History Series / TheTerror

[[folder:I-K]]
* IAmAHumanitarian: [[spoiler:As supplies run out and desperation (fueled by the madness of lead poisoning) sets in, the party resorts to cannibalism to survive...with Hickey leading the charge.]]
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Goodsir and Lady Silence form a close bond over the course of the series, the exact nature of which is never specified. While it's hinted a few times that Goodsir may have romantic feelings for her, nothing explicit is said or shown. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it's a case of "what might have been," since he is DrivenToSuicide and she is forced into exile after Tuunbaq's death.]]
%%* InTheBack

** In episode 3, Sir John tells Crozier that he is not fit for command in a fit of anger. [[spoiler:Sir John is killed by the monster by the end of the episode, [[YouAreInCommandNow forcing Crozier to assume command.]]]]
** Blanky in episode 9: [[spoiler:Dying of gangrene, he walks away from the camp to draw the Tuunbaq off. Eventually he can go no further, sits down on a hillside -- and suddenly realizes that the stretch of frozen ocean he's looking out over ''is'' the Northwest Passage the whole expedition came out here to find. His only reaction is to burst out laughing and note it down on his map while he waits to die.]]
** After they’re caught fooling around, Hickey discovers Gibson has sold him out to Lieutenant Irving, though Gibson insists this betrayal was necessary to spare them both from a more severe punishment. In the penultimate episode of the season, [[spoiler:Hickey repays this figurative backstab by literally stabbing Gibson in the back, though this too (in theory) is done to spare the other further suffering.]]
* ItCanThink: The crew of the expedition debate whether or not [[spoiler:the monster is deliberately picking off the leaders of the group: first Gore, then Franklin...]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Hickey and the superstitious sailors believe Lady Silence is a witch controlling the Tuunbaq. While it's not clear to them at the time whether she's actually commanding the beast to kill (in fact, she’s obviously terrified of the creature), there is clearly ''some'' connection between the two.]]
* KarmicDeath: In episode 3, [[spoiler:Franklin has the Inuit shaman unceremoniously dumped into an ice hole without even a service; the Tuunbaq later throws him into the same hole.]]

** [[spoiler:When Hickey disobeys orders and then argues against his punishment, Crozier orders him to be lashed thirty times ''as a boy'', meaning he has his trousers pulled down and viciously whipped across his bare ass until it's scarred and bloody. By the standards of the time, this was actually a light punishment.]]
* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:Des Voeux]]. While he escaped the [[spoiler:Tuunbaq's final slaughter of the mutineers]], he's very obviously on his last legs the final time we see him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:L-P]]
%%* LastDisrespects

* MagicVersusTechnology: [[spoiler:The supernatural Tuunbaq against a well-equipped Royal Navy expedition.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:It isn't made entirely clear whether the Tuunbaq died almost immediately after tearing Hickey in half because Hickey's soul had become so foul that trying to eat it (and the rest of him) poisoned the monster, or if it simply choked on him.]]
* MeatGrinderSurgery: [=MacDonald=] is forced to amputate [[spoiler:Blanky's]] leg after an attack by [[spoiler:the Tuunbaq.]]

** Dr. Stanley has a scene drawing a picture, and talking lovingly of his (fictional) daughter right before [[spoiler:he commits mass murder-suicide after losing his mind.]]

** Crozier lashes out at Blanky in a fit of drunken anger, ordering him to go out and get a "full report" of conditions on the ice. This puts Blanky in the Tuunbaq's sights when it storms ''Terror'' moments later, costing him his leg, [[spoiler:and is ultimately part of the reason for his death]].

** Lt. Graham Gore is shown to be a friendly officer who treats the men of his scouting party very fairly, taking one of the haul lines to pull their boat and equipment when he could easily pawn the hard work off on the enlisted men, [[spoiler:until he becomes the Tuunbaq’s first victim]].

* NoNameGiven: Although we don't find this out until near the end. [[spoiler:The man we know as "Cornelius Hickey" actually murdered the real Cornelius Hickey and took his place on the ship. We never do find out what Fake Hickey's name is; the most we're given are the initials E.C. that Fake Hickey carved into the chest where he stowed his belongings]].

** Even before [[spoiler:the Tuunbaaq]] is revealed, there are plenty of suspenseful moments where it seems obvious that ''something'' nasty is out there, but nothing shows itself.

** Goodsir has one when he goes to fetch Lt. Gore and arrives just in time to [[spoiler:see the Tuunbaq maul him to death, complete with TheScream.]]
** Franklin has two consecutive ones in ''The Ladder''. First, when Tuunbaq caves in the hunting blind and [[OffWithHisHead rips Sgt. Bryant's head off]], second, when [[spoiler:he sees that it [[AnArmAndALeg tore off his own leg]] right before throwing him down the ice hole.]]
** Goodsir has a massive one when he deduces that [[spoiler:the crew is suffering from years of collective lead poisoning thanks to the improper soldering on the cans, and the water pipes. Dr. Stanley also has one when he is informed of this, leading to...]]
** Crozier, when he sees [[spoiler:Dr. Stanley [[DrivenToSuicide covering himself in oil.]]]]
** An understated one from Crozier, Fitzjames, Morfin and Tozer after they [[spoiler:happen upon the remains of the rescue team they sent out a year ago just 18 miles from the ships, meaning there is no one coming to save them.]]

** Hickey has a [[LaserGuidedKarma well deserved one]] when [[spoiler:Tuunbaq bites down on his arm instead of accepting him as a shaman.]]

* OfficerAndAGentleman: Franklin and Fitzjames are upper class Englishmen [[spoiler:or at least passing off as such in Fitzjames' case]], in contrast to Crozier, the lower middle class career officer from {{Main/Oireland}}.

** While Fitzjames initially comes off as a vain sycophant trotting at Franklin's heels, it gradually becomes apparent that it's less yes-manning and more that he sees Franklin as one of these, especially after Franklin's gruesome death. [[spoiler:Unsurprising, as Fitzjames' real father not only dumped him to be raised by friends as an infant, he gave him a name that bordered on a joke about his illegitimacy, and his loving foster father died the last time he was away at sea. Fitzjames could use all the loving older mentors he could get.]]

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Hickey murders his compatriots and frames the Inuit purely to save his planned mutiny, even though ''not'' doing that would have vastly improved everyone's chance of survival.

* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't actually see [[spoiler:Irving's posthumous castration, just a huge, appropriately-placed bloodstain on the cloth that covers his corpse.]]
* GreatWhiteHunter: In the third episode Franklin sets up a trap for the Tuunbaq similar to those used in India for hunting tigers, and brings a camera to photograph the expected result. [[spoiler:It does not end well. [[RasputinianDeath At all.]] ]]
%%* HalfBreedDiscrimination
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A watchstander aboard ''Terror'' is found cut in half. The doctors determine he was cut with a claw, and when Fitzjames suggests the assailant was a man using a bear’s claw as a weapon, they observe that the power demonstrated in each cut was beyond the strength of any man. [[spoiler:The monster swiped its claw three times in the same place, deliberately bisecting the poor bastard -- or rather, ''bastards'', as the Tuunbaq, disturbingly, stacks the upper half of one dead man on the lower half of the other.]]
** This fate ultimately befalls [[spoiler:Hickey in ''We Are Gone'']].
* HeroesLoveDogs: Franklin and Crozier to Neptune, in contrast to Hickey, whose first lines are complaining about the dog's apparent elevation over the crew and [[spoiler:eventually kills and eats him]].

