Who Mary Read & Anne Bonny Are In Our Flag Means Death Season 2: Real Pirates Explained – Armessa Movie News

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Our Flag Means Death season 2, episode 4.

Our Flag Means Death season 2 introduces viewers to two real-life women pirates: Mary Read and Anne Bonny. While season 1 of the swashbuckling period rom-com features Calico Jack (Will Arnett), an old friend of Blackbeard’s (Taika Waititi), the sophomore outing has been keen to spotlight both pirates from Ed’s past and renowned historical figures who probably didn’t cross paths with him, like Our Flag Means Death‘s pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao (Ruibo Qian).

Ahead of the sophomore season’s release, it was announced that Minnie Driver would play Anne Bonny in Our Flag Means Death season 2, leaving fans to speculate over the pirate’s role in the series overall. Given Bonny’s real-life connections to pirate figures like Calico Jack and Mary Read (Rachel House), viewers were convinced that Bonny and Read would appear on-screen together. Our Flag Means Death season 2, episode 4, “Fun and Games,” makes that hope a reality and pairs Anne Bonny and Mary Read with a duo that’s quite their opposite: Ed and Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby).

Mary Read & Anne Bonny Are Blackbeard’s Old Friends In Our Flag Means Death Season 2

Plenty of Our Flag Means Death‘s characters are based on actual people. Some, like Ed Teach (aka Blackbeard), are pulled right from the pages of history — at least in name. Others, however, are inspired by historical figures. For example, non-binary pirate Jim (Vico Ortiz), a crew member on the Revenge, is partly drawn from Mary Read and Anne Bonny, who dressed as men early in their pirate days. In its sophomore outing, the series finally introduces Bonny and Read in their own rights by presenting them as Ed’s longtime friends.

In one of Our Flag Means Death season 2, episode 4’s biggest moments, the Revenge crew votes to banish Ed from the ship for his past transgressions. Stranded on an island, Ed wanders the jungle and bumps into Mary Read, who invites him back to her home. However, when Ed and Read arrive, they find Anne Bonny, Read’s partner, chatting with Stede, Ed’s ex. Despite the clear tension between Ed and Stede, Bonny and Read invite the pair to dinner.

The True Story Of Pirate Mary Read (& How Our Flag Means Death’s Character Compares)

With the introduction of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, Our Flag Means Death provides even more LGBTQ+ representation that stems from real-life occurrences. While not much is known about the real pirates’ personal lives, speculation suggests they became lovers after meeting at sea. As portrayed in the series, Mary Read dresses in more traditionally masculine clothing; not only is the outfit practical for piracy, but it’s also historically accurate. Read, like Bonny, dressed as a man during her earliest days of high-seas plundering.

While Read and Bonny are portrayed as a couple, the show takes some liberties. For starters, both of them are alive. In reality, Read died shortly after escaping an execution (via Britannica). In the show, the couple has given up their piratical ways for a seemingly quieter life: Read hunts down dinner, while Bonny runs an antique shop. Read explains that they’ve been together so long that they lean into “fun and games” to keep things interesting. For the ex-pirates, this means knife-play, poisoning each other, and torching down their boring abode as an act of love.

Anne Bonny’s Real Pirate History & Our Flag Means Death Character Comparison

Like Mary Read, Anne Bonny is one of the few women pirates in recorded history. The real-life Irish pirate moved to Nassau with her then-husband, a sailor by trade, and began mingling with pirates in taverns. After a chance meeting with Calico Jack, Bonny left her first husband behind to join her new lover’s pirate crew (via Britannica). In order to avoid complications aboard Calico Jack’s vessel, Bonny disguised herself as a man. Soon enough, Bonny met Read, another one of Calico Jack’s crew members who’d also presented herself as a man to make it in the world of piracy.

When the women realized their mutual attraction to each other, they shared their true identities, leading historians to speculate on their romantic involvement (via A General History of Pirates). After many adventures together, the trio of Jack, Read, and Bonny were captured and sentenced to death, though both women escaped their executions on the account of being pregnant. Given that Anne Bonny’s fate is unknown, Our Flag Means Death had plenty of room to envision her life with Read — and the pirate’s apparent penchant for antiques and arson.

Source: Britannica, Britannica, A General History of Pirates