I just have a lot of feelings about Ed this season.
Yes, I am worried that he’ll never gain back the trust of the people he hurt. I want him so badly to regain his rapport with Izzy, with Frenchie, with Fang, but he hurt them so badly.
But honestly? He literally doesn’t know any other way to be.
As a child, he was made to feel worthless (by both his mother and father, albeit in different ways). How did he manage to break free? An act of violence that has haunted him ever since.
Then as a crew member on Hornigold’s ship: abused again. Maybe we’ll never find out all the horrible things that happened to him there, but the little we do know is horrifying. How did he break free? By becoming Blackbeard.
And here’s the thing: people loved him for it. They revered him. Finally he had respect. He had loyalty. Do you remember how the crew of the Revenge greeted him? He was a god.
It wasn’t real, and he was beginning to feel that when he met Stede. Stede showed him that maybe he could be loved for himself. Loved for Ed, not Blackbeard.
And then Stede leaves. And Izzy tells him he’s only worth something as Blackbeard. And of course he believes Izzy, because at least that’s something he’s seen work.
But it’s not the same anymore. He’s hurting and the violence isn’t making him feel better. People aren’t looking at him as a god, they keep looking at him like he’s broken.
So he escalates. And escalates. And escalates. What else is he supposed to do? Maybe this time, the next time, will bring back that feeling.
And it never does. So he makes his peace, sails into a storm, and waits to die.
I don’t know, maybe the crew will never forgive Blackbeard, but they should forgive Ed.