* HeroicBastard: [[spoiler:Fitzjames.]] It's practically his FreudianExcuse.
* HeroicSacrifice: Unable to keep pace [[spoiler:due to his amputated leg, Blanky]] leaves the retreating party to offer himself to the Tuunbaq and keep it away from the others.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Essentially the entire cast, with the notable exceptions of Lady Silence, her father and the Tuunbaq. Also notable is the case of Cornelius Hickey, which unlike the book, [[spoiler:is revealed to be a stowaway who murdered the "real" Hickey and assumed his identity, presumably to get over the gratuitous villainization that the novel did to the real man.]]
%%* HistoricalFantasy

** Invoked without being explicitly named where Fitzjames is concerned, as the dramatic war wound he's so fond of telling people about [[spoiler:opens up again when he comes down with scurvy and ultimately kills him.]]

** In the series, Lt. Gore is killed by the Tuunbaq before Sir John and the latter writes an eulogy for him. However, the historical 1848 note refers to the former as "the late Commander Gore", implying that he took Fitzjames's position as Commander of ''Erebus'' after FitzJames became Captain in the wake of Sir John's death, and only died later.

* DrivenToSucide:

** Pay close attention to the opening credits. [[spoiler:The profiles of Franklin and Fitzjames are blown away to show the skull beneath the skin, and sure enough they both die during the course of the story. By contrast, Crozier's face distorts into the same mask worn by Lady Silence's father in "Go For Broke", showing his ultimate fate of surviving and being adopted by the Inuit.]]
** When Fitzjames is telling the story of the time he was shot by a sniper during the Opium Wars in China for what is implied to be the umpteenth time, Lieutenant Little notes that the nature of his wound (a bullet passing through Fitzjames's arm, entering his side and stopping just short of shattering his spine) is "like the shot that killed [[UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson Lord Nelson]] at Trafalgar," and Fitzjames confirms that he came very close to dying the same way. [[spoiler:He does, two years later, thanks to scurvy reopening the wounds -- and with a bleeding eye and rotting arm to mimic Nelson's famous disabilities to boot.]]
** In episode 3, Morfin starts to sing a sailor's lament in honor of [[spoiler:Franklin]], but is startled to realize that he's forgotten some of the lyrics. [[spoiler:He's suffering from the early stages of chronic lead poisoning, which is going to become a ''big'' problem later on.]]
** A subtle one regarding Hickey's identity. In episode 2 Crozier comments that Hickey doesn't sound Irish, which Hickey says is because he's lived in England a long time. Hickey also responds that Crozier 'gives hope to the rest of us micks.' Mick is a derogatory term for an Irish person, so unlikely to be used by one. Look closely, and Crozier gives a slight reaction to this. [[spoiler:When we meet the real Hickey briefly at the beginning of episode 7, he speaks with a typical Irish accent.]]

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Franklin to Neptune and Jacko the monkey.

** [[spoiler:Then a scouting team accidentally shoots an Inuit shaman and appear to have incurred the wrath of a monster which kills several of the crew,]] [[spoiler:including Franklin.]]

** When Goodsir brings that last tidbit to the attention of Dr Stanley, [[spoiler:Stanley appears to be driven to despair and madness by the almost certain death sentence that has been given to the expedition, and sets the Carnivale tent ''and himself'' on fire. Two of those to die in the disaster are Dr. Macdonald and Dr. Peddie, leaving Goodsir as the last medical man in both crews.]]

** Just as Lieutenant Irving makes contact with a Netsilik family in the hopes of being able to trade with them and find a way of supporting the party, [[spoiler:Hickey snaps and murders both him and Farr, trying to spark a mutiny that ends in the camp getting attacked by the Tuunbaq, and himself and his mutineers getting away with a captured Goodsir in tow.]]
** [[spoiler:The crew finds out that the Tuunbaq does not only kill people, but devours their souls as well.]]
** [[spoiler:Fitzjames is dying slowly and painfully from scurvy and has to be mercy killed by Crozier, Blanky is succumbing to gangrene and sacrifices himself to lead the Tuunbaq away from the remaining crew, Hickey kills a dying Gibson and forces Goodsir to butcher him for meat, and the mutineers capture Crozier.]]
** An off-screen example is what befalls [[spoiler:Lieutenant Little and the remaining crewmen who elect to follow Crozier's order to leave him behind, even though he hoped they wouldn't actually do that. When Crozier finds their camp after several weeks under Lady Silence's care, all that remains are collapsed and tattered tents, half-eaten bodies and severed limbs in cooking pots, and the dying Edward Little, whose face is now covered in golden chains sewn into his cheeks and lip and is so far gone he can only blankly stare at Crozier and utter "close" before expiring.]]
* GallowsHumor: Blanky, facing the imminent amputation of his leg, asks Crozier to serve everyone a shot of whisky from his bottle, stating that he feels like he and the Tuunbag have just gotten engaged and he wants to celebrate. Much later on, [[spoiler:as he's preparing to [[HeroicSacrifice lure the Tuunbaq away from the rest of the crew]], he starts cackling gleefully when Crozier realizes why he wants [[RegretEatingMe forks and rope]].]]

** A flashback shows a theatre piece about the conversion of the Mohawks and Iroquois to Christianity. Sophia chuckles that it is a DownerEnding, because they are converting to ''Catholicism''. Anti-Catholic sentiment (Catholicism worship was banned in Britain until 1791) is referenced again when Hodgson reveals he had two crypto-Catholic aunts, whom he refers to as "papists".

** In the first episode, Goodsir consolates the dying Young and promises to deliver his ring to his sister in London. In the last episode, he finds the ring with Gibson and asks Crozier to deliver it.

* CuttingBackToReality: The final episode has [[spoiler:Lt. Thomas Jopson]], in the last moments before his death, hallucinating a feast with Captain Crozier seated at the head of the table, completely oblivious to him. He proceeds to crawl onto the table, knocking everything off in a desperate attempt to get Crozier to notice him -- but then the scene cuts away and we see that he was only crawling on sharp rocks a little ways from his tent.
* DatedHistory:
** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, which would mean he survived long after the ships became trapped and was among the last survivors. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''aglukaq'', meaning "long strider").
** Neptune is [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog killed by Hickey]] and turned into meat]] as soon as the retreat party makes it to dry land. However Inuit testimonies make a strong case that the dog returned to ''Erebus'' and was with the very last survivors in Utjulik Bay and the Adelaide Peninsula years later. This is a carryover from the book, written in 2007 when Inuit testimonies about a ship at Utjulik were dismissed as inaccurate or an unrelated ship.
* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: A variation: In episode 7, the sun glinting off of the icy peaks affects Fitzjames badly enough when he takes off his snow goggles that he spends about ten entire seconds squinting, blinking, and rubbing his watering eyes in obvious pain. [[spoiler:This is one of the first signs that he’s much sicker with scurvy than he lets on. Light sensitivity is a major symptom.]]
* DoomedMoralVictor: [[spoiler:Blanky]] finds the highly sought Northwest Passage while waiting for the Tuunbaq to kill him.

