The Life and Death of Eleanor Guthrie

By: Danielle Cox

There’s not many characters in the TV industry that draw me in, make me love them and become invested in their story. It takes something special for me to become emotionally invested in that way. Eleanor Guthrie from “Black Sails” portrayed by Hannah New was one such character. From the beginning, Eleanor had been strong, intelligent, charismatic, determined and nuanced. In a world where violent men fight for control, Eleanor (even from the young age of seventeen) could stand up, face the men head on and come out victorious. There’s not as many shows as I would like out there that show these strong female characters and that, plus Hannah New’s compelling, beautiful acting, is what led me to becoming so attached to this character. Eleanor wasn’t a straight forward, two-dimensional character. She had many different qualities, emotions and ideas that guided her choices throughout the shows four seasons and ultimately led to her demise in the sixth episode of “Black Sails’” final season. Could she have changed her fate by making different choices or was Eleanor’s story always going to end in tragedy?

From the very beginning, in Season One, we see Eleanor as someone who was fearless in her dealings with the pirates and intelligent with her choices. After the business being left to her by her father, Eleanor worked and used her charisma and her intelligence to become an important member of the Nassau hierarchy. She made a choice in Season One to team up with Flint (Toby Stephens) in hopes to turn Nassau into its own thriving nation – a Nation of Thieves. She would have done anything to achieve that goal, even sacrificing her own personal relationships. In this season, Eleanor was in a relationship with Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy) who often guided Eleanor in her choices in the beginning, working together to create this better Nassau. Their relationship was intense, beautiful and ultimately heart-breaking when Eleanor chose her plans for Nassau over leaving the island with Max. In doing so, she confirmed that she would be willing to do anything, sacrifice anything, to see her goals achieved but still feeling heartbroken that she had to make the choice she did. We can see later in the season that although she sacrificed her relationship with Max, she wasn’t without feelings. When Eleanor found out Vane (Zach McGowan) had taken Max and was letting his men use her, Eleanor came to her rescue – much to Max’s annoyance and ran Vane off the island. You can tell in this moment that Eleanor still loved Max, she just believed in what she was doing on the island and couldn’t leave no matter how much she wanted to. Towards the end of the first season, we see Eleanor begin to lose some of her standing on the island after her father betrays her and leaves. By the end of the season, she was in a very precarious position, especially with the return of Vane.

When we enter the second season Eleanor was slightly less in control. but she used her past relationship with Vane to bring him back to her side. Still working with Flint, she tried to mediate between him and Vane, but unlike in Season One when she had control of the island through her business, the actions of her father in season one left her scrabbling for the control she once had. In this season, Eleanor was very much the same intelligent, determined and pragmatic woman from the first season that believed that a union between Flint, Vane and herself could finally make Nassau how she hoped it could be. Unfortunately, her loss of control on the island after the events of Season One meant that while before she could have made a deal between the three of them, this season she didn’t have the power or standing to bring them together as Vane refused. Determined as Eleanor was, she wasn’t about to give up on everything she worked so hard and sacrificed for. When she realied Vane wouldn’t change his mind, no matter how hard she tried to convince him, she again sacrificed her own personal relationship and betrayed him by taking his “valuable cargo” Abigail (Meganne Young) and left despite Vane telling her that his men would kill him for losing that cargo. Again in this season Eleanor could be cold and calculated in her choices when faced with the failure of her goal, but she still felt it every time she had to make the tough choice of relationships or Nassau. You could see how it affected her, even when she tried to hide it. Throughout this season, Eleanor had been spying on Max, someone she once trusted and this act seemed like it could have been the end of any love they shared. This season had been all about Eleanor trying to regain the control she once had and it ended in the fall of Eleanor Guthrie, Queen of Nassau, as Hornigold (Patrick Lyster) turned on her and handed her over to the British Forces in return for ten pardons.

