Outlander Homepage Originals
The story of Outlander has always been driven by love. From the soul deep connection between Jamie and Claire that endures across time, to the love of family, the love between friends, unrequited love, lost love, the love of one’s country - all these have been explored throughout the 8 seasons and 9 books (thankfully with more to come ) in the Outlander universe. Despite the twists and turns of an often bewildering season 8, as we come to the penultimate episode, it is still love that drives most of the action in this hour.
The episode opens with Lord John regaining consciousness to discover that he is a prisoner. As he registers the chains around his ankle, Captain Richardson enters and apologises for the situation, telling John that he has no personal grievance against him. He does however, have considerable damning evidence, and proceeds to show John a signed confession admitting carnal acts from a man named Neil Stapleton. It is a confession that John doubts would have been made willingly and he demands to know how Richardson extracted it, wondering if Stapleton is in fact alive. Richardson assures John that Stapleton lives, thus dashing any hope of declaring the statement fraudulent. Richardson is enjoying the upper hand that he holds, telling John that while Stapleton may currently be in London, he has another confessor closer to hand. It is no surprise to anyone when a shamefaced Percy Beauchamp enters the room, apologising and commenting that he has never been brave like John. John’s situation truly is dire, given that his relationship with Percy was also incestuous. But he refuses to relent, telling Richardson that a gentleman will not give in to blackmail and demanding that Richardson explain himself.
Richardson proceeds to tell John that he has a list of people whose actions can influence the outcome of the war. John’s brother Hal is one of them, as he intends to give a speech recommending the withdrawal of funds that would ultimately result in the loss of the war and the American colonies. Richardson wants Hal to make a different speech and feels that John’s life and honour are the only things that would persuade him to do so. If Hal refuses, Richardson says, the scandal will discredit him and John will be hanged for sodomy, but either way, he will get what he wants. Richardson informs John that copies of the confessions are being sent to Hal and until then, John will remain where he is.
Left alone, John punches the wooden wall of his boathouse prison in frustration, dislodging a nail in the process. That evening, as the guards outside the door drink and play cards, John peers through the wooden slats trying to get his bearings. He sees a lighthouse and, taking off his ring, uses the nail to scratch something inside it.
Percy returns the next morning, sent by Richardson to try and convince John to cooperate. He doesn’t want John to die, he says, a sentiment that John agree with. Nevertheless, John refuses to try and make Hal change his mind. Percy says that he needs to share two things: the first is to reiterate how sorry he is and the second is to declare his love. It is that sentiment that John calls on, asking Percy to go to his house, find William, and convey both his love and his signet ring.
“He’s my son. It should be his,” John says, taking the ring from his finger and handing it to Percy.
Percy nods and leaves. He is a pitiful figure in which to put so much hope, but John has no other choice.
“Goodbye, Perseverance,” he says. “Live up to your name.”
As the next scene begins, Claire too, is looking for hope. The battle for Kings Mountain draws ever closer, and she is desperate to alter the historical details that record Jamie’s death. In the meantime, she, Jamie and William have returned to Savannah at the request of Amaranthus, who has informed them of John’s lengthy unexplained absence. There has been no word in 7 weeks, and all enquiries have amounted to naught. John’s horse remains in the stable, and all his belongings are in the house. Hal too has been delayed, but a package awaits him. It was delivered, Amaranthus says, by a melancholy fellow who also asked after William. We know this to be Percy, but he had refused to give his name to Amaranthus. William opens the package to reveal the two confessions alongside a letter of blackmail from Richardson. Jamie comments that John must still be alive, if the blackmail is to be successful. They need to reach John first, he says, and burn all copies of the letters.
Recognising the signature of the second confessor, they waste no time in heading for Percy’s office, with both William and Jamie punching him repeatedly until he tells them that Richardson is behind the scheme. Percy is unable to tell them where John is being held, as he had been blindfolded on both journeys. (Presumably, Richardson also had little faith in Percy, and his ability to keep the location secret.) All the while trying to excuse his own actions, Percy says that they had travelled by boat and that the journey had taken a few hours. He hands William the ring, which is alarming. William tells Jamie that he has never seen the ring off John’s hand. Examining it, Jamie notices a word scratched inside: ‘pharos’, which is Greek for lighthouse. This narrows the search, with Jamie, Claire and William musing that John must be being held near one. As William names the closest one on Tybee Island, Percy tells them that Richardson is insane: a turncoat who was with the continentals but now wants the British to win.
“Your father is alive,” he tells William. “Get your uncle the duke to do as Richardson says.”