* DrivenToSucide: After [[spoiler:Peglar]] dies, [[spoiler:Bridgens]] deserts the camp and walks into the horizon until dusk, then lies down to wait for his death of hypothermia.

* DiabolusExMachina: The Tuunbaq strikes again after a long period of absence ''just'' as [[spoiler:Hickey and Tozer are about to be hanged.]]
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The crew manage to wound and fend off the Tuunbaq after it sets its sights on Blanky. This is the first indication that, unlike the book, this version of the Tuunbaq has a consistent corporeal form. And if it can be wounded...
* DeadPersonImpersonation: It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Cornelius Hickey]] is not the real one, but another man who murdered him and stole his identity.
* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:Sir John (Ciaran Hinds)]] is dead by episode 3 of 10.

** Fitzjames speaks proudly of his heroics during the First Opium War, today probably considered the one of most immoral wars of Imperialism.
** A flashback shows a theatre piece about the conversion of Mohawks and Iroquois to Christianity. Sophia chuckles that it is a DownerEnding, because they are converting to ''Catholicism''.
** Hodgson refers to his secretly Catholic aunts as "papists" and implies that he was told Catholics were Satanist-lite when he was growing up.
** Two of ''Terror'''s crew are caught having sex in the ship's hold. This might not seem like a big deal to 21st-century audiences, but homosexual activity was a punishable offense in the Royal Navy of the 19th century (though technically [[SituationalSexuality only for the first 90 days out of port]]).
** There is also the use of "Esquimaux" (the period spelling) and "Eskie" to refer to Lady Silence and her father. While "Eskimo" is still used today as an ethnic descriptor, particularly by the Yupik people of Alaska, it has become considered a pejorative term by aboriginal Canadian peoples and has dropped out of official use.
** [[spoiler:Fitzjames]] is illegitimate and was raised by an adoptive family. This is treated as a DarkSecret, worth desperately protecting and covering up for decades, rather than fairly incidental as it often is in the modern day.

** ''Terror'' is the name of the lead ship in the expedition, as well as the emotion most felt by the characters in this horror story.
** The episode title "Gore" serves as a reference to the NiceGuy Lieutenant Gore, as well as the violent end he meets.
* DownerEnding: As you would expect from a real life centuries-old tragedy. [[spoiler:''Everyone'' on the mission, save one, dies in various gruesome or heartbreaking ways, with Goodsir in particular driven to suicide and then cannibalised. Silence/Silna, now that the Tuunbaq is dead, must go into the Arctic wilderness by herself to spend the rest of her life in exile; her fate is left uncertain. Crozier survives but had to abandon his ship and loses the crew he tried so hard to keep safe, all his friends (both old and new), his left hand and any hope of a life back in England, particularly with Sophia. Lady Jane and Sophia will spend years searching for the expedition to little or no avail, and will never learn the specifics of what happened to Admiral Franklin or Crozier. Even the death of the Tuunbaq is rather sad, as the Inuit people have lost a protector from British imperialism and Western colonization. The only bright spot is that Crozier is accepted by the Inuit village he's joined and can make a new life for himself, but even then he's so emotionally broken that there's really not much left to him.]]
* DramaticIrony: In "Punished, As A Boy", Lady Jane is desperately trying to get the Admiralty to send a rescue party after her husband [[spoiler:who died near the end of the previous episode/several months earlier. Plus she talks about feeling her husband's 'spirit'.]]

* EatMe: [[spoiler:Blanky]] covers himself in forks in an attempt to give the Tuunbaq major indigestion.

* EvilDetectingDog: In the first episode, the men comment on Neptune the ship's dog whining at night, assuming it's because he's smelled a bear. He also doesn't seem to care for Hickey, defecating in front of him out of what seems to be pure spite.
* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler:The Tuunbaq is a supernatural monster, and Hickey is the secondary antagonist.]]
* ExposedToTheElements: Downplayed example; everyone is dressed for cold weather, but not nearly as heavily as in the novel. [[PragmaticAdaptation No use in paying for actors if you can't see their faces.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A lot of the sailors do ''not'' do this--cannibalism, mutiny, madness, abandoning the sick and weak--but some do.
** Blanky, realizing that with his gangrenous leg he has no hope, leaves the main party in an effort to draw the Tuunbaq to him instead. He also ties as many forks to himself as the surviving sailors can spare, to make himself as unpleasant a meal as possible. When the Tuunbaq does show up, Blanky laughs in the face of death and says, "What in the name of God took you so [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] long?"

* FaceHeelTurn: Several crewmen join Hickey in his mutiny, most notably [[spoiler:Tozer, Des Voeux, and reluctantly, Hodgson]].
* FanDisservice: Goodsir, Fitzjames, and Hickey are all good-looking men one might look forward to having a ShirtlessScene or two. Pity you only see them undressed when they're [[spoiler:respectively carved up like a Christmas turkey, investigating rotting war wounds, and being flogged]].

* FightingIrish: In a fit of AlcoholInducedIdiocy TheDrunkenSailor Crozier starts a fight with Fitzjames after the latter confronts him for requisitioning the whiskey on Erebus.

** The first episode begins with James Ross and his interpreter learning that all the men on the Franklin expedition are dead, and Crozier's final words were "Tell them we are gone. Dead and gone." [[spoiler:In the final episode -- very nearly the final ''scene'' -- we learn that Crozier asked the Inuit leader to lie and pretend he died and was actually sitting outside the tent while this was happening, and he walks away from any chance of return to England as his final words are repeated.]]
** The series begins and ends with men suffering [[spoiler:dying hallucinations.]]
*** [[spoiler:In the first episode, Young hallucinates Lady Silence's father warning him to run away.]]
*** [[spoiler:A heartbreaking, soul-crushing scene in the final episode involves a dying [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Jopson]] pleading to no avail [[PleaseDontLeaveMe to not be left behind by the crew]], which he thinks Crozier is a part of. He hallucinates a feast with Crozier seated at the head of the table, completely oblivious to him. Jopson proceeds to crawl on the table, knocking everything off in an attempt to get Crozier to notice him. But then the scene cuts away and we're shown that he's only been crawling on sharp rocks, a little ways from his tent, the recipient of SanitySlippage, and the belief that Crozier left him for dead.]]
* BreakTheCutie: The story has this in spades, from [[spoiler:Goodsir to Jopson to Hartnell to Peglar...]]

