The movie begins with a scene on a misty ocean, a ship slowly emerging. An eleven-year-old ELIZABETH SWANN is on board the ship, singing, “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate’s Life for Me.” A hand from behind grabs her shoulder and GIBBS tells her that cursed pirates are in these waters and singing will bring them down on this ship. Overhearing the conversation, LIEUTENANT JAMES NORRINGTON (20s) tells him, “That will do.” Gibbs defends himself, saying that she was singing about pirates and it’s bad luck to sing about pirates in this unnatural fog. Norrington dismisses Gibbs, who mutters that it’s bad luck to have a woman onboard, even if she is a miniature one. Young Elizabeth says she thinks it would be exciting to meet a pirate. Norrington says that anyone who considers themselves to be a pirate or has a pirate brand gets what he deserves—death. The girl’s father, GOVERNOR SWANN, steps in, saying he’s concerned that she is fascinated by pirates. Young Elizabeth looks back out at the ocean, sees a parasol floating in the water, and then a twelve-year-old boy on a raft. She shouts to alert the others on the boat, who work to pull him aboard. They then come upon a ship completely destroyed and in flames, which had been hidden in the fog. Gibbs says it must have been pirates. The Governor tells Elizabeth to accompany the boy, and some of the crew are sent to see if there are more survivors. The girl strokes the boy’s hair, who then gasps awake. He introduces himself as WILL TURNER, and Elizabeth assures him she is watching over him. He falls back asleep. She then grabs the necklace he is wearing, a large gold medallion with a skull in the middle. She realizes he is a pirate. When Norrington asks about the boy, she hides the medallion and tells him the boy’s name, but lies about learning anything else. She keeps the necklace for herself, and looks up to see the fog part and a black ship with a pirate flag sailing away.
Young Elizabeth squeezes her eyes shut, and the scene transitions to a now grown Elizabeth, who wakes from sleep (apparently dreaming about the memory of her sailing to Port Royal, Jamaica). Now eight years later, Elizabeth (19) takes a candle, and finds the necklace in a hidden compartment in one of her desk drawers. She examines it, puts it around her neck, and then is interrupted by a knock on her door. She scrambles to put on a dressing gown and Governor Swann comes in to greet her for the morning as a maid opens a window for light. Governor Swann presents Elizabeth with a gift—a dress. She asks what the occasion is, and her father replies, “Does a father need an occasion to dote upon his daughter?” She goes to put on the dress and he confesses that he hoped she would wear it to the now Commodore Norrington’s (30s) promotion ceremony. Elizabeth gasps as a corset is tightened on her, her father asks if she’s okay, saying he’s told it’s the latest fashion in London. Elizabeth replies, “Well, women in London must have learned not to breathe.” Another servant announces that the Governor has a visitor.
The grown Will Turner (20) paces the large entryway below, waiting for Elizabeth’s father. He examines a candlestick on the wall, accidentally breaks it off, and then, not knowing what else to do, hides it in an umbrella stand. Governor Swann greets him, and Will shows him his order—a sword of very fine workmanship and perfectly balanced. He hands it to Governor Swann with flourish. The Governor replies that it will be the perfect gift for Norrington and asks Will to pass on his compliments to his master. Will is pleased with the compliment. Elizabeth comes down the stairs and the two greet each other as if old friends. Elizabeth tells Will that she dreamt of him. Her father tries to protest, saying the conversation is not proper. Elizabeth ignores him, saying the dream was about the day they met and asks if he remembers; he replies that he could never forget. He addresses her as Miss Swan, and when Elizabeth asks him how many times she’ll have to ask him to call her Elizabeth, he replies, “At least once more, Miss Swan. As always.” Her father is pleased Will knows his place. Elizabeth then coldly bids him good day. Will follows her out, and says her name under his breath when she is in the carriage.
