How long was the Silent Mary imprisoned based on the PotC timeline
So, @acutecupidity asked me to write this up for you all. It’s a bit long, so if you don’t have time to fully read it, I’ll summarize at the bottom. Here goes...
In Dead Man’s Chest, we get the most information for this. Now, the Black Pearl became the Pearl after Jones brought it back up from the depths. Jack was given 13 years to Captain it before we meet Jones in the movies. So, since Jack tried to argue about being Captain only for 2 years before the mutiny, that puts it as follows:
The Pearl sinks and is brought back up by Jones. 2 yrs later, Barbossa stages a mutiny. Somewhere around 10 years later (because the Pearl has been haunting the waters “for nearly 10 years”-Curse of the Black Pearl) so that means Will and Elizabeth are scheduled to marry about a year after they part ways with Jack. So, time between end of movie 1 and start of 2, is about a year.
Now, if we assume that Will got Elizabeth pregnant on the same day that he became captain of the Dutchman, that means Henry is at least 15+ when he is on the Monarch. It was, after all, a different time so a 15 year old could, I think, get a job of his own by then and could be shown having romantic interests. However, it is Disney, so I think that means every character should be at lease 18 for romantic interest to be allowed. That means we already have 13+18 years in the Triangle. However, and this I hadn’t mentioned in my original chat with @acutecupidity, but Carina’s mother brings up something interesting... Jack knew of her mother, and knew that it was someone Barbossa had spent time with. If we assume that Barbossa first got to know her when they were still sailing together, that means it was pre-mutiny. So, assuming Barbossa didn’t get Carina’s mother pregnant the first time, but continued to visit, I think it’s safe to say that Carina is also at least 18 or in her 20s. This is backed up by the actors. If we assume they were cast because they looked to be the right age, then I think it’s safe to assume about low-mid twenties.
Now, if we assume the low end, that means we’re up to 13+20 years, so that’s 33 years as a minimum for how long they’ve been trapped. So, this only leaves 1 area of unknown... How long after Jack ditched the Mary in the Triangle before the Wicked Wench was sunk and Jack first met Davy Jones. Now, Elizabeth had heard of him and talked about him like he was, to some degree, famous. And I’d assume that would take some time, but, if we assume he wasn’t able to pull off big schemes over the 10 years he spent after the mutiny traveling, probably without a crew, that means his fame came just after conquering the infamous Butcher of the Sea. Now, unless he’s pulling off huge scenes in a really small amount of time, even though sailing in that time wasn’t as quick as modern ships could manage, that means it’s more than just a year. We can assume it would’ve taken him about 5 years to gain that fame. Or, at least enough name to get on Cutler Beckett’s radar as a young pirate and a new captain. Beckett doesn’t strike me as the sort to try and make business with people he hasn’t at least read about or heard gossip about, so Jack had to be famous enough to be worth discussing by ordinary people.
So! That puts our math at 5+13+20 to create a baseline of around 38 years at the minimum. Now, this can be debated, but I personally like to say that it can’t be any less than 30 based on that solid 13 years and the base age you can estimate for Henry, even if the Wicked Wench was sunk like the day after the events of the Triangle. The point it, I set them as being trapped between 30 and 45 years. So, when I eventually get around to writing PoTC fanfics, that is the gap I’m working with and the middle areas that get me that number, is open to my own interpretation and manipulation
