them.
And let them come.
[ birds squawking ]
[ wood creaking ]
MAN:
As you were.
[ men chattering ]
Six ships...
Two sloops, man of war...
It's a familiar combination.
I once had a fleet
of that makeup.
MAN: Get her
cleaned up, boy!
[ men shouting indistinctly ]
I came looking
for Flint, not you.
Where is he?
He's currently being pummeled
by half the British navy
just beyond the horizon.
The navy?
The war to reclaim Nassau
began here about an hour ago.
The entirety of
the British fleet
under the command of
Governor Rogers is in play.
I'd like to think that you're
here to join our effort,
but I fear the reason
for your arrival
is something other than that.
[ speaks softly ]
Charles is dead.
[ dramatic music playing ]
The governor in Nassau
hung him in the square.
[ breathes heavily ]
On the island I helped to build,
he thought he could do that,
face no consequences.
He failed to account for me.
British law sentenced him,
but I think you and I
both know who it was
that fashioned that noose,
and it was no "he."
I look forward
to seeing Miss Guthrie again
and settling
Charles' account with her.
But there is no victory over her
without a victory here today.
That much is clear.
Will you help us find it?
FLINT: Madness is such
a hard thing to define,
which makes it
such an easy label
to affix to one's enemies.
Once it had
been applied to Thomas,
once our relationship
had been exposed,
defiled, scandalized...
everything ended.
There were times
that I was persuaded
to sue for peace since then,
but that was the day
that on some level I knew...
that England was broken...
and that sooner or later
a good man must resist it.
[ speaks softly ]
I don't know what to say.
You don't need to say anything.
You asked me where it began,
and I felt that you were
entitled to an answer...
To the truth.
I appreciate that.
And I am genuinely sorry.
But you can see how this
might be of particular
and immediate concern for me.
I can?
Well, before today
I knew of two people
who managed to truly know you,
to gain your trust,
to be your partner,
and they both ended up dead
while playing the role.
Now, wait a minute...
Now you're telling me
there's a third member
of this class,
making it even less credible
to characterize Mr. Gates'
and Mrs. Barlow's deaths
as bad luck.
It would seem that those
closest to you meet their end
not just during
the relationship,
but because of it.
And as I sit here,
I'm acutely aware
there may be no one
closer to you
in the world right now than I.
What exactly are you saying?
That I've somehow sought out
my own tragedies?
Did you not tell me
that our darkest motives
will conceal themselves from us?
Cloak themselves
in whatever they must
in order to move us to action?
And even if that's not true,
a pattern is a pattern,
and only a fool ignores one
because he does not care
for the implications.
So you see yourself as a potential
fourth member of this class,
concerned that
your association with me
will lead to your end.
My association with you
began out of necessity,
but I've come to find
a great deal of respect for you.
Perhaps even friendship.
Hmm.
[ sighs ]
Which is why I find myself
unnerved by the thought
that when this pattern
applies itself to you and I...
that I will be the end of you.
Is that so?
Now, three who preceded me
all had one thing in common.
They were vulnerable to you.
Had more to lose than you,
less means with which to
protect themselves than you.
Till recently, I thought
that was me as well,
but now...
I don't know that it is anymore.
It is natural
for men new to power
to assume that it has no limits.
Trust me. It does.
We agreed that
I would select a man
to be responsible
for making a direct move
against Captain Hornigold
once the battle begins.
I chose Mr. Dobbs.
You chose Dobbs?
Why the fuck would you do that?
It's a dangerous errand...
It's more than dangerous.
The entirety of our plan
rests on its success.
Why would you assign it to a man
harboring who knows what sort
of resentment against you?
Because it isn't resentment.
If you had disciplined him,
he would resent you for it,
but towards me...
I don't believe
he feels resentment.
I believe he feels shame
for having disappointed me
and a great need
to redeem himself in my eyes.
Send someone else.
It's done.
He knows.
Were I to replace him now,
it might provoke the
response you wish to avoid.
If you're wrong,
if Mr. Dobbs takes this
opportunity to betray you...
to betray us...
this battle will be over
before it ever began.
Flint sent you to kill me,
yet instead, you surrendered.
Why?
Sailed with that crew
for months.
Then they take the side
of those fucking savages
over a man who was supposed
to have been their brother.
Truth is, they didn't
give a shit about me
except that I did their bidding,
so now I'm ready to see it end,
and I can help you end it.
ROLLINS: Says he knows where
the slave camp is located.
Says the cache with gems
is hidden nearby.
[ grunting ]
Mr. Carter, please bring
me that man there.
[ grunting ]
Unfortunately, I've known too
many men from Nassau in my life,
and it's so very hard to know
which can be taken at their word.
Show me that you truly intend
to leave Captain Flint
and your life
with him behind you.
Oh, that man
will meet the same end
whether you shoot him
or some other man hangs him,
but I'd like to be quite certain
your intentions are true.
[ gunshot ]
Major, prepare your men.
Sir.
Lieutenant, prepare the men.
