Black Sails: 10 Pirates Who Should Appear In Season 2

5. Woodes Rogers

Real or storybook? Real Who is he? Technically not a pirate as all his seafaring adventure, exploration and plunder of Spanish ships was with the full backing of the British government, Woodes Rogers was one of the most famous privateers of the day. Rogers circumnavigated the globe and his written record of the voyage is an invaluable source for historians and fiction writers interested in the era. His insight into the pirate mind made him the perfect choice as the first real governor of the lawless Bahamas. Rogers fought Charles Vane for control of the pirate haven port of New Providence, offered amnesties and pardons to the likes of Benjamin Hornigold, who turned pirate hunter to help Rogers' cause, and executed large numbers of captured pirates. It was the beginning of the end for the Golden Age of Piracy. Where would he fit into Black Sails? Season 1 established the largely ungoverned New Providence as its prime location, a rogue's paradise and a sort of nautical Deadwood, but also teased the probability of the arrival of British authorities to impose order and government rules. The appearance of Rogers would be the development of that theme and ramp up the peril for the outlaw pirates.The season concluded with Vane in control of the fort at New Providence and a rivalry and resentment already established between his utter lawlessness and the more pragmatic Hornigold. A manipulative authority figure like Rogers could build on this existing tension into something even greater. Given Penry-Jones' tendency to play upper-class characters, it seems likely that a character like the wealthy Rogers is more what he will be playing than a rougher pirate role. On his voyage around the world Rogers picked up a castaway, marooned privateer Alexander Selkirk, who would provide the inspiration for the story of Robinson Crusoe. Some reference to this would tie Black Sails to other popular fictions of the era and foreshadow the theme of marooned sailors, which will become significant to the Treasure Island characters by the end.