** In his first scene, Fitzjames is bragging about the bullet he took in China. In a later episode, [[spoiler:the bullet wound reopens due to scurvy and becomes infected]].
** Early in the series, Jopson remarks on how close they are to breaking out of the ice, to which Crozier shoots back, "'Close' is nothing. It’s worse than nothing. It’s worse than anything in the world." [[spoiler:At the end of the series Crozier finds Lt. Little at the point of death, with everyone else already dead. Little can only gasp out the word "Close?" before he dies.]]

* TheCaptain: TheEeyore Crozier and GentlemanAdventurer Franklin are captains of their own ships, but Franklin is the one leading the expedition. Commander Fitzjames later has to assume the role as well when Crozier is GoingColdTurkey and isn't feeling well enough to lead.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder:
** [[spoiler:Hickey murders his compatriots and frames the Inuk purely to save his planned mutiny, even though ''not'' doing that would have vastly improved everyone's chance of survival]].
** Near the end, [[spoiler:when "Cornelius Hickey" reveals that he murdered the real Cornelius Hickey and took his place on the ship]], Crozier snarks "You could have just joined up."

* AccidentalMurder: During [[spoiler:the Carnivale fire in episode 6, Hickey cuts through the tent to free some trapped crewmen and ends up stabbing Dr. Macdonald through the fabric.]] This is notable for being [[spoiler:perhaps the only death which Hickey didn't intentionally cause.]]
* ActorAllusion: In the first episode during dinner, Fitzjames (Creator/TobiasMenzies) tells a story about his heroism during the Opium Wars, remarking to Sir John (Creator/CiaranHinds) that he "felt like Caesar crossing the Rubicon". Hinds himself ''was'' Caesar crossing the Rubicon in ''Series/{{Rome}}'', and Menzies played Brutus.
** Later when the crew are putting on a masquerade as a morale-builder, Fitzjames (Menzies) is looking through the costume trunk (TruthInTelevision: expedition ships often had things like costumes, libraries, and gramophones to entertain crew on long, isolated missions.) The outfit he settles on? A Roman costume that's extremely similar to Brutus's. Possibly combining this with foreshadowing -- it's almost a copy of what Brutus is wearing [[spoiler:when he dies.]]

** Sir John Franklin's most negative traits are downplayed, the extremes of which are divided among other characters: Lady Jane gets his ambition and haughty snobbery, Dr Stanley gets his virulent racism, and Lt. Irving gets his self-righteous religious fervor.
** [[spoiler:Hickey]] is less outwardly psychopathic in the first few episodes, and there are clear attempts to present him as possibly an alright guy before his mental state begins to deteriorate. These moments -- and [[spoiler:Hickey's]] true motivations -- are often quite ambiguously depicted and open to interpretation, at least at first. [[spoiler:It is eventually revealed that Hickey is a very realistically-portrayed sociopath, and his PetTheDog moments have been a facade.]] However, he is definitely more nuanced as a character then the novel's version.
** Fitzjames is less of a FlatCharacter, and his relationship with Crozier exhibits TeethClenchedTeamwork. [[spoiler:He is also revealed to be desperately overachieving for having been born a possibly mixed-race (by Victorian standards, at least), all but abandoned illegitimate child, saddled with a mean-spirited pun of a name hinting at this.]]

** The monster in the novel was a SuperPersistentPredator that was hunting the crew mostly ForTheEvulz. In the series, it's attacking the crew in reprisal for them accidentally killing its shaman and gives up the hunt after it gets wounded by cannon fire. At least, until [[spoiler:Hickey murders a group of Inuit]]. Then it comes back with a vengeance.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Multiple members of the crew side with Hickey in his mutiny that remained loyal in the book, including [[spoiler:Tozer, [[DemotedToExtra Des Voeux,]] and Mr. Hoar, Fitzjames' steward.]]
* AdaptationExpansion:
** Unlike the book, Crozier, Blanky and Dr Macdonald can speak a little of the Netsilik language, with Goodsir doing his best to learn (in accordance with later research turned up after the novel's publication that revealed the real life Goodsir was attempting to compile a dictionary), and 'Lady Silence' still has her tongue when she first appears, so they're better able to communicate.

** Fitzjames gets an entirely new backstory relative to the book, drawn from a biography of the real Fitzjames published a few years after the novel that was the first serious attempt to figure out who he was and what his life had been like before the expedition. [[spoiler:He was a bastard who bluffed his way into the Navy with the help of his foster family.]]
* AdaptedOut: Apart from the Tuunbaq, almost all the supernatural elements of the novel were removed. The lack of a spring thaw and strange storms are explained as natural events and even the Tuunbaq is treated more as a strange bear rather than the full-on EldritchAbomination it was in the novel. Crozier doesn't have psychic abilities, while Lady Silence seems to have a psychic link with the Tuunbaq as she did in the novel, but it's much more downplayed. The biggest removal, however, was the novel's implication there was something ''even worse'' than the Tuunbaq lurking in the Arctic.
* TheAlcoholic: Captain Francis Crozier. Apparently he'll use any excuse to open up his liquor cabinet, and keep it open as long as possible. In this, he is the polar opposite of Franklin. [[spoiler:In "First Shot A Winner, Lads" he realises how unsustainable this is, and makes an effort to go cold turkey.]]
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: The Tuunbaq is a gigantic, cannibalistic bear with curiously humanoid features, which may have provided the inspiration for the malevolent Jötnar of Scandinavian folklore (the Vikings having encountered and traded with the Inuit centuries earlier).

** Sir John Ross would not have been able to warn Sir John Franklin about being unprepared for his expedition, as he was appointed British consul to Sweden in 1839 and wouldn't return to Britain until 1846, one year after the expedition left.

** Fitzjames is said to have sailed the coast of Namibia, which wasn't known by that name until 1990 (the very concept of "Namibia" as a defined location was created by the Germans when they established their Southwest Africa colony in 1884).

** The doomed expedition is real, as are most of the British characters. The story, however, is about what happened ''after'' they went missing, and while it incorporates information from remains found and sightings, it is a largely fictional tale with supernatural elements.

** Surprisingly, while the 19th century identification of "Aglooka" as Crozier is kept, the same does not happen with the identification of his companions "Doktook" and "Toolooah" as [=MacDonald=] and Tozer. Here, [=MacDonald=] [[spoiler:dies in the carnival before deserting the ships,]] and Tozer gets AdaptationalVillainy.

** In the series, [[spoiler:Gore]] is killed by the Tuunbaq before [[spoiler:Sir John]] and the latter writes an eulogy for him. However, the historical 1848 note refers to the former as "the late Commander [[spoiler:Gore]]", implying that he took Fitzjames's position as Commander of ''Erebus'' after FitzJames became Captain in the wake of [[spoiler:Sir John's death,]] and only died later.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Generally averted. By the end of the series, even the best-looking of the men (such as Jopson and Fitzjames) look pretty rough, primarily due to a combination of cold, scurvy, and lead poisoning.[[note]]Of course, makeup and good acting can only do so much. In RealLife the sailors would have looked more like concentration camp victims when in the last extremities of starvation.[[/note]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Of the CallForward[=/=]DramaticIrony variant. After sending a diver to remove ice from the ship's propeller, [[spoiler:Franklin]] expresses his curiosity about the underwater world and his wish to see it in the future. [[spoiler:This is how he dies.]]
* BigBadSlippage: As [[SanitySlippage his sanity slips into nothing]] (and [[TheSociopath he wasn’t exactly well-adjusted to begin with]]), [[spoiler:Hickey]] becomes increasingly unhinged and becomes the real BigBad of the series.

