Elizabeth Swann, known as Elizabeth Turner, she was married to Will Turner. She was the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann. With an adventurous spirit and a need to break social boundaries, she was always fascinated by the free world of pirates and buccaneers, so much so that she learned songs about pirates as a child.
As the years go by, Elizabeth grows more and more into a charming young girl and woman, inspiring her stubbornness, loving her father and eventually falling in love with her childhood friend and fellow adventurer William Turner.
Summary of Elizabeth Swann’s story in Pirates of the Caribbean :
- Born in England in 1710, Elizabeth moves with her father to Port Royal, where, at the age of 18, she is kidnapped by Hector Barbossa‘s pirates. William Turner, her friend and lover, embarks on a voyage with the pirate Jack Sparrow to rescue her.
- A year later, when they were about to be married, Will and Elizabeth were accused of aiding an outlaw. So they embarked on new adventures with Sparrow, fighting Davy Jones, lord of the seas, and Lord Cutler Beckett, commander of the British East India Company at war with piracy.
- During the final battle against Beckett’s army, Will and Elizabeth were married. Soon after, Will, after stabbing Jones’ heart, is forced to become the captain of the Flying Dutchman.
- Before Will left, Will and Elizabeth conceived a son (Henry Turner) and Elizabeth promised Will eternal fidelity.
- In 1751, after Henry destroys Poseidon’s trident and with it all the curses of the sea, Will is finally freed from the Flying Dutchman and is able to re-embrace Elizabeth Swann and live together for the rest of his life.
- Elizabeth appears in the first three episodes of the saga, then in the fifth where she is played as a child by Lucinda Dryzek, and by Keira Knightley as the main actress of Pirates of the Caribbean.
We find her in the cast in 4 opuses of this legendary saga about piracy:
- Pirates of the Caribbean 1: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
- Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End (2007)
- Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Now we will see in detail, the history and evolution of the fearless and courageous character of Elizabeth Swann.
The childhood of Elizabeth Swann
Elizabeth Swann was born in 1710 to Weatherby Swann and an unknown woman in London, England, where she grew up until the death of her mother.
When Elizabeth was 10 years old, her father, Weatherby, was given the title of Governor of the British colony of Jamaica by King George II of Great Britain. Therefore, he and young Elizabeth were to leave on the HMS Dauntless for Port Royal, Jamaica, in the Caribbean.
Elizabeth’s voyage to the Caribbean (1720)
In 1720, during the voyage from England to Port Royal, little Elizabeth Swann sang a song about pirates until a sailor, Joshamee Gibbs, told her not to sing it because it was bad luck and would attract pirates to them.
Then young Lieutenant James Norrington intervenes and gets Gibbs to return to his post. Elizabeth expresses to the lieutenant her fascination with the pirate world. Norrington encourages her to think about it by telling her that one day the pirates will get what they deserve with a rope around their necks.
Soon after, Elizabeth sees a boy at sea and alerts everyone on the ship. The crew brings the boy aboard and soon after sees the wreckage of a merchant ship that has been attacked by pirates. Governor Swann asks Elizabeth to look after the boy.
Elizabeth discovers that the boy’s name is Willl Turner and sees that he is wearing a medallion with a skull and crossbones around his neck. Believing Will to be a pirate, Elizabeth takes it off him so the crew will not suspect him of being a pirate. Soon after, Elizabeth briefly spots a ship with black sails drifting in the fog.
Once in Port Royal, Will is apprenticed to the town’s blacksmith, John Brown. Over the next eight years, Elizabeth and Will become good friends, but because of Elizabeth’s higher social standing, Will does not dare to confess his love for her.
Elizabeth Swann and the pirates in The Curse of the Black Pearl (1728)
The encounter with Jack Sparrow
In 1728, eight years later, Elizabeth Swann dreams of her first encounter with Will, and after waking up, she takes Will’s locket that she has kept in her bed drawer for years. That morning, she and her father, Governor Swann, are scheduled to attend Commodore James Norrington‘s promotion ceremony, and Weatherby gives her a fancy dress for the occasion.
