Black Sails Season 2: Is Max Based On A Historical Pirate?

The Black Sails series has been flying under the radar with The Walking Dead's return and Game of Thrones' imminent Season 5 premiere. The show is an amalgamation of pirate fiction and history--but mostly the former.

The only historical elements in the show are characters like Charles Vane, "Calico Jack" Rackham, Anne Bonny, Benjamin Hornigold, and Ned Low--all of whom once lived.

However, characters like Captain Flint, Jon Silver, and Billy Bones are fictional characters from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

But there is one character that seems to take the middle ground between fiction and reality: Max, the charming prostitute with a knack for manipulating people.

Her newly developed romance with Anne Bonny and her alliance with Jack Rackham have made me wonder if she's based on Mary Read.

There are a few things we know about Max that coincide with Read. Max, like Read, was taken prisoner by Rackham's crew.

I know that Vane held Max captive in the show, but Calico Jack was--at the time--his quartermaster. It was still a crew that Rackham was involved with.

There is more that lines up between both characters, however; it has been speculated that Read and Bonny were lovers. This has been reflected in the show: a romance has sparked between Anne and Max.

In addition, Anne met Max while the latter was a prisoner of Charles Vane.

"Rackam's ship conquered Mary's somewhere in the West Indies, and Mary was among those taken prisoner," Smithsonian Magazine said. "After the engagement, Anne, dressed in female attire, tried to seduce the handsome new recruit.

Mary, perhaps fearing repercussions from Rackam, informed Anne she was actually a woman--and bared her breasts to prove it. Anne vowed to keep Mary's secret and the women became friends, confidantes and, depending on the source, lovers."

Is Max based on Mary Read? We need to see more of the series to know for certain. But if Max and Anne manage to avoid execution because they are both pregnant, the similarities may be too great to ignore.

For more about Black Sails, visit its official website here.