Izzy's Death Was Teased In OFMD, But We Are Still In Denial

Summary

• Our Flag Means Death featured the death of fan-favorite character Izzy Hands.
• Blackbeard's first mate was shot and killed by Prince Ricky Barnes.
• While it was an unexpected and devastating twist for many viewers, the death was foreshadowed in Stede Bonnet's dream in the season's opening minutes.

Let's face it. After the heartbreaking Our Flag Means Death (OFMD) Season 2 finale, we're all going through the five stages of grief, and we're still a long way from fully accepting the fact that one of the show's best loved characters, Izzy Hands, was killed in the episode's final moments.

How did Izzy die?

Izzy went through a masterpiece of a character arc in Season 2, which makes the loss all the more devastating. He went from a surly fist mate who encouraged Blackbeard's dark side and contributed to their toxic relationship to a trauma victim on a journey of self-discovery and then a full-fledged crew member willing to die for The Revenge team.

And that's exactly what he did. When the British Army, led by Prince Ricky Barnes holding a grudge against all piracy, came to the Republic of Pirates, destroying Zheng Yi Sao's fleet and imprisoning the Revenge crew along with other pirates, Izzy took it upon himself to face the Prince and be at the forefront of the rescue operation, which unfortunately ended with Ricky's stray bullet hitting him in the stomach.

The injury turned out to be serious, and Izzy died at Ed's hands, sending fans into a tailspin of grief. Though powerful, this moment seems uncalled and completely unexpected. Upon re-watching, however, we discover that Izzy's death was in the cards from the beginning of the season.

The premiere episode foreshadowed Izzy's death

In the very first minutes of Season 2, in the episode Impossible Birds, we see Stede having a dream about reuniting with Ed. But before their epic, romantic run on the waterfront, Stede sees himself sword-fighting Izzy and killing him.

At the time of the Season 2 premiere, this scene seemed more like a reference to Stede's passionate desire to find Ed and the way he saw Izzy as a kind of watchdog for Ed's heart. Killing him meant removing all obstacles to true love, including the guilt of leaving Ed in the Season 1 finale.

But the final moments of Season 2 showed that the season opener meant more than that.

Stede's dream was prophetic

The final episode, Mermen, showed that Stede's dream was prophetic in every way. His real-life reunion with Ed happened exactly as in the vision, minus the farting. And Izzy ended up getting fatally wounded in the stomach.

He was killed by Prince Ricky, and his final speech was much more touching than in the dream, but the other similarities are eerie. Does this mean that Stede now has some of the sea magic that Buttons used to turn into a seagull?

We certainly hope so, because he could use some of it to resurrect Izzy, right? Well, people in denial tend to come up with a lot of crazy ideas.