Guillotine

"Guillotine? Sounds french."

- Jack Sparrow upon first hearing of the guillotine

The guillotine was an apparatus designed for carrying out executions by beheading. The device consisted of a tall, upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade was raised to the top and suspended. The condemned person was secured with stocks at the bottom of the frame, positioning the neck directly below the blade. The blade was then released, to quickly fall and forcefully decapitate the victim with a single, clean pass so that the head fell into a basket below.

History
Jack Sparrow and Carina Smyth were both sentenced to death, as they were believed to be a pirate and a witch, respectively. When a Royal marine inquired how he wanted to die, Jack inadvertently ended up accidentally asking for a guillotine.

Because he was sentenced to be decapitated, Jack was carried atop the gallows, while Carina was prepared to be hung. After a long argument between Smith and Sparrow over who was to die first, it was decided that they would both die at the same time. However, Henry Turner suddenly arrived and fought several guards, but was soon captured. Scarfield ordered his men to prepare another noose, but Turner revealed that he was simply a diversion; as the executioner prepared to pull the lever to execute Sparrow, the crew of the Dying Gull revealed themselves, firing a cannon that inflicted heavy damage upon the gallows, which sent the executioner flying and caused the guillotine to begin to spin around with Sparrow still in it. The guillotine was soon completely destroyed.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel