"We are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things." The title of this article is conjectural. |
- "I destroyed dozens of ships. The last ones joined together to try defeat me but they soon realized it was hopeless. Nothing could stop the Silent Mary. The sea was finally... pure. Their wretched flags would no longer stain the sea."
- ―Armando Salazar
The El Matador Del Mar campaign was a military campaign that occurred in the Age of Piracy, led by the Spanish Navy pirate hunter Capitán Armando Salazar and the crew of the Silent Mary against piracy. It almost led to the end of the pirate's life and the complete extinction of piracy in the seven seas. Although he achieved many victories, El Matador Del Mar was led into a trap in the haunted waters of the Devil's Triangle which led to the destruction of the Silent Mary and its crew. However, that was not the end of the Butcher of the Sea and his crew, who became cursed as vengeful ghosts hell bent on revenge.
Prelude[]
- "Pirates had infected the seas for generations, taking the life of my father and his father before him. So I vowed to end this plague once and for all. And that's what I did."
- ―Armando Salazar
Some time after his teenage adventures, Jack Sparrow was a crew member aboard a mighty vessel, the Wicked Wench. It was around this time that the Spanish Royal Navy capitán Armando Salazar, having lost his grandfather and father due to piracy, vowed to exterminate all pirates on the Seven Seas. In command of the Silent Mary, he and his loyal crew hunted and destroyed dozens of pirate ships, earning themselves a fearsome reputation.
Battle off the Devil's Triangle[]
- "Lovely day for a sail, Captain! Wouldn't you agree? The way I see it, there's just the two of us left. Surrender to me now, Captain, and I will let you live."
- ―Jack Sparrow to Armando Salazar
The Silent Mary was an unstoppable force, but the pirates would not let piracy vanish from the seas. Eventually, the last pirates of the Caribbean joined forces, forming a formidable fleet of ten ships, and launched an attack in an attempt to defeat Salazar's dreaded galleon. The pirate fleet engaged the Silent Mary. But despite being outnumbered, the Spanish quickly demonstrated to the pirates that the firepower of the Silent Mary and the skills of her crew were far superior to those of all the ships and crews in the entire pirate fleet. The battle ended disastrously for the pirates with the majority of their fleet destroyed. As the Silent Mary sailed through the burning wrecks, Salazar's second-in-command Lieutenant Lesaro noticed survivors in the water begging for mercy. Salazar smirked and stated "there is no mercy", while taking a bite of his apple. Lesaro then commanded the soldiers to take aim and fire at the defenseless men, massacring any survivors.[3]
The only pirate ship not sunk was the Wicked Wench. After losing the ship's captain, Jack Sparrow took matters into his own hands with an army of pirates waiting on his word.[3]
Just as the Capitán thought he had won the battle, he heard a young man's voice coming from the crow's nest of a ship on the opposite side of his. Salazar claimed that the boy looked like a "little bird" giving him the name Jack the Sparrow. Jack sarcastically demanded that Salazar surrender and if he did, he would let him live. Of course, Salazar being overconfident in the Silent Mary and its crew, decided to pursue the pirate who was mocking his great power.[3]
Sparrow manned the helm of the Wicked Wench and sailed straight toward the mouth of the Devil's Triangle, with the Silent Mary right on its tail. The crew of the Silent Mary seemed concerned on pursuing Sparrow, but Salazar was determined and commanded that they follow him into the Devil's Triangle. Just as the Wench was about to enter, Jack shouted "Throw it now!" and ropes came flying out of the port side of the ship and caught on the rocks beside them, turning the Wench in the opposite direction. Salazar noticed Jack had been making a bootleg turn and pushed Lesaro aside from the helm in an attempt to make the turn himself, but it was too late. The Silent Mary was forced to continue its course into the Devil's Triangle. As they sailed through the dark caverns of the Triangle, the Silent Mary was scraped by sharp rocks below, severely damaging the bow. The ship began to go up in flames, striking and burning dozens of crew members alive. Salazar attempted to escape the flames, but was knocked in the back of the head by a falling mast, knocking him overboard. The Silent Mary had been sunk, taking her captain and crew along with her.[3]
Jack and the Wench's crew watched at the pirate hunters met their demise. The crew then offered Jack tribute. It was at this time that Jack received his iconic hat, as well as many other goods and priceless valuables. [3]
Aftermath[]
- "He took everything from me. And filled me with rage... and pain."
- ―Armando Salazar
Salazar's body slowly began to sink to the depths of the Triangle, but his eyes then opened from an unrelenting power within the Devil's Triangle, causing him and his crew, as well as the Mary, to resurrect into something far more evil and fearsome than they ever were in life.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
- "This is a battle from your past. You sank his ship - left him to sink beneath the gates of Hell - imprisoned in the Triangle. And like all who die there, his spirit will not rest until he has his revenge."
- ―Melia to Jack Sparrow
- In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early draft of the Dead Men Tell No Tales script, the battle off the Devil's Triangle was fought by the pirate crew of the Black Pearl led by the adult Jack Sparrow and the British Royal Navy crew of the Silent Mary led by Captain John Brand. The Pearl ambushed the Mary inside the Triangle, sinking her, and Captain Brand slit his own throat as his ship went down.[4]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In an interview for Empire Magazine Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that Jack Sparrow was 18 when he trapped Salazar in the Devil's Triangle. That sets this campaign after Jack's teenage adventures in Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, where, as stated by Disney Press editor Rich Thomas, Jack was between 15 and 17 years old, but before the flashbacks in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom where he's a 20-year-old pirate living in Shipwreck Cove.
- ↑ The timeline established in On Stranger Tides (which takes place in 1750) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (which takes place in 1751) sets this campaign around 1708. However, the exact placement still has to be officially confirmed by The Walt Disney Company.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013