what Izzy calls Ed

[kindkit]

So, for Important Fic Reasons and not at all because I'm an obsessive weirdo, I went back through all the episodes to track exactly how Izzy refers to Ed, both when speaking directly to him and when talking about him to other people. Some interesting patterns emerged that I thought I'd share.



First of all, Izzy only calls Ed "Blackbeard" to his face once, and it's right after he's just been made to eat his toe. Otherwise, he only refers to Ed as Blackbeard when talking to other people, or when reporting things he's said to other people.

When Izzy's talking directly and privately to Ed, he mostly calls him "Edward." At first it's a name he uses only when they're alone, but later he uses it more often in front of other people (mostly Fang and Ivan), and by the end he uses it contemptuously. My reading is that "Edward" to Izzy is a name that signals their closeness. He starts using it more publicly as Ed grows obviously closer to Stede (I think he's basically trying to mark his territory), and then, when Ed has made the name valueless by openly saying he wants everyone to call him Edward, Izzy rejects it and only uses it with contempt.

When speaking to Ed in public, Izzy mostly calls him "captain" or "boss."

He seldom calls Ed "Ed." It's interesting, especially in light of Ed choosing that version of his name to introduce himself to Stede. Stede consistently calls him "Ed," and Izzy pretty consistently doesn't.


Here are the episode-by-episode details in case anyone's interested. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of times a name is used. Occasionally I've quoted when context seemed important.

Episode 1

N//A


Episode 2

To Ivan and Fang: captain (1)


Episode 3

To Ed, first scene while the two of them are alone: captain (1), sir (2), Edward (1)

To Stede: my boss (1), my captain (1)

To Ed, alone, second scene: "I explicitly told him Blackbeard desired his company,"


Episode 4

To Ed, alone at the bow: boss (1)

To the crew on deck, Ed there: Blackbeard (1)

To Ed, looking at Stede's cabinet: Edward (4 ,while trying to get his attention)

While looking for Ed in Stede's quarters: Ed (2), Edward (1)

To the crew, while looking for Ed: Blackbeard (1)

To Ed, on deck with crew in earshot: captain (1)

To Ed, aside, out of earshot of others: "I was honored to work for the legendary Blackbeard," "you're . . . merely posing as Blackbeard"

To Ed, on deck surrounded by crew: boss (1)

To Ed, on deck with no one in earshot: Edward (1 ); he also refers to Blackbeard, but doesn't call Ed that


Episode 5

N/A


Episode 6

Izzy's voiceover: Edward (1)

To Stede, with Ed there: "His name is Blackbeard."

To Ed, with Fang and Ivan there: Edward (1)

To Ed, alone: Edward (1)

To Stede, alone: Edward (1)

To Ed while leaving, with Ivan and Roach listening: Edward (1)


Episode 7

To Jackie, while imitating Stede Bonnet: Blackbeard (1)

To Badminton: my boss (1)


Episode 8

N/A


Episode 9

To Ed, on deck with Ivan and Fang listening, surrounded by other people: Edward (2)

To Ed, during the document signing with a whole roomful of people in earshot: Ed (1)


Episode 10

To the crew on deck: Blackbeard (1)

To Lucius, no one else in earshot: Blackbeard (1)

On deck, to the whole crew after Wee John says "Ed": "His name is Blackbeard or Captain." [Ed responds to this by saying that he wants to be called Edward.]

To Ed, alone: Responding to Ed's "I am still Blackbeard" with "No, this [picture] is Blackbeard." Then "Blackbeard is my captain. I serve Blackbeard. Not Edward. Edward better watch his fucking step."

To Ed, alone, right after Ed has fed him the toe: Blackbeard (1)

To Fang and the crew: Blackbeard (1)

To Stede's crew while marooning them: Edward (2), with incredible contempt both times.

Comments

[siyamau]

Ohhh this is good stuff, you are doing important work here!

I did casually notice this (like, the change in tone and address after the toe incident etc) but I didn't pick up on just the general pattern. I just had to go back and watch that clip from E9 in particular - Izzy finally calling him Ed again, just as he's trying to claw him back from the brink (as Izzy sees it). It's actually pretty heart-breaking - Izzy is awful, but the characterisation and portrayal is so good I can't help but feel for him. In that context, it could be construed that he's sold himself out to the British (the worst thing Izzy could do to himself, right?) in order to (as he sees it) save the object of his devotion from the same fate. He's awful and misguided but he's also in his mind sacrificed himself for his captain.

The contemptuous 'Edward' after Ed has returned, but still rejects Izzy, makes so much more sense now too. I read it as him mocking the crew and their image of Ed, but maybe he IS actually truly contemptuous of Ed's emotional side (the side that rejected him). "when Ed has made the name valueless by openly saying he wants everyone to call him Edward, Izzy rejects it and only uses it with contempt." Absolutely this. It's like when he truly realises Ed doesn't want him as anything more than a colleague, if Izzy can't have him, nobody can. So we get Blackbeard instead.

[trascendenza]

Ooooh, super interesting, thank you!

[silverusagi]

Oh, thanks for this!

[saraqael]

This is a useful list. I had noticed that he mainly used Edward when speaking to Ed, which made it all the sadder when he rejected bitterly 'Edward' at the end.