#speculation;

[flinthamilton]

"There is a character that ends up being truly loyal to Flint, and it’s wonderful. In the last few episodes, one of the characters comes into the fore that’s been in the background" - Toby Stephens. Collider Interview This is Thomas yes? I mean it has to be thomas, fuelmylonginghereplease

Oh I know what you mean, I need that to be Thomas too! I’m a bit half and half on it though; one part of me has resigned myself to the fact they’re probably going to keep Thomas as a small footnote in the finale, but the other half of me can’t help but feel like there’s no one else it could be but Thomas, at least no one that makes sense. It’s either Degroot, Dooley, Joji or Ben Gunn, and the first two have been in the foreground for awhile (though I won’t lie the thought of Degroot of all people being the loyal one would be slightly hilarious). Joji I kind of doubt, they haven’t let him do anything for seasons (sadly :( give joji something to do dammit). Ben Gunn is still loyal to Billy that we’ve seen and was against Flint at the beginning of the season and he has no motive to be loyal to Flint. Anyone else it could be has loyalties elsewhere or has been in the foreground.

Thomas is the only obvious person who fits the description. There’s no one else in the background who would care about Flint or has the motive to be absolutely loyal to him the way Thomas would. And given that everyone’s suddenly gunning for Flint, they’re going to have to do a lot of convincing for someone else to care that much if it isn’t Thomas.

Also, as a shoutout to the Odyssey, Penelope was also in the background until Odysseus returned and was completely loyal to him until the end. There’s also Dulcinea, the one who motivated Don Quixote’s actions, who was never seen but always spoken of and was important to the story, who has “always been in the background.” 

There’s also the overarching theme of the decision to keep fighting or “walking away from England, from Nassau, from civilization. One can be happy that way can’t they? A life of isolation and uncertainty as long as it is lived with someone you love and who loves you back.” This is a prospect faced by all the main characters, and I don’t think Flint will be an exception.

[flinthamilton]

Another thing that gives me hope for Thomas being alive:

The man he was sent to is a “reform” minded man who solicits convicts as laborers, where the treatment was inhumane and in return for being taken out of that situation, they work (thanks again to alayne-stone-heart correcting me on this thought)… it sounds awfully similar to what Thomas was trying to do with the pirates: help them regain their lives out of an inhumane situation.

It’s that exact kind of ironic thing the show likes to pull.

I’d almost say the man was Thomas himself; secretly trying to enact what he’d wanted to after being exiled, trying to help people who faced the same date as him. If it wasn’t for the ‘for profit’ part of taking in other disinherited nobles, I don’t see him ever taking money like that, especially for those who’ve been cast aside like him. But then again, if you’ve been disinherited and are penniless who knows.

[flinthamilton]

Luke's tweets kinda give me hope that Thomas will return. Because whenever Thomas' name is mentioned, Luke always tweets about it.

This gives me hope as well tbh. Because the cast and official twitter don’t really ever talk about Thomas and really haven’t since 2x05 aired. I mean… it could be a coincidence in that maybe they’re just having fun tweeting for the fans, but I’ve literally never seen them be this vocal about him.

[flinthamilton]

I don't think a loyal background character is Thomas, because Toby says "in the last FEW episodes". That's probably at least 3 episodes. No way Thomas is returning in the next episode. Silver and co are hunting Flint in 4x09. That means Flint takes the cache in the next episode and someone helps him.

I do realize that nonnie, but thank you for pointing it out anyway! But as I said- I have already resigned myself to Thomas being a finale footnote (if it happens at all). My point was that there’s no one else that fits the description convincingly but Thomas and that they’re going to have to work very hard to persuade me that someone else from the background would care about Flint or agree with his plans to the extent they were willing to be loyal to him no matter what.

I have to disagree though that it’s impossible Thomas would show up in these episodes. I’ve always had the feeling that when the time came, Thomas would be invoked in an effort to get Flint to abandon the war. Now that they’ve put the “Flint needs to die” in motion, I can see Thomas finally being brought in. I always assumed it would take some persuading on Thomas’ part before he finally stopped (Flint is still angry over what was done to them after all). But maybe it’s just because I can’t get his conversation with Miranda in 1x07 out of my head when she said “You’ll fight a war so we can make a life?” and “If he were here, he’d agree with me.” I don’t know why, but the latter always screamed foreshadowing to me (then again that could still be confined to the finale). All of that said, I’m not holding my breath.

But about the someone helping with the cache part; I think it’s not necessarily someone loyal to him for loyalty’s sake. It could be, but there are still people following his orders, people who don’t want to give up the cache because they want the revolution. If they go by the book, then it’s at least 6 people.

Idk, I’m in the dark like everyone else D:

[flinthamilton]

I can't enjoy the show anymore! How could they mention Thomas and then completely forget about him? I look for him everywhere in every scene

It’s okay anon! I know it sucks waiting :/ You’re definitely not alone in your frustration waiting. But I definitely don’t think they forgot! They’re going to throw that one last chainsaw at Flint very soon I believe. Now that it’s time to “kill Flint,” I feel like it’s going to be any minute now. All the interviews I’ve seen talk about Flint being “on the verge of changing the world” and being “within striking distance of winning,” and “obviously he did not change the world”; what better way to amp up the drama than to throw the biggest test at him right when he’s about to “win”?When Silver is asking him about it, he says, “If we assume we’re on the verge of some impossible victory here, a truly significant thing, if we assume that it is real, and here for the taking, wouldn’t you trade it all to have Thomas Hamilton back again?”

As of last episode, it was said they were on the verge of changing the world. and if the foreshadowing holds, if this is really going to happen, it should be any second now~ And here’s to hoping they aren’t just teasing us x.x

[flinthamilton]

Given the choice between an open ending and a definitive Flint and Thomas are both dead and never reunited, I'll take the open ending every time!

That is very true! At least with an open ending they're not dead/miserable (for certain) and we can at least imagine a happy reunion and probably have a new cascade of awesome reunion fic!

[flinthamilton]

I'm so terrified that we will have an open ending! With Flint sailing to Spanish Florida, but we'll have NO IDEA if Thomas is alive or not. I'm ok with no seeing a reunion, but they MUST give us a clear answer on Thomas. If our knowledge stays on 4x04 level, an open ending like that will be the worst! Because thanks to TI we'll have to assume that nope, he's dead and Flint drinks himself to death. They must give us a definitive answer, so we can imagine their reunion!

Oh god, please no D: The prospect of an open ending is the worst torture.

It would be such a mistake to skip over Thomas/James stuff too imo. Regardless of shippy stuff, just narratively that would be missing out on tying so many things up and resolving them. This war, Flint’s birth (especially now when he’s supposed to die), everything that’s happening now began with them, if he’s alive and they don’t address any of that it would be such a waste. I understand they’re having to pack a lot into this season but not addressing something major related to your main character’s biggest motivation would be ???. Thankfully I don’t think they will skip it; they keep alluding to Thomas several times this season and several last season, I just can’t see them not addressing it in some fashion.