[POV: Jack] CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW is on a small boat that is sailing into port, with epic music playing. He stands on the mast, looking confidently ahead, and then jumps down to the body of the boat, which is revealed to be full of water, and grabs a bucket to get the water out. As the boat sails by the corpses of three hanged pirates, he takes off his hat and salutes them. The port is bustling with traders and workers, who look on, puzzled. Jack stands on the mast as the boat glides into port and it sinks beneath the water. He steps right onto the dock, his perch now level with it. A man tells him to hold up because he hasn’t tied up his boat. Jack looks at the boat, completely under water except for the mast, and offers three shillings if he doesn’t have to give his name. The man agrees, calling him Mr. Smith. Jack steals a pouch of money off the man’s desk when the man’s back is turned.
[POV: Elizabeth] At the fort, the promotion ceremony is well underway, and Elizabeth is obviously struggling to breathe with her new corset.
[POV: Jack] On the other side of the wall, Jack is eyeing the larger navy ships out in the water. As he walks down the dock, Jack gets stopped by two soldiers and tries to verbally work his way around them. One soldier says no ship can match the Interceptor for speed, and Jack claims The Black Pearl could. The soldiers argue about whether or not The Black Pearl actually exists, one describing it as a ship with black sails crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that hell itself spat him back out. As they argue, Jack sneaks past them to the ship. The soldiers realize, and run to catch up with Jack, who is now at the wheel of the ship. They ask his purpose in Port Royal and warn him not to lie; he says he is there to steal a ship and pick up a crew. The soldiers argue with each other about whether he is telling the truth or not.
[POV: Elizabeth] After the ceremony, Norrington asks to speak to Elizabeth in private, and they climb the stairs to the top of the outside wall of the port, where Norrington begins to propose marriage to her. Having difficulty breathing from the climb, Elizabeth says she can’t breathe to Norrington, who assumes she is merely reacting to his proposal. Elizabeth faints, falling over the edge of the wall into the water far below. Jack and the soldiers hear the splash. Norrington realizes Elizabeth has fallen, shouts her name, and prepares to dive after her. His second in command, GILLET, pulls him back, saying the rocks are too dangerous.
[POV: Jack] Having witnessed Elizabeth’s fall, Jack asks if either of the soldiers will be saving her. The first admits he can’t swim, and the other vehemently shakes his head. Realizing the soldiers are useless, Jack hands them his effects, and dives into the water to save Elizabeth. The moment the medallion necklace she is wearing hits the water, it sends out a shock wave across the ocean. The two arguing soldiers notice it, unsure what it is, and notice a change in the wind.
Jack saves Elizabeth, removing her heavy dress to pull her from the water, and once back at the dock, he cuts open her corset so she can breathe again. She coughs up water, and Jack sees the medallion necklace and asks where she got it. Norrington arrives and points a sword at Jack. Her father covers her with a coat. Elizabeth asks Norrington if he intends to kill her rescuer. Norrington thanks Jack, shaking his hand, but using the gesture to reveal a branded P on Jack’s forearm that marks Jack as a pirate and a tattoo just above it that identifies him as Jack Sparrow. Jack reminds him it is “Captain” Jack Sparrow, and when Norrington remarks that he doesn’t see his ship, Jack states “I’m in the market, as it were.” Norrington examines Jack’s effects (a gun with a single bullet, a compass that doesn’t point north, and a sword) and calls him the worst pirate he’s ever heard of—but Jack points out that Norrington has at least heard of him. Elizabeth puts herself between Jack and Norrington, protesting. Norrington’s states, “One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness.” Jack Sparrow says, “Though it seems enough to condemn him.” Norrington agrees.
After they put shackles on Jack, he uses them to grab Elizabeth by the throat and uses her body as a shield (her father telling the soldiers not to shoot), demanding his effects—and his hat—back. Jack asks Elizabeth to put it all back on him as Norrington looks on. He addresses her as Elizabeth, and she corrects him by saying, “It’s Miss Swann” and calls him despicable. Jack says they’ve now saved each other’s lives and are square, and announces to everyone, “You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow.”
