pirates
For other uses, see Keep to the Code (disambiguation)
The phrase "keep to the code" spoken by Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow.

The phrase "keep to the code" spoken by Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow.

"Captain. What if the worst should happen?"
"Keep to the Code."
"Aye, the Code."
―Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow[src]

"Keeping to the Code" or more commonly "keep to the Code" was an oft-heard slogan or phrase used among pirates during the Age of Piracy. It expressed the speaker's wish that they follow the Code of the Pirate Brethren set down by Henry Morgan and Bartholomew, the Pirate Lords of the second meeting of the Brethren Court. The phrase "keep to the code" may have been inspired by Keeper of the Code, a member of the Court appointed subsequent to the creation of the Code.

History

During the Age of Piracy, "Keep to the Code" is an oft-heard slogan.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was at the Second Meeting of the Brethren Court that the Pirates' Code was set down by the Pirate Lords Morgan and Bartholomew and recorded in the Pirata Codex. The Court held that the Code was law, but some would consider them more actual guidelines. Subsequent to the creation of the Code, new members of the Court were appointed, including the Keeper of the Code who was its protector and herald,[7] which likely inspired the phrase "Keep to the Code."[3][4][5][1][2]

Almost two decades before the Fourth Brethren Court,[8] the phrase was used by Captain Edward Teague, the Pirate Lord of Madagascar and the esteemed Keeper of the Code, in regards to the rogue pirates that were considered Code-breakers.[9] "Keep to the Code" was most notably spoken by Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs, by Sparrow after the Interceptor arrived to Isla de Muerta, with Gibbs telling it to the Sparrow's crew shortly afterwards, and later by Sparrow to Gibbs following the former's escape from Fort Charles in Port Royal, Jamaica.[1][2]

When a vote was called for a new Pirate King of the Fourth Brethren Court, according to the Keeper of the Code Captain Teague, Jack Sparrow changed the balance by voting for the newly instated Captain Elizabeth Swann. When the Pirate Lords expressed outrage over the vote, Sparrow addressed the assembled pirates of the Fourth Court as to whether they would be keeping to the Code or not, knowing Teague had his back on this. In resignation, the Pirate Lords kept to the Code with Elizabeth as King of the Brethren Court.[8]

Behind the scenes

"Keep to the Code" is an oft-heard slogan,[3][4][5] a phrase which was first spoken by Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs in media relating to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[2] notably published through Irene Trimble's junior novelization.[1] Captain Edward Teague, the enigmatic father of Jack Sparrow who was originally introduced as the Keeper of the Pirate's Code in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,[8] spoke the phrase himself in the 2011 novel The Price of Freedom by A. C. Crispin.[9]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay draft of At World's End, after Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code, confirmed that only a Pirate King can declare war, Jack Sparrow made the final vote for Elizabeth Swann. As the Pirate Lords of the fourth Brethren Court argued, Sparrow asked, "Am I to understand, then, that we will not keep to code?"[10] Sparrow instead said "keeping to the code" the final cut of the film,[8] while the phrase "keep to the code" was used in the Special Edition version of the junior novelization.[11] "Keep to the Code" was used in relation to promotional material regarding the appearance of the Pirata Codex in At World's End,[3][4] with "Keep to the Pirata Codex" being written in the book Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean.[5]

In March 18, 2005, "KeeptotheCode.com" was a website inspired by the line and served as the premier fansite for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise until it closed around 2020. Among the users in the website's forum included film screenwriter Terry Rossio and author A. C. Crispin.[12]

The phrase "Keep to the Code" was also used in various promotions for the online game Pirates of the Caribbean Online, mainly to serve the "Pirates Online Code of Conduct" for the game.[13] Captain Teague is mentioned as "keeper of the Pirate Codex" in at least a newsletter for the "Quest for Captain Teague" during the "Father's Day" quest, where Teague was abducted by the Royal Navy and the East India Trading Company.[14][15] Following the closing of Pirates Online, "The Keepers of the Code" was a name given to a guild of pirates and a quest in the fan-made recreation The Legend of Pirates Online.[16]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 At World's End production notes: The Brethren Court
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 POTC3 PressKit FINAL2/potc3 productionnotes.pdf (May 15, 2007) (backup link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 126
  6. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: "Masters of Design": Kris Peck: The Code Book
  7. ↑ The Pirates' Guidelines
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Price of Freedom
  10. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  11. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (Special Edition)
  12. ↑ KeepToTheCode.com
  13. ↑ Pirates Keep to the Code: Grog Blog (August 29, 2011) (backup link)
  14. ↑ Father's Day Quest Returns!: Grog Blog (June 15, 2009) (backup link)
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean Online
  16. ↑ The Legend of Pirates Online