Mutiny

For other uses, see Mutiny (disambiguation)

A mutiny aboard the Black Pearl.

"The topic, gentlemen...is mutiny. Mutiny most foul."

―Jack Sparrow

Mutiny [myoot-n-ee] - noun: Rebellion against authority. This is best known as sailors' revolt against the captain or officers of a ship. It was a conspiracy or revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew, or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term was commonly used for a rebellion among members of a crew against their superior officer(s), but can also occasionally refer to any type of rebellion against any force or an authority figure. A participant of a mutiny were called a mutineer.

During the Golden Age of Piracy, mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against the ship's captain. This occurred, for example, with the infamous pirates Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, who had a long history of fighting over the Captaincy of the Black Pearl; this began when Barbossa, as First Mate, led a mutiny against Jack, resulting in Barbossa having overtook the ship and left Sparrow marooned to die on a deserted island. By the time he led his own mutiny aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge years later, Jack knew a thing or two about mutinies.

History

"You heard Captain Turner. Release her!"
"'Captain Turner'?"
"Aye, the perfidious rotter led a mutiny against us!"

―Sao Feng, Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs concerning Will Turner

Several mutinies occurred throughout the Age of Piracy, and almost all of them were successful. In the early 1690s, John Avery sailed from Bristol as master aboard a privateer vessel, until the crew raised a mutiny and turned to a life of piracy, electing Avery as their captain. A few years later, Left-Foot Louis and Silverback raised a mutiny onboard the Fleur de la Mort, but their attempt to overthrow Captain Laura Smith was unsuccessful. When the rogue pirate captain Christophe-Julien de Rapièr shot his First Mate, the crew of La Vipère raised a mutiny and left Christophe in a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa had a long history of fighting over the Captaincy of the Black Pearl, which began when Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack.

One of the most notable mutinies occurred at the beginning of the quest for the Treasure of Cortés, aboard the infamous pirate vessel, the Black Pearl. When Jack Sparrow captained the Pearl and Hector Barbossa was his first mate, Barbossa led his crew in a mutiny that overtook the ship and marooned Sparrow on a deserted island and left him to die. Some time later, a Chinese pirate named Wong raised a mutiny against the Pirate Lord Sao Feng aboard his flagship, the Empress. At some point after the battle of Isla de Muerta, Mary Bonny's crew raised a mutiny against their captain and left her in the middle of the sea in a small boat. Mary Lash was mutinied and marooned on Isla Perdida when half of her crew thought she was "bad luck" while the other half was convinced she was a demon disguised as a woman.

Will Turner later led a mutiny aboard the Black Pearl, this time against the crew of the Black Pearl after saving Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker, with the help of Sao Feng's pirates of the Empress and his men aboard the Pearl, including Tai Huang. After the death of Admiral James Norrington, Davy Jones' crew attempted to mutiny aboard the Flying Dutchman, only to find soldiers of the East India Trading Company aiming cannons at the Dead Man's Chest, with Mercer holding the key. There would be no mutiny as Jones' heart and the Dutchman were still firmly under the foot of the Company. Following the battle between the Brethren Court Armada against the East India Trading Company Armada, Barbossa stole the Black Pearl from Jack Sparrow, again, under circumstances that could only be described as mutiny.

During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow led a crew of mutineers against Blackbeard's zombie officers aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge.

During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, having known a thing or two about mutinies, Jack Sparrow found himself on the planning side of his own mutiny on board Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, upon which he was imprisoned by Angelica. Add to the zombie officers, an abused and terrified crew, Blackbeard's reputation for brutality, and the fact he also didn't care much for swabbing the deck, Jack felt it was an entirely unacceptable combination. So he spread word among the crew to meet in a storage cabin on the gun deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge. Trapped on a ship crewed by zombies, going to a place of almost certain death, rebellion seemed Jack's only option. However, his revolt is quickly stopped in its tracks when Blackbeard brought the sinister ship to life while wielding the supernatural Sword of Triton. With the sword, Blackbeard was able to bring the Revenge to life, creating a massive spiderweb of rope and rigging, crossing this way and that, all of the mutineers caught in the web, bound, trapped like flies.

During the quest for the Trident of Poseidon, the crew of the Dying Gull discovered that their captain Jack Sparrow was being hunted by a deadly ghost sailor for the sole purpose of revenge. They immediately aimed their guns at Jack in frustration, making Jack decide to call upon mutiny, having Henry Turner and Carina Smyth join him on a rowboat. The mutineers ended up putting Joshamee Gibbs as their new captain.

Laws of Mutiny

"Why do you do this?!"
"Mutiny. Our laws be clear."
"Our laws allow the captain to show leniency."
"I have given this man a chance to determine his fate. A gift not afforded to all."

―Angelica and Blackbeard, on the Cook

There were laws on how to handle mutiny. One of which states that the captain was allowed to show leniency towards the mutineers.

Behind the scenes

"He plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out on the venture, the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too. So, Jack gives up the bearings. That night, there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

―Joshamee Gibbs about Hector Barbossa's mutiny against Jack Sparrow

The term "mutiny" was first mentioned in the souvenir book for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, Mutinies most notably played a role in relation to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: first mentioned in the junior novelization, and first appeared in the video game adaptation, which both depict the mutiny against Captain Jack Sparrow by the first mate Hector Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl. Actor Johnny Depp notably found the film's script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio quirky, with one reason being that the traditional mutiny had already taken place.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for At World's End, when Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa find out that Will Turner led a mutiny on the Black Pearl with the help of the Pirate Lord Sao Feng's men, and after Sao Feng tells his crew to release Elizabeth Swann by the orders of "Captain Turner", Barbossa repeats the words Feng had said in Singapore, "The only way a pirate can make a profit, these days, is by betraying other pirates." Feng responds by saying that he could live with that, "as long as I am not the other pirates." After Jack asked if Sao Feng had no acrimony towards mutineers, Feng pointed out that Will didn't raise a mutiny against him. The scene never made it into the final cut of the film, but was retained in the film's junior novelization, where it was also revealed that "No one had ever dared mutiny against the powerful Pirate Lord of Singapore". However, in the Disney Adventures magazine comic The Dragon Tile!, which is chronologically set before the events of At World's End, a Chinese pirate named Wong raised a mutiny against Feng aboard the Empress.

In Terry Rossio's screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales, despite their long history of fighting over the Captaincy of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow offered the position of First Mate to Hector Barbossa, seemingly ending that debate. However, the intended post-credits scene had Barbossa planning another mutiny against Jack, revealing that Barbossa in fact has not forgiven Jack, and is intent on killing him, further detailed by having Jack the Monkey return with the sword destined to kill Jack Sparrow. Barbossa lifts the sword, regards it, then would ask who was with him, staring nearly straight into camera, thereby breaking the fourth wall. Likely intended as a reference to Jack Sparrow's mutiny in On Stranger Tides, Hector Barbossa tells the assembled crew members, "The topic is mutiny, gentlemen. Mutiny most foul." In Rossio's annotations for the screenplay, he noted that while it may seem like an overt set-up for a sequel, this would bring the story back around full circle as a way to end Jack and Barbossa's characters.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: Silver
• Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Bold New Horizons (Mentioned only)
• The Price of Freedom (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (video game) (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Mentioned only)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First mentioned)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization) (Mentioned only)
• The Eyes Have It! (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
• The Dragon Tile! (In flashback(s))
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
• Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Mentioned only) (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World (First mentioned)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

External links

• Mutiny on Wikipedia