The following contains spoilers for Season 4 of Outer Banks, now streaming on NetflixExternal Banks introduced many important artifacts that have links to real-life history. The show follows the story of a group of working-class teenagers on North Carolina’s Outer Banks Kildare Island as they unwittingly find themselves searching for treasure. The artifacts they find are tied to history and could be the key to a huge fortune. They also attract a constant stream of fellow (and sometimes dangerous) treasure hunters. A lot of External Banks is based on real local Outer Banks history, including Season 4’s hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure.
Several other artifacts were added to the show to heighten its tension and stakes, including season 4’s focus on Blackbeard’s Blue Crown. The artifacts discovered by External BanksCharacters range from gold and precious jewelry to windows into the past and even the characters’ ancestors. This gives the hunt for them more personal ties in External Bankslike many of artifacts lead the show’s teens to discover not only more about their local history, but also about their personal lineage. Here are all the important historical artifacts that contributed to External Banks‘ plot.
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The Royal Merchant
The season one mission that started it all
External Banks‘Artifacts are crucial to the series and have many connections to the real world. The first season begins with the team still mourning the disappearance of John B. Routledge’s (Chase Stokes) father, Big John (Charles Halford). Big John was a historian whose life’s work was finding gold in fiction External Banks Shipwrecked Royal Merchant. To finish what his father started (and avoid Child Protective Services), John B. convinces his working-class Pogue gang friends to join his mission. The show’s Royal Merchant is based on real life Royal Merchantone of the most infamous shipwrecks in history.
THE Royal Merchant was a British ship said to be carrying $1.5 billion worth of gold and silver when it sank in 1641. The ship remains lost to this daybut an anchor that archaeologists believe belongs to the ship that washed up off the coast of Cornwall, England in 2019 (via Bustle). In searching for the Merchant, the crew quickly discovers that this journey is incredibly dangerous. Racing against time and rivals, the group manages to locate the $400 million in gold, but loses it to Sarah’s greedy father (then believed to be Big John’s killer), Ward Cameron.
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Denmark Tanny Diary
Papa Heyward is a direct descendant of Denmark Tanny
One of the artifacts found by Pope Heyward is a diary that belonged to his ancestor, Denmark Tanny. Tanny was a cook aboard the Royal Merchant. Denmark Tanny is based on a real historical figure named Denmark Vesey. He was a former slave who became an abolitionist activist after winning the $1,500 lottery in 1799. Vesey became a respected leader of his local African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he used his influence to plan a slave revolt that would attempt to free thousands of people. . However, their plot was leaked and Vesey was arrested, leading to his execution.
In External BanksDenmark Tanny is a direct ancestor of Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss) and was a passenger aboard the Royal Merchant. After tracking down his diary, Pope manages to learn more about his lineage and ultimately helps the group track down the Royal Merchant. The Diary also contains cryptic clues to the second season of External Banks’ treasure, the Cross of Santo Domingo. Because of these clues, the diary is one of the most sought-after artifacts in the series.. It is especially sought after by Carlos Singh, who seeks to use it as a map to discover something else.
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The Cross Of Santo Domingo
The cross belonged to the Pope’s ancestor
The Cross of Santo Domingo is an important artifact in External Banksand one with an unlikely television connection. After Ward steals the Royal Merchant’s gold and kills Sheriff Peterkin, he frames John B. for the murder. The crew returns to Kildare Island to clear their name, at which point Pope discovers there is more treasure out there than any of them predicted. This includes a family artifact called Cruz de Santo Domingo that was hidden somewhere on the island, and it is theirs for the taking.
This gives External Banks an underlying connection to a universal ancestor of action-adventure television.
Although the great artifact is fictional, it has a connection to the past. That External Banks plot is based on a Lone Ranger episode from previous decades. This gives External Banks an underlying connection to a universal ancestor of action-adventure television. External Banks it also amplifies the value of the cross, making it much more desirable. Although the team locates the cross in a local chapel, it ends up being stolen and melted down into gold bars by Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey).
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The Healing Shroud
This artifact is also sought after in Season 2
An artifact in External Banks it is notably suggested to have restorative properties, giving particular importance to certain characters in the series. It was believed that the healing shroud was hidden inside the Cross of Santo Domingoincreasing the value of this artifact. Some believed that this shroud was capable of curing any disease, including Carla Limbrey. A wealthy woman with a terminal illness, Carla was the one who sent her half-brother Renfield to look for her. This triggers his involvement with the Pogues’ mission. Limbrey also knew Big John, as he initially sought his help in finding the shroud.
Limbrey was a direct descendant of Captain Limbrey, who was the captain aboard the Royal Merchant. The real Royal Merchant which sailed the seas in 1640 was in fact captained by John Limbrey. Limbrey was among the survivors of the sinking, alongside 40 other crew members who were rescued and taken aboard the ship. Dover Merchant. The exhibition gives this connection and the artifact a more mythical origin. Given its supernatural nature and lack of clear monetary value, the only person truly after the shroud was Limbrey.
