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Winter (portrayed by Ruby-May Martinwood) was a petty thief who looked at James Delaney in admiration.

Official Description[]

"Her mother is brothel madam Helga, but Winter isn't keen to become part of the family business. An independent, pragmatic scavenger, she and other street urchins make a living by beachcombing on the banks of the Thames. She isn't afraid to loot a dead body whenever one washes ashore." [1]

Character Overview[]

Winter was a resourceful, independent young girl planning to build a better future than that offered to women in the slums. Despite her strange sense of reality, including her belief in the supernatural, Winter was a disillusioned individual, hardened by street life.

Winter was a teenager with curly black hair and a tomboy attitude and clothing. Given the fact that she was of mixed heritage, it's likely that her father was black or of mixed heritage as well.

Story[]

Background Winter was a young girl with a strange and dark sense of reality. She was the daughter Helga had with an unidentified man, raised in the streets of London committing theft to the detriment of passers-by and corpses.

A Mudlark in London

Taboo-Caps-1x02-13-Winter

Winter warning James

Winter witnessed the meeting between James Delaney and Helga von Hinten, spying on the conversation from the stairwell of one of the rooms of the warehouse. [2]

Nights later, Winter warned James Delaney about a potential hitman hired by Helga to kill James and regain full control of warehouses at the docks. The girl pointed to a moored ship as the hiding place of a hitman and accompanied Delaney on board a boat, where she asked the man for information on Africa and America. After Delaney had gone to check on the ship without finding anyone, and after putting fire to it, Winter had disappeared from the boat. [3]

Winter, along with two wretched children, was on the beach to plunder corpses. Later, she was hidden in the cellar of the Delaney mansion and offered James the silver tooth stolen from the corpse of the Malay who had tried to kill James himself. At this point Winter asked James to teach her magic so that she too could turn into a wolf or even better into a bird, to fly away. Winter also said she was aware of the significance of the symbol marked between James' shoulder blades, a Sankofa (tribal bird). James advised Winter to return to her mother, Helga. [4]

Several days later, Winter was behind the counter of her mother's tavern and was invited by James to find her to discuss business. [5]

Taboo-Caps-1x06-Winter-Corpse

Winter is found dead by James

When the soldiers came to Helga's brothel in search of information on the robbery of the warehouses of the East India Company, Winter shouted for French Bill and Atticus to intervene. Later, she was appointed by Atticus to spread the word about what happened to those who came with the wrong questions in the area, without blinking before the soldier's corpse was thrown on the shore. [6]

Winter sought James Delaney's company at the docks, but the man drove her away several times, frightening her with disturbing stories about the African Devil, the only thing that scared Winter. Later, after witnessing an argument between her mother and James at the Tavern, Winter tried again to comfort the man during a hangover for losing his ship, and the next morning James woke beside Winter's mauled corpse. [7]

Memorable Quotes[]

"I live with the whores, but I'm a virgin."
― Winter to James Delaney

"Teach me about magic. I want to be a wolf, too, or a bird so I can fly. The bird on your neck I know what it is! The Sankofa."
― Winter to James Delaney

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Series 1

References[]

  1. The Telegraph.co.uk - From Lorna Bow to Atticus: what the cast of Taboo look like out of character (description credited to BBC)
  2. Knight, Steven (writer) & Nyholm, Kristoffer (director); January 7, 2017 BBC; January 10, 2017, FX; "Episode 1". Taboo.
  3. Knight, Steven (writer) & Nyholm, Kristoffer (director); January 14, 2017, BBC; January 17, 2017, FX; "Episode 2". Taboo.
  4. Knight, Steven (writer) & Nyholm, Kristoffer (director); January 21, 2017 BBC; January 24, 2017, FX; "Episode 3". Taboo.
  5. Knight, Steven & Ballou, Emily (writer) & Nyholm, Kristoffer (director); January 28, 2017 BBC; January 31, 2017, FX; "Episode 4". Taboo.
  6. Knight, Steven & Hervey, Ben (writer) & Engström, Anders (director); February 4, 2017 BBC; February 7, 2017, FX; "Episode 5". Taboo.
  7. Hardy, Chips & Knight, Steven (writer) & Engström, Anders (director); February 11, 2017 BBC; February 14, 2017, FX; "Episode 6". Taboo.
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