#cause it's not like last year stede and ed signed their lives over to the english and got in 0 trouble for bailing

[sarucane]

From another interview--apparently Darby is one of those cute fans who thinks the plot actually matters, bless him

Rhys Darby on the ending of season 2

[transizzyhands]

Based on a comment I saw on Twitter:

June XX17

“COMING SOON: THE REVENGE”

He had to read the sign several times for it to fully sink in. “Are you fuckin’ serious?” he muttered to himself. He took a step back and looked up at the three-story building, an unassuming dark grey with frosted windows. After a few moments, he sighed, snapped a photo of the sign, and continued down the street to his motorcycle. Izzy Hands cast one last look at the building with the unfortunate name before starting up his motorcycle and heading to the bar.

A scant two miles away, his boss was holed up in his office, poring over receipts with a bottle of something or other on the desk beside him and a vape pen spinning between his fingers. Izzy was pretty sure it was a nicotine-free vape, but it didn’t matter because in the year that he had it, he had never seen Ed ever actually use it.

The first thing Izzy did when he got to the bar was head directly for the office.

“You’re late,” Ed grunted without looking up.

“Apologies, boss. Found something you might find interesting.” Izzy pulled out his phone and brought up the picture he’d taken. “That’s less than a block away from my flat.”

Ed glanced at the picture, furrowed his brow, and looked up. “What am I looking at?”

“The name, Ed. The Revenge.”

Ed’s expression didn’t shift. “What about it?”

“‘What about it?’ Did you forget the name of our bar?”

Ed raised an eyebrow. “My bar.”

Izzy opened his mouth, but Ed kept talking.

“Besides, it might not even be a bar. And even if it is, who cares? It’s not like Anne can’t handle some competition.”

“That building is less than two miles from here. Don’t you think it could cause some confusion?”

“Thought you said it was a block from your flat.”

“Ed. I live less than two miles away.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You’ve been to my flat four times in the last year.”

“What? No, that’s Fang’s flat!”

“No, Fang was staying with me until he found his own place. Ed, that’s not the point. There’s a new restaurant or cafe or something called The Revenge opening its doors less than two miles away from Queen Anne’s Revenge. They have to change their name. It’s infringing.”

Ed stood up and stepped out from behind his desk. He put his hands on Izzy’s shoulders and gave him a small smile. “We don’t know anything about these people. Before we assume they’re infringing, let’s figure out who they are, yeah?”

Izzy sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll look into it.”

It was a simple enough matter to find out that The Revenge was going to be a lounge. The owner was a Stede Bonnet, which was a name that bothered Izzy for reasons he couldn’t put into words.

He sent Ivan and Fang over to the lounge in mid-July, when Bonnet had a series of open interviews for staff. “Find out how he got the name The Revenge. And find out if he’s trying to compete with us.”

Ivan went an hour before Fang, but when they returned, they both said the same thing: “He’s an idiot.”

“What do you mean, he’s an idiot?”

“Well,” Fang started, “he genuinely has no idea that Anne’s right here.”

“He could be faking.”

Ivan and Fang exchanged glances. “Not him, Iz. You can’t fake that,” Ivan said.

“Meet him for yourself,” Fang added.

“Said he just liked the name. Sounded cool.”

“Also he’s offering some good benefits. Comprehensive health insurance and starting pay is $25 an hour.”

The gears ground to a halt in Izzy’s head. “Wha—twenty—for tipped employees?”

Ivan shrugged. “Not tipped. Says it puts too much pressure on the customers and the employees. Everyone’s happier if they’re not worried about makin’ tips.”

“What a twat.”

“I thought about it,” Ivan added.

Fang chuckled at the horror and rage warring on Izzy’s face. “Me too. But I like it here too much.”

“Yeah, same.”

“Go fucking clean something,” Izzy muttered.

“You should meet him for yourself,” Ivan repeated. He and Fang smirked at each other as Izzy stormed off to the office.

“I have some information on The Revenge,” he started as soon as he closed the door behind him.

“The who?”

“The Revenge. The lounge that’s opening up soon.”

For a few moments, Ed looked absolutely bewildered. And then he blinked and the clouds of confusion rolled back. “Oh, that little nightclub thing, yeah. What about it?” he asked, standing up and circling to perch on the edge of his desk.

“Owner’s name is Bonnet. Stede Bonnet. I sent over Fang and Ivan to talk to him. They say he doesn’t have any idea that we’re here.”

“Well, that’s that, then. No infringement meant.”

“I don’t buy it. It’s too convenient.”

Ed’s mustache twitched as he grinned at Izzy, clapping his shoulders. “What else did Fang and Ivan say?”

“They said I should meet him for myself.”

“Then maybe you should go meet him for yourself, yeah?”

“Absolutely ridiculous,” he muttered, turning to leave Ed’s office.

“Go tell your therapist.” Ed’s chair squeaked as he sat back down.

“I have,” Izzy called over his shoulder. He closed the door and went to grab his leathers. The worst part was that Val, his therapist, would actually have agreed with Ed.