By the time Season Three starts, Eleanor had fallen and was in a cell waiting for the inevitable but even then, though she was a prisoner, she was still intelligent and charismatic enough to illicit and take an offer from the new Governor of New Providence Island, Woodes Rogers (Luke Roberts). His offer was a full pardon in return for her help in restoring order to Nassau and. to save her life and continue her dream of saving Nassau, she agreed. To solidify her new position and deal she further sacrificed her relationship with Vane by telling Rogers he was the only one they needed to worry about. On their journey to Nassau, Rogers and Eleanor began to grow closer with Eleanor starting to discuss plans with him and therefore placing herself in a role of importance. While a great strategic move from Eleanor, it wasn’t just a cold and calculated move. Through their interactions you can see that they developed real feelings for each other and would do anything for each other. Later in the season, when some semblance of control had been created in Nassau, Eleanor again betrayed Max – someone she did still care for because she didn’t think Max being on the governing council would be wise for the island. It’s this season we began to see just how far her allegiances had shifted from creating a haven for pirates to working against them, which was further proved when after Vane was captured she lost control and beat him. Later, after being left in charge while Rogers was sick, she condemned him to death despite advice from Max who she had grown closer to over the course of this season. By the end of this season, she was still in a very precarious position on the island despite her position of power next to Rogers. And while her goal may have changed, the choices she made remained the same; whatever it takes to achieve the goal. In this way, her character hadn’t changed since Season One as she was still determined, cunning and quick witted.

Now in Season Four, Eleanor was married to Woodes Rogers and while still in a powerful position next to him the island was still in chaos with the pirates rebelling against British rule. Desperate to win this war and the island, Eleanor sent Rogers off to seek aid in their fight. While he was away, Eleanor learned that she was pregnant. This is when we see a major shift in character for her. Having grown up on the island and losing her mother to a Spanish Invasion, Eleanor knew that Nassau wasn’t the place to be raising a child and she cared so much for her baby that she became willing, after all this time, to finally give up on her quest to create the Nassau she had always dreamed of. So, she made a deal with Flint and Silver (Luke Arnold). She would surrender the island to them in exchange for the last of the gold and safe passage off the island for herself and others, including Max. This is the first time she realized just how much the island had taken and would continue to take. However, out of the safety of the fort while waiting for the exchange, Rogers came back to the island with a fleet of Spanish warships and the Spanish soldiers began killing everyone in their sight. Eleanor and Madi (Zethu Dlomo) were hiding out in Mrs. Barlow’s house and Eleanor began reflecting on her past and the choices she made – even going so far as to ask Madi if living in isolation with the one you love is enough. Maybe she was thinking about Max and the choice she made not to leave with her, as if maybe she was regretting the choice she made back then. It’s in this moment of reflection that Eleanor is attacked by a Spanish soldier. Her strength, her determination and her love for everything she could have in the future led her to fight with everything she had, to protect herself, her baby and Madi – who was like a sister to her. She managed to kill the soldier, but ultimately she ended up dying of her wounds in Flint’s arms as the house burns down behind her. This was the perfect metaphor for all of Eleanor’s plans for Nassau and thus bringing her character full circle, dying in the same way her mother did in the last Spanish Invasion.

The character of Eleanor Guthrie, throughout all seasons was a charismatic, strong, intelligent woman who could adapt to her circumstances and was determined enough to do whatever it took to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to learn from her past choices, but in Season Four she was finally starting to reflect on those choices. I believe, in her last moments, she was beginning to realize she should have said yes to Max in Season One when she asked Eleanor to leave with her. It was that choice, that decision, that ultimately set her on this path to her death. Eleanor was a character that was sometimes hard to like, but even so I grew to love her and believed after everything she deserved a happy ending. She was an important character on TV, not only because she was bisexual, but because she was such a tough, smart woman who was able to hold her own against ruthless pirates, highlighting that women can be just as powerful or even more powerful than men. Myself and many other Eleanor fans wouldn’t have felt so connected and drawn to this character if it wasn’t for Hannah New. Hannah’s performance throughout the show was powerful, emotional and beautiful. She crafted a character that many fans loved to hate and many fans just loved. Her performance captivated you, made you invested in Eleanor’s story. Hannah’s performance in her final episode was her best to date. It was raw, emotional, gripping, heart breaking, tumultuous and breathtaking. It was devastating watching her die knowing the life she could have lived, but the character of Eleanor Guthrie and the lessons we learned from her will never be forgotten.