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- "The Eye of Poseidon. Legend says it once held its place in the center of the Trident."
"The Trident of Poseidon?"
"Imagine a Navy that could never be defeated. A nation that could never be conquered. To hold the Trident is to control more than the sea. It is to control the world." - ―Captain Toms and the British soldier
The Eye of Poseidon was a large yellow diamond which once allegedly held a central place in the legendary weapon, the Trident of Poseidon.
History[]
- "The Trident exists - hidden where no man can see. Only the Eye can show you the way."
- ―A witch to Captain Toms
Not much is known about the origin of the Eye of Poseidon. According to legends, the diamond once held a central place in the Trident of Poseidon, the weapon of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. In unknown circumstances, the Trident and the Eye became separated. However, it was believed by many that the Eye could show the way to the Trident, and anyone who held the Trident would control the seas, and with them the whole world.[1]
By 1756 a war was raging between France and Great Britain. The crew of the French Royal Navy ship, the Courageux, led by Captain Thurot and guided by four witches, managed to retrieve the Eye. Once the French had the diamond in their possession, they massacred the witches, not needing them anymore. However, fate had other plans for the Eye. The Courageux was attacked by the British Royal Navy warship the HMS Monarch. After a fierce battle the French were forced to strike their colors. Captain Toms and his crew boarded the Courageux and discovered the Eye below deck. The only surviving witch revealed the diamond's importance, but she also said the day of death was coming for Toms, causing the British officer to shoot her on the spot. Despite their victory, the British had no more luck in keeping the diamond than the French. A violent storm carried the Monarch into the haunted waters of the infamous Devil's Triangle, where the ship was attacked by the ghost ship the Silent Mary and her undead crew. Once the ghosts slaughtered all the British, their leader, Captain John Brand, discovered the diamond, and declared that the Eye had come home.[1]
Some time later the pirate ship the Queen Anne's Revenge sailed close to the Triangle. As the bow of the ship crossed the Triangle's border, the ghosts boarded the pirate vessel and killed a few pirates, but Captain Hector Barbossa used the supernatural powers of his sword to prevent the ship from fully entering the Triangle, thus saving the rest of his crew from the ghosts who couldn't leave the Triangle. Captain Brand confronted the pirate, and Barbossa revealed he was present during Brand's demise at the hands of Jack Sparrow in the Devil's Triangle sixteen years earlier. The pirate and the ghost then made a deal - Jack Sparrow's life in exchange for the Eye of Poseidon. However, the deal went bed a few days later when Barbossa brough Jack to Brand, but then double crossed the ghost to save his daughter Carina Smyth. In the ensuing battle the Queen Anne's Revenge was destroyed but Jack managed to steal the Eye from Brand and escaped with it to the nearby Coffin Island.[1]
During the search for the Map No Man Can Read, Jack handed over the diamond to Barbossa. Later, when the pirates discovered the Map inside a cave, Barbossa gave the Eye to Carina so she could put it back in its rightful place, the Map showing the Milky Way and the Eye representing the planet Earth. Carina put the diamond into the carved space on the wall, completing the Map, which caused one of the walls to crumble and reveal a way to a fortress made of stone and gold - the Tomb of Poseidon. The pirates then left the cave to find the Trident. However, with the help of the witch Melia the ghosts possessed the bodies of the captured British sailors and left the Triangle, eventually reaching the Tomb and taking the Trident. Brand then used the Trident's powers to sink the island and free the Silent Mary from the Devil's Triangle.[1]
However, the pirates followed the ghost ship in the restored Black Pearl. In the ensuing battle Jack Sparrow boarded the Mary and stole the Trident from Brand, deciding to put the weapon back where it belonged, as such power was too great for any person. Jack and Carina escaped to the dried up bottom of the sea, passing by the sunken cave, where Jack took the Eye again, plus many other diamonds that formed the Map. Brand followed Jack and Carina, but the spirits of Brand's victims, led by Brand's own brother Eric, appeared in front of him, and dragged the vicious pirate hunter through the gates of Hell. A few weeks later, in some British port, Jack parted ways with Carina, but not before giving her the Eye so she could present it to King George II and prove herself as a scientist. Carina took the Eye but only after she made Jack promise to act like a true pirate and come back one day to steal it again.[1]
Design and abilities[]
- "I’ll be trading an eye for an eye. You may have the map - but I’ll have the key. In the shape of a diamond."
- ―Hector Barbossa to Carina Smyth
The Eye of Poseidon was a large yellow diamond, its color as rich as gold and its unusual eye shape giving the illusion that the diamond was staring back at anyone who held it. Although many people believed the Eye could show the way to the Trident of Poseidon, the diamond had no supernatural powers, and it was just one piece of the puzzle required to locate the Tomb of Poseidon.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Eye of Poseidon originated in Jeff Nathanson's 2013 screenplay draft for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[1] The script was later rewritten and the Eye was discarded. By the final script draft, an unnamed ruby from the cover of Galileo Galilei's diary played more or less the same role as the Eye. A large, yellow, seashell-like object also appeared on the Trident, seemingly being the source of its powers. When Henry Turner broke the Trident the seashell stopped glowing.[2]
- It's possible the Eye of Poseidon is based on the three Pearls of Neptune from Terry Rossio's 2012 Dead Men Tell No Tales screenplay draft. The pearls gave the Trident its powers, allowing their users magical command over different aspects of the sea, but the Trident was broken and the pearls were separated, one ending up hidden inside a sapphire which was embedded into the hilt of the Sword of Triton, another decorating the crown of the Mermaid Empress, and the third one in possession of the villainous Sea Widow.[3]