Jack manages to escape using pulleys and ropes on the ship, and runs into the town. Needing to get the shackles off, Jack ends up hiding in the blacksmith’s forgery. A man is very soundly asleep in the corner, empty liquor bottle still in hand, and Jack uses the tools to try to break apart his handcuffs. Will enters, calms the donkey (which Jack used to help), and then realizes one of the tools is not where he left it (although his drunk master is). As he goes to grab Jack’s hat, Jack emerges and points his sword at Will. Jack claims Will looks familiar, and Will says he makes a point to avoid pirates. Will heard about how Jack threatened Elizabeth, and the two begin to sword fight, both very skilled. Jack tests out Will’s skills, and Will passes the tests, using it as a means to distract Will from Jack’s real intent: to get to the door. When Jack gets to the door, Will throws a sword straight through the door lever, and Jack struggles to pull the sword out of the door. Jack compliments Will on the trick, but says Will is once again between him and his way out, and now Will has no weapon. Will grabs a red hot sword from the forge and the two begin fighting again. Jack asks who makes all the swords. Will confesses he does, and that he practices with them three hours a day. Jack says he needs to find a girl, and then speculates that maybe he has found a girl and has been unable to woo her, questioning if Will is a eunuch. Will says he practices so that when he meets a pirate, he can kill him. They continue fighting, both ending up catapulted into the rafters, where Jack tries to avoid fighting Will, but Will persistently dogs him. Finally, both back on the ground, Will gets between him and the door. Jack pulls out his pistol and asks Will to please move away from the door. Will says, “You cheated.” And Jack replies, “Pirate.” Jack doesn’t want to shoot Will, but soldiers are now trying to open the blacksmith’s doors (the sword still keeping it solidly closed). As Jack cocks the trigger, Will’s master knocks Jack out with his empty liquor bottle, and when the soldiers get in, Norrington gives all credit for Jack’s capture to Will’s master, and then announces, “Well, I trust it you will always remember this is the day that Captain Jack Sparrow almost escaped. Take him away.”
[POV: Jack] In the dungeons, prisoners are whistling and using a bone to try to bait a dog who has the keys in its mouth. Jack tells them it is never going to work, though they keep at it, not ready to go to the gallows yet.
[POV: Elizabeth] Elizabeth gets ready for bed, conversing with her maid about the day. Her maid assumes it was tough because she’d been threatened by the pirate. Elizabeth accidentally lets on that what worried her more was Norrington’s proposal, even though he is a fine man and she should be happy. Her maid then states that Will Turner is a fine man too, which Elizabeth says is too bold. The maid apologizes and leaves, and Elizabeth clutches her medallion necklace. A breeze blows out her candle.
[POV: Will] Working at the forge, Will also notices something odd, and turns to look out his window to the deserted street. [POV: Camera/Narrator] On the ocean, a ship approaches the shore silently and ominously. [POV: Norrington] The Governor asks Norrington if Elizabeth gave Norrington an answer when cannon fire begins. Norrington knocks the Governor out of the way to save him. He then orders the Governor to barricade himself in Norrington’s office. [POV: Jack] From his cot in the cell, Jack perks up and goes to the barred window, saying he recognizes those cannons: it’s the Black Pearl. One of the other prisoners says, “The Black Pearl? I’ve heard stories. She’s been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors.” Jack replies, “No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder.” [POV: Camera/Narrator] Cannons continue to destroy the town and people run and scream in chaos. The pirates make their way to shore, one of whom dusts off a fake wooden eye before putting it back in his eye socket. The pirates pillage the shops and homes.
[POV: Will] Will arms himself and runs out into the streets to fight the pirates, along with the fort’s soldiers. [POV: Elizabeth] Elizabeth looks out her window and sees the chaos. There is a knock on the main door of her mansion, and she runs to the top of the stairs to shout a warning that her servant shouldn’t open the door, but it’s too late; the pirates come in and shoot him. Elizabeth screams and runs back to her room, where her maid is waiting for her. Her maid says that they’ve come to kidnap Elizabeth because she’s the governor’s daughter. Elizabeth tells the maid to run and hide. Elizabeth then begins to fight off the pirates. She uses the distraction of a cannon ripping through her house to run and lock herself in the dining room where there are two swords displayed on the wall. She pulls them off but it’s the swords are stuck to the mount.
