It's too late. And he knows, deep in his soul, that one moment of hope notwithstanding... it was too late from the moment he went down to the brig. Maybe from the moment he sold his soul to Beckett.

He pushes Elizabeth behind him, almost without thinking, and draws his sword as the man on the quarterdeck starts down towards them.

"Go", he says without taking his eyes off the danger. "I will follow."