"Well done, sailor."

Keeping with our theme (as in one post so far) of discussing the poll and potential characters that could appear in the future Pirates of the Caribbean 5 movie (which is only 870 more days away, no longer over 900!), we will be talking about Philip Swift.  Speaking of Swift, did everyone see her in the Emmys?   Because I didn't.  Awkward.  I'm more of a movie person than music, as you can see, otherwise perhaps this would be called Snippets of Harry Styles instead.  Okay, sorry.  Getting off topic.  Anyways, Philip Swift stand out in the movies as someone who actually has moral standards.  I suppose in some ways Elizabeth and Will have a good moral center (or at least Elizabeth thinks she does), but they do make many actions out of selfish ambition, even if it is for the other.  Philip on the other hand, is consistent about his very meaning.  Though he is a missionary, he does not preach all the time. 

 Rather, he waits for others to come to him.  Towards the beginning of the movie and the voyage to the Fountain of Youth, Philip is finally let down from his perching placed tied to the top of the mast on a hope that having a missionary present would save Blackbeards soul Scrum:"A missionary is the story. What I heard, was he got captured in a raid. The rest on the ship got killed, but not him. First Mate wouldn't let it happen, on account his premier standing with the Lord."   He's not bitter or angry, even though he has somewhat of a right to be after how they treated him.  He doesn't try to scream at any one to repent.  In fact, it's Blackbeard and Angelica who bring up religion as they can't tell if Blackbeard has a heart or not, as if that were even a question: he clearly doesn't.  The cleric simply shares that he believes that even someone as cruel as Blackbeard can still receive salvation.  Pretty bold and generous if you ask me.  

He doesn't tell everyone on the voyage that the Fountain will do them no good in gaining eternal life, but allows the Spaniard to do that later.  However, that doesn't stop Jack from coming up to him asking about going to heaven, or as he put it "the place where all the goody-goodies go".  Philip seizes this as the opportunity to tell Jack about converting, which he doesn't seem so fond on.  So I suppose you're wondering, "Well, if he doesn't do anything how do you even know that he has a moral compass?"  Well, as he's talking to Jack, he's interrupted by the realization that Syrena the mermaid is suffocating in her coffin. He reaches out and steals the sword of a zombified quartermaster, an then desperately shoves the sword through the crack and opens it for her, saving her life.  
That's some guts right there.  His genuine generosity towards the mermaid continues when her coffin is dropped all together and she is forced to walk, despite the fact that she has never done so in her whole life.  Being the wonderful gentleman he is, Philip clothes her and carries her himself, despite the murderous threats from Blackbeard.  I'm sure Harry Styles would do the exact same thing! Clearly Phillip formed an attraction to Syrena while on their journey but unfortunately he has one strike against him, while the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge was trying (and failing) to capture mermaids Phillip was half drowning while trying to get to shore. When Jack blew up the lighthouse some debris trapped Syrena right by Phillip and he tried to rescue her but Blackbeard's crew was ready with nets and quickly captured her. Syrena wasn't very pleased with the pirates at that point, especially Phillip thanks to Blackbeards praise of Phillip after the nets were thrown "Well done, sailor, well done."  
But after he successfully saved her from the coffin the tides of love turned in Swifts favor. Well the mermaid loved him, everyone else....not so much. In fact Blackbeard sensed the love connection and decided to use it against Syrena by threatening Phillip's life so he could gain the last piece to the Fountain of Life puzzle: a single tear. "You care for her...you fancy her. Do not deny what is clear to my eyes. Question is...does she fancy you? By God, she does. We are in luck! Bring forth a tear...or witness the death of this poor soul." After Phillip was proclaimed dead Syrena still didn't  give them what they wanted, and they promptly tied her up and left her to die. But miracle of miracles Phillip is actually alive! When Phillip woke from his poisoned dart induced slumber he ran to free Syrena and she cried happy tears which were promptly gathered by a crew member  and she was once again left to die and Phillip was forced to continue on the journey. But Phillip tried one last time to assure Syrena of his love and maybe even free her before leaving her to bake in the sun: "Syrena, on my word, I had no part in this! Let her go. You don't need her now." As soon as the whole fountain of youth thing was done 

Phillip sneaked away from the group and returned to his love, he untied her and was given a gift many pirates dream about...A mermaid's kiss. Now we aren't sure if He survived that kiss or not so you'll have to keep a weather eye on the horizon for our friend the missionary in the next PotC movie.