Sorry, I’m still on this: if you take it for granted that Ed plans on murdering Stede until the tub scene in “Art of Fuckery,” then you’re definitely at least calling into question all of their interactions, and the building of their relationship, to that point. The closet conversation, the “most fun I’ve had at sea in ages,” the “fine things well,” the stabbing scene, Ed’s demonstration of fuckery, etc. Even Izzy, the least perceptive human on the planet, gets an inkling that maybe Ed isn’t intending to kill Stede.
I’ve seen someone say that taking away the murder plot as intentional removes the stakes, but it really doesn’t. The stakes are their developing relationship and the fact that Ed SAID he was going to kill Stede, which sets up the conflict of the Blackbeard persona (in the shape of Izzy) and Ed’s actual desires. Which is…a big part of the show. That’s not dependent on Ed ever wanting or intending to kill Stede, but him feeling pressured to do so because of Blackbeard.
It’s just odd to me to decide to start pulling apart the entire early development of their relationship like there’s really an ulterior motive beneath it or it isn’t fully sincere on Ed’s part. I don’t know why you’d read against the show like that.