“If we don’t find my father, or we do and he’s dead, there will be nowhere safe for you,” William responds, as they leave.
The three of them make their way to Tybee Island, where there is indeed a boathouse up ahead. Claire takes out a spyglass and notices a man. William takes the glass and promptly identifies Richardson, who is alone and appears to be going fishing. With a conspiratorial nod at each other, Jamie and William put a rescue plan into action. While Claire keeps watch on Richardson from a safe distance, the two men head to the boathouse, emerging slowly from the water (in an action almost comically reminiscent of a scene from Apocalypse Now) and slitting the throats of the two lacklustre guards. Meanwhile, Richardson has caught enough fish. He is on the move, and Claire needs to stop him.
Jamie breaks open the boathouse door and comes face to face with a now bearded John. Their greetings are uncomfortable, but John’s reunion with William is, by contrast, heartfelt. William returns John’s ring and the two tearfully embrace.
Meanwhile, Richardson halts at the sound of a pistol. Claire is behind him, aiming the weapon at his head. She tells Richardson that she is there on behalf of her former husband rather than her current one and takes him at gunpoint to the boathouse where this time, it is Richardson who is chained. John asks what they will do with him, and Jamie says they will take him to a court martial, given that he is a traitor to both sides.
“I suppose we shall see who appears in the broadsheets now,” John hisses to Richardson.
Jamie pulls John away, asking if there were other guards. John replies that it is possible. He only saw two, but it was hard to discern voices. Jamie suggests that John and William search outside, while he himself retrieves the boat.
This of course, leaves Claire alone with Richardson. He asks how they had found him and scoffs to discover that it had been Percy, referring to the man as a debauched little snitch. Claire wants to know what Richardson’s motives are, given that at their previous encounter, he had been on the side of America. Richardson says that he no longer thinks that an American victory will advance the cause of freedom and asks Claire how she feels about slavery. Claire replies that she abhors it, a fact that pleases Richardson. He tells Claire that his great great grandmother had been a slave, bearing a child to the man who owned her. He begins to speak of historical events that Claire recognises, interrupting his speech to name one of them specifically, the Civil War. As she adds the terms the North and South, Sherman’s March, Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln, to the ever widening eyes of her prisoner, Claire realises that Richardson too, is a time traveller. She tells him the two years in which she travelled, and Richardson assumes that she must be there to help him.
“This can’t be a coincidence,” he says, adding that Claire must understand what he is trying to do and outlines what a future will look like if America does not win the war, one that sees slaves go free and thousands of lives saved from not having to fight in more battles. But the key man who must be stopped, Richardson tells Claire, is Harold Grey. Merely killing him will not help, as another would simply give the speech to parliament that Hal is destined to give.
“I need him to give a different speech,” Richardson says, “one that convinces Britain to stay in the war and win. Lord John Grey is my leverage.”
Claire tells him that she actually admires his stance, but that his plan won’t work. She knows from personal experience that the result of battles cannot be changed. Richardson realises that she has tried to do so, and Claire tells him of Culloden and Alamance.
“No matter what side we fight on, no matter how hard we fight, what has happened before always happens again,”she says.
But Richardson challenges her: “So you’ve given up trying to change history? You haven’t, have you?”
Claire responds that she tries to change her own history and Richardson argues that in so doing, she also changes everyone’s around her.
“Maybe I’m here to be a part of history,” she tells him, explaining that her travelling hadn’t been a choice the first time, and that whether it was fate, destiny or God, she now knows that she is meant to be exactly where she is.
Richardson counters that he believes the same. He is meant to be there too. “What is this ability we have for, except to try and make the world a better place?”
He asks Claire to let him go, to try and do what he believes is his part in history.
It is obvious that Claire is torn.
“Give me your word that you won’t harm anyone again, and I’ll let you go try,” she says at last.
He does, and she sets him free, though one has to wonder why she would trust him to keep his promise.
It is a short-lived attempt though, as seconds after he leaves the boathouse, a shot rings out. No-More-Mr-Nice-Guy John Grey has exacted his revenge, shooting Richardson through the head. “That was for William,” he says, standing over the body. “If I had another shot, I’d put one in you for me and another for Hal too.”
As she watches the life ebb from Richardson’s body, Claire acknowledges the death of her own dream of wanting to write a new chapter in Jamie’s story. She realises all over again that history writes itself. It is a confession only to the viewers though, as somewhat remarkably, neither Jamie, John nor William ask her to explain why she had let Richardson go.
Instead, they all return to Lord John’s house, where John thanks Jamie and Claire for saving both his life and reputation. Jamie replies that he couldn’t have let John die at Richardson’s hand, adding that he has decided to forgive John for what had happened between John and Claire.
