captain-flint:

Yeah, I understand what you mean. I personally thought (up to the last episode) that his entire character was in a way anticlimactic, but that might be because I expected a lot more from him because the lore always glorified him as this once Great Invincible Ruthless Pirate. What we got in the show was just more stories. He was once great, but that mystical grandeur we all expected now barely clung to this version of Teach. He was subtle and real, and I believe that was the whole point of this pirate story. That even those who were once considered the mightiest of them weren’t above an underwhelming and poor end. Their deaths are not romanticized and heroic, but they are still poetic because of the aftermath they cause. I mean look at Flint’s death in Treasure Island (died of drink and yet his presence heavily lingered in the story). Look at Vane’s death. He, too, died unceremoniously in a drawn out, silent torture scene, and yet his spirit endured and is now driving the narrative. We all expect them to die in a glorious battle, fighting against God himself, but as far as reality goes, this is perhaps the next best thing.

That’s why I dont believe Teach’s death was poorly done. It carried a very strong message. He did exactly what Vane did. He let Rogers kill him in order to save his crew and give the pirates all the more reason to fight back when he’s gone. (He was dying anyway). He may have been too proud and sure of himself when he went into that battle, though I’d say the more probable reason for that stupid decision was the fact he greatly underestimated Rogers (as did we all) and he realized that when it was too late. However, once it was over he used the situation to incite a revolt in the most powerful way imaginable. He refused to die. Three times they tried to kill him and three times he laughed and sneered in Rogers’ face. So badly wounded and he still fucking held on stubbornly and out of sheer spite. His crew saw that. Jack and Anne saw that. No speech could’ve had a stronger impact than his mockery in that moment. He smiled before they put a cover over his head and he wasn’t afraid for one second as they tore at him. When they threatened Jack (and Anne) he fought back yet again just to spare them and that, in my book, was the greatest thing he could’ve done. His death was as anticlimactic as it was enormously effective. Rogers knew there was no point in making any more examples out of those men because the damage was already done. And thus Teach ultimately won. (at least for the time being)