This is a project I've been working on for a while- it's a case for my e reader. Now that I've finished it, I'd like to explain why I've chosen this design and at the same time do a deep dive into why Ed, Stede and Izzy, along with Izzy's death scene, have a significant emotional impact on me. I enjoyed Izzy's character hugely from day one and would love to see him come back in any future seasons (I'm over the moon about the Christmas special episode omg). However, I LOVE season two and this will talk about Izzy's death in a positive way - not because I ever wanted Izzy gone, but because of the symbolism within my interpretation of the show.
If that is likely to give you negative feelings that cause hate to be sent my way then please do click away, this post is 6 months in the making and dear to my heart.
I obviously see Izzy and Stede as proper characters with their own story lines and nuances etc. But over multiple watches, I have also come to enjoy seeing them as a symbolic part of a trans allegory about Ed. Izzy would represent the masculine side, and Stede as the feminine side. Not necessarily because those are the characteristics of those people, the characters themselves have much more to them than that. My e reader case represents these two halves coming together to form a whole. The following is my personal interpretation of the show linking to this trans allegory.
In the beginning of the story, Ed is friends with Izzy, he's familiar. However, he's also bored and frustrated - there seems to be something that's not quite right, perhaps something missing. When Stede comes along, and even before Ed meets Stede, Ed enthusiastically accepts him straight away.
Throughout the story, Ed and Izzy are in constant conflict, often about who Ed is, or who he wants to be vs who others think he should be. Izzy (representing masculinity) even takes over completely at one point while Ed tries to forget Stede (representing femininity) in his kraken era.
In this metaphor, the start of Season 2 isn't Izzy being aggressive out of hatred for Ed vs love for Blackbeard - it's fear. I know this fear well. Ed got a taste of gender euphoria in readily accepting Stede. But it can still be extremely scary to discover and accept part of yourself, even if it brings you joy. After that first burst of euphoria, you may want to shy away from it and double down in the opposite way. The little Stede cake topper, for me, plays a significant role in showing Ed's inner turmoil with his feminine side. The Stede topper is one that accepts all of Ed in that he is made to be a pair with the topper that looks like Ed in a dress. He keeps this Stede in his pocket carefully and safely, but he also tells it "fuck you".
When Stede comes back, Ed is conflicted and confused, but after the whirlwind of first meeting Stede, he's more prepared for how it'll feel and can now take it all a little slower. Starting in 2x04, as parts of Ed, Stede and Izzy try coming together, learning to accept one another, communicate, and even find that they can work well with each other. Izzy, masculinity, starts to make room for Stede, femininity, and accepts that Stede might be good for Ed. He eventually even embraces Stede, softness and femininity completely upon discovering that this side of Ed is seen by their community as a positive - when Wee John helps him with drag and everyone responds well to it. There is no threat as the masculine side once worried, it no longer needs to misguidedly protect Ed.
Then one of my favourite parts of all (which I'm aware is controversial) is Izzy's death, the funeral and the burial site. For me, Izzy's death is an incredibly important, symbolic and emotional scene. I don't see this as a literal death in this metaphor - I see it as Ed's war with gender finally ending. I also see it as a complete acceptance that the masculine side is no longer Ed's only expression of gender. He can keep it close as a part of him, shown in Ed choosing to bury Izzy physically close to where he intends to permanently reside. Instead of using masculinity a shield or mask, he's able to choose freely when to bring it to the surface - he can visit Izzy as frequently or infrequently as he pleases. Ed no longer has the masculine taking over him in an unhealthy way.
I feel the need to clarify here that I think Ed is more than capable of drawing a boundary with Izzy and that Izzy did not have to die for that happen.
This next part is before Izzy dies, but I struggled to make it fit chronologically into the correct part of this post.
Ed throwing away his leathers, then getting them back and wearing them again is a moment of incredible joy for me when I watch ofmd. This is exactly what I did when I was going through my own battle with gender. I dropped she/her and moved onto they/them (I'm agender) but after that, I didn't wear dresses for 6 months even though I do enjoy wearing them. As an afab genderless person, I was desperate to leave behind any gender markers and stopped presenting in any way that could be perceived as feminine.
While that was going on, I was learning how to be me again, and I slowly realised that dresses don't have to be inherently feminine, and they don't make me a woman. Nothing can ever make me a woman - not my voice, breasts, curves, sense of fashion or anything else - because I am not and cannot ever be a woman. If somebody thinks I am a woman, then that's their fault, not mine. I do not owe it to anyone to present in any certain way. So, I've started wearing dresses again when I feel like it- not because I've lost the battle with gender, but because I've won.
When Ed triumphantly rises out of the water in his leathers, to me he’s saying "take that. What I wear doesn't make a difference. Get a load of this." He proceeds to read a soft and romantic letter from his partner, commenting on how lovely it is with a shy smile, all while killing/hurting two people. He then slices his way through the enemy while passionately calling for the person he loves. Ed's leathers are practical, they provide movement, protection and weapon storage. They also make him look intimidating which is useful in a fight. Wearing them does not change who he is. He can be hard and soft, intimidating and gentle, feminine and masculine, and only he gets to decide when to show certain sides of himself.
2x08 is my favourite episode, and the reason I love it so much is that you can see Ed sort of gather up everything and come into his own. He accepts all of himself. And that is why my favourite moment in the entire show is Izzy saying this:
"You're surrounded by family. They love you, Ed. Just be Ed."
