This Post Does Not Contain Any Spoilers for Pirates of the Caribbean 2

[iainuki]

But the comments might. What, exactly, was supposed to be going on in the ending? Would it make sense if I'd seen the first movie?

Comments

[tortoise]

Yes. The guy who showed up at the very end was the villain from the first movie.

[thegreatgonz]

Quite frankly, I'm surprised the second movie made any sense at all without having seen the first. It's not an experience I would recommend to anyone, and I loved them both.

But yes, as noted by another poster, the guy in the last shot was the villain of the first film, and was quite unmistakeably killed in it. He stole the Pearl from Jack (hence the reference to "his" ship), and green apples were sort of his trademark, hence the apple. Personally, I found it a delightful surprise, because his character was great fun, but I imagine it falls a bit flat if you don't know who he is.