Outlandish Observations

OUTLANDER Season 8 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:41:41 +0000

The OUTLANDER Season 8 Blu-ray, DVD, and Collector's Edition are now available!

Here are the Amazon links:

Blu-ray
DVD
Blu-ray Collector's Edition

There are 4 discs in each set. The special features on the Blu-ray include:

- Blooper reel
- 7 deleted scenes
- "Outlander For All Time" Featurette

Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested!

Characters with disabilities in Diana Gabaldon's books

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 20:54:14 +0000

One of the aspects of Diana Gabaldon's books that I have appreciated from the beginning concerns her treatment of characters with disabilities. It's a very personal topic for me, because I was born with cerebral palsy affecting both legs, and I have difficulty walking.

Characters with disabilities of various kinds appear throughout the OUTLANDER books, going back to the very beginning, when Claire first encounters Colum MacKenzie. These characters are without exception portrayed with sensitivity, but never pity, condescension, or stereotyping. They are people who happen to have disabilities, but always people first and foremost.

By depicting each of these characters as a unique individual, with his or her own personality, temperament, background, family relationships, and other characteristics that have nothing to do with the disability, Diana Gabaldon forces us to look beyond the surface, to see the whole person rather than just the disability. That's something that I really value in my day-to-day interactions with other people, and I think it's rare in fiction, in my experience at least.

Here are some of my favorite examples of characters with disabilities in the OUTLANDER books.

COLUM MACKENZIE

When Claire first arrives at Castle Leoch, she is shocked by Colum MacKenzie's appearance.

Colum MacKenzie shared the broad planes and high forehead of his brother Dougal, though the vital force that gave Dougal an air of intimidation was here mellowed into something more welcoming, though no less vibrant. Darker, with dove-grey rather than hazel eyes, Colum gave that same impression of intensity, of standing just slightly closer to you than was quite comfortable. At the moment, though, my discomfort arose from the fact that the beautifully modeled head and long torso ended in shockingly bowed and stumpy legs. The man who should have topped six feet came barely to my shoulder.

He kept his eyes on the birds, tactfully allowing me a much-needed moment to gain control of my features. Of course, he must be used to the reactions of people meeting him for the first time.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 5, "The MacKenzie". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire deduces that Colum suffers from a disease called Toulouse-Lautrec syndrome. His body may be weak, but his mind is very sharp. Colum is very intelligent, good at reading people, and ruthless when the situation calls for it. He's learned to cope with his disability, but he doesn't make a fuss over it. I think this observation of Claire's is very telling:

His progress down the stair was slow and obviously painful. Just as obviously, he didn’t wish for help, and I offered none.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 7, "Davie Beaton's Closet". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I understand that need for independence very well, as someone who has lived with mobility issues all my life. Claire's instincts are sound. It's a great example of how to interact with disabled people in general.

HUGH MUNRO

Jamie's friend Hugh Munro had his tongue cut out while he was held captive by the Turks. I like the matter-of-fact way Jamie deals with his friend's disability. He's learned to understand the sign language Munro uses to communicate, and he doesn't treat him any differently because he can't speak. They engage in some good-natured teasing, and it's clear they've been friends for some time.

Later, Jamie explains to Claire that despite his current predicament as a beggar, Munro is an educated man. (Appearances can be deceiving!) He's also very perceptive. He gives Claire a dragonfly in amber as a wedding present, but it's the message accompanying the gift that will have a lasting impact.

“Munro was a schoolmaster once, before the Turks took him. It’s a bit from Catullus,” [Jamie] said.

…da mi basia mille, diende centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum…

A faint blush pinkened his earlobes as he translated:

Then let amorous kisses dwell, On our lips, begin and tell
A Thousand and a Hundred score, A Hundred, and a Thousand more.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, "Deserted Glades". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

This, of course, is the inspiration for the inscription in Claire's wedding ring, "Da mi basia mille".

IAN MURRAY

Jamie's best friend, Ian Murray, lost his leg as a very young man, fighting as a mercenary in France. He seems to have adapted quite well to his wooden leg, for the most part -- he can walk, and ride a horse -- but there are occasional things he can't manage.

“We were comin’ down the slope of the hill two miles outside the village, leading the horses because the footing was bad, and Ian stepped in a molehole and broke his leg,” Jamie explained.

“The wooden one,” Ian amplified. He grinned, a little sheepishly. “The mole had a bit the best o’ that encounter.”

“So we stayed at a cottage nearby long enough to carve him a new one,” Jamie ended the story.

[Ian removes the wooden leg so Claire can examine his injured knee.]

Ian’s long, good-natured face was nearly as red as the injured joint. While perfectly matter-of-fact about his disability, I knew he hated the occasional helplessness it imposed. His embarrassment at being so exposed now was likely as painful to him as my touching of his leg.

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 33, "Thy Brother's Keeper". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I recognize that feeling very well! It's something that many people with mobility issues can relate to. When you pride yourself on being as independent as possible in your daily life, being deprived of that independence, even for a short time, can be intensely frustrating! I use a mobility scooter to get around most places, and I drive a car equipped with hand controls and a lift to get the scooter in and out. Whenever anything goes wrong with my scooter, or my car, it has a major impact on my independence and my quality of life. Ian was lucky to be able to replace that wooden leg so quickly!

JOCASTA CAMERON

Jamie's Aunt Jocasta is blind, but her blindness is only a minor part of her character, and in my opinion it's a mistake to underestimate her on that account. Far more important is the fact that she is a stubborn, strong-willed woman with a vivid personality, with enough wealth and status in the community that she generally gets what she wants. She is a formidable woman, no question about it! In terms of personality, she definitely lives up to Jamie's description of the MacKenzies as "charming as larks in the field, and sly as foxes with it."

We are so accustomed to seeing Jocasta in total command of herself and everyone else at River Run that we tend to forget that she can't see. Her home at River Run is carefully arranged to accommodate her blindness, and she manages quite well with the aid of her black butler, Ulysses, and the other enslaved people at River Run.

Ulysses came in, a lighted taper in his hand, and began to light the branches of the great candelabrum.

“You don’t need to light all those for me.” Brianna spoke as much from a desire not to disturb the quiet melancholy of the room as from modesty. “I don’t mind the dark.”

The butler smiled gently and went on with his work. He touched each wick precisely, and the tiny flames sprang up at once, jinni called up by a magician’s wand.

“Miss Jo will be down soon,” he said. “She can see the lights--and the fire--so she knows where she is in the room.”

He finished and blew out the taper, then moved about the room in his usual soft-footed way, tidying the small disorder left by the afternoon guests, adding wood to the fire, puffing it into crackling life with the bellows.

She watched him; the small, precise movements of the well-kept hands, his complete absorption in the correct placement of the whisky decanter and its glasses. How many times had he straightened this room? Put back each piece of furniture, each tiny ornament precisely in its place, so that its mistress’s hand would fall upon it without groping?

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 55, "Captivity II". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Jocasta manages so well, in fact, that it comes as a shock on the rare occasions where her blindness puts her at a disadvantage.

“Aunt!” Jamie exclaimed, suddenly recalling Jocasta. He whirled toward the sheds, but then stopped, relaxing. She was there, clearly visible in her green dress, standing rigid by the shed. Rigid with fury, as we discovered when we reached her. Forgotten by everyone in the flurry of the explosion, she had been unable to move, sightless as she was, and was thus left to stand helpless, hearing the turmoil but unable to do anything.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 10, "Jocasta". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I thought her reaction was realistic. I would have been furious, too, in her position!

IAIN MHOR

When I first read THE FIERY CROSS, I was surprised and pleased by the inclusion of Joan Findlay's brother, Iain Mhor. He's a minor character in the book, but an unforgettable one, to me at least.

“A bhràthair, here’s Captain MacKenzie,” [Joan Findlay] said, reaching out a hand to the man that lay on a pallet of dry grass under the blanket’s shelter. Roger felt a sudden shock at the man’s appearance, but suppressed it.

A spastic, they would have called him in the Scotland of Roger’s own time; what did they call such a condition now? Perhaps nothing in particular; Fraser had said only, He has nay speech.

No, nor proper movement, either. His limbs were bony and wasted, his body twisted into impossible angles. A tattered quilt had been laid over him, but his jerking movements had pulled it awry, so that the cloth was bunched, wrenched hard between his legs, and his upper body was left exposed, the worn shirt also rumpled and pulled half off by his struggles. The pale skin over shoulder and ribs gleamed cold and blue-toned in the shadows.

Joan Findlay cupped a hand about the man’s cheek and turned his head so that he could look at Roger.

“This will be my brother Iain, Mr. MacKenzie,” she said, her voice firm, daring him to react.

The face too was distorted, the mouth pulled askew and drooling, but a pair of beautiful--and intelligent--hazel eyes looked back at Roger from the ruin. He took firm grip of his feelings and his own features, and reached out, taking the man’s clawed hand in his own. It felt terrible, the bones sharp and fragile under skin so cold it might have been a corpse’s.

“Iain Mhor,” he said softly. “I have heard your name. Jamie Fraser sends ye his regards.”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 9, "Germ of Dissent". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

From the moment I first read that scene, it was obvious to me that Iain Mhor, like me, was born with cerebral palsy. A much more severe form than I have, but still, instantly recognizable. That took me quite by surprise. Not that there would be people with CP in the 18th century -- that seems pretty self-evident, as it's doubtless been around for many centuries -- but that Diana would make a point of including "someone like that" in the story. I think I'm safe in saying that many authors wouldn't have bothered.

I was very moved by the way Diana went out of her way to show how Iain Mhor is treated with respect by the other members of his family, in a time when he might easily have been left to die at birth.

He was likely younger than Joan; but perhaps not. She had treated him with deference, bringing Roger to him as a woman would naturally bring a visitor to the head of the family. Not greatly younger, then--say thirty or more?