“We need never speak of it again,” he says.
But if Jamie was expecting a heartfelt reconciliation like the one he had witnessed between John and William, he is sorely mistaken. This new harder version of John is not about to let bygones be bygones so easily. Icily, John tells Jamie that while he may thank him for his recent good deed, he certainly doesn’t forgive Jamie.
“I do not forgive your pig headed treatment of me for the past two years!” he yells, before stalking into his study and slamming the door.
“Pride goeth before a fall,” Claire comments, expressing frustration at Jamie’s response.
“Look at me, tell me you don’t love that man and I’ll never say his name again.”
“Damn it, woman,” Jamie replies, and goes to make amends.
The conversation begins defensively, with Jamie telling John that he had taken his laying with Claire as a betrayal of their friendship. John retorts that the act had happened out of grief and that while he had never intended to hurt Jamie, Jamie had indeed meant to hurt him, almost beating him to death when he had tried to explain.
“If you’re not able to forgive me after everything that I have done for this friendship,” John says, “then perhaps there is no friendship.”
At last, Jamie apologises. “I have wronged you, John,” he says, “and I am sorry.” He admits that his pride had stopped him from seeing clearly and he acknowledges that John has done far more for him than he can ever repay. Speaking of William, Jamie tells John that he can see the love between them and that he knows not only that John has made William the man that he is, but what John had to sacrifice in order to do it.
“I have sacrificed many things,” John replies, “but raising William was never one of them. He’s the greatest gift of my life and I thank you for him.”
“No, thank you, John,” Jamie says, sincerely wanting to mend things between them. He tells John that he deserves better and asks what more he can do. John begins to roll up his sleeves, saying that his honour must be restored. Jamie expects that he is about to get a deserved beating, but it is not a physical attack that awaits him. John indicates the chess board and with the briefest of smiles, the revenge game begins and a friendship starts anew.
This was a fabulous scene, and David Berry and Sam Heughan did a wonderful job portraying the hurt of both men, leading ultimately to the much longed for reconciliation. David Berry, in particular, deserves extra credit. This reviewer loved the harder edged John, finally fighting back!
Claire is sitting outside as William approaches, and she tells him that his fathers are having a much needed conversation. When William says that he will never get used to that, Claire comments that he doesn’t realise how much he is actually like both men. She continues, explaining that it is actually somewhat of a family tradition to have two fathers. Brianna had two, Roger had two, Swiftest of Lizards has two and even she technically had two fathers, having been raised by her uncle since she was five. None of them have suffered from being raised by a village, she observes.
Even so, William expresses how he has felt caught between both men and asks how he can love one without betraying the other. Claire reminds him that love isn’t a betrayal, but a gift. They each love the other for who they are. But William is still having an identity crisis asking whether he is Fraser or Grey.
“You’re their son,” Claire replies. “That’s all you have to be.”
Later, William and Amaranthus are sitting talking. Amaranthus says that she is glad to have met Jamie and that it is obvious that William has forgiven him. William replies that forgiveness is not a single act, but one that must be repeated. This prompts Amaranthus to ask whether William might forgive her too, in time. William tells her that he understands why she had deceived him, but that they have no future together.
“I wish you well,” he says, taking her hand. “And I hope you find love and happiness.”
The time has come for Jamie and Claire to return to the Ridge and the rain is falling as William and John stand on the porch watching them ride away. This is a clever recreation of the scene from season 4 when Jamie had to leave a young William, refusing to look behind him as the song lyrics “Hard rain’s gonna fall” reached their emotional crescendo. This time, the rain is physical not lyrical, but after a long pause (and no doubt a collective holding of breath from the fans) Jamie does indeed look back. William’s eyes widen, John smiles softly and fans everywhere cheer!
Back at the Ridge, Claire’s voiceover says that she can’t help herself counting the days that are remaining. Indeed, it does seem as if everything is going at breakneck speed, which this reviewer finds frustrating. Brianna’s entire pregnancy has come and gone, with Roger now nursing baby David William Ian Fraser Mackenzie -Davy for short- and Brianna commenting that she was glad Jamie and Claire had arrived back in time for the birth as she had been terrified about going through it without them both. This seems disproportionate to Brianna’s pregnancies with both Jem and Mandy. This one took place over one brief announcement after the fire (so brief that many fans missed it) and one scene with a visible baby bump. Perhaps it is somewhat symbolic of the rushed feeling that the entire season has given to its fans.
