Our Flag Means Death Season 2 ending explained

This article contains spoilers for Our Flag Means Death, Season Two, Episode Eight.

Our Flag Means Death's second season has drawn to a surprising (and tragic) close, leaving HBO's crew of plucky pirates with some major changes to their status quo. We're going to break down exactly what happened in this ending and sink our teeth into some speculation about a possible Season 3 -- but first, it should come as no surprise that there are major spoilers from here on out! Please proceed with caution.

How Does Our Flag Means Death Season 2 end?

The final showdown of Season 2 kicked off when Prince Ricky, the noseless antagonist who had been lurking around the fringes of the show from the start, finally kicked off his assault with the British Navy at his side. In the penultimate episode, he sank Zheng Yi Sao's pirate fleet and launched an assault on the Republic of Pirates, promptly taking over Spanish Jackie's bar. Don't worry, though -- Zheng and Stede were able to escape the chaos and Spanish Jackie has her affairs more than handled. While Ricky and his goons drink and gloat around the place, Jackie launches a plan to slowly poison them with tainted liquor. (Surprise! She and her husbands have all been poison training in case a moment like this were to ever happen, so they're all fine!)

While this is happening, Stede and Zheng are on a mission to find Ed, who is deep in a very goofy attempt to Eat, Pray, Love himself out of the pirate lifestyle. He's absolutely terrible at it, though, to no one's surprise, and promptly gets kicked out of the fishing village he tried to settle down in. "If you were ever good at anything," a real fisherman tells him, "go and do that."

As luck would have it, he gets to do just that. It's enough to prompt him to retrieve his old pirating leathers and take up the Blackbeard identity once more, just in time for Stede and Zheng to come collect him and lead the charge on the occupied Spanish Jackie's. But, in true Our Flag Means Death fashion, their attack plans are dashed when they arrive to find the Navy all dropping like flies to Jackie's poison.

Their problems aren't quite done yet, however. The Naval occupation of the Republic of Pirates is still in full swing and with Zheng's fleet in ashes, their only hope of escaping is to get back to the Revenge. To do this, Stede proposes the idea of stealing the naval uniforms of the dead men in Spanish Jackie's and leading a full frontal assault. It's a suicide mission, to be sure, but as Stede reassures: "It's only suicide if we die."

Thankfully no one tries to push the shaky logic of that sentiment.

The attack plan does go off (almost) without a hitch, despite everything. The plan only has one major casualty -- Izzy Hands, who takes a shot to the gut once their cover is blown. Despite this, Zheng, Auntie, Ed, Stede, and the Revenge crew all make it back and escape with the ship. It's a far cry from Zheng's old fleet, sure, but it's something. Once they're clear of the Navy, they make landfall to bury Izzy in a proper grave, before heading back out to what we can only imagine will be new adventures.

…At least, most of the pirates do, at least. It's revealed at the end that Ed and Stede opted to stay on land now, settling down in a cabin with "good bones," ready to take a swing at running an inn together.

Who dies in Our Flag Means Death Season 2?

Tragically, Izzy Hands doesn't survive the final battle. He's shot in the gut and eventually expires in Ed's arms when they make it back to the Revenge, as the crew looks on. Rather than burying him ats sea, they dig him a proper grave and use his prosthetic leg as a grave maker.

Does Our Flag Means Death have a post-credits scene?

Yes! But it isn't a teaser or a wink to the future -- it's a flashback. At the end of the finale's credits, we're treated to a brief rewind to the Revenge crew's imprisonment at Spanish Jackie's, prior to Stede, Zheng, and Ed's triumphant return. There's a brief bit in the episode proper where they're trying to bend the bars with Lucius's shirt to allow for one of them to escape, but the fabric keeps threatening to rip. This could be solved, perhaps, but getting the fabric wet -- and their only option is to pee on it.

It's Frenchie, ultimately, who gets forced to slip between the pee-soaked shirt and the bars to make the escape and free the others. Gross!

Will Our Flag Means Death get a third season?

So where does all of this leave us? It's difficult to say. Thus far, Our Flag Means Death has not been renewed for a third season, but the possibility is certainly not off the table. Despite the bittersweet ending, everyone is in a place where they could very easily sink into a new status quo -- the pirates on the Revenge could fall in line under Zheng's leadership, Stede and Ed could enjoy a long and happy retirement -- but equally possible is yet another upheaval. A hypothetical Season 3 could kick off with Zheng's managerial style causing too much tension in the ranks, while Stede and Ed could have devolved into a domestic nightmare like Anne Bonny and Mary Read. It's impossible to say for sure, with this many possibilities floating around.

One thing's for certain: The times, they are a'changing.

Our fearless Deputy Editor Tiffany Babb speculates on what Season Three of Our Flag Means Death could look like.