Izzy IS about community. Heâs ALWAYS BEEN about community in his own messed up way. The Canyon was right and the haters were wrong.
He wanted Blackbeard back because that was what kept the crew safe. He was terrible about it and hurt the man he obviously loves in the process, but it WAS for the greater good. It wasnât a purely selfish act the antis love to frame it as. He wanted to feel safe again and he wanted the crew to be safe as well.
Hell, he was doing his best to help Edward through his post-breakup depression. He didnât understand what was going on and was clearly distressed by it but he provided what Ed needed. He *knew* he lacked the emotional capacity to help his captain himself so he agreed to bring him Lucius. I really think he would have just gritted his teeth and suffered through it if Ed didnât say the one thing that could collapse his whole world.
"Why do we even bother being pirates?" That was what freaked Izzy out so much that he pushed Edward to violence. Not because he selfishly wanted Ed to be close at all times but because Blackbeard the legend was the pillar of his community. That legend kept everyone safe and even if Izzy is a horrible asshole, he *does* care about his crew. He knows the world is a horrible hostile place and he focuses on risk mitigation, even if it means hurting the one person he really cares about.
He really tried to provide that to the crew when Edward and Stede took the Act of Grace. It was a terribly misguided attempt at keeping things under control and it was certainly influenced by his submissive tendencies which make him crave structure and feel safe within hierarchies. He *knows* he lacks Ed's charisma and ability to think outside the box and with such huge shoes to fill it's not really surprising he acted out in anger and in result failed miserably. But he was *NEVER* an asshole just for the sake of it.
Now he realizes those days are gone for good. He's already done everything he could to bring Ed back to his senses, including using *Stede fuckin' Bonnetâs* name. It didnât work. The realization that his one true safeguard is really gone must be terrible, but it also pushes him to take action.
The moment he realizes the crew are in real danger, he takes things into his own hands. He not only goes against the hierarchy he believed to be sacred but also against the man he *LOVES*. He fucking shoots his beloved captain to save the crew. You donât get much more *community* than that.
He is clearly struggling. He's just tried to fucking kill himself after being maimed AND told he was disposable by a man whom he's apparently served for dacades. He will have to reevaluate his whole life and he *knows* it. But he puts it all to the side and he does what needs to be done. He took all of Edwardâs abuse without complaint it seems but the moment the crew are in real danger, he intervenes. You canât tell me a community (*any* community) doesnât need people like that.
It all feels very old-time queer to me. The willingness to make terrible sacrifices to protect one's space. The decision (conscious or not) to be effective rather than liked. The choice to stay alive despite terrible heartbreak and go on fighting.
He's absolutely NOT an irredimable villain. Heâs an asshole who tries to keep his little world safe. Heâs Larry Kramer getting kicked out of GMHC for being too confrontational and politically incorrect to be palatable to the general public.
