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Death

Fight on Isla de Muerta 37
"Do you fear death?"
"You've no idea."
―Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow[src]

Death was the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. It could also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of organs, such as the brain and heart, as well as occurring when breathing and the heartbeat ceased. Causes of death include old age, murder, suicide, disease, predation, malnutrition, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury. The bodily remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable process that eventually occurs in all organisms.

In society, the nature of death and humanity's awareness of its mortality has, for millennia, been a concern of the world's religious traditions and philosophical inquiry. Many cultures and religions have a concept of an afterlife and also may hold the idea of judgment of good and bad deeds in one's life. This may have included a belief in some kind of resurrection, reincarnation or rebirth, or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as eternal oblivion.

Despite the "dead men tell no tales" warning offered as a chilling prophecy by pirates to those who braved the seas, the legendary pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was one man who seemed to defy that rule with great regularity, having been left for dead more times than he could remember, and yet somehow, he always managed to return to the living with stories of great adventures. Therefore, sometimes, dead men—or at least men who were supposed to be dead—did tell tales.

When a dead body had given up the part of its spirit that contained its will, someone else could provide that driving force, like the voodoo priestess, soothsayer and mystic Tia Dalma and the fearsome pirate and brujo Blackbeard, who were each able to have people return from beyond the grave as zombies, a fate worse than death as empty vessels stirred to life. However, Tia Dalma had the power to resurrect the vile pirate Hector Barbossa following his death in battle at Isla de Muerta, bringing him back from the dead with his identity retained. Sao Feng's map, also used by Barbossa and Sparrow, had death-inspired passages that led its holder to spiritual realms and lands beyond death, particularly towards the Farthest Gate, Davy Jones' Locker, and the Fountain of Youth, the latter having depicted the struggle for immortality.

History

Jones confronting shipwrecked sailor

Contrary to popular belief, death and Davy Jones' Locker were not the same thing: death offered a form of peace from anything suffered while alive. Whereas with the Locker, it was a place where a person would be taken, body and soul, where with Davy Jones, it wasn't about the dying, but about the punishment. As most notably described by the pirate Joshamee Gibbs and voodoo priestess, soothsayer and mystic Tia Dalma, "the worst fate you can conjure for yourself, stretching on forever" was what awaited the dying in Davy Jones' Locker.[1][2]

Despite the pirates' creed "dead men tell no tales" offered as a warning and a chilling prophecy by pirates to those who braved the seas,[3][4][5][6] there were exceptions like the legendary pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. Sparrow was one man who seemed to defy that rule with great regularity, having been left for dead more times than he could remember, and yet somehow, he always managed to return to the living with stories of great adventures. Therefore, sometimes, dead men—or at least men who were supposed to be dead—did tell tales.[7]

The comfort of death was also denied to the undead. A notable example were those who fell under the Aztec curse, like Hector Barbossa's cursed crew of pirates, existed as the living dead, unable to be killed, wounded or maimed, but doomed to suffer eternal thirst, hunger and lust unless it was lifted by the blood ritual.[8] Upon Hector Barbossa's death following a epic battle with Jack Sparrow at Isla de Muerta, the vile pirate would be resurrected by the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma.[9] Tia Dalma, also the goddess Calypso, brought Barbossa back from the dead because she needed all the Pirate Lords in order to assemble a meeting of the Brethren Court, so they could release her from her human bonds.[2] Years later, despite appearing to be the ultimate survivor,[10][11] having survived two encounters with Edward "Blackbeard" Teach,[12] Hector Barbossa eventually faced a more permanent death upon making a sacrifice of himself for his long-lost daughter Carina Smyth.[13]

According to the story of Davy Jones and Calypso, Davy Jones carved out his own heart, and locked it away in the Dead Man's Chest. Now a supernatural force condemned for eternity as the captain of the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones then returned to the seven seas, where sailors everywhere would fear him to the death, for Jones had turned fierce and cruel, with an insatiable taste for all things brutal.[14] The crew members that serve Davy Jones were also bound to the Dutchman, with Jones offering dying sailors an escape from death, then those accepting the choice fell under the curse of the Flying Dutchman.[9] Later, having stabbed the heart of Davy Jones, Will Turner assumed his place as captain of the Flying Dutchman, having both died and resurrected once the Dutchman crew cuts out his heart and after Davy Jones falls into the maelstrom. With his death, Davy Jones was welcomed back into the dark embrace of the seas,[14] while Will, his father Bootstrap Bill, and all the other crewmen on the Dutchman remain in a state between the living and the dead.[2] However, years later, Will became free of the curse following Henry Turner's quest for the Trident of Poseidon, only to have at least one dream of a seemingly-resurrected Davy Jones.[13]

Once mere men, the zombie officers that served the fearsome pirate Blackbeard returned from beyond the grave, empty vessels stirred to life. When a dead body had given up the part of its spirit that contained its will, Blackbeard provided a driving force through dark magic, with some zombie-fied crewmen retaining more of their original personality than others.[15] Shortly after the Cook's death by Greek fire,[12] Jack Sparrow saw the Cook in Blackbeard's cabin, revealing that the Greek fire was part of a voodoo ritual that turned the Cook into a zombie like the other officers. Jack looked into the zombie-fied Cook's cold dead eyes and knew his was a fate worse than death.[16] Although Blackbeard's zombie officers were unkillable, the zombies met their death upon Blackbeard's own death by the waters of the Fountain of Youth.[12][17][18][19]

