March 20, 1808

Our navigator was lost to sharks, our grommet [?] to hunger. Today our captain, whilst exploring, was struck by a Serpent and has presently succumbed to fevered derangement. Any time we tend to his puncture he lashes out. Yet again our journey is misruled by indignity and loss.

Now Hayes and I are quarrelling. He regards this place as an Island of Emptiness, and its treasure a mere tale of oriental hyperbole. But he is vexed with fear. I will pursue the remnant of Captain Avery's fortune alone if I must.

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Henry Every, also Evory or Avery, (23 August 1659 – after 1696), sometimes erroneously given as John Avery,[a] was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He likely used several aliases throughout his career, including Henry Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates. Dubbed "The Arch Pirate" and "The King of Pirates" by contemporaries, Every was the most notorious pirate of his time; he earned his infamy by becoming one of the few major pirate captains to retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle, and also for being the perpetrator of what has been called the most profitable pirate raid in history.[8] Although Every's career as a pirate lasted only two years, his exploits captured the public's imagination, inspired others to take up piracy, and spawned numerous works of literature.

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So, a notorious pirate, the King of pirates, no less, eluded capture and disappeared from records. Could he have continued his swashbuckling adventures and hidden a mysterious treasure on a spooky tropical island with foliage LOD transitions that leave a lot to be desired?

Overleaf is a nice little map with a skull, a ship and way too many spot-marking Xs to be helpful.

We also get to see Drake's journal here, with its usual artistic flair.

It details a “Rhode Island Pirate” with a ship called “The Amity”. A bit of Googling led me to Thomas Tew, who must have said in at least one sword fight, “Tew can play at that game!”

From Wikipedia:

Thomas Tew (fl. 1692–1695), also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th-century English privateer-turned-pirate. Although he embarked on only two major piratical voyages, and met a bloody death on the latter journey, Tew pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Many other famous pirates, including Henry Every and William Kidd, would follow in Tew's path. Much of what is known about Tew is derived from Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates,[3] which is a mixture of fact and fiction. When reading about Thomas Tew it is important to be able to distinguish between truth and story.

Captain Johnson said "Tew, in Point of Gallantry, was inferior to none."

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He was also #3 in Forbes top-earning pirates, which is the coolest wealth list I have ever read.

The arm and sword flag was Tew's and the scales have a note that reads Baldridge (Adam Baldridge, yet another pirate) but I couldn't find who the sea creatures belonged to, maybe DetectiveGaf or the equally renowned NauticalHistoryGaf can help.

There's also one for LatinGaf: “Pro Devs Qvod Licentia”

Finally, there's the “CALL ELENA”, helpfully underlined, which suggests they're still together and given all the crossed out calling card pins, they just can't shut up!

So there we have it: pirate treasure, snake bites and pro devs.

Amir0x said:

Another interesting story clue:

When Nathan Drake is hiding around a rock wall from one of the enemies, the enemy says something to the effect of 'How did they survive the crash?' to which the guy responds 'Luck' and the other one goes 'Everyone's luck has to run out sometime.' Or something like that.

Likelihood that what precedes the gameplay moment is a classic Uncharted set piece.

Also, he has a cut on his arm (like the teaser), but not on his head (also like the teaser). So this moment is probably before what we saw in the teaser.

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Philippo said:

Also, british bad guys?

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Philippo said:

Also, british bad guys?

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Philippo said:

Also, british bad guys?

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Philippo said:

Also, british bad guys?

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Psycho_Mantis said:

also Drake has a brother 0_0.....thought he was an orphan or was he keeping this a secret. Wonder why? Does treasure hunting a family gene or something lol

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Kaswa101 said:

I'm guessing he takes a helicopter down on his way with Sam, and they get separated like in UDF with Elena. If the E3 traile really is after this, maybe Sam betrays him or some such?

I'm curious as to who the villain will be, why Sam is along, and why Drake still hasn't settled down with Elena lol.

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Blackthorn said:

There's also one for LatinGaf: “Pro Devs Qvod Licentia”

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Bandit1 said:

Nice job OP. Also the voice in the original teaser trailer (which was later recast) was Drake's brother. Apparently Drake left him behind sometime, perhaps in a Panamanian jail, (or not) so there's clearly some conflict between the two. And, possible ending spoilers, don't say I didn't warn you -

Spoiler

"A Thief's End" could very well refer to Drake's brother and not Drake himself.

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vpance said:

I'm guessing either Nate dies at the end of this and passes the torch to his brother for the sequels, or his bro is some fraud and he has to kill him. Maybe it's too dark, but that's what I'm going with.

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NotTheGuyYouKill said:

Spoiler

Well Sam, I guess this really is a Thief's End.

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Philippo said:

Also, british bad guys?

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funkystudent said:

I suddenly just noticed every Uncharted game had a British antagonist. Huh.



My current theory is that new guy is actually Sullys kid from some failed relationship he did a shit job being around for growing up while he was off treasure hunting and going to mustache conventions.

They can do a bunch of "You are the son he always wanted" angsty stuff between the two.

Also maybe if they go there and Drake had a kid of his own between now and 3 they can do some not so subtle parallels between Drake and Sully being shitty parents.

Spoiler

If this actually happens I want a check in the post Duckmann!

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Psycho_Mantis said:

also Drake has a brother 0_0.....thought he was an orphan or was he keeping this a secret. Wonder why? Does treasure hunting a family gene or something lol

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FranXico said:

How do we know that that guy really is Drake's brother? Just because he called him "little brother"?

We know from U3 that Drake is an orphan who Sully got out of the streets.
Now, I don't about you guys, but he sure looks a lot like Sully.

Maybe he actually is Sully's son, and calls Drake his brother because they grew up together?

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kaching said:

This leaves me excited for a Goonies-style setpiece with a boobie-trapped pirate ship in an underground cave. Do it, ND!

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Callibretto said:

I'm going with his brother as a treasure obsessed guy just like Nathan Drake before he settle down with Elena, he goes with him because Drake owe him for something he did in the past, along the adventure, the brother will realize that family(or friend in general because I'm not sure these two are blood related) is more important than treasure and he sacrifice himself to save Drake in the end.

because betrayal twist is so old by now.

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vpance said:

Ahh, so the Jesus angle then, dying to save Nate from continuing on a life of sin and greed. I can see that happening too. Whatever it takes to snap him out of this endless treasure hunting I like. We need some real character progression here if they want to keep this series going.

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Acquiescence said:

Somebody needs to watch Lethal Weapon 2.

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Auctopus said:

Sounded South African from what I heard.

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