Make sure they have
plenty of supplies,
water, and ammunition.
We're heading into the forest.
[ chattering ]
[ speaking softly
in native language ]
[ gasps, speaks
in native language ]
MADI: He was hiding
by the water.
Otherwise, everyone is accounted
for and where they belong.
All but you.
You do not feel
you are where you belong.
The men above
would fight to protect us.
I should be among them.
If we are to lead them
into this war,
we ought to show that we are
willing to lead them through it.
♪
You have protected me
for so very long.
It is time I did
the same for you.
Did he get it?
Your black spot
was delivered, yeah.
But?
I saw him.
He was in the tavern
drinking with his men.
They were in high spirits.
And the gibbet remains?
Yeah.
I think it's gonna take
more than a note
to frighten him.
Of course it is.
It was Mr. Gates who first
told me about the spot.
It kept him awake
for three nights.
It wasn't the note
or the threat.
It was the idea
of Avery himself,
just the awareness
that someone so terrible
knew your name.
[ chuckles ]
I have no doubt
that Captain Throckmorton
is currently unconcerned
with our threat.
We have only just begun
to tell our story.
We haven't yet
introduced the villain.
It's been a few days
since I told you
of my suspicions about Idelle,
her role in the attack
on the governor's caravan.
One can only assume
she did not act alone,
but had partners
in this endeavor.
You did not report
this news to the governor
nor to Miss Guthrie.
Nor did you take any action
to discover who
the partners might be.
Until I know
how this game will unfold,
I choose to allow the players
to reveal themselves to me
lest I make an enemy
out of someone
I may one day wish
to call a friend.
[ coat whooshes ]
[ gasps ]
[ women gasping ]
[ suspenseful music playing ]
This way.
Is it possible
one of the governor's
calls for assistance was heard?
Reinforcements
from a sister colony?
[ men chattering ]
Flint gave you
command of his ship.
Yes.
You can count the things that Flint
and I agree upon on one hand.
But among them
is the sincere confusion
as to why Charles invested
any time and energy in you.
I suppose Flint's come to
see that there might be
some capacity in you after all.
And?
And what?
"And" as in it sounded
as if there was more
to that thought.
That you might see yourself
agreeing with him again...
about my capacity.
There wasn't any more
to that thought, was there?
MAN:
Signal!
On the flagship's mainmast!
[ men shouting ]
[ suspenseful music playing ]
They're showing
her fleet identification,
asking us to verify who we are.
Get my log from below.
You have the proper codes
to respond?
I do.
Don't.
Raise the black instead.
♪
Raise the black?
He believes we are beneath him,
tactically incompetent.
Why give him
any reason to doubt it?
To be underestimated
is an incredible gift.
Signal the line.
Divide the gun crews
and prepare
the larboard batteries.
Sir.
Prepare the larboard batteries!
MAN: Prepare the
larboard batteries!
[ men shouting ]
[ men chattering ]
[ sighs ]
And did she fight it?
Your mother.
Did she resist your being here?
I believe she wanted to.
I believe every part of her
being was calling out for it.
Then why didn't she?
She has spent so many years
protecting our people,
protecting me.
To put it all in danger now...
it is a necessary sacrifice
if this war is to be won.
But it violates everything
she understands herself to be.
She let me go because she knows
that if we survive
this battle today,
she will likely
need to step aside
and make room
for someone better suited
to do what must be done.
It's a hard thing
to look your successor
in the eye
and know that
their time is nearing
while yours is almost through.
But as far as successors go,
your mother could do far worse.
[ dog barks and howls ]
Ma'am!
[ barking continues ]
[ gunshot ]
Aah!
[ groaning ]
DOBBS: They'll fight to
the death to defend it.
There's only 100 men,
more or less,
left behind to guard it.
The rest are women and children.
And the cache? It's being
guarded there as well?
It's nearby. Buried.
But the one of them
who knows where to find it
is inside that camp,
and he cannot run away.
Get a message to the major.
Tell him he can deploy
his men to this position.
Let's finish this
as quickly as possible.
[ chattering ]
BONNY:
You trust him?
What's that?
A few weeks ago, we had a
chance to sail with him.
You said you'd always be
lookin' over your shoulder,
worried he'd fuck us
the first chance he got.
I will say this for him.
In recent weeks,
among the disturbing
number of people
who've tried to kill
one or the both of us,
he is not among them.
Charles was, in some
sense, a son to him,
and Charles was, in some
sense, a brother to us.
I couldn't tell you
what that makes us to him,
but something, perhaps.
Gun crews at the ready!
MAN:
Gun crews at the ready!
See you on the other side.
♪
Always.
[ men shouting ]
MAN: Come to your
crews, Mr. Turner!
[ men shouting ]
MAN ♪2:
Gun number one ready!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN ♪3:
Number six ready!
Does he actually mean to
exchange broadsides with us?
Pass word up the line.
All ships may fire at will.
Yes, sir.
Gun crews, prepare to engage!
Larboard batteries
may fire at will!
MAN:
Fire!