Soon after, Elizabeth meets Will at the mansion and is upset that the boy persists in calling her Miss Swann after all the years they have spent together. Elizabeth then goes with her father to Norrington’s promotion ceremony at Fort Charles.
After the ceremony, Norrington declares his love for the girl by proposing marriage. Elizabeth is surprised by this and, as her corset is too tight, she faints and falls from the bleachers of the fort. Elizabeth Swann finds herself in the sea and her medallion emits an oscillation.
Elizabeth is then rescued by Captain Jack Sparrow, famous pirate of the Caribbean. There, Norrington and the Royal Marines arrive on the scene and arrest Jack for being a pirate, despite Elizabeth’s protests. Jack then frees himself, takes Elizabeth hostage and forces Norrington to return his effects (hat, sword and compass), then lets Elizabeth go and escapes. After Sparrow’s escape, Elizabeth returns to the mansion.
The attack of the Black Pearl and the kidnapping of Elizabeth Swann
That night, the Black Pearl attacks Port Royal. The crew of the Black Pearl broke into the governor’s mansion. Elizabeth is pursued by the pirates Pintel and Ragetti and is forced to invoke the talks, a right guaranteed by the pirate code, that they must take her to the captain and cannot harm her until the talks are over.
Consequently, Pintel and Ragetti take Elizabeth Swann aboard the Black Pearl. On board, Elizabeth meets Captain Hector Barbossa and asks him to stop the attack on Port Royal in exchange for the medallion.
The girl says her name is “Elizabeth Turner” because she thinks that if the pirates had known she was the governor’s daughter, they would have kidnapped her for ransom. Captain Barbossa tells Elizabeth that if she gives him the medallion, he and his crew will leave and never return.
Elizabeth gives him the medallion and Barbossa orders the crew to set sail. Elizabeth tells them that they must take her ashore, but Barbossa replies that in their agreement, she did not mention being taken ashore and so he keeps her aboard the Black Pearl Ship.
On board the Black Pearl and its cursed crew
On board, Elizabeth Swann wears the clothes that Barbossa wants her to wear and has dinner with him. During dinner, Elizabeth asks the reason for her imprisonment and Barbossa tells her that he and his crew are cursed to live as the undead by the Aztec treasure of conquistador Hernán Cortés. The only way to break the curse is to return the 882 identical coins to the chest and pay with the blood of those who have possessed one.
Elizabeth then tries to escape and hits Barbossa with a knife. However, Barbossa does not die. Then Elizabeth Swann, terrified, escapes to the deck of the Black Pearl and sees that the crew, in the moonlight, takes the appearance of a crew of living skeletons. After seeing Barbossa as the undead, Elizabeth takes refuge in the cabin where she spends the night.
The Isla de Muerta
Next, the Black Pearl reaches the Isla de Muerta. On the island, Barbossa and his cursed crew intend to use Elizabeth Swann’s blood to break the curse. However, when Captain Barbossa places the medallion soaked in Elizabeth’s blood in the treasure chest, the curse is not broken.
When he learns that the girl lied about her father’s identity, Hector Barbossa strikes Elizabeth Swann and knocks her to the ground. As Barbossa and his crew argue, Will Turner intervenes and escapes with Elizabeth and the medallion.
Will takes Elizabeth aboard the HMS Interceptor where she meets Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow’s crew, then escapes.
During the voyage, Will recognizes in Elizabeth’s medallion the one her father sent her years before and asks her why she took it. Elizabeth tells him that she took it because she was afraid that Will would be a pirate and Will realizes that Barbossa and his crew do not need Elizabeth’s blood, they need his father’s blood, a pirate’s blood.
