The following contains spoilers for Outer Banks Season 4, now streaming on Netflix
Outer Banks has introduced plenty of important artifacts that have ties to real-life history. The show follows the story of a group of working-class teens on the Outer Banks’ Kildare Island in North Carolina as they unwittingly find themselves hunting for treasure. The artifacts they find are tied to history and could be the key to a massive fortune. They also attract a constant stream of fellow (and sometimes dangerous) treasure hunters. Much of Outer Banks is based on the real local history of the Outer Banks, including season 4’s hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure.
A number of other artifacts have been added to the show to increase its tension and stakes, including season 4’s focus on Blackbeard’s Blue Crown. The artifacts discovered by Outer Banks’ characters range from gold and precious jewels to windows into the past through to the characters’ ancestors. This gives the hunt for them more personal ties in Outer Banks, as many of the artifacts lead the show’s teens to discover not only more about their local history but more about their personal lineage as well. Here are all the important historical artifacts that have played into Outer Banks’ storyline.
1. The Royal Merchant
The Season 1 Quest That Started It All
Outer Banks’ artifacts are crucial to the series and have plenty of real-world connections. Season 1 kicks off with the crew still mourning the disappearance of John B. Routledge’s (Chase Stokes) father, Big John (Charles Halford). Big John was a historian, whose life’s work was finding the gold in the fictionalized Outer Banks shipwrecked Royal Merchant. To finish what his father started (and dodge Child Protective Services) John B. convinces his friends from the working-class Pogue gang to join his mission. The show’s Royal Merchant is based on the real-life Merchant Royal, one of history’s most infamous shipwrecks.
Note: The Merchant Royal is one of the most valuable ships lost at sea in the history of maritime trade.
The Merchant Royal was a British vessel believed to carry $1.5 billion in gold and silver when it sank in 1641. The ship remains lost to this day, but an anchor that archaeologists believe belonged to the ship washed up on the Cornish coast of England in 2019 (via Bustle). In the quest for the Merchant, the crew quickly discovers this journey is incredibly dangerous. Racing against time and rivals, the group is eventually able to locate the $400 million dollars in gold but loses it to Sarah’s greedy father (then believed to be Big John’s killer), Ward Cameron.
2. Denmark Tanny’s Diary
Pope Heyward Is A Direct Descendant Of Denmark Tanny
One of the artifacts found by Pope Heyward is a diary that belonged to his ancestor, Denmark Tanny. Tanny was a cook aboard the Royal Merchant. Denmark Tanny is based on a real historical figure named Denmark Vesey. He was a formerly enslaved man turned abolitionist activist after he won a $1,500 lottery in 1799. Vesey went on to become a respected leader of his local African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he used his influence to plot a slave revolt that would attempt to free thousands. However, his plot was leaked and Vesey was arrested, leading to his execution.
In Outer Banks, Denmark Tanny is a direct ancestor of Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss) and was a passenger onboard the Royal Merchant. After tracking down his diary, Pope is able to learn more about his lineage and ultimately helps the group track down the Royal Merchant. The Diary also contains cryptic clues to season 2 of Outer Banks’ treasure, the Cross of Santo Domingo. Because of these clues, the diary is one of the most sought-after artifacts in the show. It’s especially sought out by Carlos Singh, who seeks to use it as a map to uncover something else.
3. The Cross Of Santo Domingo
The Cross Belonged To Pope’s Ancestor
The Cross of Santo Domingo is an important artifact in Outer Banks, and one with an unlikely television connection. After Ward steals the Royal Merchant gold and murders Sheriff Peterkin, he frames John B. for the murder. The crew returns to Kildare Island to clear his name, at which point Pope discovers that there is more treasure out there than any of them anticipated. This includes a family artifact called the Cross of Santo Domingo that was hidden somewhere on the island, and it’s theirs for the taking.
“This gives Outer Banks an underlying connection to a universal ancestor of action-adventure television.”
While the large artifact is fictional, it does have a connection to the past. This Outer Banks plot is based on a Lone Ranger episode from decades earlier. This gives Outer Banks an underlying connection to a universal ancestor of action-adventure television. Outer Banks also amplifies the value of the cross, making it far more desirable. Although the crew tracks down the cross at a local chapel, it is ultimately stolen and melted down into gold bars by Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey).
4. The Healing Shroud
This Artifact Is Also Sought After In Season 2
One artifact in Outer Banks is notably suggested to have restorative properties, giving it special importance to certain characters on the show. The healing shroud was thought to be hidden within the Cross of Santo Domingo, adding to that artifact’s value. Some believed this shroud was capable of healing any ailment, including Carla Limbrey. A wealthy woman with a terminal illness, Carla was the one who sent her half-brother Renfield to search for it. This sets off his entanglement with the Pogues’ mission. Limbrey also knew Big John, as she had initially sought his help in finding the shroud.
Limbrey was a direct descendant of Captain Limbrey, who was the captain aboard the Royal Merchant. The real Merchant Royal that sailed the seas in 1640 was indeed captained by a John Limbrey. Limbrey was even among the survivors of the shipwreck, alongside 40 other crew members who were rescued and taken aboard the Dover Merchant. The show gives this connection and the artifact a more mythical origin. Given its supernatural nature and lack of clear monetary value, the only person truly after the shroud was Limbrey.