The pirates break in, but Elizabeth is hidden in the closet. They taunt her and tell her she’s got something of theirs that calls to them. The gold calls to them—and she realizes they mean the necklace. They find her hidden in the cupboard, and Elizabeth evokes the code of Parlay and explains what the rules of Parlay are. The pirates can’t deny her, so they honor the code and take her to the captain. Will sees Elizabeth being taking by the pirates, but gets knocked out by one. A cannon opens a hole in the prison on the side Jack is not in, and the other prisoners escape. Jack then begins to call the dog to try to get the keys, but the dog is scared off by some pirates looking for an armory. They recognize Jack, spit at him, and say the last time they saw him they were leaving him all alone on a deserted island. Jack replies the deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers. One pirate grabs him through the bars and reveals when in the moonlight, they become skeletons. Jack thinks it very interesting, but is not afraid. The pirates leave. Elizabeth arrives on The Black Pearl and one pirate slaps her because she spoke out of turn. CAPTAIN BARBOSA tells him to back off since she’s under the protection of parlay. Elizabeth’s request is for them to leave and never come back, but Barbosa says no, so she threatens to drop her necklace into the water. Elizabeth knows the necklace is what they’ve been searching for and she recognizes the ship from when she and Will first met. She pretends to drop it to show that they actually do care. She lies that her name is Elizabeth Turner and that she’s a maid for the Governor. The pirates recognize the name Turner, exclaiming, “Bootstrap” to each other. Elizabeth hands the necklace over, asks about the bargain, and the captain walks away. She demands they take her to shore, but Barbosa replies that that wasn’t part of the deal, you must be a pirate to evoke the pirate’s code, and the code is more of a set of guidelines than actual rules. He welcomes her aboard the Black Pearl.
Will wakes in the morning surrounded by chickens and the villagers trying to repair damage. He runs to Norrington and exclaims they’ve taken Elizabeth. They shoo him away, unless he knows where she is. One soldier, from earlier, says that Jack said something about the Black Pearl. Norrington puts Will in his place and tells him to not make the mistake of thinking he’s the only man who cares for Elizabeth. Will rushes to Jack in the prison and asks about the Black Pearl. Will confesses they took Elizabeth, Jack gets excited that there is a girl in Will’s life, but refuses to help. Will says he built those cells and knows how to break them open. They then introduce themselves, and Jack asks if his father’s name was William too. Jack then says he changed his mind and will take Will to the Black Pearl. Will breaks him free and they escape, using a boat for air while walking under the water to get to a ship further out of shore to steal. They climb aboard the ship and Jack exclaims, “Everyone stay calm; we are taking over this ship!” Will agrees but they all laugh at him. The ship’s crew tries to protest, but Jack threatens them and they leave, yelling about what happened to Norrington, who sees Jack and Will escaping together. Norrington and his men set out to recapture the ship, but only succeed at helping Jack and Will make way to steal another ship and they escape, having disabled a part of the ship Norrington is now on.
Will begins to tell Jack that when his mother died, he came to sea to look for his father. He confronts Jack about the fact that he only agreed to help when he learned his father’s name and asked how he knew him. Jack says he’s one of the only ones who knew his father as William Turner, most people called him Bootstrap Bill. Will protests, not wanting to accept that his father was a pirate, and the two fight, Will hanging on a mast over the water. Jack explains there are only two rules: What a man can do, and what a man can’t do. Jack tells him whether or not he accepts his father was a pirate, the pirate blood is in him. He pulls him back on board, and asks if he can sail under the command of a pirate. The two go to Tortuga, which is full of miscreants and people partying. Jack says that if every town were like this one, no man would feel unwanted. Two women slap Jack, the first one he says he doesn’t know if he deserved, but the second one he did. Jack throws water on a man sleeping with pigs to wake him up. Will throws another one on him “for the smell.”
The three of them then are in a pub, and Jack explains that he is going to find the Black Pearl. JOSHAMEE GIBBS, the man who slept with the pigs, tries to persuade him not to and asks why he thinks Barbosa will give up his ship, to which Jack replies it’s a matter a leverage and gestures to Will, the only child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. That convinces Gibbs to help him assemble a crew.