The battle of the Black Pearl against the Interceptor
The HMS Interceptor was then joined by the Black Pearl and a battle ensued between the two ships at the end of which the Interceptor was destroyed and Elizabeth and the crew were captured.
Shortly thereafter, William Turner, whom Elizabeth believed to have died in the ship’s explosion because he was trapped in the hold, boards the Black Pearl and reveals to Barbossa that he is the son of Bill Turner aka Bootstrap Bill and threatens to kill himself if Barbossa does not do as he says.
Will demands that Elizabeth Swann be released and that the crew not be harmed. Captain Barbossa agrees but, taking advantage of Will’s failure to mention how or where to free Elizabeth, he abandons her and Jack Sparrow on the same deserted island where Barbossa and his crew had abandoned him 10 years earlier.
Stranded on the island with Jack Sparrow
On the island, Elizabeth Swann asks Jack how he escaped the last time and Jack tells her that he negotiated a trick with smugglers.
The next day, Elizabeth sets fire to rum and palm trees to create a fire signal to be found by the British Navy.
Later, the HMS Dauntless reaches the island and picks up Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow. On board, Elizabeth tries to convince Governor Swann and Norrington to go rescue Will, but they refuse, as Will has committed piracy. However, when Elizabeth tells Norrington that she will marry him, Norrington agrees to go rescue Will.
The Battle of Isla de Muerta
That night, the HMS Dauntless reaches Isla de Muerta. Elizabeth Swann is locked in the captain’s cabin to avoid taking any risks on the advice of Jack Sparrow.
Elizabeth tries to warn Lieutenant Gillette that the pirates are cursed, but he does not listen to her. Later, Elizabeth escapes from her cabin and boards the Black Pearl where she frees the crew of the Interceptor and asks them to help Jack and Will.
However, the crew refuses because it would violate the code and because Jack owes them a ship. The Interceptor crew abandoned him on Isla de Muerta and escaped with the Black Pearl.
Elizabeth reaches the treasure cave and saves Will from Jacoby. Then she and Will fight the cursed pirates while Jack Sparrow and Barbossa duel.
Finally, Will breaks the curse and Jack Sparrow kills Barbossa with the shot he has kept for 10 years. Soon after, Will approaches Elizabeth and seems to want to reveal his feelings to her. However, Will does not reveal his feelings and Elizabeth tells him that they must return to the Dauntless.
The Hanging and Escape of Jack Sparrow
Back in Port Royal, Jack Sparrow is sentenced to death for his crimes. Elizabeth Swann is present at Sparrow’s execution ceremony at Fort Charles. She argues that it is not right for Jack to be hanged, but Governor Swann tells her that Commodore Norrington must obey the law like everyone else.
Soon after, Will goes to Elizabeth’s house and confesses his feelings. Elizabeth is shocked by this revelation and when she realizes that Will intends to save Jack, she understands that she must help him. Elizabeth then pretends to faint from the tight corset while Will frees Jack.
Jack and Will are eventually surrounded by British soldiers, but Elizabeth Swann sides with them. She then confesses to Norrington that she loves Will, while Jack takes the opportunity to escape by falling off the fort’s bleachers, before being rescued by the Black Pearl. After that, Will and Elizabeth share their first kiss.
Dead Man’s Chest (1729)
The interrupted wedding of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner
A year later, in 1729, on Elizabeth Swann’s wedding day, a powerful fleet of the British East India Company arrived in Port Royal, led by Lord Cutler Beckett, the company’s governor.
Beckett has Will and Elizabeth arrested for helping a man sentenced to death for piracy (i.e. Jack Sparrow) to escape. Elizabeth is then locked up in the dungeons of Port Royal. It is there that Will informs Elizabeth of his agreement with Beckett: Will will give her Jack Sparrow’s compass and they will then be pardoned. Elizabeth remains in the prison until Will returns.
Elizabeth Swann’s escape from Port Royal
However, Governor Swann was not prepared to see his daughter Elizabeth go to the gallows and he obtained a trip to England so he could get her to safety.