Christ, he thought, how did a man like that survive so long in times like these? But as he had backed awkwardly away from Iain Mhor, one of the little girls had crawled into the crude shelter from the back, pushing a bowl of milk pudding before her, and had sat down matter-of-factly by her uncle’s head, spoon in hand. Iain Mhor had limbs and fingers enough--he had a family.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 11, "Pride". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

He's part of their family, and that's all that matters. That's a powerful message, no question about it! It makes an impression on Roger, in the story; it made a much deeper impression on me as a reader, and I won't forget it. Realistic depictions in fiction of what it's like to live with cerebral palsy are incredibly rare, in my experience. In historical fiction? Until I read THE FIERY CROSS, I'd never seen it done before. I will always be grateful to Diana Gabaldon for including him in the story.

FERGUS

Fergus's left hand was amputated by English soldiers when he was about sixteen. He adjusts far more quickly than I would have expected, seeming not very bothered by it (or at least trying his best to act that way) when Jamie visits him two days after it happened:

“Do you not recall our agreement, milord?”

“Agreement?”

“Yes, when you took me into your service in Paris. You told me then that should I be arrested and executed, you would have Masses said for my soul for the space of a year.” The remaining hand fluttered toward the battered greenish medal that hung about his neck--St. Dismas, patron saint of thieves. “But if I should lose an ear or a hand while doing your service--”

“I would support you for the rest of your life.” Jamie was unsure whether to laugh or cry, and contented himself with patting the hand that now lay quiet on the quilt. “Aye, I remember. You may trust me to keep the bargain.”

“Oh, I have always trusted you, milord,” Fergus assured him. Clearly he was growing tired; the pale cheeks were even whiter than they had been, and the shock of black hair fell back against the pillow. “So I am fortunate,” he murmured, still smiling. “For in one stroke, I am become a gentleman of leisure, non?”

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, "Being Now Justified By His Blood". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In later years, Fergus becomes adept in the use of his hook, using it to do all sorts of things. He does remarkably well, but it hasn't been an easy life. Fergus has a very hard time after the birth of Henri-Christian, when he falls into a deep depression.

He rose to his feet quite suddenly. He stretched out his left arm, and with a jerk, freed the leather strip that held his hook. It fell with a soft thump into the straw, and left the narrow stump of his wrist bare, the pale skin creased with red from the tightness of the wrappings.

“Me, I cannot hunt, cannot do a proper man’s work. I am fit for nothing but to pull the plow, like a mule!” His voice shook with anger and self-loathing. “If I cannot work as a man does, how shall a dwarf?”

“Fergus, it isn’t--”

“I cannot keep my family! My wife must labor day and night to feed the children, must put herself in the way of scum and filth who misuse her, who--Even if I was in Paris, I am too old and crippled to whore!” He shook the stump at me, face convulsed, then whirled and swung his maimed arm, smashing it against the wall, over and over.

“Fergus!” I seized his other arm, but he jerked away.

“What work will he do?” he cried, tears streaming down his face. “How shall he live? Mon Dieu! Il est aussi inutile que moi!” He bent and seized the hook from the ground, and hurled it as hard as he could at the limestone wall. It made a small chiming sound as it struck, and fell into the straw, startling the nanny and her kids.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 37, "Le Maître des Champignons". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

This is the point where Fergus finally admits that life on a farm in the backwoods of North Carolina just isn't a good fit for him, to put it mildly. He tried for years, but he can't escape the constant reminders of things he can't do -- things that all the other men on the Ridge do on a daily basis to support their families -- and the many extra chores that Marsali has been forced to take on as a result. That has to be humiliating, even emasculating, for Fergus. The birth of a baby with dwarfism, whom many of the tenants on the Ridge consider "demon-spawn", only makes things worse.

It seems to me, in retrospect, that living on the Ridge put Fergus in an impossible situation, especially as his family kept growing. (Four children in less than six years!) I'm not saying that Jamie deliberately set him up for failure, or anything of that sort. But I think Jamie and Claire simply didn't consider the cumulative strain on Fergus of years of not being able to provide for and protect his family the way all the other men on the Ridge do, owing to his disability. The tension must have been building up inside him for quite a while, but Fergus never spoke about it to anyone. It takes the combined shocks of the attack on the malting-floor (where a very pregnant Marsali was injured), and Henri-Christian's birth, for Fergus to finally admit that something is very wrong.

Eventually Fergus reaches a breaking point, when Jamie catches him actually in the act of attempting suicide (!) Obviously something has to change, and soon! Jamie helps to get Fergus set up as a printer, a job he can do effectively despite his disability. That, combined with the change of scenery, moving away from Fraser's Ridge, does a great deal to restore Fergus's usual good spirits, and he has seemed much happier in recent years.

HENRI-CHRISTIAN

And speaking of Henri-Christian.... The birth of a baby with dwarfism comes as a shock to everyone on Fraser's Ridge. Many of the tenants are convinced that he is demon-born, or that Marsali was somehow at fault. I've always loved Jamie's reaction.

“One of the lads asked me was it true, what Mr. Roger said, about the wean belonging to the Lord? I told him I certainly wouldna argue with Mr. Roger about that--but whoever else he belonged to, Henri-Christian belongs to me, as well, and best they should remember it.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 64, "I am the Resurrection, Part 2". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Jamie's unconditional acceptance of Henri-Christian, even in the face of considerable hostility by others in the community, speaks volumes both for Jamie's character and for Diana's, for choosing to write it that way. Whatever Jamie may feel about Henri-Christian being a dwarf, he is first of all a member of Jamie's family -- and that's all that matters. (Just as we saw earlier with Iain Mhor.)

As Henri-Christian grows older, we can see subtle references to accommodations the family makes for his disability, like the fact that "his feet were too short and wide to fit his sisters’ outgrown shoes", so he needed new ones made. (ECHO chapter 100, "Lady in Waiting") But above all, what stands out to me about the depiction of Henri-Christian in the books is not his dwarfism (let alone the tragic circumstances of his death!), but his friendly, bubbly personality, which was evident even when he was a baby.

[Marsali] closed one eye to assist thought, keeping the other on Henri-Christian, who was industriously blacking his father’s best boots—and a good deal of himself in the process. [....] “That’ll do, Henri! A Dhia, the state of you! Go find one o’ your sisters and tell her to wash your hands for ye, aye?”

Henri looked at his hands, as though astonished to find them completely black. “Oui, Maman,” he said, and, cheerfully wiping them on his breeches, scampered out into the kitchen, bellowing, “Félicité! Come wash me!” at the top of his lungs.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 111, "A Distant Massacre". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

That bit always makes me smile.

ROGER (after the hanging)

In the aftermath of the hanging in FIERY CROSS, Roger MacKenzie abruptly becomes someone living with a disability. His adjustment to the loss of his beautiful singing voice takes a long time, but I think it's portrayed realistically, both his initial depression in the days following the hanging, and his gradual recovery in the months that followed.

Look at the situation from Roger's point of view. His old life, everything upon which he based his image of himself as a man, husband, provider, his feelings of self-worth, etc. -- all of that is gone. Even before the hanging, he could barely cope with his new role as a man of the 18th century. He was already feeling grossly inadequate, especially as compared with Jamie. Then he loses his singing voice -- seemingly, the only thing he had that was of value to the 18th century people around him. OK, it's gone, possibly forever. So what does he do next?

It seems to me there are basically two choices. You either spend the rest of your life wallowing in self-pity for all the things you've lost ... or you pick yourself up and try to do what you can to live your life to the fullest with whatever you have left. Roger, of course, chose the latter path.

The solo surveying trip Roger embarks on soon after the hanging helps a great deal. Just the chance to be alone for an extended period of time is obviously a great relief to him.

[There] was something about the sheer awful scale of the wilderness that soothed him. Among the gigantic trees and teeming wildlife, he found some peace; peace from the dammed-up words inside his head, from the unspoken worry in Brianna’s eyes, the judgment in Jamie’s--judgment withheld, but hanging there like the sword of Damocles. Peace from the glances of pity or curiosity, from the constant slow, aching effort of speech--peace from the memory of singing.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 82, "A Darkening Sky". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Alone in the woods with no one else to hear him, he chants the words to a children's song, "The Ants Go Marching". It's not singing -- not yet! But it's a start.

I've always admired these characters' capacity for resilience in the face of traumatic or life-altering events. In Roger's case, it takes a long time, but eventually he begins to sing again. I liked his attitude toward the scar on his throat in ECHO very much. At that point it's been about seven years since the hanging.

“How long did it take them to ask about your scar?” [Bree] asked, when he’d come home smiling from his first solo practice with the kids.

“I didn’t time it, but maybe thirty seconds.” He rubbed two fingers lightly over the ragged mark across his throat, but didn’t stop smiling. “Please, Mr. MacKenzie, what’s happened to your neck? Was ye hangit?”

“And what did you tell them?”

“Told them aye, I was hangit in America, but I lived, praise God.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 34, "Psalms, 30". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Children are curious, of course; they stare and ask awkward questions. Anyone with a visible disability gets those questions fairly often. (I used to hear, "Mommy, what's THAT?" almost every time I went to the grocery store or the mall, from little kids who'd never seen a mobility scooter like mine before.) I thought Roger handled that situation with the kids at the school very well. I think it's his way of saying, Yes, this happened to me, and I can't ignore it or wish it away, no matter how much I might want to.

DUNCAN INNES

Duncan Innes lost an arm to blood poisoning some years ago, and he still feels pain in the missing arm.

“I am wondering, mistress,” [Duncan] said politely, “whether there might be a medicine for something as isna there.”

“What?” I must have looked puzzled at this description, for he lifted the empty sleeve of his shirt in illustration.

“My arm,” he explained. “It’s no there, as ye can plainly see. And yet it pains me something terrible sometimes.” He blushed slightly.

“I did wonder for some years was I only a bit mad,” he confided, in lowered tones. “But I spoke a bit wi’ Mr. Murphy, and he tells me it’s the same with his leg that got lost, and Fergus says he wakes sometimes, feeling his missing hand slide into someone’s pocket.” He smiled briefly, teeth a flash under his drooping mustache. “So I thought maybe if it was a common thing, to feel a limb that wasn’t there, perhaps there was something that might be done about it.”

“I see.” I rubbed my chin, pondering. “Yes, it is common; it’s called a phantom limb, when you still have feelings in a part that’s been lost.”

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 43, "Phantom Limbs". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

It's a reminder that just as in real life, many disabled people live with pain on a daily basis, even if they don't talk about it.