[ dramatic music playing ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
MAN: Open the ports!
Open the ports!
♪
Company, present!
Fire!
Fire!
[ men shouting ]
Aah!
Aah!
[ gunfire continues ]
Defenders across the water
have been rendered
largely ineffective.
Any luck, we'll have a beachhead
established within an hour,
find Mr. Silver,
the fugitive Mr. Rackham,
and have the cache in our
possession before the sun sets.
[ gunfire continues ]
Sir.
[ clicks tongue ]
Come.
[ men shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
I once thought that to
lead men in this world,
to be liked was just
as good as feared,
and that may very well be true.
But to be both liked
and feared all at once
is an entirely different
state of being...
in which, I believe, at
this moment, I exist alone.
The men need to know they're
in good favor with me.
They need it,
and there is nothing
they won't do
to make sure they have it.
Mr. Dobbs will do
what I ask of him.
MAN:
Fire!
Pull everyone back.
Sir?
Pull them back, now!
SILVER: He will lead
Captain Hornigold
exactly where I ask him to,
of this I'm sure.
[ trumpeting ]
But from there, it's up to you.
[ grunts ]
[ grunts ]
[ shouting ]
MAN:
We're being ambushed!
[ shouting, screaming ]
[ shouting,
screaming continues ]
MAN:
Company, withdrawal!
[ grunts ]
[ gasping ]
[ whinnies ]
Fire!
[ screams ]
What the hell is he doing?
Could he mean to board us?
Order the larboard batteries to
concentrate their fire on that ship.
And send word to the Orion
to do the same. Yes, sir.
All crews, larboard batteries,
target the lead ship!
[ men shout ]
Whoa!
[ men shouting ]
Fire!
MAN: Fire!
MAN ♪2:
Fire two!
Aim ahead a little more!
MAN: Fire!
Lead him!
[ grunts ]
Aah!
[ both grunting ]
Aah!
Get to the stern chasers!
Now!
Fire!
[ screaming ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ chuckles ]
Sir! It's the Orion!
She's been overrun!
Get the gun crews
to resume firing.
[ men shouting ]
MAN: Look out below!
How, sir?
Sir?
Shall we prepare
to repel boarders?
Cut our anchor cables
and signal the line to retreat.
[ men shouting, screaming ]
[ grunting ]
[ spits ]
[ whinnies ]
Come on!
[ whinnies ]
Aah!
♪
[ shouts, screams echoing ]
♪
[ gurgles ]
[ exhales ]
MAN:
Company, retreat!
MAN ♪2:
Back! Fall back!
MAN ♪3:
Company, retreat!
Retreat!
Tell your governor!
You tell him I'm coming!
Let us say there is some
merit to your argument.
Let us say that Mr. Dobbs
will do as you ask of him.
I would have to admit
in that case
that the world
has shifted beneath our feet
in a most startling way.
But in terms of our future
and the danger that you
believe you may pose to me,
bear this in mind.
I have survived starvation,
a tempest,
pirate hunters,
jealous captains,
mutinous crews,
angry lords,
a queen, a king,
and the goddamn British navy.
So to whatever extent
you may be concerned
that some day we will clash,
worried that though
today we be friends,
some day you will have no
choice but to be my end...
I won't worry too much.
GARRETT: They call
him John the Giant.
They say that
he's seven foot tall.
They say that he moves
better on that leg
than most do with the ones
that God gave them.
Why would they say that?
A man walks into a tavern
out the dead of night,
threatens the entirety
of the island,
and then proceeds to remove a
man's head with a metal shoe.
I say that's a story
that stands a strong chance
of seeing itself embellished.
Do we care that
it isn't remotely true?
Doesn't matter what's true.
Not now, at any rate.
We're creating the appearance
of a man out of nothing.
The appearance of a man that the
resistance against the English
feels compelled to rally around.
We'll introduce him.
We'll put flesh on him.
We'll give him a soul.
But if the street
wants to invest him
with more than
we can on our own,
I won't fight them about it.
But that name isn't
doing anything for us.
See about that.
For those of you
who have not heard,
the governor
has imposed martial law
upon all of Nassau Town in response
to the murder of Captain Throckmorton.
He asks that I convey
to the rest of his council
the contents of the letter
left for him today,
taking responsibility for
Captain Throckmorton's murder.
"I was no one,
and then you came,
and my island fell,
and I became
something else."
Why not Flint?
Flint?
You want to put a man forward
as a face of our efforts
to oust the English
from the island,
why not use Flint?
They all know him already.
They all fear him already.
I've lived too long
dependent upon Flint
to be the one
to hold our ranks together.
It's time we finally
had an alternative.
"On the night I confiscated
the pardon rolls,
the night I started becoming,
I made clear my position
that there would be
two sorts of men
on the island going forward...
Those like Captain Vane,
determined to stand by
their oath to the very end,
and those like
Captain Throckmorton,
happy to be
the first to betray it.
And thus, as always,
to traitors..."
Does he even know?
Mr. Silver?
Does he have any idea
you're using his name?
