10 Biggest Things That Happen To John Silver After Black Sails' Ending

April 26, 2024, 2:05 p.m.

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10 Biggest Things That Happen To John Silver After Black Sails' Ending

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Summary Black Sails depicts what happens before Treasure Island, providing backstory for characters and plot.

John Silver must reunite with Billy Bones before the events of Treasure Island can occur.

John Silver's timeline post-Black Sails includes marrying Madi, forming a new crew, and leading a mutiny.

The adventures of Long John Silver (Luke Arnold) are far from over when the pirate TV show Black Sails comes to an end. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure novel Treasure Island, Black Sails serves as a prequel story following Captain James Flint (Toby Stephens) and his crew of pirates. John Silver plays a major role in Black Sails and Treasure Island, rising from a lowly sailor to Flint's quartermaster and one of the most feared pirates in existence.

Treasure Island shows John, presumably years after Black Sails' ending, recounting his new endeavor to lead a mutiny against the captain of the Hispaniola to claim the cache of treasure the assumed dead Flint buried long ago. Based on the information provided in Treasure Island, a lot has happened to John since the end of Black Sails. Treasure Island features some of the biggest events in John's life since the end of his partnership with Flint and implies others that happened in the intervening years.

Related How Black Sails Connects to Treasure Island Black Sails lays the groundwork and fills in several gaps in character story leading up to the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel, Treasure Island.

10 John Silver Clashes With Billy Bones

John Silver and Billy Bones must meet again before Treasure Island.

At the end of Black Sails, John and Billy Bones (Tom Hopper) are not quite where they need to be for the events of Treasure Island to happen. At the beginning of Treasure Island, Billy, introducing himself as "the Captain," arrives at the inn run by Jim Hawkins' family with a treasure map in his possession and warns Jim of a one-legged pirate. In contrast, Billy is abandoned on Skeleton Island at the end of Black Sails. In the original story, Ben Gunn (Chris Fisher) was the member of Flint's crew left behind on the island where the treasure was buried.

Presumably, Billy locates the treasure during his time on the island, creates a treasure map, then is rescued. Sometime after that, he and John meet again, upon which John discovers that Billy knows where the treasure is buried. John and Billy's relationship deteriorates throughout Black Sails, explaining their animosity towards each other in Treasure Island. One last confrontation between them, where they discuss what happened with Flint and Billy resolves to keep the treasure from John at all costs, would put them in place for the rest of the story.

9 John Silver Marries Madi

Black Sail implies that Madi is John's future wife.

Since Madi and John never get married during Black Sails, it is implied that they are married sometime afterward because John later refers to her as his wife.

Black Sails created the character of John's romantic partner Madi (Zethu Dlomo) based on a brief exchange of dialogue in Treasure Island. John mentions his wife, who is a woman of color, to the pirates he has recruited to take the Hispaniola and the treasure by force. Since Madi and John never get married during Black Sails, it is implied that they are married sometime afterward because John later refers to her as his wife. He also trusts her to handle his assets in Bristol as he will not be able to return after his mutiny on the Hispaniola.

Although they are not necessarily among the real pirates who appear in Black Sails, Madi's parents, known only as Mr. Scott (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) and the Maroon Queen (Moshidi Motshegwa), are inspired by historical figures. Madi meets John when Flint's crew lands on Maroon Island and is captured by the community of former slaves led by Madi's mother. Madi helps John establish an alliance between her people and the pirates. She and John apparently stay together and continue to work as partners in crime after Black Sails.

8 John Silver Stars A New Life In Bristol

John is recruited by the Hispaniola crew in Bristol in Treasure Island.

Jim Hawkins and the rest of the main Treasure Island characters meet John in Bristol, England. John runs a pub called the Spyglass in Bristol until he is approached by Jim and the rest to take part in the opportunity of a lifetime. Silver is likely behind the black spots that were sent to Billy and was trying to discover what had happened to Billy's treasure map; Jim's arrival in Bristol was exactly what he had hoped for.

However, this suggests that sometime after Black Sails, John and Madi left the Caribbean and started a new life in England. At the end of the series, Nassau is unofficially run by Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy), John's former friend with whom he has a complicated relationship. The Golden Age of Piracy coming to an end as Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz) and Anne Bonny (Clara Paget) met their demise may have also prompted the former couple to leave. However, John appears to have done well in Bristol, finding a source of income and a comfortable life.

7 John Silver Learns How To Cook

John is a terrible cook in Black Sails.

When he is first introduced in Black Sails, John is a sailor on a ship raided by the crew of the Walrus. In order to survive the attack, John claims that he is a cook and could take on this role among the pirate crew. However, Flint soon realizes that John made this up, as all the food he prepares is terrible. Flint instructs John about some meal preparation, but John soon rises above this role.

However, John is specifically recruited to join the Hispaniola's crew as its cook and the food he serves is great. Therefore, John must have actually learned to cook sometime between Black Sails and Treasure Island. He got some tips from Flint back in the day and possibly learned more from Madi or another friend while living in Bristol. It is a seemingly inconsequential detail about the pirate who is remembered for his mutiny, but this skill helps John craft a new persona that enables his next round of exploits.

6 John Silver Gets His Famous Parrot

In Treasure Island, John has a parrot called Captain Flint.