Later, we learn that Duncan was born with a cleft lip, which was mended by a traveling healer when he was only a few days old. (ABOSAA chapter 15, "Stakit to Droon")

STEPHAN VON NAMTZEN

Like Duncan, Lord John's good friend Stephan von Namtzen lost an arm as a result of blood poisoning from a minor cut. Stephan has a hard time adjusting at first, driving his horse-drawn quadriga (a chariot-like vehicle) around his estate like a maniac, terrifying the servants.

“Show me, Stephan,” [Lord John] said suddenly, surprising them both.

[....]

He took Stephan’s shirt off gently, with no further fumblings. He was ready for the sight of the arm, not shocked, though the thought of the solid forearm, the kind, broad hand now gone, made him sad. The stump was clean, cut just above the elbow; the scars well-knitted, though still an angry red.

Stephan’s muscles tensed instantly when Grey touched him, and Grey whistled softly through his teeth, as though Stephan were a nervous horse, making the German snort a little, the sound not quite a laugh. Grey ran a soothing hand down the slope of von Namtzen’s shoulder, his thumb tracing the groove between the muscles of the upper arm.

Von Namtzen had the most beautiful skin, he thought. No more than a sprinkling of dark gold hairs across his breast. Poreless and smooth, with a dusk that drew both eye and hand.

You are like porcelain, he thought, but didn’t say it. And damned near as breakable, aren’t you?

He lifted the unresisting arm, and lightly kissed the end of the stump.

“Schon gut,” he said.

[....]

There was one thing, perhaps, that he might give Stephan; it might not help--it hadn’t helped Percy--but it was what he had.

“I love you, brother,” he said, straightening and looking Stephan in the eyes. “So you will stop trying to kill yourself, ja?”

(From LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "Drinking with Dachshunds". Copyright © 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I really liked John's attitude in this scene. He's gentle with his friend, making it clear that he still loves Stephan (and finds him sexually attractive, though he doesn't say that out loud), in spite of the injury.

CAPTAIN CUNNINGHAM

Finally, we shouldn't forget Captain Charles Cunningham, who was shot in the back during the fight on Lodge Night in BEES.

I glanced at his feet. One of them twitched and Elspeth gasped. She was stanching the blood from his arm, but at this stopped and bent over him.

“Move the other, Charles,” she said urgently.

“I am,” he whispered. His eyes were closed and water ran from his hair. I looked down the table. Neither foot was moving.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 110, "Confused Noise and Garments Rolled in Blood". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Clearly there's damage to his spinal cord, though we don't yet know whether the paralysis is permanent or not. The fact that he was able to move even one of his feet is a good sign, under the circumstances. In a modern hospital, with modern medical care, perhaps he would eventually recover from an injury like that. In the backwoods of North Carolina (or on a long ocean voyage back to England), under these primitive conditions, I'm not so sure. Just thinking about the practical realities of caring for a man with a severe spinal cord injury under 18th-century conditions rather takes my breath away, though I'm sure these things happened back then.

CONCLUSION

There are many more characters with disabilities in the books that I didn't have room to discuss here: Arch Bug, Kezzie Beardsley, Murphy the cook -- even Jamie, with his damaged right hand and his inability to hear music as a result of a head injury. The list goes on and on, and there just isn't time to explore all of them! The overall effect is to reinforce the idea that people with disabilities have always been part of society, and always will be. Diana Gabaldon's portrayal of disabled characters in these books feels just right to me, on multiple levels. In my opinion, including all types of people, including those with disabilities of various kinds, makes for a richer, more realistic, and more immersive reading experience, especially in historical fiction, and I wish more authors did it.

In my experience, at least, most authors don't bother to include characters with disabilities in fiction unless there's a specific reason for it, in terms of plot or character development. What makes Diana Gabaldon's approach unique is that she also makes a point of including them from time to time as minor characters, "part of the landscape", so to speak, even when it's not necessary to the plot. That's something that I appreciate very much, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

What do you think about the portrayal of characters with disabilities in the OUTLANDER books? Are there other characters I've left out who made a particular impression on you? Please leave a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.

Are you planning to watch BLOOD OF MY BLOOD Season 2?

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 16:44:45 +0000

Season 2 of OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD premieres on STARZ on Friday, September 18.

I was just wondering how many of you are planning to watch? Please take a moment to vote in the poll below, and feel free to leave a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.

Looking for a place to discuss BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (or anything else OUTLANDER-related) with other fans? Check out TheLitForum!

Formerly known as the Compuserve Books and Writers Community, this forum, in its various incarnations, has been Diana Gabaldon's main online hangout for more than 40 years. (It's where she posted the very first excerpts of what would become OUTLANDER, back in 1988.) Diana is on the forum most days, except when she's traveling, and she responds to comments and questions as time permits. I've been managing the discussions (aka "herding the bumblebees") in Diana's section of the forum since 2008.

TheLitForum is a community of readers, writers, book-lovers, and fans of All Things OUTLANDER, and we invite you to come and join the discussions! You have to create an account in order to read or post on the forum, but it's free.

When characters make assumptions

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:34:58 +0000

One thing I have learned from many years of reading Diana Gabaldon's books: Don't make assumptions! The characters do it, certainly many readers do it, and most of the time those assumptions turn out to be wrong. Sometimes these mistaken assumptions are harmless, but on occasion they can have very serious consequences! I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the most memorable examples in the OUTLANDER books of characters making incorrect assumptions or jumping to the wrong conclusions. Hope you enjoy it!

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

If you haven't read all of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER books, there are SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk.

1) Sir Marcus MacRannoch assumed that Black Jack Randall had been killed in the cattle stampede during Jamie's rescue from Wentworth Prison.

“If it’s any comfort to ye,” Sir Marcus said suddenly, eyes fixed on the decanter, “he’s dead.”

“You’re sure?” Jamie’s tone was unreadable.

“I dinna see how anybody could live after bein’ trampled flat by thirty half-ton beasts.”

[....]

“[By] the time we’d cleared the cattle out, there was no much left but a rag doll rolled in blood. Sir Fletcher’s men carried him awa’, but if he was still livin’ then, he didna last long.”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 36, "MacRannoch". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

It came as quite a shock to both Jamie and Claire to discover, months later, that BJR was still alive.

2) Frank and Claire both assumed that the Randall genealogical chart was correct when it listed Black Jack Randall as Frank's direct ancestor.

“Jamie! For God’s sake, Jamie, listen to me! You can’t kill Jack Randall because I won’t let you!”

He stared down at me in utter astonishment.

“Because of Frank,” I said. I let go of his sleeve and stepped back.

“Frank,” he repeated, shaking his head slightly as though to clear a buzzing in his ears. “Frank.”

“Yes,” I said. “If you kill Jack Randall now, then Frank ... he won’t exist. He won’t be born. Jamie, you can’t kill an innocent man!”

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 21, "Untimely Resurrection". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

It wasn't until many months later, a few weeks before Culloden, that Claire finally realized that BJR's brother Alex was actually the father of Mary's child, and therefore Frank's direct ancestor. The genealogical chart Frank was so proud of didn't reflect that fact, so Frank didn't know.

3) The girls at Madame Jeanne's welcomed Claire with good-natured teasing and advice, assuming that she, too, was a whore, newly arrived at the brothel.

The table was surrounded by twenty-odd women, a few gowned for day, but most of them in a state of dishabille that made my quilt modest by comparison. A woman near the end of the table caught sight of me hovering in the doorway, and beckoned, companionably sliding over to make room for me on the end of the long bench.

“You’ll be the new lass, aye?” she said, looking me over with interest. “You’re a wee bit older than Madame usually takes on--she likes ’em no more than five and twenty. You’re no bad at all, though,” she assured me hastily. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Good skin and a pretty face,” observed the dark-haired lady across from us, sizing me up with the detached air of one appraising horseflesh. “And nice bubbies, what I can see.” She lifted her chin slightly, peering across the table at what could be seen of my cleavage.

“Madame doesna like us to take the kivvers off the beds,” my original acquaintance said reprovingly. “Ye should wear your shift, if ye havena something pretty to show yourself in yet.”

“Aye, be careful with the quilt,” advised the dark-haired girl, still scrutinizing me. “Madame’ll dock your wages, an’ ye get spots on the bedclothes.”

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "Whore's Brunch". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire handled that situation pretty well, considering that she could hardly get in a word among all that chattering!

4) Bree and Roger came to breakfast one morning bursting with excitement, eager to share the news about the matches Bree had invented. Mrs. Bug took one look at their faces and assumed that only one piece of news could put them in a mood like that. Unfortunately, her assumption turned out to be totally wrong.

[When] Roger announced that they had great news, it was perhaps only reasonable that Mrs. Bug should leap directly to the obvious conclusion.

“You’re wi’ child again!” she cried, dropping a spoon in her excitement. She clapped her hands together, inflating like a birthday balloon. “Oh, the joy of it! And about time, too,” she added, letting go her hands to wag a finger at Roger. “And here was me thinkin’ as I should add a bit o’ ginger and brimstone to your parritch, young man, so as to bring ye up to scratch! But ye kent your business weel enough in the end, I see.”

“Call Arch in, a muirninn, and we’ll tell him your news. Blessed Bride save ye, lass, I thought ye’d never get round to it! Here was all the ladies saying’ as they didna ken whether ye’d turned cold to your husband, or was it him maybe, lackin’ the vital spark, but as it is--”

“Well, as it is,” said Roger, raising his voice in order to be heard.

“I’m not pregnant!” said Bree, very loudly.

The succeeding silence echoed like a thunderclap.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 21, "We Have Ignition". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I love that whole scene! Just hilarious. Fortunately, the mistaken assumption was cleared up quickly, with no lasting harm done.

5) When Claire was arrested for the murder of Malva Christie, she shared a cell for a while with a woman named Sadie Ferguson, whose crime was forgery. Sadie told the governor's aide that she was the murderer and Claire was the forger. Claire assumed at first that Sadie had spoken up out of kindness -- surely murder was considered a more serious crime than forgery, as it would be in our own time? -- but she soon learned otherwise!

“You write a very fair hand, Mrs. Fraser,” [Governor Martin] unbent enough to say, at one point, and gave me a brief, wintry smile. “It is unfortunate that you should have been the forger, rather than the murderess.”

