Based on historical events, the series charts the epic rise and demise of Drake, from his days of infamous piracy in Season 1 to the greatest sea voyage in the history of the world in Season 2, through to his celebrated defeat of the dreaded Spanish Armada in Season 3 and its aftermath in Season 4.
SEASON ONE
“Betrayal, Murder & Revenge”
Episode 1
“SLAVE TRADERS”
When the Spanish occupiers close the ports in the Low Countries to English trade, the merchant Drake is betrayed in Holland and narrowly escapes with his life - and with Rosie: a French Huguenot, who is a weapons expert.
Having lost all his goods, and with only his fast barque to his name, Drake is forced into the arms of his estranged cousin, John Hawkins, a wealthy slave trader.
After brutal raids on villages in Africa, the flotilla finds that the Spanish have also closed their colonies in the Caribbean to foreign traders, who are to be designated as heretics and pirates. An unsavoury clash in Rio de la Hacha is followed by a violent storm that cripples the flagship, the Jesus of Lübeck, and the flotilla seeks haven at San Juan de Ulua, where the sadistic and treacherous governor, Don Martin Enriquez, offers them safety, knowing that the heavily armed Spanish treasure fleet is expected any day. It is a trap…
Final scene: The lookout in the crow’s nest awakes to see the huge fleet on the horizon. He cries out with alarm and rings a bell. Drake scampers up the rigging to see. A look of horror spreads across his face...
Episode 2
“BATTLE”
The Spanish fleet of 13 ships sails into the harbour and, although Spain and England are not officially at war, a tense standoff prevails while the Spanish wait for more troops from Vera Cruz. The slave Diego tips off Drake about the Spanish plans and the English develop counter tactics, knowing they are hopelessly outnumbered.
When the battle starts, the spectacular sacrifice of Queen Elizabeth’s warship, the crippled and rotten Jesus of Lübeck, sends several hundred Spaniards to a watery grave. Rosie has set up a gun emplacement on the sandbar and hidden explosive traps that take care of many more, but the numbers overwhelm her small contingent. Drake mans a rowing boat to save her when he sees her being wounded in hand-to-hand combat. In the ensuing chaos of battle, Drake leaves prematurely in his damaged ship, abandoning Hawkins, who is still fighting for his life, in the bay. The desperately overcrowded ship, lacking water and provisions, has no chance of reaching England, where, in any case, the men might be hanged for starting a war with Spain…
The slaves Diego and Kinse profit from the chaos of the battle to steal a dugout and paddle away.
Final scene: Hawkins, fighting for his life on the battered Minion, curses at the departing Drake, as the Judith limps out of San Juan as evening falls, while Drake realises that his youngest brother, Edward (16) is missing…
Episode 3
“GHOST SHIP”
On board the overcrowded Judith, many men volunteer to take their chances on the Mexican shore, where they are pursued and caught by a mixture of natives and Spaniards. Brought back to San Juan de Ulua in cages, they are tortured in especially grisly fashion in the presence of Don Martin and Dominican friars, and burned at the stake. Edward Drake, Drake’s youngest brother, is amongst those captured, tortured and executed.
Don Martin and Don Franciso Lujan lament the sinking of one of the treasure ships. It was carrying gold and various commodities from South America. They have no divers and wonder how they can salvage the treasure. This will be the cue for Diego and Kinse, who are recaptured and are about to be executed, but Kinse suddenly blurts out that they are divers…they are spared.
Meanwhile the Judith limps painfully slowly across the Atlantic with torn sails, and many dying of hunger, thirst or exposure to the freezing winter on the decks of the ship. When they reach Plymouth, they expect to be hanged.
Rosie recovers from her wound, nursed by the Drake brothers. The relationship between Rosie and Drake blossoms. Drake and John Drake are tormented by the loss of Edward.
Rosie and Drake nearly have a moment of intimacy, where Rosie is comforting Drake in his torment, leading to an interrupted kiss, as he pulls away without explanation.
