King George II is a major antagonist in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He is a greedy king of England who lives in St. James's Palace and the true leader of East India Trading Company.
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Personality
King George II was shown to be a greedy, arrogant, and power-hungry tyrant, as he plans to expand the British Empire through all means necessary, such as ridding the Seven Seas of the piracy and the Brethren Court which would leave the East India Trading Company in charge of international trade for the Empire. He is also shown to be prejudiced towards the Spanish and Catholics, as he sternly states that he won't let the Fountain of Youth fall into their hands and have them achieve eternal life.
Appearances
The Curse of the Black Pearl
King George is first mentioned in the first film, where he orders the extermination of all pirates on the island of Isla de Muerta following the death of Hector Barbossa and the arrest of Barbossa's crew.
Dead Man's Chest
The King is mentioned again in the second film, where he provides signed Letters of Marque for Lord Cutler Beckett after the latter takes possession of the heart of the notorious pirate Davy Jones. As it turns out, the King plans to use Jones and his crew to rid the world of the Brethren Court (a notorious pirate council), and control the Seven Seas for the true purposes of international trade.
At World's End
The King is mentioned again in the third film, where he happily appoints Beckett as commander of a Royal Navy armada to attack and eliminate the Brethren Court at all costs. However, this all fails when Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew (along with a revived Barbossa) manage to kill Davy Jones to free his crew from Beckett's control, and they team up together to kill Beckett by sinking down his ship for good. With both Beckett and Jones killed, the armada is forced to retreat from the seas, leaving the King's plans for conquest in complete vain.
On Stranger Tides
The King finally makes his debut appearance in the fourth film, On Stranger Tides, when Joshamee Gibbs and Sparrow are caught by his Redcoats. The guards take the pirates to St. James' Palace, where they place Jack in a chair, and moments later the king meets him in person. King George tells Sparrow of his plan to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish do. It is also revealed that Blackbeard was a former privateer of the King before he became a pirate, as he too intends to seek out the Fountain for eternal life. As such, King George intends of having Sparrow lead an expedition to find the Fountain, but Sparrow escapes, leaving an annoyed King George to appoint Barbossa (who became a privateer following Beckett and Jones' deaths) to lead the expedition. Little did George know that the Spanish were actually attempting to destroy the Fountain rather than using it to gain eternal life and that Barbossa only became a privateer to exact his revenge on Blackbeard for taking away the Black Pearl. Eventually, the Spanish succeeded in destroying the Fountain while the British troops were killed, except for Barbossa, who reverted back to piracy following Blackbeard's death. It is unknown what happened to the King afterwards.
Trivia
- King George II is only mentioned in the first three films and makes a cameo in the fourth film, but he affects the plot of the films as Davy Jones and Cutler Beckett were answering to him, and Barbossa and Blackbeard used to serve him as privateers before their turn to piracy.
- According to the audio commentary, Griffiths' casting as George II was partly because of Johnny Depp's admiration for Withnail and I, another film starring Griffiths. Coincidentally, both Richard Griffiths and Johnny Depp previously participated in Sleepy Hollow.
- George II and Ferdinand VI of Spain are the first historical monarchs who appear in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
- According to Terry Rossio's original script for Dead Men Tell No Tales, the deleted villain Sea Widow (disguised as Cora June) mentions that "Jack Sparrow vanished into thin air before the eyes of King George II".
- Jerf Nathanson's 2013 script for the same film included Carina Smyth planning to present the Trident of Poseidon to the King in order to avoid being declared a witch and instead have her name spoken in high regard.
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