“Why?” I asked, rather astonished at that.

“Why, you are plainly literate,” he said, surprised in turn at my astonishment. “If convicted of murder, you could plead benefit of clergy, and be let off with a public whipping and branding in the face. Forgery, though--” He shook his head, pursing his lips. “Capital crime, no pardon possible. If convicted of forgery, Mrs. Fraser, I am afraid you must be hanged.”

My feelings of gratitude toward Sadie Ferguson underwent an abrupt reappraisal.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 92, "Amanuensis". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Oops! Even after all this time in the past, Claire still gets tripped up occasionally by unfamiliar 18th-century customs.

6) Claire assumed that Tom Christie had been executed for Malva's murder, and was therefore completely taken by surprise when she encountered him, alive and well, in Wilmington more than a year later.

“I beg your pardon, madam,” a deep voice said respectfully behind me. “I see that you--”

Jarred abruptly from my memory, I turned blankly toward the voice, thinking vaguely that I knew--

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!” I blurted, leaping to my feet. “You!”

I took a step backward, stumbled over the basket, and nearly fell into the harbor, saved only by Tom Christie’s instinctive grab for my arm.

He jerked me away from the edge of the quay and I fell against his chest. He recoiled as though I were made of molten metal, then seized me in his arms, pressed me hard against himself, and kissed me with passionate abandon.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 19, "Ae Fond Kiss". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I was very much taken aback by this scene, on my first reading of ECHO. Like Claire, I had been very moved by Tom Christie's willingness to sacrifice his life for her, and I was completely convinced, before ECHO, that he was dead. I was quite adamant about it in discussions on Compuserve before that book came out, in fact. "Of course he's dead! If he survived, it would ruin the impact of his sacrifice for Claire." (Only he wasn't, and it didn't.) I think that's when I started telling myself, "Don't make assumptions!"

7) Lord John assumed that Jamie had been aboard the ship Euterpe when it sank with all hands.

“Euterpe,” [Lord John] blurted, and I stopped dead, jarred to the backbone.

“What?” I whispered. “What?”

“Lost,” he said, in a voice that wasn’t his own. “Lost. With all hands.”

“No,” I said, trying for reason. “No, it’s not.”

[....]

“I heard it this morning from a naval captain I know. I met him at the coffeehouse, and he was recounting the tragedy. He saw it.” His voice trembled, and he stopped for a moment, firming his jaw. “A storm. He had been chasing the ship, meaning to stop and board her, when the storm came upon them both. His own ship survived and limped in, badly damaged, but he saw the Euterpe swamped by a broaching wave, he said [....] She went down before his eyes. The Roberts--his ship--hung about in hopes of picking up survivors.” He swallowed. “There were none.”

“None,” I said blankly. I heard what he said but took no meaning from the words.

“He is dead,” Lord John said softly, and let go of my arm. “He is gone.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 93, "A Series of Short, Sharp Shocks". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

What Claire and John don't realize, of course, is that Jamie was not in fact aboard the Euterpe when it sank. The readers know that, because we saw Jamie and Jenny boarding a different ship. This particular mistaken assumption is not John's fault -- there's no way he could have known it wasn't true! -- but the news has a devastating effect on both Claire and Lord John.

8) Roger assumed (from the limited information available in Frank's book) that the Battle of Savannah would take place on October 11, 1779, two days later than it actually did. That's why he thought it would be safe to go into the Continental Army camp to speak with Francis Marion.

“You’re keeping track of the calendar, aren’t you?” Bree pulled her sleeping shift over her head, noting from the smell that she should talk to the Brumbys’ laundress tomorrow. “How many days until all hell breaks loose?”

“Less than three weeks,” he said, more soberly. “Your father didn’t give much detail on the battle, but we know the Americans will lose. The siege will be lifted on October the eleventh.”

“And you’ll be here and safely inside, right?” She raised her eyebrows at him, and he smiled and took her hand.

“I will,” he said, and kissed it.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 89, "The Filature". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Roger clearly thought that there would be plenty of time to go see Marion and return to Bree before the battle began. Instead, he found himself trapped in the Continental camp when the battle broke out, and he went through a very harrowing experience on the battlefield.

9) Bree took one look at William's drawing of Richardson, and immediately leapt to the conclusion that Richardson and the 20th-century archaeologist, Michael Callahan, whom we met in ECHO, are the same person. That's a pretty big assumption, if you ask me!

She stopped, something tickling at her brain, and looked closer. Could anyone actually have ears that noticeably off-kilter? Big ears were one thing, but displaced ears ... Perhaps if the man had had an accident that severed one ear and a surgeon had sewed it back on awry ... The notion made her smile, despite her uneasiness, but another thought was pushing up behind the first, triggered by the thought of surgery. Plastic surgery.

She looked again, closer, at that very ordinary face, lacking most of the normal lines of expression. Alarm was flooding through her, even before her mind had dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s.

[....]

[She] breathed cold air smelling of pine and heather and burning rubber and hot metal and the acrid ghost of gunpowder. Remembered the hail-like sound of shotgun pellets pattering through gorse and heather. And the warm, greasy feel of an old wool cap in her hand, pulled off the head of a man whose face she hadn’t quite seen, as he tried to kidnap Jem and Mandy from the dark dooryard of Lallybroch. But now she saw him plain and saw through his disguise. Both of them.

Someone will come.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 133, "Such an Odd Feeling". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The jury's still out on this one. We don't yet know if Bree's assumption is correct. I for one am skeptical that the resemblance is as strong as Bree thinks it is. William is not a modern-day police sketch artist, after all. Maybe it's just a coincidence, that the sketch reminds Bree of Callahan. On the other hand, it's possible that her suspicions are correct. I expect we'll find out one way or another in A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT (Book 10). But it's fun to speculate about it!

10) Last but definitely NOT least: the cascading set of assumptions in DRUMS OF AUTUMN that led to Roger being sold to the Indians. I refer to the whole scenario as "The Great Miscommunication", because a great deal of confusion and heartbreak could have been avoided if the people involved had only talked to one another!

The whole scenario is too complicated to summarize here, so I'm going to focus only on the first part. It started with Lizzie telling Jamie her version of what happened on Bree and Roger's handfasting night. A big man called MacKenzie accosted Bree in a tavern, and Bree went away willingly with him.

“She--she didna come back till nearly dawn. And--and--”

Jamie had very little patience left, and no doubt it showed on his face.

“I could smell him on her,” she whispered, voice dropping almost to inaudibility. “His ... seed.”

The surge of rage took him unaware, like a white-hot bolt of lightning through chest and belly. He felt half choked with it, but clamped it down tight, hoarding it like coals in a hearth.

“He bedded her, then; you’re sure of that?”

Thoroughly mortified at this bluntness, the little bondmaid could do no more than nod.

“Oh, sir. She’s wi’ child, can ye not see? It must be him--she was virgin when he took her. He’s come after her--and she’s afraid of him.”

Quite suddenly, he could see it, and felt the hairs rise all up his arms and shoulders. The autumn breeze struck cold through shirt and skin, and the rage turned to sickness. All the small things he had half seen and half thought, not allowing them to rise to the surface of his mind, came together at once in a logical pattern.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 50, "In Which All is Revealed". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

That led Jamie to the inevitable (but mistaken!) conclusion that this man MacKenzie raped Brianna. He couldn't imagine why his daughter would have willingly gone with him, so it must have been rape. Now she was with child, and he assumed (incorrectly, as it turned out) that the rapist must have been the one who got her pregnant.

Jamie and Ian found Roger in the woods, and Roger, taken completely by surprise and fumbling for words, admitted that he did take Bree's maidenhead, and she was willing -- but he omitted the critical fact that he and Brianna were handfast at the time! Jamie, still operating under the assumption that he was dealing with the lowlife scum who raped his daughter, beat Roger to a pulp and ordered Ian to give him to the Indians.

Everything else that happened in the book followed from that. Without going into all of the details, let's just say that there were more misunderstandings and instances of characters assuming things that turned out not to be true. It took a long time to resolve all of the many complications, and for everyone involved to find a way to forgive each other for what happened.

This is an excellent example of what I mean when I say, "Don't make assumptions, because most of the time your assumptions turn out to be wrong." We would all do well to remember that, as we look ahead to BLESSING!

--------------------------------

What about the rest of you? Do you have a favorite example of characters making incorrect assumptions, or jumping to the wrong conclusions, that I haven't listed here? Please leave a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.

Outlandish Observations is 18 years old!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:12:18 +0000

Today, August 28th, is the 18th anniversary of Outlandish Observations!

Eighteen years....wow, that's amazing, even to me! Really hard to believe I've kept it up that long! I'm delighted, as always, to see that people are still enjoying it.

I started Outlandish Observations on August 28, 2008. That was about a year before AN ECHO IN THE BONE was published, long before anyone knew there would be a TV series. In the beginning, I had two goals in mind. The first was simply to learn about blogging. The second was to create a central repository for news and information for OUTLANDER fans, a place where people could go to find answers to commonly asked questions, links to other OUTLANDER-related sites, and the latest information on Diana Gabaldon's new and upcoming releases.

So much has changed in the OUTLANDER fan community in recent years, as the OUTLANDER TV series has exploded in popularity, and now with the prequel TV series, OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, airing on STARZ. It often seems impossible to keep up with everything that's going on! I think that's one reason that Outlandish Observations has lasted so long. There's always something new to talk about!

Outlandish Observations was one of the first successful OUTLANDER-related blogs. These days there are innumerable fan-sites and Facebook groups, and of course a great many people sharing their love of All Things OUTLANDER on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media sites. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned! I'm proud to be a part of such a thriving, creative, and enthusiastic worldwide community of fans, united in our passion for these books and characters and this amazing story Diana Gabaldon has created.

I'm delighted that so many of you have enjoyed my OUTLANDER episode recaps over the years! Those posts took a lot of time and effort to put together, but I think it was worth it.

Special thanks to all of my followers on the Outlandish Observations Facebook page! I now have almost 17,900 followers, an increase of 9.67% over last year! I'm delighted that so many new people have found my site over the past year. Welcome! I hope you take some time to look around and see what else is available here.