On arrival in Plymouth, Mary Drake, Drake’s wife, waits on the quayside. Rosie, disappointed, slinks off. Drake makes his way to John Hawkins’ brother, William, presuming his erstwhile companion to be lost. William sends him to London to his contacts there to inform the court of the betrayal and act of war.
Kinse and Diego dive to retrieve silver bars from the galleon amid bodies of drowned men. They take turns from a diving platform. The one diving, puts gold or silver bars in a basket which is then hauled up. A shark is attracted by the commotion and prowls around. Diego is sick with worry as Kinse doesn’t resurface. Kinse finds an air pocket in the wreck enabling her to breathe so that she can stay underwater for longer while the shark swims around. When the air pocket runs out, she grabs a dagger from a drowned Spanish soldier and swims quickly to the top. The shark attacks her and she stabs it in the eye. Blood clouds the water and dozens of sharks suddenly appear in a frenzy as Diego hauls Kinse out of the water.
Final scene: John Hawkins lands at Plymouth after his own horrific voyage and bitterly blames Drake for leaving him in the lurch, hinting at cowardice.
Episode 4
“COWARDICE”
Hawkins follows Drake to London. Drake, through the introduction of William Hawkins, meets with Walsingham, the Queen’s spy chief, who is actively anti-Spanish, to try to drum up support for a revenge voyage. It comes to nothing initially.
Drake makes a plea to merchants for investment. Hawkins arrives and scuppers Drake’s pleas and ruins his reputation with accusations of cowardice. Rosie makes a surprise intervention on Drake’s behalf, saying that he saved her in the battle and shows her wounds (pike thrust to the shoulder), the merchants are unconvinced and the dejected, impoverished Drake returns to Plymouth branded a loser and a coward. Drake asks Hawkins if he has seen Edward… He hears word from a merchant that all of the prisoners were tortured and executed, amongst them, Edward. The news is devastating.
In Mexico, the overseer insists that Diego and Kinse continue diving, although sharks are still nearby. Diego wants to spare Kinse from the danger and takes the plunge. They secretly bring up various weapons from drowned soldiers and jewels that he and Kinse hide in preparation for another escape attempt.
Rosie tells Drake about the very successful French pirate, Nicolas des Isles, who raided the Caribbean, and together they sail to St Malo in France, where Nicolas tells them that Nombre de Dios on the isthmus of Panama, is the Spanish port where all the treasure from Latin America is embarked for Spain.
Final scene: On the way back from St Malo, the atmosphere is more upbeat. Drake and Rosie have a plan. They drink rum from the Caribbean but Drake is also mourning Edward. He swears revenge on Don Martin. They drink and there is a kiss, but soon after Drake falls asleep.
Episode 5
“RAIDERS”
Realising he doesn’t need more than a few volunteers and a swift pinnace to navigate the shallow waters, Drake and Rosie leave for a reconnaissance mission with 30 men. On the voyage Drake plans with her how they will proceed: they must first set up a base in a small cove.
Despite only being armed with bows and arrows and a handful of crossbows and arquebuses, they carry out several successful attacks, capturing barques loaded with goods, provisions and some silver. Rosie proves especially fearsome. Her hatred of Catholics comes to the fore…
On one particular barque, after the captain and a man resist an attack and are killed, the only survivor is the very beautiful and elegant Isabela de Compostela. Drake gently interrogates her regarding the layout of Nombre de Dios, the whereabouts of Don Martin and other information. Her answers sound plausible. He doesn’t entirely trust her but decides not to send her back immediately, as there is no pinnace available, and there is some attraction between the two. She will have John Drake’s cabin, opposite Rosie’s and next to Drake's. That evening, when Drake and John are seated around the campfire, both Rosie and Isabela watch each other warily. Drake takes his leave from them and goes to bed. That night, Isabela sneaks into Drake’s cabin. Rosie can hear through the walls…
Diego and Kinse learn that Don Martin will be travelling to Nombre de Dios with his retinue and plan their escape. They have assembled several knives and a sword from the wreck. They agree if one is thwarted in the escape, that the other continues alone. No heroics, insists Kinse.
