Season 2 of Outer Banks revealed Pope Heyward is actually a direct descendant of Denmark Tanny, which means his family could have a stake in Tannyhill. Outer Banks’ core story follows the Pogues (John B, Kiara, JJ, Pope, and now Sarah), the working-class inhabitants from the North Carolina island’s The Cut, as they come into class feuds with the island’s Figure Eight wealthy Kooks. As the Pogues go on their search for the Royal Merchant and Denmark Tanny’s treasures in the first 2 seasons, they face pushback from the Kooks who also search for the gold and try to keep them off of the wealthy side of the island.
Pope Heyward is recruited to meet Carla Limbrey, a wealthy Charleston, South Carolina native who is also searching for the Royal Merchant’s treasure and reveals the truth about Pope’s family lineage. He is sent to find Denmark Tanny’s key said to belong to his family, which leads him to a conversation with his great-grandmother, who finally reveals his ancestors are Denmark and Cecilia Tanny, though she hid their identity in fear of Pope and his father being executed in the same way. Pope’s discovery makes his search for Tanny’s Cross of Santo Domingo a personal matter, seeking to recover it as a way to avenge the island’s treatment of his ancestors.
Much of Denmark Tanny’s estate reaches all over Outer Banks’ island, but the core part of his settlement where his family lived, Tannyhill, is located on Figure Eight. The current inhabitants of the home are Ward Cameron and his family, who purchased it after gaining wealth with his development company. Nobody had really known that the Heywards were descendants of the Tannys, so the real estate of Tannyhill simply went to the highest bidder. The Heywards have long been citizens of The Cut, notable for their seafood business among the Pogues and Kooks, though now that the secret of their heritage has been revealed, the Heywards may be able to claim Tannyhill as their own.
The Camerons escaped Tannyhill and the Outer Banks for good following Ward’s death fakeout, so it currently has no inhabitants. With the Camerons out of the way, Pope and his father may try to secure Tannyhill for their new home as a birthright. Outer Banks’ discovery of the gold and Cross of Santo Domingo reveal that the Heywards can actually be some of the wealthiest members of the island if they choose to claim the riches. Considering there remains class and racial tensions in Outer Banks, it’s possible the Figure Eight islanders wouldn’t take kindly to former members of The Cut moving into their territory.
Pope’s great-grandmother’s fears about telling the Heywards themselves and the rest of Outer Banks’ characters about their relation to Denmark Tanny are founded, given that many of his descendants, himself included, were executed after he brought his wife’s bones back to the island. Denmark Tanny is still a heralded figure on Outer Banks for his lore about the Royal Merchant and how his property made up much of the island, so in the modern generation, the Heywards will likely hold much more power among the island than previously imagined. The Camerons won’t be around to protest the Heywards reclaiming Tannyhill, so Outer Banks season 3 would likely only see the Kooks as standing in their way.