Real or storybook? Both Who is he? Israel Hands is the name of both a character within the pirate crew in Stevenson's Treasure Island and a real pirate who served as part of Blackbeard's crew. The shared name must have been a reference from Stevenson to the historical pirate, but the book gives no sense of whether the audience is supposed to consider him the same man. The real Israel Hands was one of the leading pirates in Blackbeard's crew, being given command of smaller ships that Blackbeard had captured. After the latter shot him in the knee, Hands took no part in the final battle in which his captain was killed and so survived to be arrested, turn evidence against corrupt officials and receive a pardon to die back in England as a beggar. In Treasure Island Hands, the gunner in Captain Flint's crew, is the most sinister and bloodthirsty of Flint's former pirates who form Silver's group of mutineers. In one iconic scene in the book he has a lengthy fight sequence with Jim Hawkins on board the Hispaniola, which involves his eventual demise climbing the mast after Jim who shoots him. Where would he fit into Black Sails? Hands provides the perfect link between a Blackbeard narrative arc and the existent Treasure Island story that forms the basis of Black Sails, being the only pirate to appear in both stories. It would be easy to introduce Hands as one of Blackbeard's right hand men and then have him join the Walrus crew after Blackbeard's death, making him a dangerous threat to both Silver and Flint.