Drake realises that the tactic of nimble and fast attacks, disappearing afterwards into shallow waters, will gain them a foothold from which they can carry out more ambitious offensives. But they need more weapons. Having gained confidence, they go home to raise more men and weapons with the proceeds…
Final scene: Drake, full of confidence and hope, sails for England to find investors. He decides to keep Isabela, to use her as an interpreter. Rosie is incensed.
Episode 6
“VENTA CRUCES”
In London, Drake gets backing from two investors, who help him buy another pinnace, provisions, and arms, including culverins to mount on the bows of the pinnaces. He has a different demeanour to before: he is confident and believes he will succeed.
While Drake is scouting Nombre de Dios, Diego, the slave, daringly escapes and joins him (Kinse is captured). Drake recognises him as the man who gave the warning about the Spanish attack. Diego will later become Drake’s most trusted companion. He knows the streets of Nombre de Dios, and, especially, where the treasure is stored and where Don Martin stays when in the town. He says that Don Martin is in Venta Cruces to meet the treasure train. Diego confirms what Isabela says, which increases the level of trust that Drake has in her.
With Rosie and 30 men, not including Isabela, Drake marches through the harsh Panamanian jungle to Venta Cruces, where the treasure, carried by mules from Panama, is partly transferred from mules to barques that then sail down the Chagres to the sea and then on to Nombre de Dios. The Spanish are totally surprised and the raid is hugely successful but Don Martin escapes on horseback.
On the trip back to base, Rosie, aware that she missed her opportunity to seduce Drake before, and feeling under pressure since the arrival of Isabela and her own seduction of him, slips into Drake’s tent…
Drake returns to London with $66,000 (the equivalent of 40% of the Queen’s income) to get more volunteers and weapons.
Final scene: Philip II of Spain rages at the loss of treasure to the impertinent English pirate, El Draque. He orders reinforcements to be sent to catch as many English as possible and to punish them as brutally as the law allows.
Episode 7
“NOMBRE DE DIOS”
In London, Drake sells the idea of capturing Nombre de Dios (“the treasure house of the world”) to prospective partners. He meets Walsingham again, the Queen’s spymaster, who invests in his venture but Drake has to turn away other investors. He buys cannon and proper weapons, but wants to stay nimble. Drake sails with a crew of 79 in 2 ships, and another pinnace to be assembled later.
The attack on Nombre de Dios is a relative failure. After taking out the cannon emplacement, only 40 men attack the town at night from two different directions to make it look as though they are more numerous than they really are. Drake is wounded in the leg by a spent ball. The garrison retreats in chaos and regroups outside the town. The attackers then find the treasure, a huge hall full of silver bars, but don’t know how to transport them.
Meanwhile Drake makes his way to Don Martin’s house. Don Martin hides in a secret hiding place under the floorboards, while Drake limps about searching for him, blood dripping through the floorboards from his wound. Outside the storehouse, the crew are caught in a tropical downpour that soaks their gunpowder and bowstrings, making them vulnerable to the inevitable counterattack. Rosie is worried about Drake, especially as the Spanish will certainly come soon, and goes to retrieve him, half-carrying him with Diego to the treasury. When Drake reaches the treasury, he sits on a pile of silver bars and faints from loss of blood while the others were unaware of his wound. The nervousness of the men prevails and they retreat, carrying Drake and a small amount of treasure.
Final scene: The crew make a chaotic departure on the beach at night under fire from the Spanish counterattack.