What flows forth
from this house,
starting tonight,
is a new story for Nassau.
I've watched her follow madmen.
I've watched her
follow rich men.
I've watched her bow
before tyrants.
But now it's time
she had a king.
When we're ready,
when he's ready,
he'll step into the role
we've created for him...
and lead an impossible army
into an unwinnable war...
and win it.
"Captain Throckmorton's
black spot
will not be the last.
Ignore it, and join him.
Heed it, and reclaim
your place amongst us.
Until then, I remain...
Long John Silver."
♪
Dobbs assaulted him,
and he believes him responsible
for choosing the men
to be interrogated by them.
But it's been sorted.
I had three men hold him down
while Dooley and Wayne
administered a beating.
ELLERS:
The governor in Nassau
hanged a pirate in the square.
The pirate was Charles Vane.
What do you want to do about it?
BILLY: He knew it was
the only way to start it.
[ speaks softly ]
Start what?
The resistance in Nassau
is now under way.
QUEEN: How long before
their force arrives? A week.
Then we have much preparation
to do and little time to do it.
Captain Hornigold
will be sailing
in consort with you.
I know this enemy.
He took that cache
with the express purpose
of compelling us
to commit your force
to a battlefield
of his choosing.
If you allow him to dictate
the terms of battle,
you court a disastrous outcome.
[ theme music playing ]
[ crickets chirping ]
[ shoveling ]
[ shoveling ]
[ grunting ]
SILVER:
You sure this is wise?
At the end of the day,
secrets among friends
are the source of all
good things gone wrong.
Is that what we are now?
Friends?
RACKHAM: He wasn't
talking about you.
He's talking about
our hostess, the queen.
That said, you're wrong.
He's right.
The safest place for this
isn't behind walls
or guarded with guns.
The safest place
lives outside the realm
of anyone's awareness.
If the English can't find it,
they can't take it.
I told her we were taking
it, just not where.
She agreed it was best for all
for its whereabouts
to remain unknown,
provided that you
were among the circle
that knew of it.
You they trust above any of us
not to betray for money.
The irony wasn't lost
on either of us.
Well, now that
you've been fetched,
much to do.
A war to plan for.
I've heard you use that
word a thousand times.
A war against England,
now a war to reclaim Nassau.
But hearing him use it just now,
so near the actual
arrival of it,
it sounds different.
It feels different.
Not far from here, the
fortifications are already built...
from which in a few days' time
you'll look out and stare
down King George's navy.
Are you having second thoughts?
Aren't you?
All the blood
that's about to be spilt,
all the things about to
be lost... aren't you?
Well, I wish
it wasn't necessary,
if that's what you're asking.
[ grunts ]
When we were becalmed,
I told Billy I believed
your darkest thoughts
somehow had the ability
to manifest themselves
upon our reality.
That your anger over
the murder of Mrs. Barlow
became the storm
into which we all battled.
That your despair over her death
became the doldrums
into which we all sank.
In my defense, I hadn't had anything
to eat or drink in a while.
But the truth of it,
I'm not sure it was far off.
Your demons are a part
of our reality.
Now, such is the nature
of the influence you wield.
Ah, some of those demons
I've come to know...
but the one in whose name
this war is to be fought...
it is still a stranger to me.
Before this war actually begins,
I'm asking where
it actually began.
Will you tell me?
[ cannons firing ]
[ men shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ shouting ]
[ cannonball whistling ]
[ screams ]
[ screams, groaning ]
[ men shouting ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ ship's bell ringing ]
[ speaks softly ]
Oh, Jesus.
They are not fuckin'
around, are they?
We're supposed
to sail into that?
One ship against
their entire fleet?
Favorable wind.
We'll be upon them quickly.
We'll take fire, obviously.
If we can just get our vanguard
aboard one of their ships,
we could disrupt
their entire line.
Do not look at me like that.
This is the plan.
Harass their line.
We create uncertainty
in the minds of their
soldiers on the ground
and undermine their
confidence in their command.
Yeah, and I know
how they'll feel.
MAN:
Sails! East-southeast!
East?
[ suspenseful music playing ]
Six ships.
British colors.
Who the fuck is that?
Reinforcements, likely.
It seems Governor Rogers
was able to enlist
the aid of one
of his colleagues.
I'll put a launch
in the water now.
What for?
To inform Captain Flint
so he can make his retreat.
[ chuckles ]
There could be hundreds of
soldiers aboard those ships.
The captain's battle plan
does not take into account
a force that large.
Captain Flint's battle plan
does not take
into account is retreat.
There is nowhere to retreat to.
And given how much we have
sacrificed to earn this battle,
how can we do anything
other than see it through?
My friend may have given his
life to earn this battle.
I understand the obligation
you are feeling to succeed,
but there comes a certain point
when one must accept
what is painfully obvious.
How many ships?
What?
The second fleet...
How many ships?
MAN:
Six sets of sails!
Describe them, please.
What difference does it make?
Shut up.
The flotilla...
Describe them.
Three tall ships!
