Exclusive Interview
‘The Buccaneers’: Aubri Ibrag on Lizzy & Theo’s Future After Shocking Season 2 Finale Twist
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 8, “She Knows.”]
Lizzy Elmsworth (Aubri Ibrag) has the world on her shoulders by the end of The Buccaneers Season 2 finale. Nan (Kristine Froseth) discovers Lizzy and Theo’s (Guy Remmers) affair, which leads to a brutal fight between the best friends at Tintagel, where Nan threatens to expose Lizzy to the world.
News of the affair hits the papers, thanks to a sly Hector (Jacob Ifan), but Lizzy and Theo both initially believe Nan is responsible. To salvage her reputation, Lizzy (who doesn’t know Hector outed the affair), agrees to give her relationship with Hector another try since there’s no way for her and Theo to be together.
Nothing could have prepared her for Theo’s announcement at Nan’s masquerade ball. Just as Nan is about to reveal she’s pregnant with the heir to Tintagel, Theo steps up to drop the bomb that he’s abdicating his role as the Duke of Tintagel — for Lizzy. “My love does not deserve to be a secret. We have to be able to celebrate that love,” Theo says in his speech. Abdication means he can divorce Nan to be with Lizzy.
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However, before running off, Nan tells a blindsided Lizzy that she’s pregnant with Theo’s baby and wants Lizzy to keep it a secret. “Good luck lying to Theo,” Nan says. When Lizzy reunites with Theo after the twists and turns of the night, she has tears streaming down her face.
Aubri Ibrag spoke with Swooon about Theo’s sacrifice for love, what those tears mean in that final scene, and more. Does she think Lizzy and Theo will be endgame? Scroll down to get all of your burning Lizzy and Theo questions answered.
My jaw dropped when Theo announced he was abdicating and giving everything up for love. Were you surprised by that finale twist? What is going through Lizzy’s head during all of this?
Aubri Ibrag: I was very surprised. Me reading the script, I was like, “There’s no way. What’s going to happen to the Duke?” This whole thing has gotten so crazy. To abdicate a whole lineage for love is the ultimate sacrifice, obviously. I think for Lizzy, it’s like she almost feels as though the whole world in that moment is closing in on her. She feels very watched, and she doesn’t know what to do. Nan’s there, Theo’s there, the girls are there, everyone’s there. And it’s kind of obvious that maybe she’s the one. I think it’s obviously very flattering, but I think there’s also a lot of pressure that comes with him abdicating because now they have to make it work, in a sense. He left his whole life to be with Lizzy, which is a great thing, but if it doesn’t work out, then that sucks.
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In that moment, Lizzy’s in the crowd, and Nan’s up on stage with Theo. When Nan leaves, there’s a look on Lizzy’s face. How did you approach that moment?
Ibrag: I think it’s almost a moment of I have no idea what’s happening. I’m just frozen. Also, Lizzy wants Nan to know that she did not force Theo to do this. She, in no way, encouraged him or anything. I think in that moment, it’s almost like a fight or flight response. If I run and go after her, everyone will know it’s me. So that’s what she does because she has to go get her friend and have this really tough conversation.
And then there’s the look with Theo. It’s giving, wow, you really just gave up the whole world for me.
Ibrag: That’s kind of ideal. [Laughs] The world would have been their oyster if things hadn’t happened afterwards. But I think in this world, it’s almost like Lizzy’s always in a pursuit of her happiness. As soon as she’s almost there, as soon as she’s almost at the thing, something just comes in like a wrecking ball and just wrecks everything. But if everything was happy all the time, we wouldn’t have a show.
There’s also the Hector of it all. Where does he fit into all of this? If the world finds out Nan is pregnant and Theo leaves her, Lizzy’s going to look bad. Lizzy does have an out with him.
Ibrag: I think Hector is sort of her saving grace. When he does give her the proposal, it’s almost like, Oh my God, my life’s ruined. I’m going to lose everything. I’ve messed up. And then he’s her little lifeboat. Back in those days, it was all about appearances. As long as she appears to be a married woman with some kids, she won’t be vulnerable to judgment, which is really sad, actually.
However, he is the one who leaked Lizzy and Theo’s affair. Do you think Lizzy could forgive him for that?
Ibrag: I mean, she did cheat on him, so maybe she would be understanding that he acted out of hurt. That could potentially happen. I think Lizzy’s almost using him to save herself. I feel like, at this point, he kind of knows that, but he hates losing a battle. It’s more of a power thing for appearances, and he’s the guy who was left at the altar, everybody knows, and he doesn’t want to be that guy in everyone’s eyes. It’s almost more of a strategic move as well, so I think if they did end up together, it would just be quiet, bland marriage.
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Do you think Lizzy will be able to lie to Theo? He clearly hates lying, and I think if he found out Lizzy kept something of this magnitude from him, it might truly break him.
Ibrag: I think, actually, that’s maybe the reason why Lizzy wouldn’t lie to him because she knows what it did to Nan and Theo’s marriage when Nan was lying. He’s been lied to by so many people that I feel like if Lizzy does lie to him about it, it’s just going to be devastating for Theo. Who can he really trust if even this person, who’s the only trustworthy person in his life at this point, can’t be trusted? Then he’s got no one, really.
She could make the ultimate sacrifice by telling him so he wouldn’t be abandoning his child…
Ibrag: I think obviously there’s a risk that comes with that because what if she does tell him, and then he’s like, “Well, now I’m going to go be with Nan and make it work because now we have a child and we have to.” I think Lizzy, perhaps, also fears being abandoned by him, and she still wants him in her life. Maybe she could lie because of that.
She’s got Hector. She’s got an out if she needs one.
Ibrag: She’s got a little safety net. You know what? She’s fine. She’ll be fine.
Lizzy and Theo do share a scene after Lizzy’s confrontation with Nan. While he seems relieved, Lizzy has the weight of the world on her shoulders. The way she looks at him is beautiful and tragic all at once.
Ibrag: I feel like even if the baby bomb didn’t drop, then Lizzy would have still hurt her really, really good friend, and I think that is already the weight of the situation. Then there is, I’m also engaged to Hector, which adds small weight to the situation. Then there is, now everyone knows I’m the mistress because I ran out of the ball. And then there’s the baby weight, which is the massive weight of the situation. I think she has all this stuff that she wants to say, but all she can do is look at him, and she’s kind of thinking maybe this is the last time I will ever see you. If I tell you all of this, this may be the last time we kiss, this may be the last time I ever see you, which is really, really sad.
Do you think Lizzie and Theo can be endgame?
Ibrag: I suppose anything is possible because I didn’t think that abdicating a title was possible. It would be really complicated. I think they would be judged by a lot of people if they ended up together. I think they would face a lot of criticism. It’s like, if you’re in a relationship that’s public, and now everyone knows your business, then the judgment of those couples on social media that share all of their relationship photos and stuff, sometimes that’s the reason why they end up falling apart because they almost have to put together this facade, right? They would face a lot of criticism, but maybe because of Theo’s power, they could make it work. Even though now, technically, he doesn’t have any more power. So I don’t know what they would do with all of this.
The Buccaneers, Season 2, Streaming Now, Apple TV+
