#izzy is fun because hes a horrible little rat bastard

[bookshelfdreams]

I would and in fact I do but let's address this chronologically.

(OP, sorry for clogging up your notes, just say the word and I'll delete this <3)

1) Inviting another pirate captain over is not "a job well below (Izzy's) station". Are you kidding me? Ed is sending his highest ranking crew member as a sign of respect. They live in a society where such things matter, Stede even more so than Ed (which Ed knows! Ed is trying to speak Stede's language here!). He trusts Izzy to understand this and to "do it right" - which I might remind you, he doesn't! He deliberately sabotages Ed's efforts!

2) The Spanish. Oh boy. Part of Ed's problem is that he doesn't really have peers in his life, people he can connect to as equals. And it's not that he isn't trying, but it's that Izzy refuses to be that person for him. Ed offers to explain the plan to him! He asks Izzy to observe something he noticed, and Izzy rejects that. I am of course, talking about the clouds scene where Izzy fails to realize that Ed is observing the weather because that is an important thing for sailors to do, esp when you can't just check the forecast on your phone. That Izzy thinks Ed is just looking at the clouds because he's distracted and not focused on the danger at hand is ridiculously stupid of him. This scene alone completely disqualifies Izzy. He's incompetent enough to be a sailor who doesn't appreciate the significance of predicting the weather.

Okay, maybe he's scared, but there's no reason to be and if he were any good at his job, he'd know that. If he actually respected Ed enough to trust him, he'd know that. But Izzy doesn't respect Ed. He doesn't accept and value that Ed is a better sailor and a better pirate than him, that Ed has leadership skills he lacks. Izzy has an entirely too high opinion of himself, and the only way he can justify being second in command is by constructing an alternate reality in his head where he has to "manage" Ed. When no one ever asked him to do that and it is in fact not necessary. Ed is brilliant at what he does and Izzy is mediocre at the very best. He may be good at waving a sabre around (but does get bested by Stede "Which end do I hold again?" Bonnet. Twice.), but that's it. Izzy's not a strategist. He doesn't have leadership skills. He's not even a good sailor. Nobody in their right mind would make him captain and if Izzy weren't so self-absorbed he'd know that (but then again, his lack of skill is due to willful ignorance, so of course he thinks being put in charge sounds like a great idea).

Why Ed keeps this guy around at all is a mystery that will forever baffle me.

3) YES Ed sent him off without much fanfare after the duel (he wasn't cruel about it tho; Izzy brought this onto himself. And let's not forget that Izzy tried to kill Stede when he could have easily chosen not to do so at any point before and during the duel. Why on earth should Ed keep him around after that?). Who wouldn't? Izzy has been nothing but unpleasant, disloyal, actively sabotaging Ed. It's kind of hilarious that you speak about loyalty - to whom? Certainly not Edward Teach, the real, living, breathing human man in charge of the ship. Not even to the fearsome pirate Blackbeard. Izzy is loyal to the power and status being Blackbeard's first mate affords him. Nothing else. He barely tolerated Ed as a person and he made his own resentment clear ("the man's half insane" that's not loyalty or respect) long before Stede ever entered Ed's life.

Izzy sees his own position as Ed's "manager" threatened by someone who actually values Ed as a human being. He sees the source of his own status slip away; sees someone take his place who sees Ed as a friend and a peer, not a problem to be solved. That's why he's so pissed at Stede.

But Izzy has not ever, not one second in his life, been loyal to Ed.

4) Let's not forget that Izzy weaponizes the state against Ed in revenge and reminds him he has the power to do so to keep him in line. I feel like we don't mention this enough. Izzy has proven himself to be a traitor, and god only knows what he will do the next time.

Izzy tells Ed that there's no point to him if he doesn't perform the role Izzy has cast him in. The only way Ed is allowed to exist at all is on Izzy's terms.

And if Izzy is dissatisfied, he could leave. If he were a halfway decent pirate he could get his own ship and crew (but he isn't and he can't). There's nothing binding him to Ed except his own need to feel important.