Two sloops!
One man of war.
And one man of war.
Make a course for that
second flotilla, please.
You're going to attack them?
Time is short, please.
Get us under way.
Get us under way!
[ guns cocking ]
[ whistle blowing,
men shouting ]
[ shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
[ yelling ]
MAN:
Right flank, kneel!
[ suspenseful music playing ]
Fire!
[ man shouting ]
[ gunfire, shouting continues ]
[ grunts ]
MAN:
Reload!
MAN:
Bring the mortars forward!
Mortars.
Mortars!
Concentrate on the mortars!
[ screaming ]
[ screams ]
MAN:
Reload!
MAN ♪2:
Three paces forward!
Present!
Fire!
Company, form into two ranks!
Now!
Second cannon!
MAN:
Take cover!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN:
Ready the gun, ahh!
MAN:
Fire!
Second rank!
Mortars in position!
Fire!
[ screams ]
Fire!
[ screams ]
Captain, it's time!
Not yet.
Fire!
MAN ♪3: Two inches!
Two inches!
Fire!
[ screaming ]
[ gunshots,
cannon fire echoing ]
Captain, we need to fall back.
Fire!
[ yelps ]
Smoke!
MAN: Smoke!
MAN ♪2: Smoke!
MAN:
Form into two ranks!
Line facing forward!
Fall back!
MAN: Fall back!
MAN ♪2: Retreat!
FLINT: Fall back!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN:
Hold your fire!
MAN ♪2: Hold your fire! First
company, prepare to move out!
I wouldn't do that.
Beg your pardon?
MAN:
Stand easy!
He asked for this fight, Major.
He didn't do so without a plan.
And I promise you,
bumbling into a hasty retreat
wasn't a part of it.
Bumbling?
They were overwhelmed
by a superior force.
He wants us to pursue him.
He wants you to pursue him.
A tactical withdrawal
to guide us into an ambush.
Am I to believe he sacrificed
over 50 of his men,
led them into
a massacre deliberately,
just to entice us to chase him?
You don't know that
man, Major, but I do.
He's quite capable of
what you suggest and more.
[ chattering ]
[ murmuring ]
reflected there.
Is everything all right?
Show her what you showed to me.
[ sighs ]
"To the first to betray,
I offer the first
chance to repent.
Remove the captain.
You have until nightfall."
Where did you get this?
It was sitting
at the foot of my bed
when I awoke this morning.
Someone left it while I slept.
The message,
it would seem, is clear.
There is a voice out there
yet to identify itself
that wants to see
Captain Vane's remains
removed from the gibbet
in the square.
Why does it look like this?
An old wives' tale.
Pirate lore.
Avery's maiden crew
was said to deliver
the black spot
as a warning
to wayward crew members.
Ignored on pain of death.
THROCKMORTON: I knew men when I
was young who sailed with Avery.
It was a bullshit story then,
and it's no less
a bullshit story now.
Ma'am, cowards send notes.
The form of the threat
may not likely be the issue.
We are aware there is
dissent on the street.
Perhaps removing the gibbet
would go a long way
towards settling
whatever unrest may be brewing.
SOAMES: You're suggesting
that the governor comply
with an anonymous threat?
I am suggesting the gibbet
could be seen by some
to be inflammatory.
The point has been made.
The law has been satisfied.
It is a well-settled
statement of resolve
to maintain the display.
If it is removed
in the light of this threat,
in the light of Captain
Flint's standing ultimatum
against the use of it, would it not
worry you that it might appear weak?
It certainly worries me
to make
self-defeating mistakes
out of fear of appearing weak.
ELEANOR:
No, he's right.
He's right.
Gives me no pleasure
having it there,
no matter what
the street may say.
But to remove it in this moment
threatens to
undermine confidence
in the governor's leadership.
That said, the end
of three days' time,
I want it down and gone,
not a minute longer.
If you would like me
to form a small detail
to offer you protection
in the meantime...
If anyone has a problem with
my allegiance to the Crown,
my men and I are happy
to address it with them.
Ma'am?
Excuse me.
[ murmuring ]
You should be in bed.
I've spent enough time in bed.
I did what I did.
I know how it seems,
to the street, to you,
but please understand...
[ speaks softly ]
It seems...
as though a very
difficult thing was done.
It seems as though
I am fortunate
you had the courage to do it.
You have enemies here.
Then let them be
my enemies as well.
Any and all of them.
And let them come.
[ birds squawking ]
[ wood creaking ]
MAN:
As you were.
[ men chattering ]
Six ships...
Two sloops, man of war...
It's a familiar combination.
I once had a fleet
of that makeup.
MAN: Get her
cleaned up, boy!
[ men shouting indistinctly ]
I came looking
for Flint, not you.
Where is he?
He's currently being pummeled
by half the British navy
just beyond the horizon.
The navy?
The war to reclaim Nassau
began here about an hour ago.
The entirety of
the British fleet
under the command of
Governor Rogers is in play.
I'd like to think that you're
here to join our effort,
but I fear the reason
for your arrival
is something other than that.
