Previously on Outlander: Mary Hawkins was raped in Paris. They discovered the Duke of Sandringham was a Jacobite supporter. Jamie pretended Claire was his prisoner to finagle war details out of an English teenager. The Battle of Prestonpans was super bloody and Angus was killed.
We rejoin the rebellion months later, as the army has been moving south, acquiring heavy artillery, and winning some small battles against the Redcoats. Encamped in Northern England, they await further orders from Prince Charles. The Prince’s lord generals recommend that they turn back, but Jamie tries to convince them to follow the Prince’s plan to take London (knowing that it contradicts the history Claire has told him). He is unsuccessful.
Jamie and Dougal are ordered to proceed to Inverness, to obtain winter quarters and provisions, but aren’t actually given any money to do so. They’re ambushed by Redcoats on the way, and as they race away on horses, Rupert is shot in the eye. They take refuge in an abandoned church, where Claire performs emergency bullet extraction using whiskey and a dagger. The Redcoats surround the church and Claire convinces Jamie to pretend she’s a prisoner and use her as a bargaining chip to trade for their freedom. Instead of taking her to the nearby garrison, as they assumed, the troops take Claire to Belmont, home of the Duke of Sandringham. Claire is able to get a message to Jamie (via his old beggar friend, Hugh Munro) regarding the change of plans.
At the Duke’s estate, Claire is reunited with his goddaughter, Mary Hawkins. She begs Claire to get her out of her arranged marriage to some social climber. While attempting to discuss the arrangement with Sandringham, Claire realizes that his valet was the rapist from Paris. The Duke doesn’t even deny this, and admits that he owed the Comte St. Germain a lot of money, and their compromise was to have Claire raped, instead of killed. Sandringham also admits that he’s set a trap for Jamie, once he comes to rescue Claire, and the Duke expects to see both of them hung as traitors to the crown. Once Jamie arrives for the rescue, the Paris details spill out, and Mary stabs the valet, while Murtagh chops off Sandringham’s head in the most gruesome manner, to lay his promised vengeance at Claire’s and Mary’s feet.
Kilt Drops: 1
Naked Jamie climbs into bed, and then they just go to sleep?! Examine your choices, Claire.
Wit and Wordplay
Jamie: “In that case, Sassenach, how long has it been since you visited Inverness?”
Oh, probably just the last time she was tried as a witch. No big.
Ross: “What happened to him?”
Rupert: “I decided to take a closer look at a musket ball.”
Murtagh: “So, now we’re traitors, murderers, and horse thieves. Tell me, does it ever occur to you that taking Claire to wife might not have been the wisest thing you ever did?”
Jamie: “No. It doesn’t.”
Sandringham: “Oh, the last thing I would do my dear, is to blurt.”
Sandringham is kind of delightful, despite also being completely terrible.
Sasse-WHAT?
- The insanely delusional Prince Charles thinking his tiny army could take and hold London. Doesn’t it make you want to smack him?
- Claire performs horrifyingly medieval dental procedures in the village square. I’m sure she’s helping them and all, but do they have to be CONSCIOUS?
- Jamie praying over a sleeping Claire in Gaelic? A perfect reminder of why he’s the swooniest.
- Is it just me, or didn’t Rupert die in that church in the book?
Next week: The countdown to Culloden is on, and Black Jack Randall returns!
