Our Flag Means Death, starring Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby, has become something of an unexpected hit. Uniting a strong, hilarious cast with a brilliant story, the series has become a new standard, especially among the LGBTQIA+ population due to its incredible portrayal of a same-sex relationship between Waititi’s Blackbeard/Ed and Darby’s Stede Bonnet. This rom-com masquerading as a pirate comedy has been especially poignant for viewers because of the care taken to craft its story, visuals and character development.
Part of that craft was linking development to visual markers. One of the first examples of this is when Stede and Ed swapped clothes in Episode 4, “Discomfort in the Married State.” In this episode, Stede and Ed first set their goals for developing into a better pirate and gentleman, respectively. In Episode 5, “The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well,” Our Flag introduces one of the most important themes: Ed feeling deserving of intimacy. Ed’s entitlement to intimate love is represented by a silk scrap of fabric given to him by his mother, and its use throughout the series shows how his character grows and falls away with the series.
The Silk Scrap Is Established As a Symbol of Intimacy
The silk scrap is first seen in a flashback in “The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well.” Ed’s mother shows him the scrap of fabric while stating that the estate that she presumably tends is full of lovely, soft things just like it. Ed touches it in amazement and wishes to wear it, at which point his mother tells him that people like them don’t wear such fine things. This serves as one of Ed’s primary motivations throughout the episode as he attempts to prove his worth to the people at the fancy party the group attends. Throughout the episode, even though he knows that the silk is a “fine thing,” much like the other finery he wears at the party, he doesn’t show it to the group as he believes they don’t deserve to know his emotional side.
This all changes at the end of the episode, though. After the party is over and everyone has gone to bed or been burned to death, Ed and Stede stand on the deck of the Revenge and briefly chat before Stede notices Ed holding the scrap. Stede then, with permission, carefully folds the silk and places it in Ed’s pocket. Suddenly, without thinking, Stede changed Blackbeard’s perception of finery. He isn’t too bad for something good. At that moment, Ed steps forward to kiss Stede, drawing a direct line between the silk and the physical intimacy of the two, adding it to the closeness of young Ed and his mother in the silk scrap’s premiere.
Blackbeard No Longer Feels He Deserves Fine Things
The scrap of silk is seen throughout the series following this, but generally not for more than a fleeting moment or as part of Blackbeard’s uniform. During the jaw-dropping, tear-jerking finale, “Wherever You Go, There You Are,” one of the saddest scenes in the series is dedicated to Edward and the silk. Immediately before returning to his legendary, brutal ways, Blackbeard steps outside of the ship’s cabin to release the silk into the ocean wind. Where Stede evolved beyond what the world told him he could be, Ed was hurt so deeply that he believed he had but one role: the dread pirate Blackbeard.
Releasing the silk doesn’t only show that Ed has given up on love. He has given up on the fine things he wanted to wear, but more so, he has given up on deserving the intimacy and love that made him so happy. Where Stede now knows that he deserves love, Ed now believes that he deserves nothing but his lot in life of piracy and loneliness, and letting go of the silk is him letting go of any dream thereof. Season 1 of Our Flag Means Death ends with Ed in the grips of a tragedy and Stede ready to bring him back from it and tell him once again that he deserves fine things.
To see the finer things in life, steam Our Flag Means Death on HBO Max now.
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