#if you feel like this is about you but grossly exaggerating your villianization of izzy then it is NOT about you though we may disagree

[ladyluscinia]

I keep seeing interpretations of the 1x10 stuff between Izzy and Edward that bug me, so...

I'm an "Izzy apologist" in the sense I think Izzy's actions were motivated by legitimate fear for his and Edward's safety, and that the Kraken turn was pretty much all Edward and had as much to do with the crew chanting for a song as it did Izzy's words. If you disagree then we disagree - it happens - but I keep seeing random takes suggesting there's this undeniable malice in Izzy's timing I must be ignoring in order to hold this view, and there very much is not.

There's a focus on how Izzy "waits until Edward is healing" to strike out at him, supposedly proving that he's precisely targeting Edward's happiness or something. Before I get into Izzy's side of things... Edward is not healing on that deck. Moving from depression into a weird version of bargaining / denial - "I can be happy without Stede if I just wholly do and become everything in Stede's Ed that I thought I needed Stede for (and leave the old Edward behind entirely because he's sad and hurting)" - is not reaching a healthy emotional place, and that's a big reason why he's knocked out of it so easily. Izzy isn't familiar with the stages of grief, but he can at least guess something's up with a friend going through a bad breakup and then announcing they will quit their job and go be a traveling musician. I'd honestly be more convinced they were never personally close if he did accept new-Ed as real-Ed. But let's look at Izzy's side of things.

Izzy is terrified. While Edward is in his blanket fort depression, he's surrounded by a crew that knows something is wrong, does not respect or fear him, doesn't have a routine to distract them with, and they will not stop asking questions. Nightmare situation for the "don't ever let them see you weak" mindset. We know what terror eventually makes Izzy do. Why not confront Edward in the blanket fort?

Uh... Maybe because Izzy cares? About his friend?

Edward has depressive mood swings. We see them on screen. Does anyone really think this is the first time Edward has holed up in his cabin to be distraught for days? The marmalade and silk robe are new. The temporary emotional display of weakness is not. If that was something that truly disgusted Izzy, or was going to drive him away or to violence, it would have happened a long time ago. Instead, Izzy takes care him. Offers what I would bet is the saddest attempt at emotional support anyone has ever tried, but he's there.

It's just seems so unnecessarily malicious to twist what by all appearances is Izzy accepting Edward needs to be sad for a while even as he freaks out (until Edward suddenly starts saying very concerning things in public like "Why are we even being pirates?") into some kind of abusive and controlling scheme to emotionally destroy Edward for kicks.

Is the eventual lashing out hurtful? Yeah, no shit. But twisting the whole situation to go "and also any restraint, understanding, or hesitation Izzy showed was equally if not more evil because he could only have intended to increase harm done later" is... well let's just say I no longer think anything you have to say about Izzy is coming from a remotely rational character analysis.