ok I've been avoiding saying this for a bit cuz I didn't wanna ruin anyone's fun and I love the whole "ed tries to kill stede when he returns in s2 via dramatic gay swordfight" as much as the next girl but the thing is that I REALLY don't think there's gonna be this whole deal about ed being furious with stede and unable to forgive him like I really don't think that's where this is going. stay with me on this one please <3
not to be like "you're misunderstanding the text" about all this cuz the narrative does not treat stede as if he's innocent in this situation for breaking ed's heart but I really do think people are forgetting that period in between ed returning and becoming blackbeard again where he was just?? sad?? not even angry, just dejected and hopeless. he wasn't plotting revenge, in fact it's pretty heavily implied he was plotting suicide by the time lucius gets around to him. he's absolutely wrecked by stede leaving him, yeah, but not once does he turn those emotions outward. if anything hiding himself away for days suggests to me that he simply felt foolish. of course stede didn't love him back. he should've seen this coming, but in spite of all that, he loves stede, so he surrounds himself with the all the things the man he cannot have left behind, and wallows. he's hanging onto the happy memories of stede, his fine fabrics and his nice food, because if he lets go of what little he has left, he may as well curl up into a ball and die. and after his chat with lucius he's on the up - tidying and singing and planning fun activities for his crew - he's not angry! he's trying to move on in earnest and find new purpose and happiness without stede! throughout all of this, not once does he express anger or resentment towards stede. he died when stede left him, yes, but now life is beginning again. he truly does believe he can begin anew with the power of all the things stede taught him.
and when he stumbles from this path and reverts back into blackbeard, he doesn't do this because he's angry at stede, either. he does it because again, he feels foolish. he feels insecure and weak, feels unsafe being just edward. he thinks the only way forward is to fall into old habits, because being ed is scary and new and he thinks he doesn't deserve to try, and whilst blackbeard is someone he desperately does not want to be again, he knows he can do it, whilst edward needs to watch his step. once again, it's on HIM, not stede. he throws away his silk, his heart, because he cannot have a heart as long as there is love in there for stede. being heartless is better than being heartbroken. it's vitally important to realise that ed does all of this not because he hates stede, but because he still loves him. despite himself, he cannot stop loving stede, and that is the most dangerous thing in the world when you're trying to become a monster. throwing all of stede's things into the ocean and marooning his crew, quite literally destroying all of the things that remind him of stede, is not the behaviour of someone who is no longer in love!! he has to literally kill everyone and everything that has a connection to stede because he doesn't trust himself to commit to being blackbeard as long as he has these ties to the man who keep him wanting to be edward! the only thing ed keeps, of course, is the lighthouse painting. as a reminder. a reminder to not be stupid again. a reminder that his love will lead him to destruction. you're supposed to avoid lighthouses, don't you know that? you got drawn in by the light and cracked up on the rocks, and it's your own stupid fault. you'll never make that mistake again now you've learned the hard way.
now I'm not saying stede is free of blame here, don't get me wrong. ed's motivation for throwing away the silk was definitely tied to stede - he was reminded of the thing his mother told him, that he's not the kind of person who deserves good things, and stede leaving him was the final proof of that. from ed's perspective he was just another one of stede's playthings, something for him to entertain himself with until he finally got bored and abandoned him to go back to his old life. but my point is that it's extremely important to recognise that those misunderstandings come from a place of pre-existing self loathing on ed's part. stede's abandonment simply confirmed all of ed's worst fears and insecurities. of course stede was really just some bored rich boy. of course I was just a toy to him. of course we could never be happy together. I should have known better than to believe something so stupid. haven't I been told as much all my life? he believes all of this because he had already been taught from a young age that he's not the kind of person that gets to love and be loved. stede DEFINITELY has some apologising to do, but this isn't about ed forgiving stede. it's about him opening up his heart again after he took every effort to close it up forever. it's about him choosing to believe that all the things he told himself were wrong. and that's a decision he has to make for himself, not something stede can magically fix by getting on his knees and grovelling.
i've said before that if season 1 is the emancipation of stede bonnet, then season 2 is going to be the emancipation of edward teach. I have full confidence that season 2 will focus heavily on ed's character and his journey to self acceptance - his struggle with unlearning the idea that "edward" and "blackbeard" are two totally separate people and accepting that all these different sides of him are parts of the same person, and stede will help him reach that point by showing him that he's lovable for all of his parts, not just the bits that he personally considers palatable - and that can't happen if he spends the whole time trying to kill stede. stede's return will likely kickstart his arc for the season. in other words, stede's return is not the resolution to edward's problems, but the beginning of his journey to fixing them. stede showing up and loudly proclaiming his love for ed, even when he looks like this, is going to be the inspiration he needs to start really working on himself, to become someone worthy of stede's unconditional love. ed desperately needs stede's presence in his life - he needs that soft guiding light to keep him on track, needs someone to break him out of his destructive chains of thought, someone to shake some sense into him. stede is good for ed, and he knows it. it was only when ed loved stede, and couldn't have him, or believed stede didn't love him back, that he lost all sense. stede showing up with his new prince charming swag is going to leave ed with no room to doubt how wrong he was. stede is a lighthouse, and he's going to be so full on with his love-crazed tunnel vision it will quite literally be blinding. ed won't have the CHANCE to ignore him!!!
so if we do get the epic homoerotic swordfight of our dreams upon their reunion in season 2, I truly don't think it'll be because ed is angry with stede or actually does want to hurt him. it'll be his defense mechanisms kicking in once again. he's blocking out any hope of a second chance. he's not going kill stede because he's angry he left - he's going to kill him because knowing he came back is too good to be true. if he does want to fight stede, it'll be because he's trying desperately to convince both of them that he doesn't need stede or his love. that he's just blackbeard now. edward teach is dead, and blackbeard has no use for the romantic hero here to rescue him. blackbeard doesn't need saving. blackbeard can kill stede bonnet easily. which is going to make it all the more delicious when he realises he can't. when he realises that he does want to be saved. he does want to be loved. he wants to believe he deserves it. and who is he to say no to a man so willing to give him all of those things?
