Izzy Hands is a victim of his own success.  And not just in his construction of Blackbeard, which weâll get to⌠later.  Probably in another post.  But heâs a victim of his own success in that he has created his own persona and nobody ever takes him for anything but surface value. Â
Izzyâs created himself as a capable, suave, smart individual who can handle anything that comes at him. Â And, in a general sense, itâs true. Â Heâs helped Edward Teach create the Blackbeard myth, heâs an obviously talented fencer and fighter, and heâs reasonably (more in a minute) sure of his place in the world and what his responsibilities are.
Izzyâs place in the world is just, âBlackbeard.â Â I mean, yes, you could expand that to âBlackbeardâs right arm,â because Izzy is Blackbeardâs first mate, given that position by Blackbeard himself. Â But Iâd make the argument that it wasnât really because Izzy did anything exceptional; itâs because Izzy was there, he helped construct Blackbeard, of course it makes sense that the next step would be making him first mate to help keep Blackbeard shored up.
And being first mate comes with a certain set of duties, like keeping the crew in line, basically being the captain when the captain isnât around. Â And as long as heâs doing it in Blackbeardâs name, thereâs not that much required out of him; the fear of Blackbeard does most of the job for him, and he can fill in the rest. Â And the crewmembers like Ivan and Fang (I love Fang so much) have probably figured this out. Â I mean, they have zero respect for Izzy; consider the sketching in âThe Best Revenge Is Dressing Wellâ. Â Wee John comes in and tells Lucius and Fang that âthe bossâ is back, and Fang literally shits himself thinking Blackbeard is back and hurries to get up, but John tells him, âitâs just that angry fecker, Izzyâ and the INSTANT reaction is laughter and âlet him look.â Â And then he proceeds to spill the tea to Lucius about Izzyâs misadventures at sea, which was meant only to humiliate Izzy.
Which brings us to the Revenge crew.
Absolutely none of them have respect for Izzy.  Youâd think they would, because of who he purports to be (Blackbeardâs First Mate), but their first experience with Izzy is⌠they run rings around him and Stede steals back one of their prisoners.  Given what we know about the crewâs opinion of Stede at that point, if Izzy can be beaten by Stede, why would they have any respect for Izzy?  And then he shows up on the Revenge and Blackbeard âtakesâ the ship, but itâs not like any other ship theyâve encountered. Â
They donât know how to be invaded, they donât know how to be prisoners, and Edward is totally enthralled with everybody and everything, including being ass over teakettle for Stede Bonnet. Â There is no fear of Edward or of Blackbeardâonly respect, and only for Edward. Â Izzy gets dragged along, yes, but heâs such a fish out of water. Â He has no idea how to actually handle people; even Ivan and Fang ultimately agree to mutiny against him. Â Lucius blackmails himâand letâs marvel at that for a moment. Â *Lucius* blackmails Izzy. Â And not only does he blackmail Izzy in a beautifully benign wayââItâd be a shame if your nickname got out, Dizzy Izzyââbut he also shows Izzy that he is out of his depths. Â Izzy tries to blackmail in return, with Luciusâ sexual history, and Lucius basically defangs him. Â He proves that Izzy really doesnât know how to manage people outside of fear, and that sets him back. Â
Then, we have the heartbreaking moment of Izzy and Fang and Ivan in âThe Art of Fuckery.â Â not just the opening monologue, but the moment of, âI guess weâre not killing this guyâ and Izzyâs determination of, âThe plan is very much alive. He promised me.â Â Thatâs not the voice of a man who is happy, but of a man who is expecting disappointment. Â He knows heâs going to have to be the one to kill Stede Bonnet, and heâs going to have to be the bad guy, again, and push Edward into something Edward doesnât want to do. Â Izzy doesnât care that itâd break Edwardâs heart, or possibly break Edward himself, he just wants Stede and these other idiots gone and be back with the real Blackbeard.
But thereâs also like, maybe 1% of Izzy that is⌠well, not rancid.  He has actual feelings; Con O'Neill is utterly brilliant at using his face to show what Izzy is feeling, even when his mouth is saying something different.  Heâs chastising himself when he lets Stede get away with one of the hostages; heâs petulant when he whines âCanât I just send the boys, Ed?â and Edward insists that Izzy do it to make a good impression on the âGentleman Pirate.â  Somewhere under all the bullshit that Izzy has constructed for himself, thereâs a person. Â
And that person has some kind of love for Edward. Â Itâs not healthy, for either of them, itâs not even spoken of, hell, maybe it doesnât even have a name outside of âweirdâ or âtoxic.â Â But heâs capable of it, and the fact that nobody sees that is what makes me love Izzy the way I do. Â Nobody sees beyond this shell that Izzy built for himselfâwhich is exactly the thing thatâs happening with Edward. Â Nobody sees beyond the shell that Edward has built for himselfâexcept when he meets Stede. Â
Izzy doesnât have a Stede; in fact, if there were someone willing, I donât know that Izzy would even accept it. Â But I also think, of course he would if that someone was Edward. Â
My hope is that eventually, Stede and Edward break through with each other, and then Edward can look at Izzy and say, âShit, man, Iâve been wrong to look at you like this. Â Youâre my friend, mate, and you need help.â