Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death.
The Big Picture
- Izzy Hands’ death in the Season 2 finale of Our Flag Means Death was foreshadowed in Stede’s dream.
- Izzy had a complicated journey, initially a toxic pirate but later a part of The Revenge’s dysfunctional yet wholesome family.
- Izzy’s death was bittersweet, as he had made immense progress and became the glue that held The Revenge together.
The swashbuckling Our Flag Means Death Season 2 was one hell of a rollercoaster, to say the least. Now that it’s over, there are a lot of interesting things to unpack from the season, be it something small or a rather surprising revelation that left viewers at the edge of their seats. But, what’s on our minds is having to watch one pretty important character succumb to death in the Our Flag Means Death Season 2 finale: none other than Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill). The death of this character, with whom everyone seems to have a love-hate relationship, has sparked a frenzy on social media. Some fans expressed their surprise, especially as Izzy was just starting to accept the concept of family. However, it’s possible that we should have expected the twist — because it was foreshadowed earlier in the season.
Izzy’s Death Was Foreshadowed in the ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2 Premiere
To understand this, we have to go back to the Our Flag Means Death Season 2 premiere. The episode, “Impossible Birds,” opens with Stede (Rhys Darby) having a rather interesting dream. The first part is about him basically fantasizing about killing Izzy Hands because of what Izzy put Stede and Ed (Taika Waititi) through. Dream Stede, complete with a dashing beard, pierces Izzy with his sword with no remorse, eventually killing him. Then, Stede sees Ed running in the distance, and they share a cliché (yet still romantic) reunion with the vast ocean as the background, creating an even more adorable and alluring scene. The dream ends right after, though, and Stede wakes up after Wee John (Kristian Narn) farts in their shared sleeping quarters.
While the dream sequence might not have seemed too major at first, it later became clearer just how important it was to the plot after the season finale dropped. Apart from the sweepingly sweet reunion between Stede and Ed being so similar to Stede’s dream, the part with Izzy’s death also basically came true, which is either a relief or dismay. Of course, Stede is not the one who kills Izzy—in fact, these pirates had actually been on the road to being unlikely friends—but the important thing is Izzy dies in both the dream and in real life.
Izzy Hands Had a Complicated Journey in ‘Our Flag Means Death’
Izzy Hands is one complicated man. We are initially introduced to him as Blackbeard’s first mate. The two have been sailing the seas together for many years. At first, this duo is pretty dark and toxic—they’re the kind of pirates that are all about killing and raiding just because they can. Due to the relentless behavior of Blackbeard and his crew, they earn an infamous reputation across the seven seas, which reaches the point where just the mere mention of the crew has another crew absolutely terrified. For a long time, Blackbeard and Izzy basically own the seas, and what viewers come to understand is that these pirates feed off of each other’s toxicity because that’s all they’ve known how to do for the majority of their lives.
In Our Flag Means Death Season 1, Izzy is pretty much the character that The Revenge hates. His main arc is essentially just him trying to break the beloved crew apart, especially Stede and Ed amidst their growing relationship. When Izzy sees Ed slowly becoming fond of Stede, he tells Ed he is changing for the worse, becoming “soft” (seeing as Izzy and Ed are originally planning to kill the people in The Revenge). One night, after the crew is done scaring away the invaders—or, at least, comically and adorably attempting to—Izzy suddenly challenges Stede to a duel. Stede wins by a technicality, so Izzy is sent away. Now angrier, Izzy teams up with Spanish Jackie (Leslie Jones) and Chauncey Badminton (Rory Kinnear). He asks Badminton that he and his crew ambush the Revenge, but leave Ed out of it. Fast-forward to the last two episodes of the season and a heartbroken Ed comes back to the ship after thinking Stede has left him (which he did), so Izzy snaps him out of his misery. He convinces him to go back to their own ways, for Ed to become Blackbeard again. Izzy gets what he wants, but not long after, he realizes that things have grown much worse.
Izzy Began to Change in ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2, Making His Death Even More Heartbreaking
Our Flag Means Death Season 2 explores the change of dynamics of the Revenge due to Stede’s absence. With Blackbeard standing as Captain, the remaining crew are subjected to relentless raids. One day, they all become tired of Blackbeard’s cruel antics. With the help of his fellow crew members, Izzy realizes he is in an unhealthy relationship with Blackbeard. Upon coming to terms with it, he slowly starts to reflect and change his perspective on a lot of things. He even defends the crew from Blackbeard’s erratic behavior, resulting in him getting shot and losing his leg.
Izzy’s story is about redemption, which leads to the audience having an even more complicated relationship with the character. At first, Izzy does not want to open up to the crew, but he starts to realize he has found a family with them—he says as much in the season finale during his rather meaningful conversation with Ricky Banes (Erroll Shand). Throughout the season, we’ve watched Izzy become a part of this dysfunctional, yet incredibly wholesome family on the sea. There is even a moment where the crew of the Revenge fashions a new leg for Izzy, something that he deeply appreciates despite not wanting to show his emotions. But, when the crew is trying to go back to the ship in the Season 2 finale, Izzy is shot. He eventually succumbs to his death on the deck of the Revenge, surrounded by the crew who have now accepted him as part of them. Ed holds Izzy until his very last breath, and it is perhaps one of the most important scenes in the season. Izzy is buried in front of a fixer-upper of a shack that will be Stede and Ed’s soon-to-be inn. Ultimately, his death is a bittersweet moment as Izzy was a very complicated character, making immense progress throughout the second season.
Izzy Hands Will Forever Be a Part of the Revenge in ‘Our Flag Means Death’
Izzy’s death is shocking since he was a pretty important character, but maybe the foreshadowing early on in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 should have prepared some for his fate. For some, it still came as a surprise because they did not think the show would go down that route, especially when Izzy was starting to improve. He essentially became the glue of the Revenge, a far cry from who he was in the first season. It was incredible to see just how far his character had come in terms of development. We had only started to see Izzy’s shell breaking as he’d just begun to be accepted into this family, thanks to his stepping up to defend them.
As Izzy tells Banes, essentially narrating his series-long development, being a real pirate—which, he claims, Banes is not—isn’t about the glory, but about “finding a family to kill for when yours are long dead.” This showcases how far he had come and how he had changed his ways, basically becoming Izzy’s eulogy for himself. Upon his death, his spirit will live on because he is one of the crew now, and forever will be. Despite his short time as an improved man, his good actions will always be remembered. While Izzy is not a perfect character by any means, this pirate—with the surprising voice of an angel that can perform “La vie en rose” with near-perfect execution—really did leave a mark for both the crew and the audience.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
