Season 2 of Max’s hit pirate comedyOur Flag Means Deathhas just hit our screens and will soon bid farewell to us once again, leaving fans to wait for another year for a third season. Or, rather, tohopefor a third season, as another run of the beloved series isn’t yet confirmed. But at least we have the continuing adventures of Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and his beloved Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) to keep us warm until then. And, while Season 1 gifted us with a crew of misfits, albeit experience pirates, Season 2 spices everything up with newer additions to the show’s cast. Though many of the captains and shipmates that make up the crew aboard theOur Flag Means Deathship are original creations by showrunnerDavid Jenkinsand his team of writers, others are based on real historical figures that lived through the Golden and Silver Age of piracy in the 18th century. Here’s a guide to the real-life people these characters are based on.
Stede Bonnet
Known as “the gentleman pirate,” Stede Bonnet was an aristocrat. He decided to walk away from his life, including his wife and three children, and try his hand at piracy on the seas.According to a 2017 episode ofThis American Life,Elna Bakertells us that Bonnet was born in Barbados on a sugar plantation to a wealthy family. Because he had so much money, he didn’t steal his ship, rather he commissioned one to be built and named itThe Revenge. Not only that, he paid his crew regular wages, which were unheard of at the time. He had little experience sailing and had to rely on his more experienced crew for assistance when attacking ships.
It wasn’t until he accidentally ran into Blackbeard in the Bahamas that he got to learn from the very best. When their collaboration ended, Bonnet’s crew begged Blackbeard not to leave. Upon which, Blackbeard handed Bonnet’s ship over to Izzy Hands (see below) and invited Bonnet to stay with him on his ship. In a moment of weakness, Bonnet, now full of regret, decided to accept the King’s offer in exchange for a full pardon for piracy. However, he soon discovers that Blackbeard has plundered his ship and has abandoned his entire crew on a deserted island. Infuriated, Bonnet pursues Blackbeard in a fit of rage. On the way, Bonnet learns how to be a real pirate and does a little murdering and plundering of his own. Eventually, he is caught and hanged in South Carolina for his crimes. His piracy did not last too long, and it ended just as it seemed he was getting the hang of it.
Edward Teach aka Blackbeard
Israel “Izzy” Hands
John Rackham aka Calico Jack
Jacquotte Delahaye aka Spanish Jackie
Benjamin Hornigold
Portrayed byMark Mitchinson, Benjamin Hornigold appears inOur Flag Means DeathSeason 2 as Blackbeard’s alter-ego in the place between life and death oddly called “the gravy basket”. But even though he’s just imaginary in the series, he was very much a flesh-and-blood person in the real. And, just like what is implied in the series, he served as a mentor for Teach in his early days of piracy.Hornigold gained fame at sea by claiming not to attack English shipsand, by 1716, was a prominent member of a growing pirate community on the island of New Providence. However, his crew eventually grew weary of him picking and choosing ships based on nationality, which caused him to be ousted as captain. Contrary to what would be expected, he wasn’t killed, though. This was maybe a mistake, considering that Hornigold would go on to accept a royal pardon and become a notorious pirate hunter.
Zheng Yi Sao
Initially introduced as a soup kiosk owner by the name of Susan,Zheng Yi Sao is the one responsible for taking Bonnet and his crew back to ship. A pirate queen who has conquered China and is now spreading her wings across the globe, she has a thing for soft men, particularly for Oluwande (Samson Kayo). Charmingly portrayed byRuibo Qian, she’s easily the best thing of all the episodes she is in. The real Zheng Yi Sao first became a pirate through marriage, sailing to South China Sea alongside her husband, Zheng Yi. Following his death, she took control of their fleet, which she quickly expanded - and considering that her husband’s forces had over 600 boats and 40 thousand men, that is saying something. With time, Zheng Yi Sao became the leader of a gigantic pirate confederation that terrorized the coast of Asia. Virtually invincible, her reign over China only came to a halt after she accepted a pardon, leading to the disbandment of her confederation. Oddly enough, Zheng Yi Sao was not exactly a contemporary of Bonnet, Teach, and other pirates in this article, having been active mostly in the early 19th century.
Anne Bonny
Already mentioned in this article as Calico Jack’s partner, Anne Bonny was born in Ireland sometime in the late 17th century, but her family soon moved to the Americas, where she would eventually start her career as a legendary pirate. Much like Spanish Jackie, she disguised herself as a man, something that some historians claim started in her childhood, a time in which her parents would dress her as a boy. Though not much is known about her early life, it is said that she left her family’s home after refusing her father’s choice of suitor for her, subsequently running into and joining forces with Jack Rackham. Together, Anne and Jack stole a boat in 1919 and were captured by Jamaican authorities one year later. Both were sentenced to hanging, but Anne managed to avoid her sentencing due to being pregnant with Jack’s child. It is unknown how she eventually died.
In Season 2 ofOur Flag Means Death,Bonny, played by Minnie Driver, is married to Mary Read, a fellow crew member of Calico Jack’s fleet. The two infamous pirates have a complicated relationship, caught somewhere between love and stabbing each other in the back for fun. Blackbeard and Bonnet run into the duo after a falling out soon after their reunion.
Known by the authorities as Mark Read,Mary is said to have been a valiant pirate who fought against capture with all of her strengthwhile other crew members hid below decks. Sailing alongside Mary Bonny and Calico Jack, she became a feared force on the Caribbean in the first half of the 18th century. Alas, she was soon captured and taken to trial. Like Anne, she claimed to be pregnant at the time of her sentencing, and, thus, avoid being hanged. Sadly, she died of a fever shortly after giving birth to her child with Calico Jack, in 1721.
Though the nature of the relationship between Mary and Anne remains a matter for speculation, inOur Flag Means Death, the two are shown to be in a long, somewhat happy and somewhat tense unofficial marriage. Portrayed by Rachel House, Mary is shown to be a ruthless woman who misses the sea and has a hard time living on land with her wife.