Treasure Island is credited with popularizing many tropes associated with pirates: for instance, a map with an X marking the spot where the treasure is buried, peg-legged pirates, and parrots being kept as pets. The latter two are entirely because of Long John Silver, who is a harbinger of danger because of Billy's warning about a peg-legged pirate. John also has a parrot who sits on his shoulder, whom he calls "Captain Flint."

The parrot's name is apparently an inside joke John made to himself, given his history with the famous captain. He spins a very extensive tale about the parrot, telling Jim:

"Now that bird [...] is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins—they lives forever mostly, and if anybody's seen more wickedness it must be the devil himself. She's sailed with England—the great pirate Cap'n England. She's been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello... She was at the boarding of the Viceroy of the Indies out of Goa, she was [...]"

Another throwaway detail, the parrot Captain Flint is another element famously associated with Long John Silver. Additionally, John's story about the bird is another example of his tendency to tell elaborate lies, a character trait he exhibits in Black Sails.

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5 John Silver Forms A New Crew

John finds some old crewmates to help him in Treasure Island.

When John joins the Hispaniola's crew, he discreetly informs some old acquaintances of the upcoming expedition, who also come along. A vital point of Treasure Island's plot is that most of the main crew are pirates led by John, their unofficial captain. Many of them are former members of Flint's crew, who have been after his treasure for years. John manages to let them know that the map has been found, and they have an opportunity to claim the treasure.

Some of the other pirates left the Caribbean for England after Black Sails and John remained in contact with them, as he was able to re-recruit them so quickly. Among them is Black Sails cast member Israel Hands (David Wilmot), Blackbeard's (Ray Stevenson) former first mate, and a key ally to John in the TV series. With Hands and the others, John assembles a crew within a crew that is entirely loyal to him.

4 John Silver Creates A New Backstory For Himself

John's backstory in Treasure Island doesn't align with the events of Black Sails.

One of the biggest changes Black Sails makes from the Treasure Island story is the events that lead to the loss of John's leg. However, the most obvious explanation that corrects the continuity is that John makes up the story he tells Jim in Treasure Island. It's not as though he can say he lost his leg during a battle on Captain Flint's ship. It is established that John is a master liar in Black Sails; Flint suspects that much of what John has revealed about his past is fabricated.

In Treasure Island, John says that he lost his leg while serving in the Royal Navy. In Black Sails, his leg is heavily damaged when he is attacked by Charles Vane's (Zach McGowan) unnamed quartermaster, resulting in the limb's amputation. However, by the time he meets Jim, John needs to put on a charming facade and recount a respectable past, so he creates a story that is at least partially untrue.

3 John Silver Meets Jim Hawkins

John is destined to meet Jim Hawkins, the main character of Treasure Island.

Other adaptations of the Treasure Island story have found other ways to highlight the affectionate relationship between John and Jim, namely by suggesting that Jim sees John as a father figure.

Of course, John eventually meets and befriends Jim, the young protagonist of Treasure Island who comes to possess Billy's map to Flint's treasure and sets out to claim the fortune. The Treasure Island novel emphasizes how all the characters buy into John's false persona, saying that they find him very trustworthy. Jim also forms a strong bond with John during their voyage.

Other adaptations of the Treasure Island story have found other ways to highlight the affectionate relationship between John and Jim, namely by suggesting that Jim sees John as a father figure. In different versions, Jim's father either died or left his family before the story starts. In the context of the life of the Black Sails character, Jim Hawkins is still in John's future and will have a major impact on his life.

2 John Silver Leads A Mutiny

John leads a mutiny in his mission to retrieve Flint's treasure.

The conflict of Treasure Island revolves around the mutiny John leads, so he and his band of pirates may claim a larger share of the treasure. Assuming that Madi is a part of Treasure Island, she is standing ready to liquidate everything she and her husband own in Bristol and flee in the aftermath. Meanwhile, John leads a violent campaign against Captain Smollett and those loyal to him.

In the novel, John kills a sailor in cold blood and leads an attack against Smollett and Jim's party, killing several people (and losing some of his own men). He then takes Jim hostage while he and his pirates search for the treasure. John narrowly avoids death several times himself; for instance, when they discover that the treasure is missing, the rest of the pirates want to kill John and Jim in retribution for allegedly being misled.

Related 10 Reasons Why You Should Revisit Black Sails It's been a few years since Black Sails ended, but the pirate series is definitely worth re-watching. Here's why.

1 John Silver Retrieves *Some* Of Flint's Treasure

John gets a piece of what he is after in Treasure Island.

In the end, most of John's crew of pirates are driven off by Smollett's party and left behind on the island. Ben Gunn has allied with them at this point and allows them to take the bulk of the treasure from the island which he located during the years he was stranded there. They leave the island, taking only John as a prisoner. However, as soon as they dock somewhere in Central or South America, John takes a portion of the treasure and escapes.

This is where John Silver's known story ends, loosely mimicking the open-ended nature of Anne Bonny's fate following Jack Rackham's execution. Again, assuming that Madi is a part of the story, John would likely either try to go back to England to get her or contact her, telling her to come to the Americas. Black Sails created an amazing version of the character of Long John Silver that puts everything that happens to him after the series' end in a new light.