* RegretEatingMe: [[spoiler:Blanky]] covers himself in forks in an attempt to give the Tuunbaq major indigestion.

%%* DoomedMoralVictor

* HeroicBastard: [[spoiler:Fitzjames. It's practically his FreudianExcuse.]]

%%* ItGetsEasier

%%* ScavengersAreScum

** In the series, [[spoiler:Gore]] is killed by the Tuunbaq before [[spoiler:Sir John]] and the latter writes an eulogy for him. However, the historical 1848 note refers to the former as "the late Commander [[spoiler:Gore]]", implying that he took [=FitzJames=]'s position as Commander of ''Erebus'' after [=FitzJames=] became Captain in the wake of [[spoiler:Sir John's death,]] and only died later.

** Fitzjames speaks proudly of his heroics during the First Opium War.

** Surprisingly, while the 19th century identification of "Aglooka" as Crozier is kept, the same does not happen with the identification of his companions "Doktook" and "Toolooah" as [=MacDonald=] and Tozer. Here, [[spoiler: [=MacDonald=] dies in the carnival before deserting the ships,]] and Tozer gets AdaptationalVillainy.

** Neptune is [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog killed by Hickey]] and turned into meat]] as soon as the retreat party makes it to dry land. However Inuit testimonies paint a strong picture that the dog returned to ''Erebus'' and was with the very last survivors in Utjulik Bay and the Adelaide Peninsula years later. This is a carryover from the book, written in 2007 when Inuit testimonies about a ship at Utjulik were dismissed as inaccurate or thought to refer to an unrelated ship.

** In the series, [[spoiler:Gore]] is killed by the Tuunbaq before [[spoiler:Sir John]] and the latter writes an eulogy for him. However, the historical 1848 note refers to the former as "the late Commander [[spoiler:Gore]]", implying that [[spoiler:he took [=FitzJames=]'s position as Commander of ''Erebus'' after [=FitzJames=] became Captain in the wake of Sir John's death,]] and only died later.
** The creators made a deliberate decision to "promote" [=MacDonald=] to head surgeon of ''Terror'' due to his knowledge of Inuit language, rather than depicting him as assistant surgeon.

** Surprisingly, while the 19th century identification of "Aglooka" as Crozier is kept, the same does not happen with the identification of his companion "Dooktook" as [=MacDonald=]. Here, [[spoiler: [=MacDonald=] dies in the carnival before deserting the ships.]]

** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, which would mean he survived long after the ships became trapped and likely was among the last survivors. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''aglukaq'', meaning "long strider").

** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, [[spoiler:which would mean Crozier survived long after the ships became trapped and likely was among the last survivors]]. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''aglukaq'', meaning "long strider"). The claim that Crozier was given the name in his earlier expeditions to the Arctic, and the Netsilik man identifying him from his daguerreotype are likewise fictional (though the latter is likely [[https://franklin-expedition.fandom.com/wiki/%22Black_Men%22_Encounter based on]] a Inuit hunter who claimed to have met a commander of the Expedition while they were still on the ships, and produced two spoons with Crozier's initials as evidence).

** Amazingly none of the actual Inuit testimonies of encounters with the Franklin expedition (and there are several, unlike in the show) claim [[WarCrimeSubvertsHeroism violence against the Inuit]].

* DatedHistory: Neptune is [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog killed by Hickey]] and turned into meat]] as soon as the retreat party makes it to dry land. However Inuit testimonies paint a strong picture that the dog returned to ''Erebus'' and was with the very last survivors in Utjulik Bay and the Adelaide Peninsula years later. This is a carryover from the book, written in 2007 when Inuit testimonies about a ship at Utjulik were dismissed as inaccurate or thought to refer to a different ship.

** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, [[spoiler:which would mean Crozier survived long after the ships became trapped and likely was among the last survivors]]. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''Aglukaq'', meaning "long strider"). The claim that Crozier was given the name in his earlier expeditions to the Arctic, and the Netsilik man identifying him from his daguerreotype are likewise fictional (though the latter is likely [[https://franklin-expedition.fandom.com/wiki/%22Black_Men%22_Encounter based on]] a Inuit hunter who claimed to have met a commander of the Expedition while they were still on the ships, and produced two spoons with Crozier's initials as evidence).

** In the series, [[spoiler:Gore]] is killed by the Tuunbaq before [[spoiler:Sir John]]. However, the historical 1848 note refers to him as "the late Commander [[spoiler:Gore]]", implying that [[spoiler:he took [=FitzJames=]'s position as Commander of ''Erebus'' after [=FitzJames=] became Captain in the wake of Sir John's death,]] and only died later.

Two ships, the RealLife Royal Navy polar exploration vessels ''HMS Erebus'' and ''HMS Terror'', venture into uncharted territory. The commander of the expedition, Sir John Franklin (Creator/CiaranHinds), is blithely confident that the expedition will make it through the ice and through the Bering Strait to warm water in the Pacific. He is supported by the acting captain of the ''Erebus'', the GloryHound Commander James Fitzjames (Creator/TobiasMenzies), whose [[TheStoryteller self-styled swashbuckling bluster]] belies that he is a NaiveNewcomer to anything of this scale. The captain of the ''Terror'', the far more cynical Capt. Francis Crozier (Creator/JaredHarris), who is also an experienced Arctic explorer, consistently points out the extreme dangers of the Arctic and the recklessness of Franklin's actions, but both Franklin’s stubbornness and Crozier’s own [[TheAlcoholic weakness for the bottle]] and [[KnightInSourArmor abrasive personality]] lead to his warnings falling on deaf ears.

Two ships, the RealLife Royal Navy polar exploration vessels ''HMS Erebus'' and ''HMS Terror'', venture into uncharted territory. The commander of the expedition, Sir John Franklin (Creator/CiaranHinds) is blithely confident that the expedition will make it through the ice and through the Bering Strait to warm water in the Pacific. He is supported by the acting captain of the ''Erebus'', the GloryHound Commander James Fitzjames (Creator/TobiasMenzies), whose [[TheStoryteller self-styled swashbuckling bluster]] belies that he is a NaiveNewcomer to anything of this scale. The captain of the ''Terror'', the far more cynical Capt. Francis Crozier (Creator/JaredHarris), who is also an experienced Arctic explorer, consistently points out the extreme dangers of the Arctic and the recklessness of Franklin's actions, but both Franklin’s stubbornness and Crozier’s own [[TheAlcoholic weakness for the bottle]] and [[KnightInSourArmor abrasive personality]] lead to his warnings falling on deaf ears.