Following an encounter with young Jack the Sparrow, the Spanish Navy Capitán Armando Salazar was outwitted by Sparrow, who caused his death at the Devil's Triangle. The crew of the Silent Mary died in the explosion and remained exactly the same as at the time of death; some of them are missing arms or legs, others have holes in their bodies, and Salazar missing a third of his skull.[20] Imprisoned in the waters of the Devil's Triangle, becoming cursed ghosts forced to endure eternal pain, feeling their deaths over and over,[21] Salazar's crew killed all who entered the Triangle, leaving only one man alive to tell the tale. The ghost-captain Salazar lurked in anticipation for the day when he and his crew, neither living nor dead, could be free to take revenge on Jack Sparrow, the pirate who doomed them to such a fate. Upon being freed, Salazar's ghostly crew killed many in pursuit of Sparrow until Salazar's crew became human again and faced a more permanent death at Poseidon's Tomb.[13]

Behind the scenes

Death was first featured in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, which featured dead skeletons being shown in Dead Man's Cove. The term "death" was first used in the soundtrack[3] and souvenir book.[4] The signature warning "dead men tell no tales" also originated in the ride,[22] and would be used throughout the franchise.[23][24]

Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) was originally killed by Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[8] but was shown to have been resurrected in Dead Man's Chest,[9] setting his return in At World's End.[2] A vile pirate returned from the dead, Barbossa was first described as "the ultimate survivor" in a character description for On Stranger Tides.[10][11][12] Despite this, Hector Barbossa later met his eventual final demise in Dead Men Tell No Tales.[13][25]

Several events in The Curse of the Black Pearl unfold differently from the film and other tie-in materials. Lieutenant James Norrington tells young Elizabeth Swann that every pirate deserves "a short drop and a sudden stop" in the film.[8] In the 2006 German novelizaton, Norrington says that every pirate deserves a quick death.[26] In the film, Elizabeth stabs Barbossa in the chest but the pirate captain pulls out the bloody knife and says "I'm curious. After killing me what is it you're planning on doing next?"[8] In the German novelizaton, Barbossa says "Now I'm dead," before pulling out the knife.[27]

When interviewed about Davy Jones in Dead Man's Chest, actor Bill Nighy said, "If you are so unlucky as to stand before him, then it's true: you are staring death in the face, and he'll kill you without question."[28] In 2009, despite the character's death in At World's End, Nighy expressed interest in returning for the fourth installment. "I am technically dead but then again, who cares? Everybody dies in the pirates movies. They killed Johnny [Depp] and Geoffrey [Rush]. Death is not permanent in the pirate world. I have a serious desire to come back."[29] However, the fourth film, later titled On Stranger Tides, was released in 2011, without the character or Nighy in the cast.[12] Although the post-credits scene of Dead Men Tell No Tales featured Will Turner having a dream of Davy Jones seemingly resurrected from the dead,[13] directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg confirmed the scene was meant to "pay respect to a legendary villain in the franchise" as well as be a tease or hint that it could be the "beginning of the end" or "just a dream or nightmare".[25]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for On Stranger Tides, after Jack Sparrow's mutiny aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard killed the Cook by unleashing Greek fire upon him, and as Blackbeard threatened Sparrow with a voodoo doll, the zombie-fied Cook appeared standing in the doorway of Blackbeard's cabin. During Blackbeard's death at the Fountain of Youth, "Jack looks, sees -- the Zombies, looking on, collapse, begin to decompose" was the last description of Blackbeard's zombies in at least two screenplay drafts.[17][18] The scenes were altered or never made it to the final cut of the film. The Cook's return as a zombie after his initial death was retained in the film's junior novel, where it was also revealed that the Greek fire was part of a voodoo ritual,[16] as well as the visual guide.[15] However, the zombies decomposing was cut, with only the zombie Quartermaster and Gunner seen crushed by a column while The Spaniard's crew destroyed the Fountain.[12][19]

According to Dead Men Tell No Tales director Joachim Rønning, the film crew gave the cursed Silent Mary a skeletal appearance because they wanted the ship to feel like death itself.[30]

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Sound Track of the Fabulous Adventure
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World
  5. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
  6. ↑ Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector's Anthology
  7. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' New Stills Feature Queen Anne's Revenge, Character Descriptions | Stitch Kingdom - Archived
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Brand New Images and Character Descriptions from Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - HeyUGuys
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide, pp. 36-37: "Zombie Crew"
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization), p. 81
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Collated Script a-o 2ND BUFF; October 18, 2010)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2nd CHERRY REVISION; November 1, 2010)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 In the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides screenplay, the zombies decomposed as Blackbeard died at the Fountain of Youth. But as that scene was altered, the fate of the zombies are unknown, though it is assumed that the zombies died as there were no zombies under Hector Barbossa's command.
  20. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Behind the Scenes
  21. ↑ The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth, p. 211
  22. ↑ Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow
  23. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales: The History of the Attraction
  24. ↑ Dead Men Tell New Tales: Re-Imagineering the Attraction
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 'Pirates of the Caribbean': About that death and post-credits scene - USA Today - Archived
  26. ↑ Fluch der Karibik, pp. 11-12
  27. ↑ Fluch der Karibik, p. 116
  28. ↑ Pirates 2: The Deadly Davy Jones - IGN
  29. ↑ Bill Nighy Eager To Sail Again For 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 4' - MTV Movies Blog - Archived
  30. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Behind the Scenes, pp. 16-17