5. El Dorado
This Season 3 Artifact Brought The Group To South America
El Dorado, or, The City of Gold, is a treasure trove in the Orinoco Basin, Venezuela. It was first described by a Spanish soldier 450 years before the events of Outer Banks, and has been a common source of mystery and intrigue for centuries. The first clue the group discovers connected to this mysterious city of gold is the Cross of Santo Domingo, which they are eventually able to track down. After losing the Cross to Rafe, the group becomes stranded on a remote island before making the move to Barbados.
The crew are eventually reunited with Big John, sparking the quest for El Dorado. El Dorado contains billions worth of gold, jewels, and historical artifacts, attracting many interested parties. Among them is Caribbean Don Carlos Singh, who hopes to finish the quest for the gold that his enslaved ancestors started. Finding the city was the true end goal of Big John’s life’s work of historical study and treasure hunting, and the group decided to go along with his mission at John B.’s request, as well as to avenge Pope’s family after losing the cross.
6. Blackbeard’s Ship Wreck
Blackbeard Died Near Ocracoke Island
Both of Outer Banks season 4’s central artifacts are connected to notorious pirate Blackbeard’s shipwreck. Blackbeard was an English pirate named Edward Teach who died near Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks in 1718, both in the universe of the show and in real life history (via NCPedia). Edward Teach is a widely documented historical figure in the Carolinas. Blackbeard’s final ship was named Queen Anne’s Revenge and was wrecked in the Atlantic at Beufort Inlet, North Carolina.
Teach was one of the most notorious British pirates in history. Piracy was widely pardoned under Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, and at the time of Teach’s death, George I encouraged pirates to surrender to the authorities in exhange for pardons across the West Indies (the present-day Americas and the Caribbean). In the show, the shipwreck is located near a local Coast Guard base, which is why JJ Maybank and Kiara Carrera dive into the wreck at night to avoid being caught.
7. Blackbeard’s Amulet
The Amulet Belonged To The Pirate’s Wife Elizabeth Teach
Season four of Outer Banks introduces Wes Genrette (David Jensen) as an older man who entrusts the Pogues with hunting down the amulet of the famous real pirate Blackbeard’s wife, Elizabeth Teach. He offers them $50,000 in exchange for the amulet. The amulet is believed to be cursed, as Elizabeth was buried without it against her wishes. As a result, the women of the Genrette family reported being haunted by her ghost shortly before their tragic deaths. This includes Wes’ daughter and eventually even Wes himself after he sees the spirit firsthand.
Wes dies before the group can bring him the amulet they retrieved. The amulet and the hauntings are fictional for dramatic effect, and it is unknown if the real Blackbeard ever married, making this concept fictional but tied to a real figure. The Genrette family was only interested in the amulet, but the Pogues are now involved due to financial issues they’ve found themselves in. At the same time, a villainous man named Lightner and a mysterious group are also after the full sum of Blackbeard’s treasure.
8. The Blue Crown
The Blue Crown Is A Part Of Blackbeard’s Treasure
The Blue Crown is the most valuable of Blackbeard’s treasures in Outer Banks, and the amulet contains a clue to finding it. This gives the amulet a greater importance in the overall narrative. The group were never interested in the Blue Crown until John B. realizes that his father once researched it. After having lost the amulet and Wes Genrette, they could use the Blue Crown to eke out an unexpected victory. Because the amulet is connected to the Blue Crown, Lightner and his crew are also after it.
Note: Blackbeard died November 22, 1718 in Ocracoke, North Carolina.
The Blue Crown is another fictional artifact that belonged to Blackbeard. Also known as Edward Teach, Blackbeard was a real pirate who died in his final battle near Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks (via TIME). This explains why he has such an important overarching connection to the story at the heart of Outer Banks. This season of Outer Banks sees the group largely back on home turf as they untangle local and personal mysteries, and the Blue Crown is the final prize for their troubles.
Of course, the search for the Blue Crown also takes the group to Morocco in the second half of season 4 as it turns out, unlike the amulet, the crown was not on the ship when it sank.
9. What Outer Banks Could Explore In Season 5
Season 5 Is The Finale Season Of Outer Banks
The showrunners have always had a five-season plan for the series, so it would make sense for Blackbeard, who famously landed and lived in the Carolinas where the show is set, to be part of the story for more than a single season.
For the first three seasons of the show, all of the artifacts were tied together in the Pogues’ original interest in the Royal Merchant’s gold. The search for the gold led to a diary, which led to the cross, which led to interest in the shroud, and it turned out the treasures all came from El Dorado. That means it’s entirely possible that season 4’s focus on artifacts that belonged to Blackbeard could carry on into season 5.
When Shannon Burke and Josh and Jonas Pate spoke with Netflix about season five, Burke did make the remark that the search for the Blue Crown, which takes the group to Morocco, “should carry us through all the way to the end.” It’s not clear whether Burke simply meant season 4, or if he meant Blackbeard would be the throughline into season 5.
The showrunners have always had a five-season plan for the series, so it would make sense for Blackbeard, who famously landed and lived in the Carolinas where the show is set, to be part of the story for more than a single season. The crown and the necklace are both fictional, but they’re inspired by the idea of Blackbeard’s treasure never having been found. Without spoiling the events of season 4, at the end, the Blue Crown is still very much in play.
Season 5 of Outer Banks doesn’t seem likely to include the search for another treasure, but like the first season of the show, will continue utilizing the same artifact. It will bring the series full circle for the final season.