Finally, let me just say this: If anyone had told me when I started Outlandish Observations that I'd still be blogging about All Things OUTLANDER eighteen years later, I'm sure I would have said they were insane! But I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. At a time when "OUTLANDER burnout" is affecting some of the more well-known fan-sites, I'm still here, and I intend to keep this site going for the foreseeable future. There's still a lot to look forward to, including A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT (aka Book 10) and more!

Many, many thanks to all of you who've visited Outlandish Observations over the past eighteen years! It's been an amazing journey, and I'm so glad you've come along for the ride.

THANK YOU ALL!!

The OUTLANDER universe as a garden

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 11:37:29 +0000

As we look ahead to A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT (Book 10, the final book in the main OUTLANDER series), it's natural to wonder how we'll react after the series is finally complete. I had some thoughts on this subject a few years ago, and it seems like a good time to bring it up again.

Picture the whole story, the entire OUTLANDER universe (including the main series, the Lord John books, all the novellas and shorter pieces, and the TV series) as a garden that started with Diana Gabaldon planting those first seeds. That garden grows over time. It evolves, it becomes more complex and colorful and detailed, with every new book or story or major character (more varieties of plants and flowers?) that Diana adds to it. As the garden grows, the roots of these plants become interconnected, in much the same way that the various parts of the OUTLANDER story (Jamie and Lord John's relationship, for example) are inextricably intertwined with one another.

And it's still growing -- even now, in the middle of this #Droughtlander when we are in between books and it may be quite some time before we get anything new -- because readers' reactions change over time, as we pick up new details on re-reading, or some aspect of the books strikes us differently as we get older, or because something in the TV show caused us to see a scene or a character in a different light. Whatever the reason, the story changes in subtle ways (the garden continues to grow) every time you come back to it, even if you've read or listened to the books many times before. And it will continue to do that for years to come.

That last thought reminded me of this bit from BEES.

*** SPOILER WARNING! ***

If you haven't read GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, Book 9 of the OUTLANDER series, there is a Major Spoiler below! Read at your own risk.

I reached out and put a hand on the hive, feeling the lovely deep hum of the workings within. Amy Higgins is gone--is dead. You know her--her dooryard is full of hollyhocks and she’s got--had--jasmine growing by her cowshed and a good patch of dogwood nearby.

I stood quite still, letting the vibration of life come into my hand and touch my heart with the strength of transparent wings.

Her flowers are still growing.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 30, "You Should Know". Copyright© 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I am convinced that the OUTLANDER story will not end when BLESSING is published! Not just because Diana Gabaldon has more stories she wants to write, but because readers' reactions will continue to change and evolve. Like Amy's flowers outliving the one who planted them, OUTLANDER's metaphorical "garden" will continue to grow even after the series is finally complete. That idea is something I've been aware of for a long time, but somehow that imagery, picturing the overall story as a garden, is making the concept easier for me to grasp. To me, it's a reassuring thought.

I should add that I am not a writer of fiction and I have no ambitions to be one. This sort of metaphorical prose doesn't come naturally to me, and I rarely express myself in terms like that. But the image was so vivid in my mind (I kept picturing one of those time-lapse videos, showing how the garden grows and changes over time) that I wanted to share it. I hope it helps!

Deleted scene from OUTLANDER Season 8!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:13:41 +0000

Entertainment Weekly has just posted an exclusive look at one of the deleted scenes that will be included in the OUTLANDER Season 8 Blu-ray, coming September 22.

It's a sweet little scene with Claire, Ian, Rachel, and young Totis (aka Swiftest of Lizards), Ian's son by his Mohawk wife, Emily.

The scene is based on two bits from BEES that I've always liked very much:

“You lay your hands on many people, to try to heal them. Some of them die, of course, and some of those, I think, follow you for a short time, but they find their way and leave you. You have a small child sometimes near you, but she is very faint. The only other one I have seen with you more than once is a man. He wears spectacles." He made circles of his thumbs and middle fingers and held them up to his eyes, miming glasses. "And a peculiar hat, with a short brim. I think he must be from your place across the stones, for I have never seen anything like that."

I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. There was an immense pressure in my chest, and I couldn't breathe. The Sachem touched my arm, though, and the pressure eased.

"You shouldn't worry," he assured me. "He is a man who loved you; he means you no harm. [....] What is strange," he said as I rose, "is that this man often follows your husband, too."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 117, "Fungus, Beavers, and the Beautiful Stars". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

That's a reference to Frank, of course. A very startling thought, to put it mildly! How can someone who has never seen Frank Randall describe him so accurately?

The second quote is also from the Sachem, speaking to Jenny.

"He is still with you -- your husband. He says to tell you that he walks upon two legs."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 83, "The Forefeather of a Great Horned Owl". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

It's really a shame that this scene was not included in the actual episode. I think they did a great job of adapting it. Having Totis (aka Swiftest of Lizards) and Ian tell the story was an effective way of getting around the absence of the Sachem in the show, while preserving the essence of the book version.

Bonhams OUTLANDER Auction

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:37:44 +0000

As some of you may have heard, Bonhams will be holding an auction of OUTLANDER costumes and props starting August 5th, including some of the most iconic costumes from the TV series.

Look here for the full list of items that will be included in the auction. It's not just costumes! There's quite a variety here, including many different props used over the course of the series.

Also take a look at the photos on Bonhams Facebook page.

Finally, here's a video on Instagram by German tour guide Nadja Fischer, showing many of the costumes and props that will be up for auction.

I was lucky to have the opportunity to see some of these costumes in person in April at the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, VA, but the Bonhams auction includes many more costumes and items that weren't part of that collection.

How long have you been reading the OUTLANDER books?

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:42:49 +0000

It's been really quiet in OUTLANDER fandom lately, so I thought we could use something else to talk about. Here's a question for all of you: How long have you been reading the OUTLANDER books?

It's been 19 1/2 years for me -- I found OUTLANDER in November 2006. My account of how I found OUTLANDER is HERE if you're interested.

Please take a moment to vote in the poll below, and feel free to share your "how I found OUTLANDER" story here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page. I'm always interested to hear how other people found Diana Gabaldon's books!

Zugunruhe

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:17:03 +0000

This quote from THE FIERY CROSS has been on my mind in recent days:

“Zugunruhe,” [Jamie] said softly, tracing with a fingertip the damp mark he had left on my skin.

“What’s that?”

“It’s what Sterne called it--the wakefulness of the wee birds, getting ready to leave on their long flight.”

“Does it mean something in particular?”

“Aye. ‘Ruhe’ is stillness, rest. And ‘zug’ is a journey of some sort. So ‘zugunruhe’ is a restlessness--the uneasiness before a long journey.”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 107, "Zugunruhe". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I'm feeling that zugunruhe, that restlessness, myself, because I'm about to go on vacation, on a trip I've been looking forward to for more than a year. I'm going on a cruise on Alaska's Inside Passage!

I've never done anything remotely like this before, and this trip will take my travel adventures to a whole new level! If I enjoy cruising, it will open up possibilities for traveling to other places that would be difficult or impossible for me to visit on my own.

I signed up for a whale-watching excursion in Juneau that I'm really looking forward to. Also, the ship will spend a full day cruising through Glacier Bay National Park, and I'm sure the scenery there will be gorgeous! (The photo above, from the National Park Service website, shows Margerie Glacier, one of the places I hope to see on this cruise.)

Apparently it rains a lot in that part of Alaska in July, but I'm trying to maintain what you might call a Scottish attitude toward the weather, and not let it slow me down too much. Everybody says to bring rain gear, dress in layers, and be prepared for all types of weather. So I'm going to do that. I've spent the last couple of days packing and re-packing, adding last-minute items, making sure I have everything I'll need on the trip. So I'm definitely feeling that zugunruhe, that restlessness before a long journey. I really can't wait!

Wish me luck! I leave on Friday, and I won't be blogging during my trip, unless there is Major Breaking News related to OUTLANDER.

OUTLANDER quotes to cool you off

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:48:40 +0000

Many parts of the US and Europe are suffering a brutal heat wave this week. We're expecting temperatures as high as 104F in the next few days here in Raleigh, North Carolina. So I thought it might be a good time to share a few winter-related quotes from the OUTLANDER books, in an attempt to help us stay cool. This is an updated version of a collection I first posted a few years ago. Hope it helps a little bit!

1) Grandfather Mountain, NC, near where Fraser's Ridge is supposed to be located. (Photo credit: akunkle99, on Flickr.)

The snow was falling thicker and faster, and I felt some uneasiness. If it covered his tracks before I found him, how would I find my way back to the cabin?

I looked back, but could see nothing behind me but a long, treacherous slope of unbroken snow that fell to the dark line of an unfamiliar brook below, its rocks poking up like teeth. No sign of the cheerful plume of smoke and sparks from our chimney. I turned slowly round in a circle, but I could no longer see the falls, either.

“Fine,” I muttered to myself. “You’re lost. Now what?” I sternly quelled an incipient attack of panic, and stood still to think. I wasn’t totally lost. I didn’t know where I was, but that wasn’t quite the same thing. I still had Jamie’s trail to guide me--or would have, until the snow covered it. And if I could find him, he presumably could find the cabin.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 21, "Night on a Snowy Mountain". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

2) Ashness Bridge, the Lake District, England, near where Helwater is supposed to be located. (Photo credit: Mark & Sue, on Flickr.)

It was so cold out, he thought his cock might break off in his hand--if he could find it. The thought passed through his sleep-mazed mind like one of the small, icy drafts that darted through the loft, making him open his eyes.

(From THE SCOTTISH PRISONER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 1, "April Fool". Copyright © 2011 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

3) This picture shows a cabin built around 1820 near Grandfather Mountain, NC (very close to where Fraser's Ridge is supposed to be located). This is very much the way I picture the original cabin on the Ridge. Just imagine trying to stay warm in a little cabin like that through the bitter winters of the 1770s, with a small child to care for:

[W]hen I got up this morning, the water in the basin was so cold I had to warm water in a pan on the fire before I washed Jemmy.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 18, "Vroom!". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

4) Claire had a very cold bath in the cellar of the World's End, soon after she was reunited with Jamie.

“I can offer ye a bathtub, but I’m afraid it will be cold.”

It was extremely cold.