[ speaks softly ]
Charles is dead.
[ dramatic music playing ]
The governor in Nassau
hung him in the square.
[ breathes heavily ]
On the island I helped to build,
he thought he could do that,
face no consequences.
He failed to account for me.
British law sentenced him,
but I think you and I
both know who it was
that fashioned that noose,
and it was no "he."
I look forward
to seeing Miss Guthrie again
and settling
Charles' account with her.
But there is no victory over her
without a victory here today.
That much is clear.
Will you help us find it?
FLINT: Madness is such
a hard thing to define,
which makes it
such an easy label
to affix to one's enemies.
Once it had
been applied to Thomas,
once our relationship
had been exposed,
defiled, scandalized...
everything ended.
There were times
that I was persuaded
to sue for peace since then,
but that was the day
that on some level I knew...
that England was broken...
and that sooner or later
a good man must resist it.
[ speaks softly ]
I don't know what to say.
You don't need to say anything.
You asked me where it began,
and I felt that you were
entitled to an answer...
To the truth.
I appreciate that.
And I am genuinely sorry.
But you can see how this
might be of particular
and immediate concern for me.
I can?
Well, before today
I knew of two people
who managed to truly know you,
to gain your trust,
to be your partner,
and they both ended up dead
while playing the role.
Now, wait a minute...
Now you're telling me
there's a third member
of this class,
making it even less credible
to characterize Mr. Gates'
and Mrs. Barlow's deaths
as bad luck.
It would seem that those
closest to you meet their end
not just during
the relationship,
but because of it.
And as I sit here,
I'm acutely aware
there may be no one
closer to you
in the world right now than I.
What exactly are you saying?
That I've somehow sought out
my own tragedies?
Did you not tell me
that our darkest motives
will conceal themselves from us?
Cloak themselves
in whatever they must
in order to move us to action?
And even if that's not true,
a pattern is a pattern,
and only a fool ignores one
because he does not care
for the implications.
So you see yourself as a potential
fourth member of this class,
concerned that
your association with me
will lead to your end.
My association with you
began out of necessity,
but I've come to find
a great deal of respect for you.
Perhaps even friendship.
Hmm.
[ sighs ]
Which is why I find myself
unnerved by the thought
that when this pattern
applies itself to you and I...
that I will be the end of you.
Is that so?
Now, three who preceded me
all had one thing in common.
They were vulnerable to you.
Had more to lose than you,
less means with which to
protect themselves than you.
Till recently, I thought
that was me as well,
but now...
I don't know that it is anymore.
It is natural
for men new to power
to assume that it has no limits.
Trust me. It does.
We agreed that
I would select a man
to be responsible
for making a direct move
against Captain Hornigold
once the battle begins.
I chose Mr. Dobbs.
You chose Dobbs?
Why the fuck would you do that?
It's a dangerous errand...
It's more than dangerous.
The entirety of our plan
rests on its success.
Why would you assign it to a man
harboring who knows what sort
of resentment against you?
Because it isn't resentment.
If you had disciplined him,
he would resent you for it,
but towards me...
I don't believe
he feels resentment.
I believe he feels shame
for having disappointed me
and a great need
to redeem himself in my eyes.
Send someone else.
It's done.
He knows.
Were I to replace him now,
it might provoke the
response you wish to avoid.
If you're wrong,
if Mr. Dobbs takes this
opportunity to betray you...
to betray us...
this battle will be over
before it ever began.
Flint sent you to kill me,
yet instead, you surrendered.
Why?
Sailed with that crew
for months.
Then they take the side
of those fucking savages
over a man who was supposed
to have been their brother.
Truth is, they didn't
give a shit about me
except that I did their bidding,
so now I'm ready to see it end,
and I can help you end it.
ROLLINS: Says he knows where
the slave camp is located.
Says the cache with gems
is hidden nearby.
[ grunting ]
Mr. Carter, please bring
me that man there.
[ grunting ]
Unfortunately, I've known too
many men from Nassau in my life,
and it's so very hard to know
which can be taken at their word.
Show me that you truly intend
to leave Captain Flint
and your life
with him behind you.
Oh, that man
will meet the same end
whether you shoot him
or some other man hangs him,
but I'd like to be quite certain
your intentions are true.
[ gunshot ]
Major, prepare your men.
Sir.
Lieutenant, prepare the men.
Make sure they have
plenty of supplies,
water, and ammunition.
We're heading into the forest.
[ chattering ]
[ speaking softly
in native language ]
[ gasps, speaks
in native language ]
MADI: He was hiding
by the water.
Otherwise, everyone is accounted
for and where they belong.
All but you.
You do not feel
you are where you belong.
The men above
would fight to protect us.
I should be among them.
If we are to lead them
into this war,
we ought to show that we are
willing to lead them through it.
♪
You have protected me
for so very long.
It is time I did
the same for you.
Did he get it?
Your black spot
was delivered, yeah.
But?
I saw him.
He was in the tavern
drinking with his men.
