![]() |
"We are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things." The title of this article is conjectural. |
This piece of wood was carved to look like an eye. It was known to be the piece of eight that was given by Boris Palachnik to Hector Barbossa. The carving is known to be used most by Ragetti as a replacement for an eye he lost in battle.
Contents
History[edit | edit source]
Borya's Piece of Eight[edit | edit source]
- "You need to be careful of that little token. Don't lose it. Show it to Captain Teague as soon as you can. He'll tell you what it is."
"You say this is important? Looks like junk."
"It is important, Hector. Unless I'm much mistaken, that is one of the Nine Pieces of Eight." - ―Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa
This piece of wood was the Piece of Eight of Boris "Borya" Palachnik, the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea. It is unknown how he obtained it, though it is possible that he inherited it from the previous Pirate Lord of the Caspian. When Davy Jones identified Borya as the leader of the rogue pirates who violated the Code of the Pirate Brethren, Borya and his whole crew were imprisoned by the Brethren and sentenced to hang. Feeling guilt for destroying the Cobra, a pirate ship of his friend Hector Barbossa, Borya gave the Piece of eight to Barbossa, thus making him the next Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea.[2]
Barbossa's Piece of Eight[edit | edit source]
- "Master Ragetti, if you will."
"I kept it safe for you, just like you told me when you gave it to me."
"Aye, ye have, but now I need it back." - ―Hector Barbossa and Ragetti, concerning Ragetti's wooden eye.
However, Barbossa didn't know the meaning of the piece of eight, so he gave it to Ragetti for safekeeping and as a replacement for his lost eye. It was in Ragetti's possession wherever he went. In unknown circumstances, Barbossa lost contact with Ragetti, though they were reunited five years later when Barbosssa served as First Mate on the Black Pearl under Captain Jack Sparrow. Some time after the mutiny in which Barbossa took control of the Pearl, he learned the meaning of the piece of eight and proclaimed himself the new Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea.
During the ten years of Barbossa's search for the scattered pieces of cursed Aztec gold, the piece of eight remained in Ragetti's posession. It was occasionally popped out by Jack the monkey or anything that knock him in the back of his head. During the battle with the HMS Interceptor, the motley crew kept shooting random objects at the Black Pearl, a fork struck the wooden eye, after which Pintel pulled it out and examined it. The eye was on Ragetti also during the battle of Isla de Muerta, where it popped out in the middle of the fight. Ragetti instantly panicked and started chasing after it all the way until the curse was lifted, after which he was arrested by the British Royal Navy.[3]

Ragetti with the wooden eye on his right eye.
The wooden eye was with Ragetti when he and Pintel escaped from the prison at Port Royal. It was with him throughout his time under Jack Sparrow's command aboard the Black Pearl, from the search for the Dead Man's Chest to the rescue of Jack and the Pearl from Davy Jones' Locker.[4] Afterwards, Jack the monkey took the eye and Ragetti had to chase him all over the Pearl. When he finally got it back, Hector Barbossa took the eye and put it into his mouth and then put it back into Ragetti's empty eye socket so that it would stay.[5]
Ultimately, Barbossa took the eye back, along with all the other pieces of eight, in which Ragetti used an eyepatch as a replacement until he got a new "eye". Ragetti's former wooden eye finally burned to a crisp during the incantation to release Calypso from her human form. After Barbossa mutinied Jack Sparrow a second time, Ragetti was seen carving out a new wooden eye all to himself. The further fate of the carving is unknown.[5]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
- Ragetti wished he had a glass eye, as his wooden one was splintering, as seen in The Curse of the Black Pearl.
- To portray the eye in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Ragetti's portrayer, Mackenzie Crook, had to wear an eye contact that was made to look wooden.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- The Price of Freedom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
- Legend of the Aztec Idol!
- The Buccaneer's Heart! (Non-canonical appearance)
- Chain Reaction!
- Breakout!
- The Escape of Pintel and Ragetti!
- The Sleeping Island!
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- The Haunting of Jack Sparrow!
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- The Challenge!
- The Dragon Tile!
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
- VISA commercial spot (Non-canonical appearance)
- M&M's commercial spot (Non-canonical appearance)
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ This piece of eight had to be made by the time the First Brethren Court convened.
- ↑ The Price of Freedom
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End