“Wh-wh-where did this water come from?” I asked, shivering. “Off a glacier?” The water gushed out of a pipe set in the wall, normally kept plugged with an insanitary-looking wad of rags, wrapped to form a rough seal around the chunk of wood that served as a plug.

[....]

Behind a hastily arranged screen of empty barrels, I peered dubiously down into the depths of my makeshift tub. A single candle burned in a puddle of wax nearby, glimmering off the surface of the water and making it look black and bottomless. I stripped off, shivering violently, thinking that the comforts of hot water and modern plumbing had seemed a hell of a lot easier to renounce when they were close at hand.

[....]

The water was freezing and so was the cellar, and as I gingerly sponged myself, the icy trickles running down my stomach and thighs brought on small fits of shivering.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "Whore's Brunch". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

5) Icicles in Boone, NC, in the vicinity of Fraser's Ridge. (Photo credit: eightylbs, on Flickr.)

January 21 was the coldest day of the year. Snow had fallen a few days before, but now the air was like cut crystal, the dawn sky so pale it looked white, and the packed snow chirped like crickets under our boots. Snow, snow-shrouded trees, the icicles that hung from the eaves of the house--the whole world seemed blue with cold.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 111, "January Twenty-First". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

6) The photo above shows Corrimony Cairn, where General Simon Fraser of Balnain was buried. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

It was a long walk from the farmhouse at Balnain. As it was early January in Scotland, it was also wet and cold. Very wet. And very cold. No snow--and I rather wished there had been, as it might have discouraged Hugh Fraser’s insane notion--but it had been raining for days, in that dismal way that makes hearths smoke, and even clothes that have not been outside grow damp, and drives the chill so far into your bones that you think you’ll never be warm again.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 75, "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

7) Soldiers' quarters at Valley Forge, PA. (Photo credit: paulbradyphoto, on Flickr.)

Valley Forge looked like a gigantic encampment of doomed charcoal-burners. The place was essentially a wood lot, or had been before Washington’s soldiers began felling everything in sight. Hacked stumps were everywhere, and the ground was strewn with broken branches. Huge bonfires burned in random spots, and piles of logs were stacked everywhere. They were building huts as fast as possible--and none too soon, for snow had begun falling three or four hours before, and the camp was already blanketed with white.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 86, "Valley Forge". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

8) A spring snowfall in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. (Photo credit: Craig Zerbe on istockphoto)

I woke to the whisper of falling snow, and the strange gray snow-light seeping through the shutters. Peeping out, I saw the world of the forest--dark conifers and the sprouts of spring plants alike--robed in a pure and delicate white. It was a spring snow and would be gone in hours--but for the moment, it was beautiful, and I put my hand against the cold windowpane and breathed its freshness, wanting to be part of it.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 153, "Special Delivery". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Hope all of you stay cool over the next few days!

P.S. to those of you in the Southern Hemisphere: No, I haven't forgotten about you! Here's my collection of OUTLANDER Quotes to Keep You Warm.

Season 8 Blu-ray/DVD will be released on Sept. 22!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:26:03 +0000

The OUTLANDER Season 8 Blu-ray, DVD, and Collector's Edition will be released in the US on September 22, 2026!

Here are the pre-order links on Amazon:

Blu-ray
DVD
Blu-ray Collector's Edition

There will be 4 discs in each set. The special features on the Blu-ray will include:

- Blooper reel
- 7 deleted scenes
- "Outlander For All Time" Featurette

I have no further details at this time regarding any additional features included in the Collector's Edition. If I find out more information, I'll update this post.

Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested!

Upcoming virtual programs from Wake County Public Libraries!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:23:49 +0000

Many of you will remember the excellent series of OUTLANDER-themed virtual programs presented last year by the Wake County (NC) Public Libraries. (In case you missed them, the recordings are available here.) They just announced that they will be putting on another set of three virtual programs in July and August, in honor of America's 250th birthday, featuring topics that will appeal to OUTLANDER fans!

As we commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, we’re hosting a special three-part virtual series that brings history to life through fascinating stories, memorable characters, and expert presenters. Two of our featured speakers may already be familiar to you: Dr. Rebecca Simon (from the Outlander program Saltwater Scoundrels: Pirates and Privateers on the High Seas) and Hunter Ingram (from the program Outlander’s North Carolina: Where Fiction Meets History, and moderator of the conversation with author Diana Gabaldon at the NC First in Freedom Festival), both of whom were popular presenters in last fall’s series.

All programs are live-only [no recording will be provided] and free to attend, but registration is required.

Here are the descriptions of the three programs. To register, click on each of the individual pages and you'll see a link to sign up. You don't need to be a resident of North Carolina to attend these virtual programs!

Pirates of the Carolinas (July 21, 2026, from 7-8 pm ET)

Join Dr. Rebecca Simon, historian of early modern piracy, Colonial America, the Atlantic World, and author of three books on piracy to explore the history of piracy along the Carolina coast, featuring legendary pirates, hidden treasures, and coastal lore. Discover how these seafaring figures shaped the region’s culture and maritime history.

Footsteps Through the Revolution (July 23, 2026, from 7-8 pm ET)

Join travel writer and historian Adele Lassiter of American Nomad Traveler for a journey through North Carolina’s pivotal role in the American Revolution. From battlefields to backcountry legends, discover the sites that shaped our nation as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Along the way, Adele shares how pop‑culture favorites like Outlander have renewed interest in NC’s Revolutionary past and the real stories behind it.

A Toast to Revolution (August 11, 2026, from 7-8 pm ET)

Join us in a toast to the revolution with Hunter Ingram of the Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens as we explore the bold acts of resistance that stirred revolutionary spirit in the Cape Fear region and celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. From the Stamp Act uprising to the legendary Wilmington Ladies’ Tea Walk, discover how local defiance helped shape a nation.

As a longtime resident of Wake County (I live in Raleigh, NC), I'm proud of the fact that my local library is putting on these programs that will appeal to OUTLANDER fans everywhere! I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested. Thanks!

Father's Day quotes from the OUTLANDER books

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:32:40 +0000

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! In honor of the day, here's a selection of my favorite quotes about fathers and fatherhood from Diana Gabaldon's books. Hope you enjoy them!

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

If you haven't read all of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER books, there are SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk.

OUTLANDER

"I hadna realized until I saw him just how alone I’d felt there--or how scairt. The soldiers would not give us any time alone together, but at least they let me greet him.” He swallowed and went on.

“I told him I was sorry--about Jenny, I meant, and the whole sorry mess. He told me to hush, though, and hugged me tight to him. He asked me was I hurt badly--he knew about the flogging--and I said I’d be all right.The soldiers said I must go then, so he squeezed my arms tight, and told me to remember to pray. He said he would stand by me, no matter what happened, and I must just keep my head up and try not to worrit myself. He kissed my cheek and the soldiers took me away. That was the last time I ever saw him."

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 22, "Reckonings". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER

“I wondered a bit,” he said thoughtfully, “whether my father was the sort of father he was because of the way old Simon treated him. I didna realize it at the time, of course, but it’s no so common for a man to show his feelings for his sons.”

“You’ve thought about it a lot.” I offered him another flask of ale, and he took it with a smile that lingered on me, more warming than the feeble autumn sun.

“Aye, I did. I was wondering, ye see, what sort of father I’d be to my own bairns, and looking back a bit to see, my own father being the best example I had. Yet I knew, from the bits that he said, or that Murtagh told me, that his own father was nothing like him, so I thought as how he must have made up his mind to do it all differently, once he had the chance."

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 40, "The Fox's Lair". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

VOYAGER

Willie knew how an earl should behave; he was making a masterful effort to subdue his tears, sniffing ferociously and swiping at his face with a sleeve.

“Allow me, my lord.” Jamie did kneel then, and wiped the little boy’s face gently with his own coarse handkerchief. Willie’s eyes looked at him over the cotton folds, red-rimmed and woeful.

“Have you really got to go, Mac?” he asked, in a very small voice.

“Aye, I have.” He looked into the dark blue eyes, so heartbreakingly like his own, and suddenly didn’t give a damn what was right or who saw. He pulled the boy roughly to him, hugging him tight against his heart, holding the boy’s face close to his shoulder, that Willie might not see the quick tears that fell into his thick, soft hair.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 16, "Willie". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRUMS OF AUTUMN

“You can...call me Da,” he said. His voice was husky; he stopped and cleared his throat. “If--if ye want to, I mean,” he added diffidently.

“Da,” she said, and felt the smile bloom easily this time, unmarred by tears.

“Da. Is that Gaelic?”

He smiled back, the corners of his mouth trembling slightly. “No. It’s only...simple.”

And suddenly it was all simple. He held out his arms to her. She stepped into them and found that she had been wrong; he was as big as she’d imagined--and his arms were as strong about her as she had ever dared to hope.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 41, "Journey's End". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

THE FIERY CROSS

Roger had sworn an oath to take Jemmy as his own, no matter what the little boy’s true paternity might be; he was an honorable man, Roger, and he meant it. But the speech of the heart is louder than the words of any oath spoken by lips alone.

When I had gone back, pregnant, through the stones, Frank had sworn to me that he would keep me as his wife, would treat the coming child as his own--would love me as he had before. All three of those vows his lips and mind had done his best to keep, but his heart, in the end, had sworn only one. From the moment that he took Brianna in his arms, she was his daughter.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 13, "Beans and Barbecue". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES

Jem was heavy in his arms, and groggy. He stirred, lifted his head, and blinked, blue eyes glassy with sleep.

“It’s okay,” Roger whispered, patting his back. “Daddy’s here.”

Jem sighed like a punctured tire and dropped his head on Roger’s shoulder with the force of a spent cannonball. He seemed to inflate again for a moment, but then put his thumb in his mouth and subsided into that peculiarly boneless state common to sleeping children. His flesh seemed to melt comfortably into Roger’s own, his trust so complete that it was not necessary even to maintain the boundaries of his body--Daddy would do that.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 29, "Perfectly Fine". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

AN ECHO IN THE BONE

"For a long time,” [Fergus] said at last, “when I was small, I pretended to myself that I was the bastard of some great man. All orphans do this, I think,” he added dispassionately. “It makes life easier to bear, to pretend that it will not always be as it is, that someone will come and restore you to your rightful place in the world.”