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El Dorado
This season three artifact brought the group to South America
El Dorado, or The City of Gold, is a treasure in the Orinoco Basin, Venezuela. It was first described by a Spanish soldier 450 years before the events of External Banksand has been a common source of mystery and intrigue for centuries. The first clue that the group discovers linked to this mysterious city of gold is the Cruz de Santo Domingo, which they eventually manage to locate. After losing the Cross to Rafe, the group becomes stranded on a remote island before moving to Barbados.
The crew eventually reunites with Big John, beginning the search for El Dorado. El Dorado contains billions of dollars worth of gold, jewelry and historical artifacts, attracting many interested parties. Among them is Caribbean native Don Carlos Singh, who hopes to end the search for gold that his enslaved ancestors began. Finding the city was the true end goal of Big John’s life’s work of historical study and treasure hunting.and the group decided to move forward with their mission at the request of John B., as well as avenge Pope’s family after losing the cross.
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Sinking of Blackbeard’s ship
Blackbeard died near Ocracoke Island
Both External Banks The central artifacts of Season 4 are linked to the shipwreck of the notorious pirate Blackbeard. Blackbeard was an English pirate named Edward Teach who died near Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks in 1718, both in the show’s universe and in real-life history (via NCPedia). Edward Teach is a widely documented historical figure in the Carolinas. Blackbeard’s last ship was named Queen Anne’s Revenge and was wrecked in the Atlantic at Beufort Inlet, North Carolina.
Teach was one of the most notorious British pirates in history. Piracy was largely condoned under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and at the time of Teach’s death, George I encouraged pirates to surrender to authorities in exchange for pardons in the West Indies (present-day Americas and the Caribbean). In the show, the wreck is located near a local Coast Guard base. This is why JJ Maybank and Kiara Carrera dive into the wreck at night to avoid getting caught.
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Blackbeard’s Amulet
The amulet belonged to the pirate’s wife, Elizabeth Teach
Fourth season of External Banks features Wes Genrette (David Jensen) as an older man who entrusts the Pogues with the hunt for the amulet of famous pirate Blackbeard’s wife, Elizabeth Teach. He offers US$50,000 in exchange for the amulet. The amulet is believed to be cursed, as Elizabeth was buried without it against her will.. As a result, the women of the Genrette family reported being haunted by his ghost shortly before their tragic deaths. This includes Wes’ daughter and eventually even Wes himself after seeing the spirit firsthand.
Wes dies before the group can bring him the amulet they recovered. The amulet and hauntings are fictional for dramatic effect, and It is not known whether the real Blackbeard ever marriedmaking this concept fictitious, but linked to a real figure. The Genrette family was only interested in the amulet, but the Pogues are now involved due to financial problems they have found themselves in. At the same time, a villain named Lightner and a mysterious group are also after the sum total of Blackbeard’s treasure. .
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The Blue Crown
The blue crown is part of Blackbeard’s treasure
The Blue Crown is the most valuable of Blackbeard’s treasures in External Banksand the amulet contains a clue to find him. This gives the amulet greater importance in the overall narrative. The group was never interested in the Blue Crown until John B. realized that his father once researched it. After losing the amulet and Wes Genrette, they could use the Blue Crown to gain an unexpected victory. Since the amulet is connected to the Blue Crown, Lightner and his crew are also after it.
Blackbeard died on November 22, 1718 in Ocracoke, North Carolina.
The Blue Crown is another fictional artifact that belonged to Blackbeard. Also known as Edward Teach, Blackbeard was a real pirate who died in his final battle near Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks (via TIME). This explains why it has such an important overarching connection to the story at the center of External Banks. This season of External Banks sees the group back on their home turf as they uncover local and personal mysteries, and the Blue Crown is the ultimate prize for their troubles.
Of course, the search for the Blue Crown also takes the group to Morocco in the second half of Season 4, as unlike the amulet, the crown wasn’t on the ship when it sank.
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What Outer Banks Could Explore in Season 5
Season 5 is the final season of Outer Banks Producers always had a five-season plan for the series, so it would make sense for Blackbeard, who landed and lived in the Carolinas where the show is set, to be part of the story for more than one season.
In the show’s first three seasons, all of the artifacts were tied together in the Pogues’ original interest in the Royal Merchant’s gold. The search for gold gave rise to a diary, which he took to the cross, which sparked interest in the shroud, and it was discovered that all the treasures came from El Dorado. This means that it is entirely possible that Season 4’s focus on artifacts that belonged to Blackbeard could continue into Season 5.
When Shannon Burke and Josh and Jonas Pate talked to Netflix about the fifth season, Burke commented that the search for the Blue Crown, which takes the group to Morocco, “should take us to the end.” It’s unclear whether Burke simply meant Season 4, or whether he meant that Blackbeard would be the throughline of Season 5.
Producers always had a five-season plan for the series, so it would make sense for Blackbeard, who landed and lived in the Carolinas where the show is set, to be part of the story for more than one season. The crown and necklace are fictional, but are inspired by the idea that Blackbeard’s treasure was never found. Without spoiling the events of season 4, in the end, the Blue Crown is still at stake.
5th season of External Banks It doesn’t seem likely that it will include a search for another treasure, but like the first season of the series, it will continue to use the same artifact. This will bring the series full circle in the final season.