Black rock island

Black rock island
General information
Location	Caribbean Sea
Points of interest	Map No Man Can Read
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Dead Men Tell No Tales
Latest appearance	Dead Men Tell No Tales

"Look at it, Jack. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. This is what my father wanted me to find."
"Rocks!"
"No, not rocks. Stars. This is the Map No Man Can Read. This island is a perfect reflection of the heavens."

―Carina Smyth and Jack Sparrow

The black rock island was an uncharted island in the Caribbean. Covered in diamonds and rubies resembling the stars above, it was a perfect reflection of the heavens, inspiring the story about the Map No Man Can Read.

History

Legends

"Huh. 'To release the power of the sea... all must divide.' It's an island. The stars lead to an island."

―Carina Smyth

According to legends, the ancient god Poseidon left behind the Map No Man Can Read, the map that no one has ever seen or read. No one knew that the map was actually an island covered in hundreds of precious stones that were placed over the island in a way that they made an enormous star map, a perfect reflection of the heavens. The island was located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, far away from any established shipping route, and it remained unknown to anyone for a very long time. At some point, the legendary Trident of Poseidon was hidden in Poseidon's Tomb, an underwater tomb off the coast of the island.

Over the centuries many people attempted to decipher the Map No Man Can Read but no one ever succeeded. In unknown circumstances, a small piece of one ruby was broken and taken off the island, eventually ending up in possession of the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. Galileo spent his life searching for the island and the Trident of Poseidon, dying without accomplishing his goal like so many before him but leaving the clues to the island in his diary with the ruby on the cover.

Quest for the Trident of Poseidon

"Henry! Look, the island is there."
"You found it!"

―Carina Smyth and Henry Turner

In 1751 the young astronomer Carina Smyth attempted to find the Trident of Poseidon with the help of Galileo's diary. Accompanied by the notorious pirate Jack Sparrow and a young sailor Henry Turner, Carina ended up imprisoned on the Black Pearl, a ship captained by Hector Barbossa, a pirate who wanted to reclaim his rule over the seas which was taken from him by the undead Spanish pirate hunter Armando Salazar and his crew of ghosts. Carina eventually managed to convince Barbossa to let her steer the ship because she was the only one who could lead him to the island.

The Black Pearl and the Silent Mary sail toward the island.

During the journey the Black Pearl was attacked by Salazar's ghost ship, the dreaded Silent Mary. As the living pirates and the undead Spaniards fought on decks of the pirate ship Carina managed to locate the island, steering the ship right into it. The Pearl hit the shores, ending up grounded deep on the beach, and the ghosts quickly retreated to their own vessel, barely escaping in time to evade getting stuck on dry land which would be fatal to them, but not before Salazar took Henry with them.

The sunlight reveals thousands of diamonds on the island.

Knowing that finding the Trident was their only hope to save Henry, Carina, Sparrow, and Barbossa decided to go ashore. The first light of the dawn appeared on the horizon, showing the island's true appearance, the rays of sunlight causing the priceless treasure embedded in the rocks to start shimmering. Watching the diamonds glow Carina realized that the island was the Map No Man Can Read. She also noticed the rubies that were placed over the island in the form of a trident, and that one of those stars wasn't glowing.

Carina completes the star.

Carina, Jack, and Barbossa abandoned the ship and walked to the ruby that wasn't glowing. Barbossa then gave Carina the ruby that once adorned the cover of Galileo's diary, the same ruby that was cut from the main piece centuries earlier. Carina put the ruby in its place which caused the star to start glowing with the rest of them, thus reactivating the powers of the Trident of Poseidon. The Trident's awakening caused an earthquake which created a rift in the ocean, causing the waters to open to reveal a way to the bottom of the sea. Carina and Jack fell down, while Barbossa managed to stay on the island. He returned to the Black Pearl and the crew eventually managed to refloat the ship.

Behind the scenes

• The name "black rock island" was taken from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales prequel novel The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth, as well as the film's graphic novel adaptation, Behind the Scenes magazine, and the French adaptation of the novelization.
• In early concept work of Jeremy Love, the crew of the Black Pearl was supposed to explore the island like Jack Sparrow, Carina Smyth and Hector Barbossa.
• In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early screenplay draft Dead Men Tell No Tales, this place was a chain of islands around the Devil's Triangle. When Carina Smyth discovered their exact location, she named them Coffin Islands after the coffin star Delphinus.

Appearances

• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel

Notes and references

Locations in Pirates of the Caribbean
Africa Barbary Coast – Calabar – Egypt – Kerma – Slave Coast – Tripoli The Americas Boston – Florida – Louisiana – Mexico – New Orleans – North Carolina Panama – Peru – Savannah – Virginia – Yucatán Peninsula Asia Bombay – China – Hong Kong – India – Nippon – Shanghai – Singapore The Bahamas Andros – Nassau – New Avalon – New Providence The Caribbean Antigua – Black rock island – Cuba – Devil's Triangle – Dominica – Guadeloupe – Hangman's Bay – Hispaniola Ile d'Etable de Porc – Isla De La Avaricia – Isla Cruces – Isla de Muerta – Isla de Pelegostos Martinique – Padres Del Fuego – Port Royal – Poseidon's Tomb Puerto Rico – Saint Martin – San Silvestre –Shipwreck Island – St. Lucia – Tortuga – Unnamed Island Europe Barcelona – Cádiz – France – Gibraltar – Great Britain – Holland London – Marseille – Paris – Portugal – Scotland – Seville – Spain – Other locations Davy Jones' Locker – Farthest Gate – Ice Passage – Isla Sirena
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