Governor Swann frees Elizabeth from her cell and escapes with her in a carriage that is quickly intercepted by Ian Mercer, Beckett’s right-hand man.
Elizabeth still manages to escape before Mercer and the British soldiers surround the carriage. She confronts Lord Beckett in his office, forcing him to hand over the letters of marque to ensure Will’s freedom.
With the letters in her possession, Elizabeth flees Beckett’s office and embarks as a stowaway on the merchant ship Edinburgh Trader, posing as a boy.
Tortuga and back to Jack Sparrow
When Elizabeth’s wedding dress is found unattended aboard the Edinburgh Trader, the crew believes it belongs to the ghost of a woman who is searching for her husband lost at sea. Elizabeth takes advantage of the crew’s superstitions to convince them to stop at Tortuga.
Once there, Elizabeth goes in search of Will and enters The Loyal Bride tavern, where a fight is taking place. It is there that Elizabeth sees James Norrington, who resigned as commodore a few months earlier, and joins the fight.
Elizabeth ends up knocking Norrington out by hitting him on the head with a bottle, then saves him. Later, Elizabeth joins Captain Jack Sparrow at the docks.
Although Jack is initially reluctant to have Elizabeth Swann aboard the Black Pearl, he decides to use her to his advantage and tells her that, for reasons that do not concern him, Will has been recruited into Davy Jones’ crew and the only way to save him is to find the chest that contains his heart.
Elizabeth uses Jack’s magic compass to find the location of the cursed chest.
Elizabeth Swann sets sail for Isla Cruces
The Black Pearl sets sail on a course determined by Elizabeth Swann. During the voyage, Elizabeth reveals to Jack the deal she and Will have made with Beckett. Jack takes the letters of marque from her, telling her to persuade him to get them back.
Elizabeth begins to doubt her feelings as her compass points to Jack. Later in the journey, Elizabeth says that Jack is like her, that he is a good man at heart and that she will have the opportunity to prove it.
When Jack and Elizabeth are about to kiss, Jack does not kiss her when he sees the black dot reappear on her hand. Elizabeth tells him that she is proud of him.
Isla Cruces
Then, the Black Pearl reaches Isla Cruces. On the island, Elizabeth Swann, Jack Sparrow, Norrington, Pintel and Ragetti go there in a lifeboat.
There, with the help of Jack’s compass, they find the cursed chest, and Elizabeth finds Will, who has escaped from the Flying Dutchman.
Soon after, a fight ensues between Jack, Will and Norrington for the chest and the key. Despite Elizabeth’s protests, they continue to fight. While the three fight, Pintel and Ragetti take the opportunity to steal the chest, and Elizabeth Swann chases them to stop them.
Elizabeth Swann catches up with the two buccaneers, while Jack, Will and Norrington are attacked and chased by the crew of the Flying Dutchman, who have come to the island to retrieve the chest. Elizabeth fights against the monsters of the Dutchman and manages to follow them, helped by Pintel and Ragetti.
Eventually, Norrington secretly steals the heart and takes the empty chest away to be chased by Davy Jones’ crew so that the others can escape. So Elizabeth and the others return aboard the Black Pearl.
The Kraken’s attack and Elizabeth Swann’s betrayal
Back on board the pirate ship, the Black Pearl, the Flying Dutchman emerges from the depths and attacks the Pearl, but the Pearl manages to escape.
Davy Jones, thirsty for revenge, summons the Kraken, which attacks the Pearl. Will, who has already seen the Kraken in action, devises a scheme to kill the squid. During the battle, Elizabeth sees Jack Sparrow flee to the mainland, but then returns to the ship to join the fight.
Will’s plan succeeds, but only to repel the Kraken for a few minutes. Captain Sparrow gives the order to abandon ship. Will and the band of pirates (Joshamee Gibbs, Marty, Cotton and his parrot, Pintel and Ragetti) load the necessary supplies onto the last lifeboat.
