SPOILER WARNING: Plot and ending details for Black Sails.

Starz’s Black Sails is an American historical adventure television series that won many hearts when it premiered back in 2014.

With IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 8.2 and  81%, respectively, the series follows the adventures of the most feared captain, Captain Flint, his shipmates, and his rivals in the early 18th-century Caribbean. 

Set 20 years before the events recounted in Robert Louis Stevenson's ‘Treasure Island,’ the show is a prequel to the literary masterpiece.

With a brilliant storyline, the show also had a magnificent cast like Toby Stephens, Ray Stevenson, and Luke Arnold, among others.

However, the series ended in 2017 with just 38 episodes spread over four seasons. 

How Season 4 Ended

On July 20, 2016, Starz announced a fourth and final season for the Primetime Emmy Award-winning show. The season revolved around the war between the pirates and the British Empire to control New Providence. 

The ten episodes of the last season showcased epic battles filled with chaos, violence, and decisions fueled with love. It continued the journey of Flint’s fight at seizing Nassau and Woodes Rogers’s desperate attempt of restoring it. 

Along with the battle for power, it also showcased the breakdown of characters like the unlikely bond between John Silver and Flint, their drift, and their last attempts at concealing the Urca gold.

In the finale, Flint and Silver’s main characters were at odds once again over what to do with Madi’s rescue. 

The pirates, however, won the battle against Rogers, and the climax occurred on the island when Flint and Silver got into a verbal fight.

This finally brought their issues to a conclusion. Silver won as an hour before; he had located Flint’s long-lost lover Thomas, presumed to be dead working his life sentence at a plantation prison.

He sends Flint to live the rest of his life with Thomas on the plantation and saves Madi to win her forgiveness. 

Finally, in the end, order is restored to Nassau.

Should There Be A Season 5?

The series ended in 2017 on an ambiguous note. As evident by the previous seasons, Silver is an extremely clever manipulator and a storyteller. Therefore, we are pressed to find a definitive answer as to whether or not the story Silver told Madi was true.

In the end, Flint and Thomas reunite. However, there were no scenes of Silver and Flint.

Flint is most likely alive, but a fifth season is needed to make absolutely certain of the fact that he is; as well as to decipher which parts of Silver's story were authentic.

Regardless of how well the story tied together in the last season, there are a few loose threads.

The story for its sequel book, ‘Treasure Island,’ isn’t set up correctly. Flint’s treasure map is not referenced in the show. 

As per the book, Billy Bones receives Flint’s maps, and Flint’s death is also described in the novel. However, by the end of Black Sails, neither Flint’s death nor his map has been clarified. 

Various questions related to the major island societies have not been answered.

Max’s part in helping Nassau operate the port as a legitimate one as well as a port for pirates remains unanswered.

Similarly, it is unknown whether Madi governs the Maroon Island or if she reconciles with Silver. In addition to that, the future of the two islands is also vague. 

Season 5 would have helped to tie these all together. However, since ‘Treasure Island’ is the sequel to the series, a few questions are answered. No matter what, as per the plot of ‘Treasure Island,’ Flint is alive and has buried the treasure somewhere, and Silver will be there to fight him.  

While season 5 would help answer all the questions, ‘Treasure Island’ is already there for those who seek to take the adventure further.