The solution is the mythical . Henry, along with a young astronomer named Carina Smyth and a washed-up Jack Sparrow, find the trident. When it is shattered, every curse of the sea is broken —including the Dutchman’s bond.

The film’s final scene shows Elizabeth standing on a cliff at sunset with their son, Henry. As the Flying Dutchman rises from the water, Will steps onto the sand, transformed but human. He asks, "Elizabeth?" She replies, "Ten years. It’s nothing."

In At World’s End (2007), Will strikes a desperate bargain with the resurrected Captain Barbossa. He agrees to trick Jack Sparrow into becoming the new captain of the Dutchman so that Will can retrieve his father’s soul from the ship’s cursed crew. However, the plan backfires. During the climactic maelstrom battle, Will is fatally stabbed through the heart by Davy Jones.