Episode 8
“CARTAGENA & LOS CIMARRONES”
Drake realises that neither he nor the Spanish can overwhelm the other: his crew is too fleet and flexible for the Spanish to capture them, but they cannot take their towns without more men. Drake decides to try to team up with los Cimarrones (escaped slaves), who hate the European slave traders.
In the aftermath of the Nombre de Dios raid, the assumption is that the town’s defences will be urgently reinforced by the Spanish. When Drake hears that Don Martin has gone to Cartagena (on the Venezuelan coast), he decides to attack that instead. At the same time, he sends John Drake with Diego to meet with the Cimarrones (escaped slaves).
In the night attack on Cartagena, while Drake and the crew are transferring the booty from a ship, a much larger Spanish galleon suddenly looms alongside and prepares to board. Rosie seizes a barrel of gunpowder, attaches a fuse and throws it onto the main deck of the galleon, blowing the ship up. Rosie is furious with Drake for having allowed them to be surprised and nearly killed, but really she is mad about the situation with Isabela.
As usual, all the prisoners from the captured ship are released with gifts.
While Drake and Rosie are in Cartagena, a severe bout of Yellow Fever takes hold of the camp, and Isabela nurses many dying men in vain, including Edmund and the wounded Joseph Drake. When he returns, Drake has to bury both of his brothers. In his absence, Joseph precipitately attacked a Spanish barque while Drake was in Cartagena and dies in agony after receiving a musket ball in the guts, while young Edmund dies of the Yellow Jack along with 40% of the men. Drake personally carries out an autopsy on Edmund’s body.
John and Diego have success with the Cimarrones, whose leader Pedro Mandinga has heard of Drake’s exploits in attacking Venta Cruces and Nombre de Dios. Drake is invited to the Cimarrones village in the jungle.
Final scene: Drake and the pitifully small number of men and women left in his crew bury one of their own and survey the crosses in the cemetery.
Episode 9
“THE TREASURE TRAIN: FIRST ATTEMPT”
The crew trek to the Cimarrones village, and Drake instantly forms a bond with Pedro Mandinga, leader of the Cimarrones, with whom the crew teams up to attack the treasure train. 18 Englishmen and 30 Cimarrones have a long, difficult 70km march through the hot, mosquito-ridden Panamanian jungle to just outside Panama, where they hope to catch the Spanish mule train by surprise. The Cimarrones not only carry all provisions but also carry stragglers, impressing Drake with their discipline and generosity, deepening the bonds further. This is possibly the point where Drake develops his respect and admiration for indigenous peoples. Rosie is sick on the way.
Drake, Rosie and Oxenham arrive at the peak of a mountain from where they can simultaneously see the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean. They are the first non-Spanish Europeans to see the Pacific. The view of the calm waters and unarmed Spanish shipping in Panama, inspires Drake to attack the Spanish in their own backyard where they are least expecting it, namely the Pacific. (This will be the extraordinary voyage of Season 2).
The mixed group prepares an ambush of the treasure train, but unfortunately, just before the ambush takes place, a drunken sailor stands up too early, ruining the attack. The Spanish flee and only the contents from a few mules are captured. Drake decides to return via Venta Cruces, as it is easier to return by river. In Venta Cruces, they capture a barqe with some goods and silver, and sail down the Chagres. The river is in flood and the fast-flowing rapids nearly lead to disaster.
Final scene: They arrive back at their base in a cove to ominously find a much larger ship waiting there. They fear the worst...
Episode 10
“THE TREASURE TRAIN: REDUX”
The ship is full of a large contingent of French Huguenot corsairs, who are in dire need of provisions. Drake generously offers a huge amount of food from one of his caches, for which Guillaume Le Testu gives him a jewel-encrusted scimitar.that had been gifted by the leader of the French Huguenots, Gaspar de Coligny. Rosie knows several of the Huguenots and they chat about the past, including Rosie’s family, which we learn was massacred by Catholic troops. Drake strikes up a good friendship with Le Testu and together with the Cimarrones, they decide on a new plan to attack the treasure train.