Jamie and Bree begin a heart to heart. Jamie tells his daughter of the prophecy of Frank’s book: he is to die at Kings Mountain. To Brianna, the solution is simple - Jamie should not go. But Jamie tells her that he must. Winning the war, as is also foretold, will mean a safe future for them all and that will be worth it. Brianna however, is not comforted by this. She fears losing him, she says, fears Jem, Mandy and Davy growing up without their grandfather. Brianna begs Jamie not to go, adding that maybe Frank had written the book so that he would actually stay. Jamie comments that while Frank had no cause to love him, he had certainly loved Brianna and that he had known that Jamie would also protect her with his life.
“The only way I know to truly protect you and everyone I love,” he says, “is to fight.”
Percy is working at his office, when John comes in, placing a pistol on the desk.
“You betrayed us, Percy,” he says coldly. “You betrayed me. For that you must answer.”
Desperately, Percy tries to explain himself, saying that Richardson had threatened to kill him. Unmoved, John remarks that Percy remains alive and well, whereas Richardson is not. He offers another option, taking out an affidavit requiring Percy’s signature. It is a confession to the plan to malign John’s character, along with extortion and kidnapping, and John suggests that Percy let the law decide his fate. Percy says that since Richardson is dead he no longer poses a threat, but John will not take that chance. There may well be copies, but the affidavit will render them null and void.
“And if I refuse?” Percy asks, with the only bit of back bone he has ever shown.
“It will be your signature on that paper or your blood,” John replies. “Either way, you will pay for your treachery.”
Percy asks what will happen if he signs and John informs him that the affidavit will be given to the authorities. Percy will be arrested, arraigned and his crimes made known. Justice will be served and Percy will remain imprisoned for the rest of his life.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” Percy sobs, but John tells him to make his choice. Percy signs and asks if John will ever forgive him. Gathering the document and the pistol,John stands and leaves the room. Moments later, a shot is heard.
“May God have mercy on your soul,” John says softly, and walks away.
This was another fabulous scene by David Berry, who has, in this episode, added a whole new harder dimension to the character of Lord John. It is such a shame that, barring a spinoff series, this is likely the last time viewers will see him on screen.
Back at the Ridge, Claire is sitting in the bedroom, when Jamie comes in, asking what she is doing, hiding away in the middle of the day.
“Looking for some peace,” she replies.
It is obvious that she has been writing, but it is not a medical report. Jamie begins to read aloud: “People disappear all the time,” he begins, and continues to recite the passage that fans immediately recognise as the opening voiceover from season 1. He proclaims it a hell of a beginning, and asks if she is writing her story.
“No,” she answers. “I’m writing our story.”
Their conversation is interrupting by a shout from outside. It is Benjamin Cleveland and his men, on horseback. Cleveland proclaims that it is time. He is calling in the debt that Jamie owes him. Ferguson is on the march into North Carolina, Cleveland says, and Jamie must gather his men together. They will muster with the rest of the Overmountain men in two days’ time.
Claire’s final voiceover establishes the tension for the finale to come. Like Culloden before it, the battle that Claire has dreaded for so long now looms before them, but this one comes with a devastating warning from the future. Though she has conquered time itself, Claire admits that she is powerless to stop the battle from happening, or to change Jamie’s fate.
And in just one week’s time, we will know what that fate is to be. Will Kings Mountain play out as it does in the books? Or do the show runners have something else in mind? At least we won’t have to wait too long to find out.
Much was made of the fact that Diana Gabaldon wrote this episode, with many fans loyally proclaiming it the best episode of the season. Interestingly, many pointed to the final scene where Jamie read aloud the first voiceover from Claire’s diary as a particularly clever high point. Yet Diana Gabaldon has said on social media that she didn’t write that scene, but that it was added later by the Starz team and that the reason for it will be made known in the finale. Does this mean that we will end in the future, with copies of Outlander in a bookshop window? Will Fanny time travel to the future and take the story with her? Given the many bizarre changes this season, anything is possible.
This reviewer wonders how Diana Gabaldon felt as she wrote this penultimate episode for a season that has departed so markedly from the beautiful world that she created. So many plot holes have been added that she didn’t intend, but the task now seems to have fallen to her to fill them as best as she can. The finale has been cowritten by herself and Matt Roberts, apparently with a number of possible endings filmed. After 12 years and 101 episodes, we can only hope that the collaboration has been able to create an ending that is indeed the love letter to the fans that we were promised.
“For disappearances, after all, have explanations. Usually.”
This recap was written by Susie Brown, a writer and teacher librarian who lives in Australia. She is nervous about the finale and hopes that it is longer than an hour, so that the characters can be farewelled properly - at least until book 10 comes out and we get the real story!