They were in high spirits.
And the gibbet remains?
Yeah.
I think it's gonna take
more than a note
to frighten him.
Of course it is.
It was Mr. Gates who first
told me about the spot.
It kept him awake
for three nights.
It wasn't the note
or the threat.
It was the idea
of Avery himself,
just the awareness
that someone so terrible
knew your name.
[ chuckles ]
I have no doubt
that Captain Throckmorton
is currently unconcerned
with our threat.
We have only just begun
to tell our story.
We haven't yet
introduced the villain.
It's been a few days
since I told you
of my suspicions about Idelle,
her role in the attack
on the governor's caravan.
One can only assume
she did not act alone,
but had partners
in this endeavor.
You did not report
this news to the governor
nor to Miss Guthrie.
Nor did you take any action
to discover who
the partners might be.
Until I know
how this game will unfold,
I choose to allow the players
to reveal themselves to me
lest I make an enemy
out of someone
I may one day wish
to call a friend.
[ coat whooshes ]
[ gasps ]
[ women gasping ]
[ suspenseful music playing ]
This way.
Is it possible
one of the governor's
calls for assistance was heard?
Reinforcements
from a sister colony?
[ men chattering ]
Flint gave you
command of his ship.
Yes.
You can count the things that Flint
and I agree upon on one hand.
But among them
is the sincere confusion
as to why Charles invested
any time and energy in you.
I suppose Flint's come to
see that there might be
some capacity in you after all.
And?
And what?
"And" as in it sounded
as if there was more
to that thought.
That you might see yourself
agreeing with him again...
about my capacity.
There wasn't any more
to that thought, was there?
MAN:
Signal!
On the flagship's mainmast!
[ men shouting ]
[ suspenseful music playing ]
They're showing
her fleet identification,
asking us to verify who we are.
Get my log from below.
You have the proper codes
to respond?
I do.
Don't.
Raise the black instead.
♪
Raise the black?
He believes we are beneath him,
tactically incompetent.
Why give him
any reason to doubt it?
To be underestimated
is an incredible gift.
Signal the line.
Divide the gun crews
and prepare
the larboard batteries.
Sir.
Prepare the larboard batteries!
MAN: Prepare the
larboard batteries!
[ men shouting ]
[ men chattering ]
[ sighs ]
And did she fight it?
Your mother.
Did she resist your being here?
I believe she wanted to.
I believe every part of her
being was calling out for it.
Then why didn't she?
She has spent so many years
protecting our people,
protecting me.
To put it all in danger now...
it is a necessary sacrifice
if this war is to be won.
But it violates everything
she understands herself to be.
She let me go because she knows
that if we survive
this battle today,
she will likely
need to step aside
and make room
for someone better suited
to do what must be done.
It's a hard thing
to look your successor
in the eye
and know that
their time is nearing
while yours is almost through.
But as far as successors go,
your mother could do far worse.
[ dog barks and howls ]
Ma'am!
[ barking continues ]
[ gunshot ]
Aah!
[ groaning ]
DOBBS: They'll fight to
the death to defend it.
There's only 100 men,
more or less,
left behind to guard it.
The rest are women and children.
And the cache? It's being
guarded there as well?
It's nearby. Buried.
But the one of them
who knows where to find it
is inside that camp,
and he cannot run away.
Get a message to the major.
Tell him he can deploy
his men to this position.
Let's finish this
as quickly as possible.
[ chattering ]
BONNY:
You trust him?
What's that?
A few weeks ago, we had a
chance to sail with him.
You said you'd always be
lookin' over your shoulder,
worried he'd fuck us
the first chance he got.
I will say this for him.
In recent weeks,
among the disturbing
number of people
who've tried to kill
one or the both of us,
he is not among them.
Charles was, in some
sense, a son to him,
and Charles was, in some
sense, a brother to us.
I couldn't tell you
what that makes us to him,
but something, perhaps.
Gun crews at the ready!
MAN:
Gun crews at the ready!
See you on the other side.
♪
Always.
[ men shouting ]
MAN: Come to your
crews, Mr. Turner!
[ men shouting ]
MAN ♪2:
Gun number one ready!
[ shouting continues ]
MAN ♪3:
Number six ready!
Does he actually mean to
exchange broadsides with us?
Pass word up the line.
All ships may fire at will.
Yes, sir.
Gun crews, prepare to engage!
Larboard batteries
may fire at will!
MAN:
Fire!
[ dramatic music playing ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
MAN: Open the ports!
Open the ports!
♪
Company, present!
Fire!
Fire!
[ men shouting ]
Aah!
Aah!
[ gunfire continues ]
Defenders across the water
have been rendered
largely ineffective.
Any luck, we'll have a beachhead
established within an hour,
find Mr. Silver,
the fugitive Mr. Rackham,
and have the cache in our
possession before the sun sets.
[ gunfire continues ]
Sir.
[ clicks tongue ]
Come.
[ men shouting ]
[ shouting continues ]
I once thought that to
lead men in this world,
to be liked was just
as good as feared,
and that may very well be true.