He shrugged.

“Then I grew older, and knew this was not true. No one would come to rescue me. But then--” He turned his head and gave Jamie a smile of surpassing sweetness.

“Then I grew older still, and discovered that, after all, it was true. I am the son of a great man.”

The hook touched Jamie’s hand, hard and capable.

“I wish for nothing more."

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 18, "Pulling Teeth". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD

Seized by an urgency greater than any he’d ever known, he turned and ran. Ran heedless of footing, of dark, of Buck’s startled cry behind him.

Jerry heard his footsteps on the grass and whirled round, startled himself. Roger grabbed him by both hands, squeezed them hard enough to make Jerry gasp, and said fiercely, “I love you!”

That was all there was time for--and all he could possibly say.

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 101, "Just One Chance". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE

“Your wee lads need ye, Bobby,” he said gently. “Ye’ve got to mind them, aye? Ye’re all they’ve got left.”

Jamie felt those words strike suddenly and without warning, deep in his own wame. Felt again a bundle of cloth clutched hard against his breast, feeling the tiny pushings of the hours-old babe inside, himself shaking with terror at what he’d just done to save the boy--his son.

That’s what he’d thought. The only thought that came through the haze of fear and shock: His mother’s dead. I’m all he has.

And he saw it happen for Bobby, as it had for him. Saw the life fight its way back into his eyes, the bones of his body, melted with grief, begin to stiffen and form again. Bobby nodded, lips pressed tight together. Tears still ran down his face, but he rose from the settle, slow as an auld man but moving.

“Where are they?” he asked hoarsely. “Orrie and Rob?”

“With my daughter,” Jamie said. “At the house.” He lifted a brow at Roger Mac, who gave him an old-fashioned look but nodded.

“I’ll go up with ye, Bobby,” Roger Mac said, and to Jamie, “I’ll catch ye up. You and the lads.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 28, "Math-Ghamhainn". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

What about the rest of you? Are there other quotes or scenes about fathers in Diana Gabaldon's books that you particularly like?

Looking back at OUTLANDER's most memorable moments

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:59:59 +0000

Check out this wonderful fan-made video by RM Films Edits, looking back at the most memorable moments from all eight seasons of OUTLANDER, from Jamie Fraser's point of view. It's almost 14 minutes long, and I thought it was just mesmerizing! I found it impossible to look away, for fear I'd miss something.

SPOILER WARNING! If you haven't yet seen OUTLANDER's series finale, there are Major Spoilers in this video!

We've seen a number of these video montages since Season 8 ended, but this one is truly exceptional. Highly recommended!

Quick quotes in celebration of #WorldOutlanderDay!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:01:46 +0000

Happy World OUTLANDER Day, everyone! For those of you who don't know, OUTLANDER fans worldwide celebrate June 1st as the anniversary of OUTLANDER's publication in 1991, using the hashtag #WorldOutlanderDay on social media.

Congratulations to Diana Gabaldon on OUTLANDER's 35th anniversary! That's quite a milestone, don't you think? In honor of the occasion, here's a selection of 35 of my favorite "quick quotes" from Diana Gabaldon's books and stories.

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

If you haven't read all of Diana Gabaldon's books and stories, you will find SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk.

OUTLANDER

1) He lifted me to my feet then, and bent his head to kiss me. It went on a long while, and his hands roamed downward, finding the fastening of my petticoat. It fell to the floor in a billow of starched flounces, leaving me in my chemise.

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” I said, a little breathless. He grinned and pulled me close again.

“I said I was a virgin, not a monk,” he said, kissing me again. “If I find I need guidance, I’ll ask.”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 15, "Revelations of the Bridal Chamber". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

2) “And if your life is a suitable exchange for my honor, tell me why my honor is not a suitable exchange for your life?” The brows drew together in a scowl, the twin of the one adorning her brother’s face. “Or are you telling me that I may not love you as much as you love me? Because if ye are, Jamie Fraser, I’ll tell ye right now, it’s not true!”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "The Laird's Return". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

3) “You asked me, Captain, if I were a witch,” I said, my voice low and steady. “I’ll answer you now. Witch I am. Witch, and I curse you. You will marry, Captain, and your wife will bear a child, but you shall not live to see your firstborn. I curse you with knowledge, Jack Randall--I give you the hour of your death.”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 35, "Wentworth Prison". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER

4) “Claire,” he whispered. “Please. Let me give ye comfort.”

“Comfort?” I said. “And how will you do that? Can you give me back my child?”

He sank to his knees before me, but I kept my head down, staring into my upturned hands, laid empty on my lap. I felt his movement as he reached to touch me, hesitated, drew back, reached again.

“No,” he said, his voice scarcely audible.

“No, I canna do that. But…with the grace of God…I might give ye another?”

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 28, "The Coming of the Light". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

5) “Jamie!” I exclaimed furiously, mouth freed at last. “This is unconscionable! How could you do such a thing? You--you--”

“Poltroon,” he supplied helpfully. “Or jackal, if ye like that better. What d’ye say, Murtagh,” turning to his lieutenant, “am I a poltroon or a jackal?”

Murtagh’s seam of a mouth twisted sourly. “I’d say ye’re dogsmeat, if you untie yon lass wi’out a dirk in yer hand.”

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 36, "Prestonpans". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

6) “I will find you,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you--then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest.”

His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.

“Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 46, "Timor Mortis Conturbat Me". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

VOYAGER

7) I shook so that it was some time before I realized that he was shaking, too, and for the same reason. I don’t know how long we sat there on the dusty floor, crying in each other’s arms with the longing of twenty years spilling down our faces.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 24, "A. Malcolm, Printer". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

8) So she had done it. One fifteen-year-old girl, with nothing but stubbornness as a weapon. “I want him,” she had said. And kept saying it, through her mother’s objections and Jamie’s arguments, through Fergus’s scruples and her own fears, through three thousand miles of homesickness, hardship, ocean storm, and shipwreck.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, "A Wedding Takes Place". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

9) “Stop trying to change the subject. We were talking about your firmness.”

“Well, ye can just stop talking about it, because--” He broke off with a small yelp, as I made a fortunate grab with my left hand.

“Clumsy, am I?” I said, with considerable satisfaction. “Oh, my. Heavens, you do have a problem, don’t you?”

“Will ye leave go of me?” he hissed, looking frantically over his shoulder at the door. “Someone could come in any moment!”

“I told you you should have bolted the door,” I said, not letting go.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 56, "Turtle Soup". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRUMS OF AUTUMN

10) “So long as my body lives, and yours--we are one flesh,” he whispered. His fingers touched me, hair and chin and neck and breast, and I breathed his breath and felt him solid under my hand. Then I lay with my head on his shoulder, the strength of him supporting me, the words deep and soft in his chest.

“And when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours. Claire--I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you.”

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 16, "The First Law of Thermodynamics". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

11) “My husband’s grandmother says that you have medicine now, but you will have more. When your hair is white like hers, that is when you will find your full power.”

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, "The White Raven". Copyright© 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

12) [Jamie] stood as though rooted into the floor, fists clenched into his belly like a man gut-shot, trying to hold back the inevitable fatal spill of his insides.

I should be able to do something, to say something. I should be able to help them, to take care of them. But I could do nothing. I could not help one without betraying the other--had already betrayed them both. I had sold Jamie’s honor to keep him safe, and the doing of it had taken Roger and destroyed Bree’s happiness.

I could go to neither of them now. All I could do was to stand there, feeling my heart crumble into small, jagged chunks.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 50, "In Which All is Revealed". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

THE FIERY CROSS

13) “Oh, I ken how it is,” [Jocasta] assured him. “It’s only to be understood that a man might not feel just so kindly toward a bairn his wife’s borne to another. But if--”

He stepped forward then and gripped her hard by the shoulder, startling her. She jerked, blinking, and the candle flames flashed from the cairngorm brooch.

“Madam,” he said, speaking very softly into her face. “I do not want your money. My wife does not want it. And my son will not have it. Cram it up your hole, aye?”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 11, "Pride". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

14) “Oh, no, Father; it was a barrel churn. The sort that lies on its side, aye, with a wee handle to turn it? Well, it’s only that she was workin’ the churn with great vigor, and the laces of her bodice undone, so that her breasts wobbled to and fro, and the cloth clinging to her with the sweat of her work. Now, the churn was just the right height--and curved, aye?--so as make me think of bendin’ her across it and lifting her skirts, and--”

My mouth opened involuntarily in shock. That was my bodice he was describing, my breasts, and my butter churn! To say nothing of my skirts. I remembered that particular occasion quite vividly, and if it had started with an impure thought, it certainly hadn’t stopped there.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 13, "Beans and Barbecue". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

15) “When the day shall come, that we do part,” he said softly, and turned to look at me, “if my last words are not ‘I love you’--ye’ll ken it was because I didna have time.”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 111, "And Yet Go Out to Meet It". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES

16) “I have lived through a fucking world war,” I said, my voice low and venomous. “I have lost a child. I have lost two husbands. I have starved with an army, been beaten and wounded, been patronized, betrayed, imprisoned, and attacked. And I have fucking survived!” My voice was rising, but I was helpless to stop it. “And now should I be shattered because some wretched, pathetic excuses for men stuck their nasty little appendages between my legs and wiggled them?!” I stood up, seized the edge of the washstand and heaved it over, sending everything flying with a crash--basin, ewer, and lighted candlestick, which promptly went out.

“Well, I won’t,” I said quite calmly.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 29, "Perfectly Fine". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

17) “I swear to ye, Bree,” he said. “Whatever I’m called to now--and God knows what that is--I was called to be your husband first. Your husband and the father of your bairns above all things--and that I always shall be. Whatever I may do, it will not ever be at the price of my family, I promise you.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, "M-I-C". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

18) “Can you fix it?” I heard the tremor in Brianna’s voice, and went at once to put my arms around her. Her head was bent over Amanda, and I saw the tears fall, one, then another, darkening the wispy curls on top of the baby’s head.

“No,” I whispered, holding them both. Despair washed over me, but I tightened my hold, as though I could keep time and blood both at bay. “No, I can’t.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 114, "Amanda". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

AN ECHO IN THE BONE

19) "Would you care to explain to me which aspects of plant inspection require a penis?"