On the Black Pearl, two crew mates bring a dress to Elizabeth saying Barbosa has requested she dine with him in the dress. Elizabeth declines, but the mates say that the captain said if she refused, she’d have to dine with the crew, naked. Elizabeth eats with Barbosa, and he convinces her she doesn’t need table manners. She feasts on the food he gives her, before becoming afraid the food is poisoned. He says it’s not, and she asks why he doesn’t release her. He explains the necklace is Aztec gold from Cortez, blood money. The heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes a single piece from that chest shall be cursed for eternity. Elizabeth says she doesn’t believe in such things. Barbosa says he didn’t either. That’s why they found the gold. They used it to feast and treat themselves, but the more they gave it away, the more they realized that food didn’t fill them, drinks didn’t slake their thirst, and none of their desires could be satisfied. There is only one way to end the curse—all of the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. He then alludes to Elizabeth being a sacrifice for the blood to be repaid. Elizabeth fights him off with a knife and stabs him, but he just pulls it out. He asks what she planned to do after killing him. She runs out to the deck, and all the crew members are immortal, decayed skeletons. She’s thrown about on the ship as she tries to escape the nightmare. Barbosa explains the moonlight shows what they really are—not among the living so cannot die, but not among the dead either. They feel nothing and starve to death without dying. Barbosa says, “You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Swan. You’re in one.” Elizabeth runs and hides in a room.
The next morning, the Jack’s crew has been assembled and Jack examines them. He tries to interrogate one man, but that man is mute with a parrot trained to speak for him (though it is difficult to understand what the parrot means). One crew member is a woman, ANAMARIA, who slaps Jack because he stole her boat. He says that she’ll get another one, and Will adds it will be a better one. He points to one on the water, and they agree that’s the one they’ll give her. Gibbs says it’s bad luck to have a woman on board, to which Jack replies, “It’d be far worse not to have her.”
The crew struggles to keep the boat going in a torrential storm. Will asks how they can sail to an island no one can find, with a compass that doesn’t work. Gibbs explains that the compass doesn’t point north, but they’re not trying to find north anyway.
On the Black Pearl, the crew ties Elizabeth up, Barbosa puts the necklace on her, and they row into a large and eerie cave. Not too far away, Jack and his crew come upon a graveyard of ships. Will asks how Jack came by that compass, and Gibbs explains Jack used to be captain of the Black Pearl. But Jack was betrayed by his crew and left to die on an island, going mad with the heat. He was left with a gun with only one shot in it. Jack escaped the island without killing himself—he’ll save that shot for Barbosa. When asked how Jack escaped, Gibbs explains that Jack roped together sea turtles. Still unbelieving, Will asks where Jack got the rope. Jack is standing beside them at that point, and explains he used human hair (his own) for rope.
Inside the cave, the pirates throw all the gold and treasure back. Will and Jack and the rest of the crew row into the cave. Will asks what code they promised to keep to back on the ship. Jack explains it’s the pirate’s code—if anyone falls behind, they’re left behind. Will says there’s not honor amongst thieves. Jack says Will has a lot in common with pirates: he sprung a man from jail, helped steal a ship, and is obsessed with treasure. They arrive to a safe spot to observe, and see Barbosa making a speech about how they are ending the curse, which was disproportionate to their crime. Will wants to save Elizabeth just then, but Jack says they have to wait for the right time, asking Will if he’s ever done anything to show that Will shouldn’t trust him. Barbosa holds Elizabeth as she leans over the chest of gold, the pirates chant, Will knocks Jack out, Barbosa places the gold in her hand, cuts her hand, and squeezes her blood over the chest as she drops the necklace in. Elizabeth is shocked that he didn’t harm her more. The pirates wait for a change to come about, but feel nothing. They wonder how they would tell, and Barbosa shoots a crew member. He doesn’t die, and they realize the curse is still on them. Barbosa asks Elizabeth if her father is William Turner. She says he’s not. He asks where his child is then, and Elizabeth refuses, so Barbosa knocks her to the ground. Will creeps in under the water, greets Elizabeth quietly, and they climb to shore. The pirates want to spill all her blood, just in case, but they realize she has gone and took the medallion. They begin to search for her, and Jack comes to and walks into their company. They say he’s supposed to be dead, and he replies, “Am I not?” He then tries to get some words out, apparently forgetting the word Parlay. They suggest, it, then get mad that he’s now under its protection.
