Mmh, those characters are alive in TI. I'm scared for Rackham, he could die :(

What "did" I expect from the ending, now that the show is over?

Pretty much what we got. Flint is dead in Treasure Island. Killed by his own trusted first mate, Long John Silver. Billy is the one with the map who gets the ball rolling to search for this Urca gold transformed into rare gems and jewels. Woodes Rogers does indeed get imprisoned for his debts in real life and Calico Jack Rackham does indeed create the iconic Skull and Cross swords flag that has become the symbol for piracy in the Indies.

I know ambiguity is kind of a cheap cop out in film and movies. Most of the time, I would hate it. But in this case, I don't mind it. Does Flint die or was he really put in a plantation in the Carolinas? In Treasure Island, he's dead. But for all we know being put in a place where you are forgotten and written out of history is the equivalent to dying.

I personally think Silver killed Flint and then lied to Maddy. Either way, I still liked the ending and really this entire series since the beginning. I now want to go back and re-read Treasure Island.

@MattiaCost said:

A big battle? Important deaths? Something else?

I expected more or less what happened : "civilization" restored, closure to personal stories with a lot of "happily everafter".

What I was hoping for, though, was something else entirely : that slaves and pirates, with or more likely despite the protagonists, would spread the fire of insurrection through to the new and old world alike, and thus leave the shores of known history for an ultimate adventure.