Actually this post DID get me thinking, about all the times Ed gives up and resigns in the show. It's a defense mechanism. We know he's a deeply feeling person. We know his emotions are strong and he will express them. These dismissive reactions are him pushing those feelings aside, not thinking about them, not acknowledging them, trying to ignore them. Trying to control them. Trying to stay on top of them.
This, of course, always catches up.
And it's making me think about how interesting the choices were in this sequence.
In particular, how the final product contrasts with the version of the script that Jes Tom posted later.
(also reading this again wrecks me wow)
In the version in the show, he is not giddy. He is not happily humming. He is calm, and he doesn't even crack a smile. And I think it's more than just acting/directing choices, it's a completely different tone. His "bye bye" in the show does not read as victorious or celebratory to me, it reads as his quick dismissal and resignation that we see several times before. This is Ed giving up a part of himself without letting himself feel what that really means.
This change feels bigger and more deliberate. Ed still doesn't know what it means to give up Blackbeard. And like all the other times he tries to quickly dismiss a feeling, I think that's still going to catch up with him.
It's such an interesting character arc and I love it and I think it's one of the strong cases for needing another season. He hasn't reconciled what it means to hold on to Blackbeard. We see him bring the leathers - this persona - back, to a degree, at the end of the season. But I don't think we've seen him actually process what that means to him. What does it mean to be Ed? Blackbeard isn't Ed, but Blackbeard is undeniably a part of Ed. And this doesn't have to be a bad thing. This can be a part of Ed that he gets to define anew. I'd love to get to see Ed reconcile this part of him, and how it fits with the person he wants to be. He doesn't have to shun this past part of himself.
I want to see him get to his "Hello, Ed."
This is all so, so true.
AND, I think Ed has learned to solve his problems by running from the bad instead of running toward the good. He does this right up until he literally runs into Stede’s arms in the finale.