Elizabeth Swann, who has realized that the Kraken wants Jack and not them, kisses Jack to distract him and ties him to the mast of the Black Pearl without knowing that Will saw their kiss.
Elizabeth then flees with the rest of the crew, making them believe that Jack intends to stay aboard his ship. Soon after, the Kraken returns and sinks the Black Pearl and Jack with it.
A few days later, Elizabeth and the others arrive in Cuba and, on their way up the Pantano River, arrive at the cabin of Tia Dalma aka Calypso, a voodoo priestess who had helped Jack and Will earlier.
Here, Tia Dalma asks Elizabeth Swann and the others if they would be willing to go to the ends of the earth to get Jack back. Elizabeth and the others say yes, and Tia Dalma tells them that they will need a new captain to do it: that’s when Hector Barbossa appears, resurrected by Tia Dalma.
At World’s End to get Jack Sparrow (1729)
Singapore
Two months later, Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, Captain Barbossa and the surviving crew of the Black Pearl travel to Singapore to obtain the nautical charts of the noble pirate Sao Feng, which show the route to the ends of the world.
Elizabeth Swann reaches the rendezvous with Barbossa in a canoe, singing the pirate song Hoist the Colours to summon Barbossa. However, she is stopped by Tai Huang, Feng’s trusted man, until Barbossa joins her.
Huang leads them to his master’s lair while Will is sent to secretly steal nautical charts. During the meeting with Sao Feng, Elizabeth and Barbossa discover that Will has been captured.
Now that the mission has failed, Elizabeth and Barbossa have no choice but to pretend not to know the thief, but when Feng threatens to kill Will, Elizabeth cannot contain herself and lets out a scream. The deception is revealed: from now on, the lives of the two fiancés and that of Barbossa are in danger. After that, the meeting becomes more tense.
During this meeting, Captain Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann urge Sao Feng to attend the council of the pirate brotherhood to decide what to do against the East India Company, which now exterminates piracy in the seven seas.
In addition, Will reveals that the goal of their mission is to retrieve Jack Sparrow, one of the nine pirate lords, from the realm of the dead (Davy Jones’ lair). Shortly thereafter, the meeting is interrupted by the raid on Feng’s hideout by East India Company soldiers led by Ian Mercer.
Elizabeth Swann fights in the streets of Singapore against the Company’s soldiers, then joins Will and the others. After obtaining Sao Feng’s maps and covenant, they set sail on the Hai Peng, the ship given to them by Feng, to the end of the world.
Davy Jones’ chest
Captain Barbossa, with the help of Feng’s charts, leads the group through icy seas to the far south, then through a huge icy passage to the end of the world.
Later, the Hai Peng plunges into the waterfalls at the end of the world and finds itself in Davy Jones’ lair. Here, the crew is reunited with Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl. At first, Jack refuses to go with them, as several of them have tried to kill him and Elizabeth Swann has succeeded. Finally, Jack agrees to go with them.
Later that night, Elizabeth sees her father’s soul in the waters of Davy Jones’ Den. Elizabeth desperately tries to get Weatherby Swann to come aboard, but he tells her that he will blow a kiss to his mother for her and leaves with the other souls.
The next day, Elizabeth joins the rest of the crew to run the Black Pearl. The Pearl eventually capsizes completely and when the green lightning strikes, the ship rises from the water and returns to the realm of the living.
Alliances and betrayals
Back in the realm of the living, Elizabeth Swann and the others turn their weapons against each other. When the crew goes to an island in search of a water source, Elizabeth stays on board. Later, the Black Pearl is captured by Sao Feng and delivered to Lord Cutler Beckett.
Will’s previous agreement with Sao Feng was that Will would deliver Jack Sparrow alive to Feng and Feng would give him the Black Pearl in exchange, which Will would then use to free his father.