This time, they decide to attack much closer to Nombre de Dios, where the Spanish muleteers will be least expecting it and will have lowered their guard, but they will be vulnerable to a sortie from the garrison (led by Don Martin). They leave their pinnaces in a quiet nearby cove and march to the site of the ambush. The attack is successful, although Le Testu is seriously wounded by a musket ball to the stomach, and is left with two men during the retreat. Drake and the rest escape with a huge amount of treasure, which they bury in two different locations, as the Spanish garrison from nearby Nombre de Dios is hot on their heels. However, when they arrive at the cove, there are no pinnaces but a lone Spanish warship. They are trapped with no escape route and fearing the worst - that the pinnaces have been captured and that the occupants have been tortured to reveal the crew’s hideouts - Drake builds a makeshift raft and, with Rosie and two men, sails out in darkness, avoiding the Spanish warship. Meanwhile, Spanish footsoldiers under the command of Don Martin find the wounded LeTestu and summarily execute both him and the men who stayed with him, cutting off their heads as a warning to others. They search the environs for the treasure but only find part of it.
On the raft at night, Drake luckily finds the two pinnaces which had been blown away by strong winds, and together they rescue the crew they had left behind at Nombre de Dios, who themselves were nearly discovered by the Spanish troops. Together, they dig up the rest of the treasure and rush to the pinnaces.
Final scene: Don Martin, leading the soldiers out of Nombre de Dios, arrives at the shoreline a minute too late to capture Drake. Don Martin and Drake stare at each other intently as the pinnace sails off, knowing there is unfinished business.
SEASON TWO
“Glory & Riches”
Overview
Season 2 is about the extraordinary adventure of the circumnavigation of the world, the first since Magellan 60 years before.The voyage has the dual goal of capturing Spanish treasure in the Pacific where it was undefended, as hitherto the Spanish haven’t encountered any enemy ships there, and the discovery of the Northwest Passage from the Pacific side. It is kept secret for obvious reasons, but also because any crew would be frightened off by the prospect of sailing through the notorious Straits of Magellan, as only a handful of ships had negotiated them successfully. The Queen invests, but gives no written instructions to Drake so as not to disturb relations with Spain further if he is caught. Various government officials invest also, and due to a court rivalry, a troublesome spy is put on board the flagship, the Pelican. Diego and Rosie accompany as Drake’s closest confidants, with Diego’s main series goal to reunite with Kinse, while Rosie shares Drake’s hatred of the Spanish and suffers through her unrequited love for him and the presence of Isabela. Isabela convinces Drake that she will be useful as an interpreter; as a native speaker she has a better understanding of implicit tones and hidden meanings.
While in London, Diego experiences a mixed bag of reactions from racism to curiosity, while Isabela is discreetly visited by a mysterious Spaniard, sent by the ambassador and Rosie is pregnant.
From the off, the spy causes trouble. The voyage through the Atlantic is marked by the build up to a mutiny which has to be dealt with by trial before the flotilla enters the Straits. Both Rosie and Diego keep Drake informed of the latest plotting by the mutineers. The perpetrator, Thomas Doughty, is found guilty by a kangaroo court and beheaded beneath the gallows erected by Magellan in 1519 to execute his own mutineers under the shadow of dark cliffs. The flotilla is reduced to three ships from five, and after a very dramatic passage through the Straits, it encounters a violent storm that lasts for thirty days, during which the Marigold is swamped by a huge wave and disappears in seconds in full view of the others. The Elizabeth turns for home without notifying Drake, leaving Drake’s ship - now the Golden Hind - alone to challenge the Spanish empire.
After searching fruitlessly for the Elizabeth, there are various dramatic confrontations with indians, showing Drake’s innate generosity, humanity and respect for them, but also his bravery in fighting off a horde on the coast of southern Argentina, and encountering the brutal scene of his scouts being eaten alive on the coast of southern Chile, where he and all of his men are wounded, several fatally. Shortly afterwards, Rosie gives birth to a stillborn child. Rumours of the ship being cursed make the rounds amongst the superstitious sailors.