He should have just stayed away, but he thinks he owns Ed and is owed a place near to him. He's the one incapable of letting go; instead of leaving an unsatisfactory situation, he tries to make everyone conform to his vision of what life should be like.

And I do blame him for that.

the thing about izzy is that he's full of shit. he's not actually a loyal second who would die for his captain or put his captain's needs above his own.

he just SAYS that's the kind of man he is.

what we actually see from izzy is a man who complains when his boss gives him simple orders, a man who openly says he won't die for his boss (which like good for him boundaries, but also, against the illusion i see fandom staning), a man who tells his boss he's better off dead than living a life izzy personally disapproves of, and a man who, oh, right, sends the british navy to his boss' last known location.

izzy is a fascinating character because he's an unreliable narrator of his own motivations, and so you have to look carefully not just to what he says, but what he actually does, at every turn

[sunnibits]

to clarify I am just thinking about how in eps 2-3 (the only time we see Izzy pre-blackbonnet romance and such) he’s really different from the way we see him in the rest of the show!! as in, he’s still a little bit of a bitch and a grump but he’s visibly a lot more sure of himself, carries himself with a bit of smug confidence, fucking smiles more often.

we can see this in his first fight with Stede, with his fuckin sassy SAUNTERING (that one. that one fucking gifset that I cannot find right now) and swishy show-off sword moves, the way he just smirks at Stede, even after he’s been beaten, saying ‘this isn’t over’. then the same energy with Stede at the bar!!! he’s relaxed, he’s smiling like a cocky asshole who knows he works for Blackbeard.. it’s kind of hot honestly, I gotta admit, just because it’s a rlly different energy from him that I wish we got to see more of. he’s still a bastard, but he’s a bastard that feels like he knows his place in everything and knows he can deal with anyone who bothers him.

this only changes once they start hanging out on the Revenge! he’s surrounded by people who don’t respect him, Ed is falling for Stede when Izzy thought he was just gonna kill this guy, everything is going to shit. he gets banished. this is when he becomes the truly pathetic, screaming, sad, embarrassing rat man we all know and love.

not to say that he wasn’t a pathetic asshole rat man before like he definitely was!!! but there’s also a very different vibe with ep2 and ep3 Izzy than there is with the rest of the show.

BUT THEN BUT THEN BUT THENNNNN in the finale he finally gets Blackbeard back, and fuck who cares if he loses a toe in the process because he’s BACK, and NOWWW we get confident Izzy again!!! of course it’s for horrible reasons and the whole situation is terrible for everyone else other than him but like. I notice it really clearly in the whole scene where they abandon the crew on the island - Izzy’s like, visibly more relaxed and sassy than we’ve seen him in ages. And it’s wildly ironic of course considering everything that’s going on but the point stands.

I have seen a lot of people speculate that Izzy will regret unleashing the Kraken and realize that it’s not what he wanted, which I do agree with to some extent, and in that case I’m sure he’ll just continue to be miserable and pathetic and whatever. BUT I think there’s still a pretty good chance that Izzy really has gotten what he wanted, therefore we will get smug cocky bastard again in early s2 and I REALLYYY really wanna see it >:)))))

Mostly I just rlly rlly wanna see more of how Blackbeard and Izzy’s whole dynamic functions without Stede there. After all, as lacking as it probably is in actual healthiness and satisfaction, this IS the state that Izzy has been so desperate to get back to. So like, I am REALLY really really into the idea of seeing Izzy confident in his place, a shadow at Blackbeard’s side like he loves being, dispatching whoever he’s asked to like a loyal right hand….

I mean I enjoy pathetic little bitch Izzy as much as the next person. I do. I don’t think he should really have any power ever,, but like,,,, he’s just so FUN when he DOES have status and I just wanna SEE IT. For SEXY reasons.

was this an entirely unnecessary ramble? yes yes it was. do I care? no. my blog - my lengthy explanations.

my point is I just think we sometimes forget the fact that Izzy can very much be a smooth, confident little bastard when he wants to be and I would like to see it even more 👁👁

thinking about how we’re probably gonna get confident Izzy again in s2 (at least for a little while) and becoming v excited

I want him to be a smug sassy bitch goddamnit!!