As Governor
Weatherby Swann, his 12-year-old daughter,
Elizabeth, and
Lieutenant James Norrington sail to
Port Royal,
Jamaica, their vessel encounters a burning shipwreck with an unconscious survivor, the young
Will Turner. Elizabeth hides a gold medallion that Will is wearing, fearing it will identify him as a pirate. The crew then glimpses a ghostly pirate ship, the notorious
Black Pearl, sailing away from the wreckage.
Eight years later, Norrington proposes marriage to the now-adult Elizabeth after being promoted to
Commodore. However, her over-tightened corset causes her to faint before she can answer, and she falls from the fort into the bay. The pirate medallion, which she wears as a necklace, emits a pulse in the water which signals the
Black Pearl.
Simultaneously, pirate
Captain Jack Sparrow arrives in Port Royal to steal a ship. After an encounter with
two guards, he sees Elizabeth fall and saves her, but Norrington recognizes Jack as a pirate and orders his arrest. Jack escapes, hiding in a blacksmith's shop, where Will Turner now works as an apprentice. After a sword duel between the two, Jack is knocked unconscious and jailed, to be
hanged the next day. That night, Port Royal is besieged by the
Pearl, answering the medallion's call. Elizabeth is captured and invokes the right of
parley. She negotiates for the pirates to stop attacking Port Royal in exchange for the medallion and claims to
Captain Barbossa that her surname is Turner, as she believes her real name will reveal her importance as a hostage. Barbossa stops the bombardment, but exploits a loophole in the agreement, keeping Elizabeth prisoner. He believes she is the key to breaking a curse the pirate crew is under
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