Elizabeth asks him why he didn’t tell her about his plan, and Will claims that it was his burden to bear. After Sao Feng discovers that Beckett has no intention of handing over the Black Pearl, Barbossa tricks him into believing that Elizabeth is the goddess Calypso, a sea goddess in human form.
Feng demands that Elizabeth be delivered to him, which she accepts. Feng takes Elizabeth Swann aboard the Empress and fires on the Endeavour ship, allowing the Black Pearl to escape.
In the hands of Sao Feng aboard the Empress
Aboard the Empress, Elizabeth is treated like a prisoner by Sao Feng, who mistakes her for Calypso. After attempting to embrace Elizabeth, the Empress is attacked by the Flying Dutchman and Feng is hit by a cannonade and impaled on a piece of wood.
Before he dies, Feng gives Elizabeth his piece of eight and names her captain, giving her the title of Pirate Lord of the South China Sea. When Tai Huang arrives on the scene, he asks Elizabeth what Feng told him and she replies that he named her captain, but Tai Huang refuses to recognize her as such.
On the deck of the Empress, Elizabeth Swann meets James Norrington, now an admiral of the British East India Company, who informs her of Governor Swann’s death and resents her for siding with her father’s murderers.
Imprisoned on the Flying Dutchman
Elizabeth Swann is then locked in a cell on board the Flying Dutchman. In the cell, Elizabeth meets Bootstrap Bill aka Bill Turner, Will’s father. During their conversation, Bill tells Elizabeth that whoever kills Davy Jones must take his place as captain of the Flying Dutchman forever. If Will saves him, he can never be with her again.
The escape of the Flying Dutchman and the death of Norrington
Later that night, Elizabeth Swann and her crew are freed by James Norrington, who helps them escape and reach the Empress. Elizabeth offers James to come with her, but he is reluctant. Norrington kisses Elizabeth for the first and last time before confronting Bill Turner, who is out of his mind and tries to stop the pirates from escaping by setting off the alarm.
Norrington breaks whatever is holding the two ships together, causing Elizabeth and the other Chinese pirates to fall into the sea. Bootstrap Bill takes advantage of Norrington’s moment of distraction to strike him with his sword. Elizabeth witnesses the helpless scene of Norrington’s death, but is still forced to flee.
Elizabeth Swann then escapes with her crew aboard the Empress to the Bay of Wreckage, where the fourth council of the Brotherhood of Pirates will be held.
The Fourth Council of the Brotherhood of Pirates
Later, Elizabeth Swann attends the fourth council of the Brotherhood where she reveals that Sao Feng was killed by the Flying Dutchman and that he named her captain.
She argues that they must fight and that Beckett has discovered where they are gathering. A heated debate ensues, and thanks to Jack, the pirates are convinced to fight.
However, Captain Barbossa, opposed to Elizabeth’s idea, says that according to the pirate code, an act of war can only be declared by the pirate king. Jack proposes to the Pirate Lords a vote. Each pirate noble votes for himself, including Elizabeth Swann.
To everyone’s surprise, Captain Sparrow votes for Elizabeth, making her the new Pirate King. As Pirate King, Elizabeth orders all pirates to prepare for the final battle and says they will be at war.
The Pirates of the Caribbean Talks
The next day, the two fleets, the pirate fleet and the East India Company fleet, prepared to board. However, in view of the superiority in numbers of the Company’s fleet, talks are envisaged to avoid a massacre.
After a discussion on a sandbank with Lord Cutler Beckett, Davy Jones and Will Turner, Elizabeth proposed to exchange Jack for Will, Beckett accepted. Elizabeth then witnesses Calypso’s release and encourages all the pirates to fight when all hope seems lost.
The Battle of the Maelstrom
Soon after, Calypso causes a storm and releases a giant maelstrom. Beckett orders the Flying Dutchman to attack the Black Pearl, triggering a battle between the two ships.
