Since I originally posted this I've read a whole bunch of other people's reviews that illuminated a lot of Norrington's choices for me. I agree that Norrington doesn't know what Beckett's motives are--i just *wanted* him to. And I didn't think he owed the heart to Jack, or Will, or Elizabeth; I agree with you that he doesn't owe them anything. I thought the honorable thing to do with the heart is to destroy it, because it is not only a tool to control the ocean, it's a tool to enslave a lot of sailors.

I know, it's anachronistic to expect Norrington to not want the British Empire to be in control of the seas, (and perhaps expecting him to have knowledge he doesn't have to know that as long as the heart exists, more (relatively) innocent seamen are going to be enslaved,and lots more completely innocent seamen are going to die at the hands of the Krakken) but lots of the rest of the film is anachronistic, too, so I don't feel bad for wanting that.

Really, my disappointment is more metatextual: I want Norrington and not Will Turner to be the real hero of the movie, dammit! Which I realize isn't going to happen, since he is a minor character, so he isn't going to be *given* the knowledge he needs to make the heroic choices. I guess the best we can hope is that they don't completely villainize him in the next movie.