Since this is relevant again
However I feel about silver sending flint to the plantation, I can only logically accept that he 100% planned on locking him up by force for the rest of his life. No happy, relaxed farming, and no chance of escape.
Whether or not his decision was justified, it’s clear that silver’s priority was stopping flint and therefore the war (for selfish reasons, for flint’s own good, because it was unwinnable, whichever) not giving him peace with thomas. If he was aiming purely for the latter, as many people have pointed out, he could’ve freed thomas himself. But even with thomas, he knew flint still would have been a threat, so he locked them both up.
I’ve seen some people argue that silver knew flint would eventually break out (as most of the fandom also expects), or that it’s a progressive place and therefore would have little security, but if silver’s priority was to stop him and the war, why on earth would he risk his escape (and him returning even more pissed off than before)? Therefore he HAD to make sure he would stay in that plantation for good. And he knows what a fight james can put up. So he would have to make sure that the plantation was able to keep him locked up forever – through physical force.
Right or wrong, heartbreaking or heartless, THAT is the choice that silver made.
I feel like this post needs bullet points to make it more clear, so if you don’t mind me adding on, the options are:
- Silver believed Thomas alone was enough for Flint to give up the war, because all he wants is Thomas, but he enslaved them anyway (believing they were capable of breaking out, but still forcing them to have to do it, risking their lives and potentially risking Thomas’ injury or death and thus pissing James off 10000000 times more)
Silver believed Thomas alone was enough for Flint to give up the war, because all he wants is Thomas, but he enslaved them anyway (not believing they were capable of breaking out and condemning them to a life of slavery and imprisonment)
- Silver believed Thomas alone isn’t enough, so he locked James up in a plantation no one ever leaves so that James doesn’t return to fight the war
I’m sorry, but none of those options do Silver any favors. Two of them are “he enslaved his best friend for the rest of his life” and the third is “he enslaved his best friend and forced him to break out, risking the life of the man he loves most in the world and started this war for in the first place.”
And, to summarize: it really, really doesn’t matter whether James broke out the next day, because we’re talking about Silver’s behavior here.
#yeah i don’t think you can assume that silver had any intention of flint escaping #there are too many unknown factors for silver’s desired outcome if that’s the plan #is flint okay with what he did or pissed off #is that actually t.ham on the plantation or did oglethorpe lie
#what are thomas’ inclinations about the shame farm #the shame farm as a solution to silver’s problems only works if he assumes that’s where flint is going to stay #because otherwise yeah #just free him give them a bunch of money and send them on their way
#(not that madi would have agreed to that)
#that whole plan falls apart if flint gets out #because then the assumption has to be that flint will peacefully retire from the account the way they’ve told the story #because you’ll note
#NO ONE TELLS THE TRUTH #jack rackham could easily have said to mme guthrie that flint was in prison
#but he told the retirement story because THAT is the story that defuses the war #that is the story they want getting out
#and it doesn’t work if there’s any chance that flint could come back to refute it #i mean yes removing flint as a weapon on the field is one part of it
#but to take the heart out of the war they need for flint to have given up #and for all that he tells madi the truth because he knows she won’t believe that flint gave up #(she wouldn’t give up why the fuck would flint?) #but he has to assume that she would try to get him out #so either he thinks he can block that attempt forever #or he does in fact think that once you go in those gates you might as well not exist anymore
#because you cannot materially affect the world from there
Meg's Mumbles 