Will and Elizabeth make it back to their ship. Gibbs asks where Jack is, and Will says he fell behind. The crew is solemn, but agrees to keep to the code.
Barbosa asks how Jack got off the island. He replies that when they marooned him, they forgot one thing: he’s Captain Jack Sparrow. He then says, “The girl’s blood didn’t work, did it?” Barbosa realizes he knows whose blood they need. On the ship, Elizabeth bandages her hand and asks who trades a man’s life for a ship. Will replies, “a pirate.” He helps her bandage her hand and asks why she gave the pirates his name as her own. The two share a romantic moment, and Elizabeth reveals the necklace, and tells Will it’s his. He said he thought he’d lost it. It was a gift from his father, and asks why she took it. She says that she took it because she was afraid that he was a pirate. Will realizes that it was his blood that they needed—the blood of a pirate. He’s angry, and Elizabeth asks for forgiveness and leaves. Jack tries to make a deal with Barbosa to take his ship back. He then says it’s funny because if they hadn’t betrayed and left him, he would have a part in that curse too. Jack tries to make another deal with Barbosa, but Barbosa says that’s the kind of thinking that lost him the Pearl, and has him locked in the dungeon. The Black Pearl is catching up with the other ship, and Elizabeth makes a suggestion of how they could speed up the ship (get rid of extra weight). But the Black Pearl keeps gaining on them. Will tells them to load the guns with anything they can find, and the crew begins shoving silverware and anything else they can find into the cannons. Elizabeth suggests they lower the anchor on one side, which abruptly turns them around to face the Pearl. The two ships get close enough and begin firing cannons at each other. Jack exclaims, “Stop blowing holes in my ship!” and eventually a hole is blown that allows him to escape. Will and Elizabeth realize they’ve left the medallion in the cabin of the ship, which is now under some water. Will runs to recover it. The cursed pirates start to climb aboard the other ship, but one cannon knocks the mast of that ship down and it begins to sink, with Will trapped inside. The pirates continue to fight and try to take over the other ship. Will calls for help. Elizabeth grabs a rifle and joins in the fight. Jack swings over to his crew, returns Gibb’s flask to him (which was shot in the cannon) and finds Elizabeth. He asks her where the medallion is, then seeing her bandaged hand, asks where Will is. They find Will stuck in the sinking cabin. Will is fully submerged in the water while a pirate lights a line of gun powder on fire. Will struggles to get out.
The crew has been captured on the Black Pearl, and as Elizabeth tries to escape, the other ship explodes. They all think Will has died, but he climbs triumphant onto the Pearl, and threatens to kill himself if they don’t let everyone go. Jack tries to protect him by saying he’s nobody, but Will tells them who he really is. He demands Elizabeth goes free, and the rest of the crew are not to be harmed if he does what they want and gives them his blood.
The crew taunts Elizabeth on the plank, while Will protests. Barbosa explains that he agreed she’d go free but he didn’t say when or where. Barbosa asks for the dress he gave her back, she undresses, throws it at him with spite, and walks to the end of the plank. She looks back at Will before a crew member knocks the plank, making her fall in the water. Barbosa says that perhaps Jack will be able to conjure up another miraculous escape. They begin to force him onto the plank. Jack says the last time they left him with a pistol and one shot. They throw a sword for him into the water and he dives after it. Elizabeth and Jack make it onto the island as the ship sails away. Elizabeth says that he’s been marooned on the island before and they should be able to escape the same way. She tells him about the things she’s read of him, and asks how he escaped before. He explained he was there last time for three days, and that rum runners used to stop by the island and they gave him a ride back, but it looks like they haven’t been back for a long time. Elizabeth says, “So that’s the great captain I’ve heard of. You spent three days, lying on a beach drinking rum.” Jack replies, “Welcome to the Caribbean, love.” That evening, the two drunkenly dance around a bonfire, singing and dreaming about what they will do when Jack gets his ship back. He says what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom. The two then begin to flirt and continue to drink.
