#bsthomas

[iwt-v]

The time for conciliation is well past. I must try. Why? I'm the only one who can stop him, pastor. I'm the only one who knows why he's doing it.

[moon-yean]

[x]

[flintsilvers]

x

[iwt-v]

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

[moon-yean]

the moment I sign that pardon, the moment I ask for one, I proclaim to the world that they were right.

[moon-yean]

james/thomas appreciation week

∟ day three: favourite kiss

[moon-yean]

i made every mistake and felt the shame rise in me. and even now i lie awake, knowing history has its eyes on me.

[moon-yean]

[moon-yean]

some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon.

[x]

[moon-yean]

Why it would be awesome if Thomas were still alive

Full disclosure: I don’t think he is.

But!

He might be. And that was true before this week’s episode and it’s true after.

Now I’ve seen some people being unhappy about the suggestion that he might still be around and that a reunion could potentially happen somewhere along the line. I’ve seen people argue that that would undo all of Flint’s character development and that it would be unexpected and soapy.

I don’t agree and here’s why:

1. We never saw his body or learned anything definitive about his death which in TV land usually means that someone’s “dead” until it’s convenient that they’re not.

I actually distinctly remember watching season 2 and expecting him to appear in the finale in a twist~ revealing that he’s still alive. Just from the way the season was structured with the flashbacks in the first half and then their abrupt end, it seemed like that chapter wasn’t closed and that they’d deliberately abandoned it halfway through to make the eventual payoff more shocking.

Now, obviously nothing of the sort happened and the more the show moved on, the more I became convinced that okay, he truly was dead. But these were my immediate reactions after the finale at the time: I made these comments in a comm on 30 March 2015.

How do we even know he’s dead? That’s the story making the rounds. But we know that one of Black Sail’s favorite themes is the unreliability of stories and myth-making and rumors and gossip. In the very first episode, Captain Hume (of the Scarborough, who’s come to arrest Richard Guthrie) has this whole monologue about gossip back in London. It’s right there from the start.

Besides, why would we assume that Lord Hamilton murdered his son? He was a major decrepit monster, sure, but wasn’t the assumption that he admitted Thomas to a hospital where he eventually died from whatever “treatment” was administered to him? Yeah that would be as good as murder but the main thing is that he wanted him out of sight and put away. Doesn’t mean his son has to die. (I’m not doubting that that’s what could have easily happened but the point is that we don’t know.)

2. A reunion wouldn’t be a happy end.

I think people are put off by the idea that Flint would reunite with Thomas and everything that has happened in the last years and seasons would be magically undone or that it would have been “for nothing”. Why though?

We can be pretty sure that a reunion would not be sappy affair. Too much has changed since then. FLINT HAS BECOME THE THING THEY BOTH SOUGHT TO ERADICATE!

Sure, he justifies it to himself as something that Thomas would have wanted because it’s exacting revenge on a system/society that tore them apart but do we really think that Thomas would have wanted him to become a murderer and thief? (Let’s not forget that Flint didn’t get his tyrannical reputation for nothing.)

And Thomas - if he is still alive, he most likely went through some heavy shit, treatment, ostracism, working as a labourer on some estate together with convicts... if he met Flint, he would probably be barely recognizable, having lost his idealistic sheen which was what made Flint fall in love with him in the first place. (Okay I’m writing “Flint” all this time because I’m not making the distinction with “McGraw” as I believe that that barrier has been broken or at least become irrelevant, the two can no longer be separated.)

So there’s just as good a chance that a reunion would be bittersweet if not outright tragic, as they both would have to grapple with the fact that their lives were taken from them and that they cannot salvage any love left in the ruins of their souls, except in the tomb of their memories. (Although I would obviously prefer it if they came to the realization that their love can change just as they did and endure.)

Having said that, I believe that Thomas is dead.

Maybe this is just me trying to not get my hopes up because I fear they’d get crushed.

But honestly: Do we believe the show would have time to even go there? To have Silver find out whether Thomas is at that estate (which would be a great coincidence but ok I’d take a bit of lazy writing), to have Silver arrange a meeting or for them to meet in some other way, for them to reunite, for them to find common ground again or not and then for one of them to die or not or whatever... this all seems a bit much.

Facing the question what Flint would do if Thomas were still alive is certainly important. It brings him back to where his journey began so it’s necessary for his arc to come full circle. What is he fighting for? And why is that fight still his? And would it still be if he had a chance to do what Odysseus did and what he wanted to always do - settle down?

This very theme is actually made explicit in this episode when Ruth explains it to Madi:

You must see by now that when you wage war on the world, the world fights back. Your mother knew that. Knew that the best one can do is to find a place you can protect, build a wall, and save who you can. You'd be wise to learn from her example.

Flint would be wise to learn from it as well.

What I got from that scene where Silver asks about Thomas is that he wants to test the waters. Maybe he actually truly believes that there’s a chance that Thomas is alive and well on that estate. But why bring it up to Flint if he doesn’t have any proof? He wants to test his commitment to the cause. It’s verging on emotional manipulation or can at least be used to that end and I think this is something that was telegraphed from the moment Flint opened up to him and told him about Thomas to begin with. 

Silver could do Flint a favor by reuniting him with Thomas, should he still be alive. But as pointed out, that might not actually be a favor. And if Thomas remains dead or believed dead, Silver still has access to knowledge that he knows to be unsettling for Flint.

Either way, I’m afraid for Flint but I’m convinced that Thomas actually returning would be an awesome thing and that the questions a potential return poses on a hypothetical level are still important for the show to explore in any case.

Would it undo all the horror that Flint witnessed and inflicted himself? Would it undo what England is and does and what Nassau is or was? No. It would put a face to the consequences they have all been living with and, perhaps, grown accustomed to in a way, the same way you never notice how you are aging when you are looking in the mirror every day because it’s such a gradual process and it’s only when you look at a photograph or meet someone you haven’t met in a long while that the past is thrown into stark relief and you realize how much time has passed by and that you’re not the same person you once were.

This realization has to happen to Flint, one way or another. Unfortunately, I fear the show might only be willing to pose the questions but then use the inevitable anticipation to pull the rug out from under us for just one more final, cruel, time.

It'd be better if they actually went for the seemingly soapy choice.

[iwt-v]

♚  Thomas Hamilton :: first scenes // seasons 2 & 4

[iwt-v]

Happy and horny Thomas ( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ )

[iwt-v]

☪  Thomas Hamilton + 2 05 aesthetic   ☪

[iwt-v]

Thomas + James, otp

[iwt-v]

We are fighting a war in the service of the son of God. And it is treason to o f f e r  f o r g i v e n e s s to any man who would seek it? What in the hell is it you think we're doing here?

~Thomas Hamilton

[iwt-v]

When eyecandy just isn’t enough...