But to be both liked
and feared all at once
is an entirely different
state of being...
in which, I believe, at
this moment, I exist alone.
The men need to know they're
in good favor with me.
They need it,
and there is nothing
they won't do
to make sure they have it.
Mr. Dobbs will do
what I ask of him.
MAN:
Fire!
Pull everyone back.
Sir?
Pull them back, now!
SILVER: He will lead
Captain Hornigold
exactly where I ask him to,
of this I'm sure.
[ trumpeting ]
But from there, it's up to you.
[ grunts ]
[ grunts ]
[ shouting ]
MAN:
We're being ambushed!
[ shouting, screaming ]
[ shouting,
screaming continues ]
MAN:
Company, withdrawal!
[ grunts ]
[ gasping ]
[ whinnies ]
Fire!
[ screams ]
What the hell is he doing?
Could he mean to board us?
Order the larboard batteries to
concentrate their fire on that ship.
And send word to the Orion
to do the same. Yes, sir.
All crews, larboard batteries,
target the lead ship!
[ men shout ]
Whoa!
[ men shouting ]
Fire!
MAN: Fire!
MAN ♪2:
Fire two!
Aim ahead a little more!
MAN: Fire!
Lead him!
[ grunts ]
Aah!
[ both grunting ]
Aah!
Get to the stern chasers!
Now!
Fire!
[ screaming ]
[ cannon fire continues ]
[ chuckles ]
Sir! It's the Orion!
She's been overrun!
Get the gun crews
to resume firing.
[ men shouting ]
MAN: Look out below!
How, sir?
Sir?
Shall we prepare
to repel boarders?
Cut our anchor cables
and signal the line to retreat.
[ men shouting, screaming ]
[ grunting ]
[ spits ]
[ whinnies ]
Come on!
[ whinnies ]
Aah!
♪
[ shouts, screams echoing ]
♪
[ gurgles ]
[ exhales ]
MAN:
Company, retreat!
MAN ♪2:
Back! Fall back!
MAN ♪3:
Company, retreat!
Retreat!
Tell your governor!
You tell him I'm coming!
Let us say there is some
merit to your argument.
Let us say that Mr. Dobbs
will do as you ask of him.
I would have to admit
in that case
that the world
has shifted beneath our feet
in a most startling way.
But in terms of our future
and the danger that you
believe you may pose to me,
bear this in mind.
I have survived starvation,
a tempest,
pirate hunters,
jealous captains,
mutinous crews,
angry lords,
a queen, a king,
and the goddamn British navy.
So to whatever extent
you may be concerned
that some day we will clash,
worried that though
today we be friends,
some day you will have no
choice but to be my end...
I won't worry too much.
GARRETT: They call
him John the Giant.
They say that
he's seven foot tall.
They say that he moves
better on that leg
than most do with the ones
that God gave them.
Why would they say that?
A man walks into a tavern
out the dead of night,
threatens the entirety
of the island,
and then proceeds to remove a
man's head with a metal shoe.
I say that's a story
that stands a strong chance
of seeing itself embellished.
Do we care that
it isn't remotely true?
Doesn't matter what's true.
Not now, at any rate.
We're creating the appearance
of a man out of nothing.
The appearance of a man that the
resistance against the English
feels compelled to rally around.
We'll introduce him.
We'll put flesh on him.
We'll give him a soul.
But if the street
wants to invest him
with more than
we can on our own,
I won't fight them about it.
But that name isn't
doing anything for us.
See about that.
For those of you
who have not heard,
the governor
has imposed martial law
upon all of Nassau Town in response
to the murder of Captain Throckmorton.
He asks that I convey
to the rest of his council
the contents of the letter
left for him today,
taking responsibility for
Captain Throckmorton's murder.
"I was no one,
and then you came,
and my island fell,
and I became
something else."
Why not Flint?
Flint?
You want to put a man forward
as a face of our efforts
to oust the English
from the island,
why not use Flint?
They all know him already.
They all fear him already.
I've lived too long
dependent upon Flint
to be the one
to hold our ranks together.
It's time we finally
had an alternative.
"On the night I confiscated
the pardon rolls,
the night I started becoming,
I made clear my position
that there would be
two sorts of men
on the island going forward...
Those like Captain Vane,
determined to stand by
their oath to the very end,
and those like
Captain Throckmorton,
happy to be
the first to betray it.
And thus, as always,
to traitors..."
Does he even know?
Mr. Silver?
Does he have any idea
you're using his name?
What flows forth
from this house,
starting tonight,
is a new story for Nassau.
I've watched her follow madmen.
I've watched her
follow rich men.
I've watched her bow
before tyrants.
But now it's time
she had a king.
When we're ready,
when he's ready,
he'll step into the role
we've created for him...
and lead an impossible army
into an unwinnable war...
and win it.
"Captain Throckmorton's
black spot
will not be the last.
Ignore it, and join him.
Heed it, and reclaim
your place amongst us.
Until then, I remain...
Long John Silver."
♪