The Jolly Roger

Since we now know that our beloved Jolly Roger has survived and is in competent if not loving hands, I thought I'd make the next post about her.

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The Jolly Roger is made from enchanted wood. She is described as “the fastest ship in all the realms” (Rumple, 2.15) and given the heavy emphasis is presumably unique. Given that, it seems logical that she was built specifically for that mission to Neverland and with the stresses of inter-realm travel in mind.

She has or had cannon on board, referred to in the dialog in "Good Form", but gunpowder doesn't appear to be in use in the Enchanted Forest except for fireworks. She may at this point only have the small gun used against the mermaid in 3.01.

I spent a long while squinting at backgrounds trying to figure out the internal layout, and then the amazing scapeartist found and sent me a link that includes an actual schematic and cleared things up.

Doesn't seem to be big enough for the number of crew we generally see on board, but that's what we've got.

There's direct access to the captain's quarters via the hatch near the helm, which seems useful if not terribly conducive to privacy.

I don't remember who it was who pointed out that among other minor changes, Killian got rid of that mirror, but if it was you, let me know.

When I did my original post on places in OUaT, I thought the JR stood for "change." I think now that I was wrong about that. The JR is certainly the site of many important events for Killian:

• Liam's death
• Milah's death
• Losing his hand
• Baelfire
• Returning the bean to Storybrooke
• Message from Neal about the curse

However, for everyone else, it's a neutral site, so I don't think it can be read as a general symbol that way. (The exception to that is Belle. Episode 2.11 parallels her approach to the JR with her hunting the yaogui, which is itself further paralleled with her agreeing to go with Rumplestiltskin. The ship there is equated with the lair of the beast she tracks down. The beast in that episode turns out to be a transformed prince, in a further nod to the Beauty and the Beast story and the broadest possible hint about Killian's future change of allegiance (and if you like winger-hawk's theories, to his true identity in the show's broader mythology).)
On the other hand, it's obviously not a coincidence that all of these incredibly important events take place on board the JR. Taking a step back, therefore, to the fact that Rumple and Killian are consistently positioned as opposites, I have to conclude that the ship is Killian, the same way the Dark Castle and the pawnshop are Rumplestiltskin, a physical manifestation of an identity that is partly assigned, partly claimed. Rumple draws much of his power from his collection of magical artifacts; to the extent that Killian has any power, it's because he captains a ship.

The contrast between a community (and even in some ways a family, per Rumple in "The Crocodile") based on a notably swift vessel vs the massive, immobile isolation of the Dark Castle -- one of very few Enchanted Forest locations that is clearly nowhere near water -- is typical of the distinction drawn between the two characters. Largely via the Jolly Roger, Killian has done more inter-realm traveling than any other major character in the show, while Rumple has remained largely stuck in place.
Each of those turning points on the JR represents either a significant change in or (in the case of Blackbeard) a reaffirmation of Killian's identity, right up through the moment he gave up the ship herself in exchange for the bean that would take him back to Emma. Throughout 4a, Killian's identity has been in a visible state of flux, called out by the change in costume, the conflict over his hand, and getting to grips with the physical environment of Storybrooke. He's coping (or was until Rumple, anyway) but other than Emma he remains relatively isolated and aimless. If we're going to get more of his back-story in 4b, his identity may remain in an uncertain state until then -- at which point I'm pretty certain we'll see the ship again.