Attacks on several coastal towns ensue, leading to the sacking of twenty ships in Lima’s harbour, Callao, where Drake pursues the newly departed treasure ship, Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, while also interrogating any prisoners as to the whereabouts of Don Martin. After a dramatic chase of several days, the treasure ship is captured along with untold riches and Drake hears of the presence of Don Martin in Panama town. Diego hopes Kinse is with him, adding to the urgency and drama. Drake and his crew raid the town, capturing Don Martin, while Diego reunites very emotionally with Kinse, who is part of Don Martin’s retinue. A quickly assembled court finds Don Martin guilty of heinous crimes (torture and execution of Drake’s crew and youngest brother, and rape of slaves and children, as testified to by Kinse) and he is sentenced to death. This takes place by crucifixion on the roof of the largest church, with Drake personally nailing his hands and feet as retribution for his murdered brother and belatedly, Kinse stabbing a spear through his side. Leaving him for dead, and after much consideration as to how to get home - the voyage across the Pacific is unthinkable, as is a trek across the Isthmus and the possibility of taking a Spanish port with a ship, or even returning through the dreaded Straits, fearing an ambush by Spanish ships at any moment - the ship departs to look for the Northwest Passage.
The Golden Hind sails as far north as 48 degrees, reaching what is now the Canadian border, before abandoning the quest of the Northwest Passage. She turns back and eventually makes landfall south of San Francisco at Drake's Bay. Here the crew are welcomed as gods by the local ash-covered indians, who had been waiting for their saviour to appear. They remain for a month, refitting the ship for the long voyage across the Pacific, and to the indians’ heartbreak, depart. Kinse and Diego hesitate before departing, knowing that London will be difficult for them.
The voyage is arduous but eventually they arrive in Celebes (the Philippines), where they are given a rapturous welcome by the locals, who hate the Spanish and Portuguese. Soon after departure, on the longest leg home through waters teaming with hostile Portuguese and Spanish warships, they hit a reef, on which they are stuck for several days. Luckily, Drake had had the foresight to build a double hull on the ship when in London, otherwise it would have sunk. Only by throwing all of their cannon overboard, rendering them defenceless in hostile waters, and some of the looted goods, can the ship be refloated off the reef.
The voyage home has to take place without stopping as all shores are hostile. Many men succumb to scurvy and starvation. The rest fear they will be hanged by the Queen when they return for starting a war with Spain… But when the Golden Hind arrives at Greenwich, the Queen herself goes to meet the ship and she knights Drake on the quarterdeck.
Final scene: Don Martin has survived and, with crippled hands and feet, swears revenge on Drake.
SEASON THREE
“THE ARMADA’S COMING!”
Overview
Drake is now a national hero and one of the richest men in the kingdom. He is also the most accomplished sailor in the world. His role changes from just revenge and seeking riches to one of patriotic duty and glory. Despite the Queen’s open admiration for him, he isn’t fully accepted into aristocratic society, as he is quite low-born and slightly gauche in his manners. But he does have powerful supporters in men of influence such as Walsingham, the Queen’s spy chief, and the very wealthy senior courtier, Sir Christopher Hatton. Politics dominate and Drake’s role of building up circles of influence within the anti-Spain cliques takes up some of his initial attention. However when he hears of Don Martin's survival, the old rage fires up in him. Diego remains his constant companion, and while ashore he has to navigate the very difficult relationships between his wife, Mary, Rosie and Isabela.