Events prove him right, as a series of disasters unfold. The ships are trapped in the Arctic ice, and they remain trapped when the ice never thaws in the summer of 1847. Supplies start running low. Worse, much of their food turns out to be contaminated (inefficient preservation and high levels of lead). And still worse than that, a supernatural monster, a gigantic bear with a humanoid face that the local Netsilik natives call the "Tuunbaq", is stalking the crew. Eventually, as the horrors of scurvy and starvation start to loom, conniving caulker’s mate [[FromNobodyToNightmare Cornelius Hickey]] begins a slow mutiny based on relentless, brutal survivalism, and Crozier and Fitzjames are forced to set aside their differences to try to keep their men alive as some begin to turn on each other and others form deep, trusting bonds in the face of certain death.

* AccidentalMurder: During [[spoiler:the Carnivale fire in Episode 6, Hickey cuts through the tent to free some trapped crewmen and ends up stabbing Dr. Macdonald through the fabric.]] This is notable for being [[spoiler:perhaps the only death which Hickey didn't intentionally cause.]]

** Later when the crew are putting on a masquerade as a morale-builder, Fitzjames (Menzies) is looking through the costume trunk (TruthInTelevision: expedition ships often had things like costumes, libraries, and gramophones to entertain crew on long, isolated missions.) The outfit he settles on? A Roman costume that's extremely similar to Brutus's. Possibly combining this with foreshadowing-it's almost a copy of what Brutus is wearing [[spoiler: when he dies.]]

** [[spoiler: Hickey]] is less outwardly psychopathic in the first few episodes, and there are clear attempts to present him as possibly an alright guy before his mental state begins to deteriorate. These moments - and [[spoiler: Hickey's]] true motivations - are often quite ambiguously depicted and open to interpretation, at least at first. [[spoiler: It is eventually revealed that Hickey is a very realistically-portrayed sociopath, and his PetTheDog moments have been a facade.]] However, he is definitely more nuanced as a character then the novel's version.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Multiple members of the crew side with Hickey in his mutiny that remained loyal in the book, including [[spoiler: Tozer, [[DemotedToExtra Des Voeux,]] and Mr. Hoar, Fitzjames' steward.]]

* BasedOnATrueStory: While most of the plot of the series is pure dramatic speculation, the Franklin Expedition really did vanish without a trace- from the point of view of the Western world, anyway. In reality, while the exact order of events is still a mystery, a member of the expedition popularly believed to be Crozier was spotted by local Inuit multiple times as late as 1858. A group of around twelve white men were reported living around Back Fish River in the mid-fifties, and a linguist visiting the area in 1937 met a group of mixed-race Inuit who stated they were the descendants of three white men who had come from two ships trapped in the ice nearly a hundred years prior. One of those three men was, from his description, very likely James Fitzjames- who had apparently led a long life with a large, happy family among the Inuit and died peacefully in his mid-eighties. However, as none of this is yet proven or disproven, and the show does an impressive amount of ShownTheirWork for what is definitively known, the artistic license is fully justified.

* CuttingBackToReality: The final episode has [[spoiler: Lt. Thomas Jopson]], in the last moments before his death, hallucinating a feast with Captain Crozier seated at the head of the table, completely oblivious to him. He proceeds to crawl onto the table, knocking everything off in a desperate attempt to get Crozier to notice him - but then the scene cuts away and we see that he was only crawling on sharp rocks a little ways from his tent.

* DepravedHomosexual: Deliberately averted with Hickey (in contrast to the book, where he exploits a severely mentally disabled man for sex). He’s definitely depraved, and definitely homosexual, but these factors never cross streams except in that he’s also something of a [[ClingyJealousGirl clingy jealous guy]] to the unlucky and commitment-averse Gibson- he’s not a bad guy because he’s gay, he’s simply a ''very'' bad guy who happens to be gay.
* DiabolusExMachina: The Tuunbaq strikes again after a long period of absence ''just'' as [[spoiler: Hickey and Tozer are about to be hanged.]]

* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler: Sir John (Ciaran Hinds)]] is dead by episode 3 of 10.

* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: The Tuunbaq is a supernatural monster, and Hickey is the secondary antagonist.]]

* FaceHeelTurn: Several crewmen join Hickey in his mutiny, most notably [[spoiler: Tozer, Des Voeux, and reluctantly, Hodgson]].
* FanDisservice: Goodsir, Fitzjames, and Hickey are all good-looking men one might look forward to having a ShirtlessScene or two. Pity you only see them undressed when they're [[spoiler: respectively carved up like a Christmas turkey, investigating rotting war wounds, and being flogged]].

* ForegoneConclusion: If the words 'Both ships then vanished' didn't spell it out, the rescue party arriving ''years'' too late and being told of the dying Crozier's warning -- "Tell them we are gone. Dead and gone." -- hammers home that this story is not going to have a happy ending.

** Pay close attention to the opening credits. [[spoiler: The profiles of Franklin and Fitzjames are blown away to show the skull beneath the skin, and sure enough they both die during the course of the story. By contrast, Crozier's face distorts into the same mask worn by Lady Silence's father in "Go For Broke", showing his ultimate fate of surviving and being adopted by the Inuit.]]
** When Fitzjames is telling the story of the time he was shot by a sniper during the Opium Wars in China for what is implied to be the umpteenth time, Lieutenant Little notes that the nature of his wound (a bullet passing through Fitzjames's arm, entering his side and stopping just short of shattering his spine) is "like the shot that killed [[UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson Lord Nelson]] at Trafalgar," and Fitzjames confirms that he came very close to dying the same way. [[spoiler:He does, two years later, thanks to scurvy reopening the wounds- and with a bleeding eye and rotting arm to mimic Nelson's famous disabilities to boot.]]
** In Episode 3, Morfin starts to sing a sailor's lament in honor of [[spoiler: Franklin]], but is startled to realize that he's forgotten some of the lyrics. [[spoiler: He's suffering from the early stages of chronic lead poisoning, which is going to become a ''big'' problem later on.]]
** A subtle one regarding Hickey's identity. In Episode 2 Crozier comments that Hickey doesn't sound Irish, which Hickey says is because he's lived in England a long time. Hickey also responds that Crozier 'gives hope to the rest of us micks.' Mick is a derogatory term for an Irish person, so unlikely to be used by one. Look closely, and Crozier gives a slight reaction to this. [[spoiler: When we meet the real Hickey briefly at the beginning of episode seven, he speaks with a typical Irish accent.]]

** [[spoiler: Then a scouting team accidentally shoots an Inuit shaman and appear to have incurred the wrath of a monster which kills several of the crew,]] [[spoiler:including Franklin.]]

** When Goodsir brings that last tidbit to the attention of Dr Stanley, [[spoiler: Stanley appears to be driven to despair and madness by the almost certain death sentence that has been given to the expedition, and sets the Carnivale tent ''and himself'' on fire. Two of those to die in the disaster are Dr. Macdonald and Dr. Peddie, leaving Goodsir as the last medical man in both crews.]]

