Daniella Scott
·3 min read
Being a Peaky Blinders fan can sometimes feel like a full time job (the best job in the world, though, ofc) and with every new episode you need to make sure you're up to date on your Peakys history. Well, if you've not had time to go through your flashcards this week, don't worry, we've got you. Here's your handy recap of the blue sapphire curse that has reappeared in season 6, along with the meaning of the whole thing and why it's so significant.
Cast your mind back to series 3 of Peaky Blinders (2016, if you can believe it!) when Tommy and Grace Shelby are happily married in their huge mansion with their son Charles. Throughout the series Tommy is involved in various dealings with Russian nobles, one of whom gives him a gigantic sapphire pendant as part of a hoard of jewels smuggled out of Russia at the time.
The sapphire was given to Tommy as thanks for the murder of a spy and as a down-payment for a shipment of tanks (which Tommy later sabotaged), and towards the end of series 3 we see Tommy gift the pendant to Grace before a party.
As you'll remember, while wearing the jewel Grace is shot by Italian assassins, killed by a bullet that was actually meant for Tommy. Seconds before Grace is shot, Russain heiress Tatiana Petrovna tells Tommy, "Does your wife know that sapphire she's wearing has been cursed by a gypsy? Nothing on Earth would make me wear it."
As a result, Tommy blames himself for Grace's death and seeking absolution, goes to see Madame Barwell, who, holding the stone tells him, "I can feel the curse burning through my heart."
Madame Barwell tries to alleviate Tommy's guilt with this explanation, and then keeps the cursed stone despite his warnings about it. Now, in season 6, the curse seems to have reappeared, this time targeting Tommy and Lizzie's daughter Ruby.
After Lizzie tells Tommy that Ruby had started repeating Romani words, Tommy panics and rushes home from America to protect his daughter who soon falls ill with a fever. In the most recent episode, Esme, wife of Tommy's murdered brother John, explains what she thinks is going on and why the blue sapphire curse may be significant again.
"You recall a sapphire? You gave a sapphire to a woman called Bethany Barwell," Esme tells Tommy.
"She gave the stone to her sister, Navadni Barwell. Navadni put the stone around the neck of her daughter and straight away the girl began to cough. She died that night, seven years old," she continues.
"I heard they threw the sapphire in the river, no one has ever gone to look for it. I'm guessing it'll be the girl's mother that laid the curse," Esme theorises, based on the fact that Ruby also is seven years old, adding, "Only women can lay curses."
Peaky Blinders continues on BBC One every Sunday at 9pm.
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