every time i think of this quote “i have been the subject of enough ridicule and innuendo…”, my heart breaks. because miranda was already treated awfully by london’s society. i mean, we saw the way alfred hamilton treated her and she just took it. and she was ready to take things upon herself again to divert attention from thomas and james. she loved them so much and i can’t deal.
and then she goes to nassau and it’s even worse:
people call her a witch. she’s most likely completely isolated because of it and also being stalked by a creeper of a pastor.
we talk about what flint went through so many times, but we don’t mention how miranda went through the exact same thing often enough. she lost her husband, the man she loved. she lost her home. she was irreparably heartbroken because of it. and unlike flint she wasn’t allowed to go on and let all that rage and misery upon others. she had to remain on the interior being hated by everyone while flint went about pirating.
i think about the scene above and the way it’s framed and shot and my heart breaks into a million pieces again because she’s so alone. what must her days be like when flint’s away?
and looking back at what we saw of miranda in the flashbacks and what we heard from abigail, "i remember watching her talk with my mother from across the room and how she’d make my mother laugh”, i think miranda was someone who enjoyed socializing. she was clearly outgoing, she enjoyed being with people. and she had to spend ten years all alone.
and by s1 she’s finally reaching her breaking point:
and “what does it matter now? […] what does it matter what happened then if we have no life now? because there is no life here. there is no joy here. there is no love here.”
she suffered so much, she endured so much. but unlike flint she didn’t allow herself to succumb to it the way he did. because make no mistake, she was as angry as he was. and a part of her wanted revenge as much as he did.
this:
is to me miranda admitting she told flint about the maria aleyne because a part of her wanted flint to kill alfred hamilton. she knew what would happen and she told him anyway because she wanted it to happen.
miranda’s anger is one of my favourite things about her. because it’s so clear to me that it has been there since the night thomas was taken:
she didn’t give into it and i love her for it, but it was always lurking. and it rises to the surface again just before she goes on a vacation dies: “what do i want? i want to see this whole goddamn city, this city that you purchased with our misery, burn. i want to see you hanged on the very gallows you’ve used to hang men for crimes far slighter than this. i want to see that noose around your neck and i want to pull the fucking lever with my own two hands!”
some people have expressed disappointment in not being able to see miranda going off completely after the “ashe was a traitor” reveal. and i agree entirely. i would have loved to see a miranda who does not care for england anymore, who is as done as flint, as unforgiving. that would have been spectacular and i’ll forever mourn the fact that we didn’t get it.
i love miranda barlow/hamilton a lot and i miss her every day.
30, She/her. Used to be DreamingPagan a long time back. Multi-fandom, mostly Black Sails these days but with a lot of Tolkien and funny things interspersed. Complete language and history nerd - be warned. I write fic and occasionally I talk about ships.
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