During the battle, Will and Elizabeth Swann ask Barbossa, as captain, to marry them, as this may be their last moment together. Captain Barbossa improvises a wedding ceremony and the two are finally officially married.
Later, Elizabeth Swann boarded the Flying Dutchman where she confronted Davy Jones but was quickly defeated. When Jones is about to finish Elizabeth off, Will Turner stabs him with his sword.
Later, Jones, who cannot die from a sword, stabs Will in turn, as he faces Bill Turner. Jack Sparrow helps Will stab Jones’ heart before he dies. Jones also dies and falls into the maelstrom.
Then Jack escapes with Elizabeth Swann from the Flying Dutchman using a sail as an improvised parachute. The Flying Dutchman is consumed by the waters of the maelstrom, Jack and Elizabeth return to the Black Pearl.
Later, when the Black Pearl and HMS Endeavour, Lord Cutler Beckett’s ship, are about to fight, the Flying Dutchman emerges from the water again.
On board, the crew has become human again and has a new captain: Will Turner. The Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman flank HMS Endeavour on both sides. Stunned, Beckett could no longer articulate and gave no orders. The two ships then confronted the Endeavour in a crossfire.
Finally, the continuous barrage of fire causes the gunpowder section of the Endeavour to explode. Beckett perished in the explosion of the ship.
After the East India Company fleet retreats, Elizabeth Swann celebrates her victory over the pirates and prepares to go ashore to spend her last day with her beloved Will before he spends ten years at sea. Elizabeth Swann bids a final farewell to Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hector Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl before disembarking on Wreck Island.
One day
On land, Elizabeth and Will conceive a child, Henry Turner, and kiss each other goodbye as Will hands Elizabeth Swann the phantom chest containing his heart, asking her to keep it safe as a sign of trust. Then they kiss passionately and Will tells Elizabeth, “Keep your eyes on the horizon.” Finally, Will leaves aboard the Flying Dutchman, which disappears in the green flash.
A Happy Ending for Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner
Raising a Child, Henry Turner
Soon after, Elizabeth returned to Port Royal, Jamaica, retiring from piracy for good. Nine months after Will left, Elizabeth gave birth to their son, Henry Turner. Elizabeth and Henry lived in an old lighthouse on the other side of Port Royal Bay.
She raised her son by telling him about her adventures with his father and their friend Jack Sparrow, so much so that Henry became so fond of their stories that he wanted to have similar adventures one day.
After 10 years, Elizabeth and little Henry (age 9) waited for the arrival of the Flying Dutchman, which after the green flash, appeared off the island and on board was Will, eager to see his beloved Elizabeth Swann and his son for the first time. As Henry grew up, he joined the British Royal Navy, sailing the oceans, leaving his mother to live alone.
The Return of Will Turner (1751)
In 1751, Henry, with the help of Jack Sparrow, Carina Smyth and Hector Barbossa, destroyed Poseidon’s trident and thus lifted the curse of the Flying Dutchman. Elizabeth was finally able to re-train her beloved Will and spend the rest of her life with him.
After living apart for many years, that night Will and Elizabeth were able to sleep together in their marriage bed as husband and wife for the first time in their lives.
The stories about Elizabeth Swann played by Keira Knightley
- Elizabeth Swann was played by Lucinda Dryzek and Keira Knightley. Lucinda played the role of Elizabeth only in one scene, while Keira Knightley played her for the rest of the saga.
- The writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have repeatedly expressed their opinion that Elizabeth is the real protagonist of the trilogy. However, as the saga progresses, we tend to consider Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp as the real main protagonist.
- Elizabeth is the only one of the protagonists of this pirate movie to have no connection with piracy before The Curse of the First Moon.
- In an interview in 2017, Brenton Thwaites said that Elizabeth’s cameo in the final sequence of Dead Men Tell No Tales was not in the film’s script. He then added that Keira Knightley shot her own little scenes 14 or 15 months after filming ended. This indicates that Elizabeth’s presence in the film was a late choice.