Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Outer Banks‘ comes to an end with a fifth and final season, concluding the dangerous adventures of the Pogues. The fifth season continues the quest for the Blue Crown, and as the characters traverse the world in search of the ancient treasure, all roads lead back home to Kildare. It turns out that the mysterious crown needs a Scytale to work, and that Scytale is connected to Denmark Tanny. He was first mentioned in the first season, and his name has remained a major point of reference for the Pogues in their various treasure-hunting adventures. Curiously, the fictional character has an interesting connection to a real historical person. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Denmark Tanny is Loosely Inspired by a Real Person
Denmark Tanny is a fictional character in ‘Outer Banks,’ whose story unfolds over the course of the five seasons of ‘Outer Banks.’ In the show, Denmark Tanny is revealed to have been a formerly enslaved person in the 1800s, who was the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant’s shipwreck. He hid the ship’s gold and used it to buy his freedom and a piece of land in Kildare, where he laid the foundation of the Tannyhill Plantation. He also uses the money to buy the freedom of several other enslaved people in town, including his wife and daughter. However, his offer to free his family is rejected by the Limbreys, forcing him to live away from them. Later, it is revealed that Denmark Tanny was killed by the Limbreys while laying the remains of his family to rest.
While the overall story remains fictional, it has strong parallels to the life of Denmark Vesey, a formerly enslaved man whose life changed after he won a $ 1,500 lottery. In 1799, he used the money to buy his own freedom, and, much like Denmark Tanny, he tried to buy his family’s freedom as well, but was rejected. Denmark Vesey used the rest of his lottery money to start a carpentry business in Charleston, and soon, he became a pillar of the community. He also used his voice to speak out against slavery and was a founder of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1822, he planned a revolt, wherein it was planned to kill the white enslavers and free the remaining enslaved people.
The plan was to sail to Haiti, where they could live in peace, not worrying about the retaliation from other enslavers and their establishment. However, the plan didn’t remain a secret for long; as soon as the authorities learned of it, they arrested Vesey and 130 other men. They were charged with conspiracy, and 67 men were convicted. 35 men, including Vesey, were executed. His name has gone down in history as one of the abolitionist heroes. In 2014, a statue in his honor was erected at Hampton Park in Charleston. For the character of Denmark Tanny, the writers of ‘Outer Banks’ were influenced by the story of Vesey, though they made some crucial changes to serve the plot.
Pope’s Connection to Denmark Tanny Comes Full Circle in Outer Banks Finale
While Tannyhill may have been created by Denmark Tanny in ‘Outer Banks,’ it now belongs to Ward Cameron’s family. Tanny’s portrait hangs in the study, which is where John B and the audience are introduced to him. Later, his connection to the Royal Merchant’s gold comes to light, and that opens a Pandora’s box of secrets, where it turns out that Tanny had been in possession of more than one secret treasure in his lifetime. The more the Pogues pull at the thread of his story, the more shocking details come to light, one of which is the fact that Pope is Tanny’s direct descendant. It turns out that Tanny’s daughter escaped the Limbreys, and over the years, the secret of their lineage was kept a secret.
Pope’s great-grandmother confesses that she kept such an important part of their family’s legacy a secret because she did not want to feed into the cycle of revenge that would have emerged from this discovery. She also felt that keeping their connection to Tanny a secret also saved them from harm and ensured the family’s survival. However, this also meant that her children got to learn about it much later. The writers of ‘Outer Banks’ revealed that the scene between Pope and his grandma was inspired by the story Jonathan Daviss told them about his family. This added another layer of connection, making the whole interaction even more realistic.
In the fifth season, Denmark Tanny once again comes into the picture when the Scytale necessary to decode the true meaning of the Blue Crown needs to be found. Tanny’s diaries and a detailed account of the Scytale and its inscriptions allow the Pouges to crack the code and continue their journey to find the fabled crown. Things turn out rather differently for them; however, it all ends on a happy note. While they lose the crown, they find the gold again, and this time, they hold on to it and change their lives. To right the wrongs her family committed, Sarah decides to give Tannyhill to Pope, effectively returning the house to Tanny’s descendants and bringing the story full circle.
Read More: Outer Banks: Is Blackbeard’s Scytale Based on a Real Lost Artifact?
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