Isabela has been put under pressure by Spanish operators, who threaten her family against her giving up information on Drake, in order to be able to either capture or assassinate him. However she has built up a strong attachment to him…Don Martin, sporting some evil-looking scars and a limp, uses all his power and influence to wreak revenge on Drake…
The season is characterized by the deteriorating relationship between England and Spain, leading to open war. Over several years, the Spanish build up a huge fleet called the Armada. As the foremost naval expert, Drake is charged with spoiling actions, namely to destroy the fleet as it is being built. This leads to dramatic fleet raids on Cadiz, Lisbon (under Spanish control) and La Corunna. He also regularly and unsuccessfully pursues the Spanish treasure fleet, which is now well guarded.
His raids of the Spanish ports become famous, not just to Philip II but also to the general public, where the legend of El Draque is born. Several expensively built Spanish fleets are destroyed before the majestic Armada finally sets sail. The English fleet, by contrast, is pitiful; full of small ships, weak guns, not enough ordnance and, above all, Drake is not the overall commander. A Spanish army in Holland waits to be transported across the sea. The stakes could not be higher; England has no standing army and a Spanish occupier would persecute and probably exterminate large swathes of the protestant population. The history of the western world would be vastly different…
Don Martin is very prominent in the Spanish hierarchy, hoping to administer justice on Drake and joins the Armada, after putting a lot of pressure on Isabela to betray Drake.
Fortunately, Drake’s ebullient personality and his innate confidence in himself, don’t allow the tensions within the English command to get out of hand before the Spanish arrive. He famously continues to play bowls at Plymouth when the massive Armada fleet of several hundred ships appear on the horizon. A series of fleet skirmishes take place off the south coast of England from Portland to the Isle of Wight, when the unmaneuverable Spanish fleet is blown towards the French port of Calais. Here, Drake uses his celebrated trick of sending fire ships into the Spanish fleet, causing the ships to become entangled with one another in their panic to escape the blazing ships which cause destruction and chaos. Amid the flames, sailors jump into the water for safety where they drown en masse. The decimated fleet has no chance of reaching Holland and is blown northwards through the North Sea and round the coast of Ireland where many of the ships are wrecked on the rocks and the survivors massacred by the inhabitants. Only a handful of the ships reach Spain, with the leader of the fleet Medina Sedona dying a few days later. The disaster is total. But Don Martin lives on…
SEASON FOUR
“THE TRAGIC FLAW”
Overview
After saving England from the Armada, Drake stands at the height of his glory. He is a knight, a national hero, a symbol of defiance. Yet triumph breeds unease. Instead of settling into wealth, honor, and a comfortable life in Devon, Drake remains restless. Driven by pride, a hunger for revenge, boredom and the fear of irrelevance, he pushes himself back to sea. Season 4 charts his decline: a string of bold but poorly executed ventures against Spain that end not with victory but with exhaustion, disgrace, and his lonely death in the Caribbean.
The season’s title, The Tragic Flaw, speaks to Drake’s inability to stop fighting. He cannot accept peace, or the loss of command, or a life confined to land. His flaw—ambition edged with pride—drags him into ventures that erode his legacy and consume his life.
The Armada is scattered. England rejoices. Drake is hailed as the man who harried Spain into ruin. But celebrations soon give way to politics.
In tragedy, the flaw that shapes a hero’s rise becomes the engine of his fall. Drake’s flaw was that he could not stop. He sought one more victory, one more strike against Spain, one more chance to prove himself. Instead, he found decline, failure, and death.
But his legend endured. To his enemies, he was El Draque, a terror of the seas. To England, he was the man who helped turn the tide against Spain. To history, he became both hero and warning: the man who conquered the seas, but could not conquer himself.
Season Four is darker, more introspective. Where earlier seasons celebrated daring raids and triumphs, this season shows the cost of ambition. The sea remains Drake’s stage, but now it is hostile, haunted by failure. His allies die; his enemies adapt; his queen grows distant.
The season ends not in victory but in the quiet inevitability of decline—Drake’s coffin sinking into the Caribbean. The tragedy is not that he died, but that he could not stop living for war.