pirateshelly:

Not to get involved in ~discourse~, but I really feel like this idea i keep seeing that Flint “just needed to be stopped”, and that Silver did The Right Thing by stopping him just kind of reduces the complexity of the ending, reduces the complexity of both of their characters, and ignores Madi’s role and agency. Like, Silver’s whole reason for wanting to stop Flint was that “his” war would put Madi at risk, ignoring the fact that Madi has as much at stake in this revolution as anyone. She wasn’t hypnotized or tricked by Flint into joining his revolution, she knew damn well what she was getting into and what dangers it posed, so to say that she needed to be saved from herself or saved from Flint’s dangerous influence just irks me. 

But also, I think saying Flint and his revolution (and by extension Madi because, like I said, it was as much her fight as it was his, if not more her fight) were misguided and doomed to failure ignores the fascinating “what if” that black sails presents. What if, leaving aside for a moment what we as an audience know of history, a revolution like this did happen and did succeed? What world the world look like if that happened? Are abusive power structures really inevitable? Is the certainty of security in the moment worth the certainty that that security won’t last? As Madi’s mother points out, building a wall and protecting who you can isn’t a lasting solution, eventually the outside world will find a way in. Is the uncertain possibility of a better future worth chaos and instability in the moment? If you drown the cat that just wants to eat and put an end to the immediate conflict, the abusive father is still there. It’s only a matter of time before something else comes along to provoke him. To me Black Sails does have a tragic ending, but it’s a subtle kind of tragedy rather than a doom/disaster/everybody dies kind of tragedy. It’s tragic because of that lingering “what if” that will probably continue to haunt all of the characters for the rest of their lives.