The novel delves into the history between Jack Sparrow and Cutler Beckett only hinted in the films. Over a decade before the events of Curse of the Black Pearl", Jack Sparrow has left his pirates origins behind him to make an honest living as a sailor for the East India Trading Company. However his skills attract the attention of an ambitious EITC official named Cutler Beckett who entrusts him with a secret plan to plunder the mystical island of Zerzura, using the knowledge of a slave girl. However the quest will be far from simple and before the end Jack must reckon with his future as an honest man or a pirate.
- Ambition Is Evil: Cutler Becket wants a title and is prepared to do anything to move up the ladder.
- Call-Forward: Cutler Beckett goes into the same unresponsive state as in the third movie, when pirates torture him after he's captured.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Young Cutler Beckett furiously calls out his father out when he tries to manipulate him into joining the clergy by claiming it's his mother's wish, accusing him of giving her syphilis.
- Chekhov's Gun: Jack uses the same ritual the Brethren Court used to summon Davy Jones to make his bargain for the Black Pearl.
- Continuity Snarl: Despite Jack having met Jones as a boy in the "Jack Sparrow" series, the two show no recognition of each other. This was due to the writer not having access to that series when she wrote this book.
- Deal with the Devil: One Hundred Years on the Flying Dutchman for Thirteen Years as Captain of the Black Pearl.
- Doomed by Canon: Considering Jack is the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean in the film, its safe to say Esmeralda died at some point between here and the movies.
- Early-Bird Cameo: A young Hector Barbossa and his crewmen Pintel and Ragetti, show up as survivors of a rogue pirate attack.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Amoral as he is, Beckett does love his sister and his mother.
- Everyone Has Standards: Mixed with Pragmatic Villainy, The Brethern Court disproves the rogue pirates slaughtering entire crews due to it violating the Code and potentially bring down the naval forces of various countries against all pirates. They are also disprove of them attacking fellow pirates.
- Evil Former Friend: Christophe-Julien de Rapièr, a rogue pirate who manipulated Jack into helping him escape from the Brethern Court's custody and killed Don Rafael.
- Forced to Watch: As punishment for freeing his cargo of slaves, Beckett forces Jack to watch him sink the Wicked Wench.
- Foregone Conclusion: Beckett's attempts at joining the British nobility will fail, since he won't be granted a Lordship until just before the events of Dead Man's Chest. The dramatic tension instead lies in what exactly went wrong the first time around (and what role Jack played in Beckett's failed bid).
- Freudian Excuse: Beckett's loathing for Pirates is revealed to stem from an incident where he was captured and tortured
- Hidden Elf Village: The hidden island of Zerzura or Kerma, which was settled by Egyptian colonists from Kush.
- I Owe You My Life: After Reginald Marmaduke Bracegirdle-Penwallow pays Beckett's ransom, Beckett becomes his devoted supporter.
- Kick the Dog: Jonathan Beckett Sr. refuses to ransom his son from pirates leaving him to die.
- Mythology Gag: The Black Pearl's original name of the Wicked Wench is taken from the pirate ship seen in the original park ride.
- Passed-Over Promotion: A variation. This is revealed to be what Beckett was alluding to in the deleted scene from At World's End about how Jack's "good deed" (liberating a cargo of slaves) cost him. More specifically, the financial and political damage from Jack's actions (coupled with the failure to secure the treasure of Zerzura) ended up costing Beckett a shot at a potential Lordship. It took Beckett over a decade to repair the damage and regain his standing enough to try again (and with success come Dead Man's Chest). Scant wonder he hates Jack so much.
- One Degree of Separation: Jack's Evil Former Friend, Christophe-Julien de Rapièr was the one who captured and tortured Cutler Beckett.
- Pet the Dog: An imprisoned Boris Palachnik apologizes to Barbossa for attacking his ship and passes on his Piece of Eight to him.
- Pirate Girl: Don Rafael's daughter Esmeralda Maria Consuela Anna de Sevilla who follows in her father's footsteps as the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean.
- Shout-Out: Don Rafael mentions encountering an old friend of his named James, who had lost his hand and replaced it with a hook, looked unchanged despite a decade passing since they'd last met, and looked terrified for a moment after a young serving boy startled him.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Davy Jones appears in only two scenes but plays a key role in both, identifying Pirate Lord Boris Palachnik as the leader of the rogue pirates and making a deal with Jack for the Black Pearl.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Jack chooses good when he free's the slaves he was forced to transport and gets branded as a pirate.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Beckett is revealed to have started as this.
- Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: The Treasure of Cortés from the first film (at least at this point in the Pirates timeline). As Jack remarks, in-universe nobody knows what happened to it and every buccaneer has been searching for the lost Aztec Gold for over 150 years.
