A pirate’s reputation is all they have. Well, ideally there’s also a fair amount of plundered treasure and a seafaring vessel involved, but how does a pirate acquire said bounty? By being scary as hell, that’s how. The real Blackbeard wove strips of hemp attached to lit fuses into the whiskers that gave him his name, giving him the aura of a demon smoldering with hellfire. The TV version of Blackbeard has mellowed out over the course of two seasons, but the pirates of Our Flag Means Death are still concerned with legends and legacy.
The theme takes a meta turn in the season-two finale, “Mermen,” as Prince Richard (a.k.a. the sniveling, contemptible Ricky Baines) tells the crew of the Revenge that once he’s hung them all by the neck (not the thumbs) until they are dead, the world…