Jack wakes in a billow of smoke and sees Elizabeth throwing barrels into a large fire that consumes several trees. He yells that it’s not good—she’s burned all the food and the rum. She explains she’s done so because rum is a vile drink that turns even respectable men into scum, and also that the signal is miles high, and will be seen for sure. Jack angrily walks to another point on the island, and sees another ship approaching. It is the ship of her father and Captain Norrington, who rescue them. Elizabeth and Jack try to convince them to rescue Will and get the Pearl back. Elizabeth begs Norrington to do it as a wedding gift, accepting his proposal.
On the Black Pearl, Will asks some of the crew if they knew his father. They explained that it never sat well with his father what they did to Jack, and that’s why he sent the gold to Will—they deserved to be cursed. But Barbosa punished him by strapping a cannon to his bootstraps and throwing him overboard. It was only after that they realized they needed his blood to lift the curse. Norrington and his men approach the Black Pearl saying he doesn’t care for the situation. Jack convinces Norrington to keep Elizabeth safe on board, she tries to explain the crew can’t be killed, but they don’t believe her. Jack rows back into the cave as the crew chant and hold Will over the chest, just as they did with Elizabeth. Jack approaches the pirates and explains what’s happened with Elizabeth. He then explains that there is another ship waiting for them and tries to convince Barbosa to take that ship, become Commadore, and leave him the Pearl, but wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment (after he’s killed Norrington’s men). Jack sneakily takes a piece of gold for himself, which Will sees, and going along, accuses Jack of planning this all along. The pirates then approach the soldiers, walking beneath the water, save for two who are dressed as women beneath a parasol on a boat.
While sitting outside the closed cabin doors, Elizabeth’s father tells her that he thinks she’s made a very good decision, “but even a good decision can be a bad one if made for the wrong reasons.”
On the deck, the crew is distracted by the pirates in women’s clothes, as the other pirates climb up from below. Her father then realizes Elizabeth has escaped, and the soldiers realize they are under attack. In the cave, Barbosa tells Jack he’s a hard man to predict, but Jack says he’s a dishonest man, which makes him easy to predict, and that it’s the honest ones you can never predict, because you never know when they’ll do something incredibly stupid. He and Will then begin fighting Barbosa and the other pirates who stayed behind. Elizabeth climbs aboard the Black Pearl, in a soldier’s uniform. She runs to rescue the prisoners onboard. The soldiers and pirates fight, and signal for Norrington and his crew to return. The pirates who were in dresses climb back onto the Pearl and begin firing cannons at the other ship. The pirates try to attack Elizabeth’s father, but he fights back. Jack stabs Barbosa through the stomach, who then does the same to Jack, but Jack has taken a piece of gold and is under the same curse. Both immortal, they continue fighting. Elizabeth’s father fights off an unattached skeleton arm. Elizabeth and the rest of the prisoners fight off the pirates on the Pearl, and she tries to convince them to help the others. They say there’s the code to consider. Elizabeth says, “You’re pirates. Hang the code and hang the rules! They’re more like guidelines anyway.” But she ends up leaving to rescue the others on her own. The pirates realize the Pearl is moving, but continue to fight the soldiers. Elizabeth rescues Will, then sees Jack fighting Barbosa and asks whose side he’s on. Will simply replies, “At the moment?” They continue to fight off the pirates, lodging a bomb in the stomach of one. Will throws his medallion with his blood, and Jack’s medallion and blood into the chest, just as Jack shoots Barbosa. He had his one shot. Barbosa thinks he’s wasted it, until he realizes that he is once again mortal and says, “I feel… cold,” and dies. The rest of the pirates realize they too are mortal and those that are still alive surrender and ask for Parlay. Norrington claims the ship as theirs and the soldiers exclaim “Huzzah!” Elizabeth’s father joins in.
