I’ve seen a lot of people posting about how Ed deserves to be courted in S02, how he deserves the world, deserves to be gently held and cared for, brought back from the edge with a soft touch. That Stede needs to “make it up to him”.
While I don’t deny these points by any means, let us not forget that Stede was led out of his bed at gunpoint, verbally beaten into submission and finally made witness to yet another (accidental) death that he now feels responsible for. Yes, while he did run back to his old life—severely affected by Chauncey’s words and actions, and made ashamed of his little maritime adventures—ultimately it did lead to his revelation about just how much he deeply cares for Ed. What it truly feels like to be in love. Now Stede knows what he wants, he’s grown more confident in himself and how he wants to live, and I’m pretty sure that with this experience under his belt he would actually have the courage to fight for it.
However, Ed was left completely unaware of any of this—adrift, unmoored, completely bereft, believing that Stede had had a change of heart in the night and abandoned him. It’s no surprise that he would resort to ridding himself of reminders of the man who had shown him kindness and fine things, destroying his books, emptying his room, marooning the crew; trying to erase all traces of Stede Bonnet from his own ship. The problem is that Ed doesn’t know the depths of how Stede feels and so he regresses as best he can, trying to return to the Blackbeard he once was in an effort to move on, believing that’s all everyone wants from him anyway. But the sad truth is that he can’t do that either—Ed is already a man caught between two worlds and he can’t rid himself of the feelings that have swelled full in his chest, cresting like a tremendous wave threatening to pull him under. He’s caught in a hopeless sort of purgatory of his own making.
I’m so eager to explore how they will both react upon seeing each other for the first time again. I think without a doubt it will be A Bad Time™ (and believe me, I am so here for that because who needs feelings anymore) but I honestly cannot wait because I truly find their character development—both individually and as a couple—fascinating.
Ed is a wonderfully complex, chameleonic man but I think he suffers tremendously under the burden of expectation. Blackbeard—a name synonymous with fear and dread—is a hard title to shrug off when he feels like it, but allowing himself to just be Edward has proven to bring him more pain than he thought possible. The sheer amount of emotional upheaval and inner turmoil I can foresee for him at not only seeing Stede again, but hearing the reason why their plan did not go ahead… Will he simply feel anger towards a dead man? Or at himself for not anticipating something going awry and being there when Stede needed him—heaping more unrealistic expectations upon his own shoulders? Or at Stede for still running away and leaving their life behind? Will he push Stede away for the sake of the Blackbeard mantle; his pride hurt and heart broken? Or will he fall into Stede’s arms like waves crashing upon the shore—like he’s coming home?
Shame has been such a big part of Stede’s upbringing and his life in general, so I can only imagine how he will feel upon finding his crew on that tiny island, and seeing Ed and how he has now transformed. Overcome with guilt, Stede would likely assume all responsibility for Ed’s actions after believing Stede to have left him alone upon that little pier. And I’m so anxious to see Stede declare his love, because I have the sad suspicion that Ed has probably never been told those words before, other than perhaps by his mother. Certainly not in any kind of meaningful, romantic way. And I fear it may break him.