** [[spoiler: The crew finds out that the Tuunbaq does not only kill people, but devours their souls as well.]]
** [[spoiler: Fitzjames is dying slowly and painfully from scurvy and has to be mercy killed by Crozier, Blanky is succumbing to gangrene and sacrifices himself to lead the Tuunbaq away from the remaining crew, Hickey kills a dying Gibson and forces Goodsir to butcher him for meat, and the mutineers capture Crozier.]]
** An off-screen example is what befalls [[spoiler: Lieutenant Little and the remaining crewmen who elect to follow Crozier's order to leave him behind, even though he hoped they wouldn't actually do that. When Crozier finds their camp after several weeks under Lady Silence's care, all that remains are collapsed and tattered tents, half-eaten bodies and severed limbs in cooking pots, and the dying Edward Little, whose face is now covered in golden chains sewn into his cheeks and lip and is so far gone he can only blankly stare at Crozier and utter "close" before expiring.]]
* GallowsHumor: Blanky, facing the imminent amputation of his leg, asks Crozier to serve everyone a shot of whisky from his bottle, stating that he feels like he and the Tuunbag have just gotten engaged and he wants to celebrate. Much later on, [[spoiler: as he's preparing to [[HeroicSacrifice lure the Tuunbaq away from the rest of the crew]], he starts cackling gleefully when Crozier realizes why he wants [[RegretEatingMe forks and rope]].]]

* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't actually see [[spoiler: Irving's posthumous castration, just a huge, appropriately-placed bloodstain on the cloth that covers his corpse.]]
* GreatWhiteHunter: In the third episode Franklin sets up a trap for the Tuunbaq similar to those used in India for hunting tigers, and brings a camera to photograph the expected result. [[spoiler: It does not end well. [[RasputinianDeath At all.]] ]]
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A watchstander aboard ''Terror'' is found cut in half. The doctors determine he was cut with a claw, and when Fitzjames suggests the assailant was a man using a bear’s claw as a weapon, they observe that the power demonstrated in each cut was beyond the strength of any man. [[spoiler: The monster swiped its claw three times in the same place, deliberately bisecting the poor bastard- or rather, ''bastards'', as the Tuunbaq, disturbingly, stacks the upper half of one dead man on the lower half of the other.]]
** This fate ultimately befalls [[spoiler: Hickey in ''We Are Gone'']].
* HeroesLoveDogs: Franklin and Crozier to Neptune, in contrast to Hickey, whose first lines are complaining about the dog's apparent elevation over the crew and [[spoiler: eventually kills and eats him]].

** In episode three, Sir John tells Crozier that he is not fit for command in a fit of anger. [[spoiler: Sir John is killed by the monster by the end of the episode, [[YouAreInCommandNow forcing Crozier to assume command.]]]]
** Blanky in episode nine: [[spoiler: Dying of gangrene, he walks away from the camp to draw the Tuunbaq off. Eventually he can go no further, sits down on a hillside -- and suddenly realizes that the stretch of frozen ocean he's looking out over ''is'' the Northwest Passage the whole expedition came out here to find. His only reaction is to burst out laughing and note it down on his map while he waits to die.]]
** After they’re caught fooling around, Hickey discovers Gibson has sold him out to Lieutenant Irving, though Gibson insists this betrayal was necessary to spare them both from a more severe punishment. In the penultimate episode of the season, [[spoiler: Hickey repays this figurative backstab by literally stabbing Gibson in the back, though this too (in theory) is done to spare the other further suffering.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: [[spoiler: Hickey and the superstitious sailors believe Lady Silence is a witch controlling the Tuunbaq. While it's not clear to them at the time whether she's actually commanding the beast to kill (in fact, she’s obviously terrified of the creature), there is clearly ''some'' connection between the two.]]

* MagicVersusTechnology: [[spoiler: The supernatural Tuunbaq against a well-equipped Royal Navy expedition.]]

* MeatGrinderSurgery: [=MacDonald=] is forced to amputate [[spoiler: Blanky's]] leg after an attack by [[spoiler: the Tuunbaq.]]

** Crozier lashes out at Blanky in a fit of drunken anger, ordering him to go out and get a "full report" of conditions on the ice. This puts Blanky in the Tuunbaq's sights when it storms ''Terror'' moments later, costing him his leg, [[spoiler: and is ultimately part of the reason for his death]].

** Lt. Graham Gore is shown to be a friendly officer who treats the men of his scouting party very fairly, taking one of the haul lines to pull their boat and equipment when he could easily pawn the hard work off on the enlisted men, [[spoiler: until he becomes the Tuunbaq’s first victim]].

** When Diver Collins is clearing ice from ''Erebus'''s prop. Already nervous in the unfamiliar Arctic waters, and well-aware that any malfunction in his diving suit will most likely be fatal, Collins sees - or perhaps imagines - a dark figure floating towards him in the water, and immediately panics.

** Goodsir has one when he goes to fetch Lt. Gore and arrives just in time to [[spoiler: see the Tuunbaq maul him to death, complete with TheScream.]]
** Franklin has two consecutive ones in ''The Ladder''. First, when Tuunbaq caves in the hunting blind and [[OffWithHisHead rips Sgt. Bryant's head off]], second, when [[spoiler: he sees that it [[AnArmAndALeg tore off his own leg]] right before throwing him down the ice hole.]]
** Goodsir has a massive one when he deduces that [[spoiler: the crew is suffering from years of collective lead poisoning thanks to the improper soldering on the cans, and the water pipes. Dr. Stanley also has one when he is informed of this, leading to...]]
** Crozier, when he sees [[spoiler: Dr. Stanley [[DrivenToSuicide covering himself in oil.]]]]
** An understated one from Crozier, Fitzjames, Morfin and Tozer after they [[spoiler: happen upon the remains of the rescue team they sent out a year ago just 18 miles from the ships, meaning there is no one coming to save them.]]

** Hickey has a [[LaserGuidedKarma well deserved one]] when [[spoiler: Tuunbaq bites down on his arm instead of accepting him as a shaman.]]

** Franklin himself is sixty, and Crozier seven years younger.

** In Episode 7, we see a flashback to Cornelius Hickey joining the crew muster. He is played by a different actor than Adam Nagaitis. [[spoiler: This is because the Cornelius Hickey that Nagaitis plays is an imposter.]]

* SelfImmolation: [[spoiler: Dr. Stanley, in an attempt to mass-MercyKill everyone during the Carnivale.]]
* SergeantRock: Solomon Tozer of the Royal Marines. [[spoiler: Until he joins up with Hickey.]] Sergeant Bryant is also an example of the trope [[spoiler: until Tuunbag decapitates him]].
* ShadowArchetype: Hickey becomes this to both Crozier (as an underappreciated, overworked lower-class Irishman) and Fitzjames. [[spoiler:Both Hickey and Fitzjames received their positions on the ship through dubious means- Hickey performed a KillAndReplace on the real Cornelius Hickey, and Fitzjames, whose career in the Royal Navy began when his foster family glossed over his volunteer record to get him promoted to midshipman without his actually having done the prerequisite duty, received the appointment in thanks for paying to cover up a scandal involving an admiral’s son. Hickey proves to be almost totally amoral, while Fitzjames, uncomfortably aware of being a fraud, is ultimately a good man who does everything he can to try to deserve what he has.]]