Back in the cave, Will approaches Elizabeth and the two share a romantic gaze before they are interrupted by Jack throwing things as he sorts through the treasure. She says they should return and Will says her fiancé will be waiting. After Elizabeth leaves, Jack tells Will, “If you were waiting for the opportune moment—that was it.” He asks if they can drop him off on his ship.
Back in England, Jack is about to be hung for his crimes against the crown. When stating his name, they refer to him simply as “Jack Sparrow,” and Jack on the scaffold, noose around his neck, silently emphasizes to himself: “Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow.”
Elizabeth looks on, claiming it’s wrong. Will is in the crowd, dressed with a very fashionable hat and clothing. The parrot that was trained for Cotton lands on one of the soldier’s flags, causing him to be distracted. Seeing the parrot, Will then approaches Elizabeth and Norrington, and tells Elizabeth that he should have told her every day from the moment he met her that he loves her. He walks away and Elizabeth sees the parrot and realizes what he intends to do. She pretends to faint, distracting her father and Norrington, as Will pushes his way through the crowd to rescue Jack. The trap door opens, and Will narrowly saves Jack from hanging by throwing a sword beneath his feet, which wedges into the trap door and gives Jack something to stand on. Jack frees himself and helps Will fight off the soldiers as they make their way to the top edge of the fort (where Elizabeth fell over at the start of the movie).
Norrington and his soldiers corner Will and Jack, saying he thought they’d have to face some kind of escape attempt, but didn’t think it would be from Will. The Governor asks why Will would attempt a rescue after he’d offered Will clemency for his actions. Will states that Jack is a good man, and if he’s done nothing more than earn the hangman two pairs of boots, at least his conscience is clear. Elizabeth moves through the surrounding guards to stand beside Will, showing her loyalty to him, and confessing it’s Will she loves. Norrington is shocked and the Governor demands the soldiers lower their weapons. Seeing Cotton’s parrot, Jack takes the opportunity to walk over to the Governor, speaking in his face as the Governor reacts to the bad smell, “Well, I’m actually feeling very good about this. I think we’ve all arrived at a very good place. Spiritually. Economically. Grammatically.” He moves onto Norrington, saying he was rooting for him, and then to Elizabeth, telling Elizabeth that it would have never worked between them and apologizing. Elizabeth is at first shocked and then disgusted at this remark. As he walks to the wall, Jack then calls Will’s name, who looks up expectantly, and Jack pauses, almost at a loss, before saying, “Nice hat.” Will smiles at the compliment.
Nearing the back wall of the fort—the same area that Elizabeth previously fell over—Jack slowly steps back as he announces, “Men. This is the day that you will always remember as the day you—” but having misjudged the distance, he falls backward over the edge before he can finish his sentence. Looking over the edge, Gillet comments that Sparrow is an idiot and he has nowhere left to go but back to the noose.
Jack emerges from the water, having missed the cliffs, and hears someone call from a ship. Jack smiles, and swims to the ship, which is revealed to be the Black Pearl with Gibbs and the rest of his crew.
Gillet asks Norrington what his plan of action is, to which Norrington hesitates. The Governor steps in, saying, “Perhaps on the rare occasion pursing the right course demands an act of piracy. Piracy itself can be the right course.” Norrington smiles, calling for Will, who tells Elizabeth he will accept the consequences of his actions. Norrington lifts his sword, studying it, and then tells Will that the sword Will made is beautiful, and he expects the man who made it to show that same care and devotion in all aspects of his life. When asked about Jack, Norrington replies he thinks he can afford to give Jack one day’s head start. Elizabeth’s father asks if this is really the path she’s chosen. “After all, he is a blacksmith.” Elizabeth replies, “No. He’s a pirate.” Elizabeth and Will share a kiss.
Jack is brought aboard the Black Pearl. He asks his crew about why they didn’t stick to the code and just leave him. Gibbs responds that they figured it was more of a guideline, and Angelica tells Jack that the Black Pearl is his once again. He begins to order his crew, stating “Now … bring me that horizon,” as he pulls out his compass to steer his ship to an unknown destination, while he begins to sing, “A Pirates Life for Me” and snaps his compass shut.