** [[spoiler: The death of Sir John Franklin; some viewers wondered why he didn't surface as soon as possible after being dropped into the ice hole's waters. Currents notwithstanding, the sheer chill factor of that water would've caused his muscles to seize up within seconds, ensuring he'd sink like a stone and freeze to death shortly before drowning. Which is also foreshadowed in the very first episode, when an unfortunate crew member falls into the waters; it's less than a minute, on the surface itself, before he just gurgles and sinks with little more than ten seconds or less of mild thrashing.]]

** In "The Ladder", while Goodsir is making a daguerreotype of Franklin and the hunting party, some snow cascades down onto the hunting blind behind them, as if disturbed by something. [[spoiler: The Tuunbaq attacks the blind from above minutes later. It was watching them the whole time.]]
** In the first episode, while the Inuit are telling James Ross about what happened to the expedition, you can see a hooded figure sitting outside the tent listening, before eventually getting up and leaving. In the final episode, [[spoiler: This turns out to be Crozier, deciding to abandon his life in England.]]
* SolitarySorceress: WhiteMagicianGirl Lady Silence apparently lives apart from Inuit society, judging by her and her father being out on the pack ice in the first place, and her decision to stay near the ships after his death. [[spoiler: In the end, the death of the Tuunbaq forces her to spend the rest of her life alone, apparently by her own unquestioned choice.]]
* SquishyWizard: Lady Silence's father [[spoiler: is The Beast Master who can control the Tuunbaq,]] but he can't stop a bullet any better than anyone else.

* ToiletHumour: Whilst the rest of the crew attends [[spoiler: Franklin's burial]] Hickey defecates in his ex-boyfriend Gibson’s bed and wipes his bum with a pair of ceremonial white gloves.

* TongueOnTheFlagPole: A rare non-comedic example. Due to the cold, the party are careful not to touch metal above deck with their bare flesh, otherwise they'll get stuck and lose several layers of skin trying to get free. [[spoiler: Crozier (who really should know better)]] at one point makes the mistake of bringing a telescope too close to his eye, ''and nearly rips his eyelid off.'' Another man tears off most of the skin on his palm while preparing a cannon [[spoiler: to fire at the Tuunbaq.]]

** Subverted with Fitzjames, who initially seems like nothing but Franklin's preening yes-man, who supports his decision against Crozier in the first episode and seems more concerned with the men's personal cleanliness than running the ship. After that, though, it steadily becomes clearer that he's no twit- he has his men monitor Crozier's drinking problem after the latter becomes head of the whole expedition, successfully predicting that Crozier will hit the bottle and make things worse and personally calling him out on it. He ultimately becomes, if not a great leader himself, a brave and effective [[TheLancer right hand man]] to Crozier after the latter has kicked his drinking habit [[spoiler:And then, to hammer it home, it turns out Fitzjames is not even truly upper class, either.]]

* WhiteMage: [[spoiler: Lady Silence's father is a shaman whose job is to protect the Inuit people from the Tuunbaq. His job has apparently now fallen to his daughter]].
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: The series starts out like this, with daily life aboard a Royal Navy exploratory expedition [[ShownTheirWork represented in surprising detail]]. Both vessels were originally built as mortar ships[[note]] ''Terror'' saw active service in the War of 1812, and was part of the British fleet that bombarded Fort [=McHenry=], inspiring Francis Scott Key to write ''The Star-Spangled Banner''[[/note]], but were converted to exploratory ships, as their heavily-framed hulls built to withstand the recoil of a heavy mortar also made them capable icebreakers. Despair sets in amongst the crew after the third episode, however, and shipboard life goes out the window in favor of starvation, hypothermia... [[spoiler: and a vicious monster]].
* WorldHalfFull: Surprisingly enough, despite the, well, terror the men live (and eventually fail to live) through, the series takes the ultimate position that above all else, it’s important to bond and help each other in the face of tragedy, and that Hickey’s vicious “adaptation” strategies only make things worse. Goodsir even says toward the end that even after everything he’s been through, the Arctic is still beautiful to him, filling him with childlike wonder and curiosity.

* SignificantBackgroundEvent: Lt. Irving, leading a hunting party consisting of him, Hickey, and Farr, spies a Netsilik family. Delirious with happiness, he goes to meet them, while Hickey and Farr remain in the far background at the top of the hill. As Irving greets the Netsilik, we see Hickey and Farr, still in the far background, disappear from the top of the hill. When Irving comes back, he and the audience find out that [[spoiler:Hickey has murdered Farr]].

** Dr. Stanley has a scene drawing a picture, and talking livingly of his (fictional) daughter right before [[spoiler:he commits mass murder-suicide after losing his mind.]]

* EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys: Sir John is gifted a pet monkey, Jacko, by his wife before the expedition starts, and takes it aboard the ''Erebus''. It is a notably calm and good natured individual for a monkey. [[spoiler:And like everyone else, it has a grim end when Goodsir uses it as a lab rat to test if eating from the ship's cans cause lead poisoning.]]

** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, [[spoiler:which would mean Crozier survived long after the ships became trapped and likely was among the last survivors]]. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''Aglukaq'', meaning "long strider"). The claim that Crozier was given the name in his earlier expeditions to the Arctic, and the Netsilik man identifying him from his daguerreotype are likewise fictional (though the latter is likely [[https://franklin-expedition.fandom.com/wiki/%22Black_Men%22_Encounter based on]] a Inuit hunter who claimed to have met the second-in-command of the Expedition while they were still on the ships, and produced two spoons with Crozier's initials as evidence).

** In one episode, two of ''Terror'''s crew are caught having sex in the ship's hold. This might not seem like a big deal to 21st-century audiences, but homosexual activity was a punishable offense in the Royal Navy of the 19th century (though technically [[SituationalSexuality only for the first 90 days out of port]]).

** The show (and book) follow earlier literature in assuming that the "Aglooka" mentioned by native witness accounts was the same man and that his identitity was Crozier, [[spoiler:which would mean Crozier survived long after the ships became trapped and was probably one of the last survivors]]. However it's been [[https://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2011/09/aglooka.html pointed out]] that the "Aglooka" encounters are inconsistent enough to presume that different bands of Inuit met different groups of Franklin Expedition survivors and gave the "Aglooka" name to a different man each time ("Aglooka" was likely the Inuktitut word ''Aglukaq'', meaning "long strider"). The claim that Crozier was given the name in his earlier expeditions to the Arctic, and the Netsilik man identifying him from his daguerreotype are likewise fictional (though the latter is loosely based on a Inuit hunter who claimed to have met the second-in-command of the Expedition while they were still on the ships, and produced two spoons with Crozier's initials as evidence).