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 16, "Unarmed Conflict". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

20) I'm not dead. Wish I were. Bath is vile. I am daily wrapped in canvas and carried off like a parcel to be sunk in boiling water that smells of rotten eggs, then hauled out and forced to drink it, but Minnie says she will divorce me by petition in the House of Lords on the grounds of insanity caused by immoral acts if I don't submit. I doubt this, but here I am.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 32, "A Flurry of Suspicion". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

21) “Have ye ever been in the slightest doubt that I need ye?” he demanded.

It took roughly half a second of thought to answer this.

“No,” I replied promptly. “To the best of my knowledge, you needed me urgently the moment I saw you. And I haven’t had reason to think you’ve got any more self-sufficient since."

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 79, "The Cave". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD

22) “I have loved ye since I saw you, Sassenach,” he said very quietly, holding my eyes with his own, bloodshot and lined with tiredness but very blue. “I will love ye forever. It doesna matter if ye sleep with the whole English army--well, no,” he corrected himself, “it would matter, but it wouldna stop me loving you.”

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 24, "Welcome Coolness in the Heat, Comfort in the Midst of Woe". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

23) What was scaring him, though, was that the healer’s hands were blue.

No doubt about it. It wasn’t a trick of the light--there wasn’t any to speak of, bar the dull glow of the smoored fire. It wasn’t a huge thing; no fiery coruscations or neon. But a soft blue tinge had come up between the healer’s fingers, crept over the backs of his hands--and now spread in a faint haze around his hands, seeming to penetrate Buck’s chest.

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 37, "Cognosco Te". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

24) “I think we can’t wait any longer to be married, Ian,” she said softly. “I will not have thee face such things alone. These are bad times, and we must be together.”

He closed his eyes and all the air went out of him. When he drew breath again, it tasted of peace.

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 92, "I Will Not Have Thee Be Alone". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE

25) I reached out and put a hand on the hive, feeling the lovely deep hum of the workings within. Amy Higgins is gone--is dead. You know her--her dooryard is full of hollyhocks and she’s got--had--jasmine growing by her cowshed and a good patch of dogwood nearby.

I stood quite still, letting the vibration of life come into my hand and touch my heart with the strength of transparent wings.

Her flowers are still growing.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 30, "You Should Know..." Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

26) “Wee Davy,” [Jamie] said. “Amanda says that he’s like me. The color o’ water. He’s not the same as she and Jem are ... and I think that maybe means he canna pass through the stones.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 143, "Will I Tell You Something." Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------

27) “Ifrinn!” He jerked, and looked down. The large snake that had bitten him was writhing round his leg in panic, and he flung himself away, kicking out in his own panic.

The first bullet struck him in the chest.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 146, "The Curse is Come Upon Me." Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER

28) “You looked closely at the heelprint? Several of the nailheads had broken through the skin, and yet there was no blood extravasated.”

Tom gave him a look of mingled bewilderment and suspicion, obviously suspecting that Grey had made up the word upon the moment for the express purpose of tormenting him, but merely said, “Oh?”

(From LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 4, "A Valet Calls". Copyright © 2003 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE

29) “Dead is dead, Major,” he said quietly. “It is not a romantic notion. And whatever my own feelings in the matter, my family would not prefer my death to my dishonor. While there is anyone alive with a claim upon my protection, my life is not my own.”

(From LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, "Ye Jacobites By Name". Copyright © 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS

30) Grey’s heart gave a sudden bump, pain stabbed him, and he stiffened. He felt as though his chest were transfixed by an iron rod, holding him immobile. Tried to breathe, but was stopped by the pain. Christ, was he going to die in public, in a pleasure garden, in the company of a sodomite spy dressed like a rooster? He could only hope that Tom was nearby, and would remove his body before anybody noticed.

(From "Lord John and the Haunted Soldier", in LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright© 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

THE SCOTTISH PRISONER

31) “I would not piss on him was he burning in the flames of hell,” Grey said politely.

One of Hal’s brows flicked upward, but only momentarily.

“Just so,” he said dryly. “The question, though, is whether Fraser might be inclined to perform a similar service for you.”

Grey placed his cup carefully in the center of the desk.

“Only if he thought I might drown,” he said, and went out.

(From THE SCOTTISH PRISONER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, "Erse". Copyright © 2011 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"The Custom of the Army"

32) “Has the infant a name, sir?”

“A--” He stopped dead. The boy’s mother had surely called him something, but Malcolm Stubbs hadn’t thought to tell Grey what it was before being shipped back to England. What should he call the child? Malcolm, for the father who had abandoned him? Hardly.

[....]

“His name is John,” he said abruptly, and cleared his throat. “John Cinnamon.”

(From "The Custom of the Army", in SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2010 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows"

33) “You’re right; they’re not all brave. Most of them--of us--we’re just...there, and we do our best. Most of the time,” he added, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, though she couldn’t tell whether it was in humor or bitterness.

(From "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows", in SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2011 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"The Space Between"

34) “What is the ultimate goal of an alchemist?” the frog said very seriously.

“To transform matter,” Rakoczy replied 400matically.

The frog’s face split in a broad amphibian grin. “Exactly!” he said. And vanished.

He had vanished. No puffs of smoke, no illusionist’s tricks, no smell of sulfur--the frog was simply gone. The square stretched empty under the starlit sky; the only thing that moved was a cat that darted mewing out of the shadows and brushed past Rakoczy’s leg.

(From "The Space Between", in SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2013 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"Virgins"

35) Something had come upon him, and nothing mattered. Some small remnant of his consciousness registered surprise, and then that was gone, too. No pain, no thought. He was a red thing, and while he saw other things--faces, blood, bits of room--they didn’t matter. Blood took him, and when some sense of himself came back, he was kneeling astride the man, hands locked around the big man’s neck, fingers throbbing with a pounding pulse--his or his victim’s, he couldn’t tell.

(From "Virgins", in SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2013 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)
-----------------------
I hope you've enjoyed this collection. And here's to many more years of OUTLANDER stories!

Memorial Day quotes from Diana Gabaldon's books

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Mon, 25 May 2026 10:00:03 +0000

As we observe Memorial Day today in the US, here's a collection of quotes from Diana Gabaldon's books honoring those who fell in battle. (The painting above depicts the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.)

*** SPOILER WARNING! ***

If you haven't read all of the OUTLANDER books, you will encounter spoilers below! Read at your own risk.

1) The first is from DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, after the battle of Prestonpans:

I found them at length some distance up the hill behind the church. Jamie was sitting on a rock, the form of Alexander Kincaid cradled in his arms, curly head resting on his shoulder, the long, hairy legs trailing limp to one side. Both were still as the rock on which they sat. Still as death, though only one was dead.

I touched the white, slack hand, to be sure, and rested my hand on the thick brown hair, feeling still so incongruously alive. A man should not die a virgin, but this one did.

"He's gone, Jamie," I whispered.

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 36, "Prestonpans". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

2) The next quote is also from DRAGONFLY, from the scene in the beginning where Roger and Brianna visit the battlefield at Culloden:

"Heather," Roger said. "It's more common in the summer, when the heather is blooming--then you'll see heaps like that in front of every clan stone. Purple, and here and there a branch of the white heather--the white is for luck, and for kingship; it was Charlie's emblem, that and the white rose."

"Who leaves them?" Brianna squatted on her heels next to the path, touching the twigs with a gentle finger.

"Visitors." Roger squatted next to her. He traced the faded letters on the stone--FRASER. "People descended from the families of the men who were killed here. Or just those who like to remember them."

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 4, "Culloden". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

3) Here is a bit from the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, in ABOSAA, a reminder that men do terrible things in battle. I can't even imagine what Jamie felt like, killing a man he once considered his friend.

Major Donald MacDonald floundered, rising halfway in the water. His wig was gone and his head showed bare and wounded, blood running from his scalp down over his face. His teeth were bared, clenched in agony or ferocity, there was no telling which. Another shot struck him and he fell with a splash--but rose again, slow, slow, and then pitched forward into water too deep to stand, but rose yet again, splashing frantically, spraying blood from his shattered mouth in the effort to breathe.

Let it be you, then, lad, said the dispassionate voice. He raised his rifle and shot MacDonald cleanly through the throat. He fell backward and sank at once.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 113, "The Ghosts of Culloden". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

4) And this is from Lord John's visit in "Haunted Soldier" with the parents of a lieutenant killed at the Battle of Crefeld. Regardless of the circumstances, there's no easy way to deliver news like that:

"I saw your son for the first time only moments before his death," he said, as gently as he could. "There was no time for talk. But I can assure you, sir, that he died instantly--and he died bravely, as a soldier of the king. You--and your wife, of course--may be justly proud of him."

(From "Lord John and the Haunted Soldier", in LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright © 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

5) The next quote comes from WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD. Just before the Battle of Monmouth, Claire is thinking about the soldiers who died on D-Day.

I spared a thought for the graves of Normandy and wondered whether those rows upon rows of faceless dead were meant to impose a sort of postmortem tidiness on the costs of war--or whether it was meant rather to underline them, a solemn accounting carried out in endless rows of naughts and crosses.

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 74, "The Sort of Thing That Will Make a Man Sweat and Tremble". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

6) Lord John, remembering his friend and first lover, Hector, who died at Culloden:

“He made me go and look at the body--Hal did, my brother,” Grey blurted. He looked down at his hand, where the deep blue of Hector’s sapphire burned against his skin, a smaller version of the one Fraser had reluctantly given him.

“He said that I must; that unless I saw him dead, I should never really believe it. That unless I knew Hector--my friend--was really gone, I would grieve forever. If I saw, and knew, I would grieve, but then I should heal--and forget.” He looked up, with a painful attempt at a smile. “Hal is generally right, but not always.”

Perhaps he had healed, but he would never forget. Certainly he would not forget his last sight of Hector, lying wax-faced and still in the early morning light, long dark lashes resting delicately on his cheeks as they did when he slept. And the gaping wound that had half-severed his head from his body, leaving the windpipe and large vessels of the neck exposed in butchery.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 11, "The Torremolinos Gambit". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

7) This quote comes from AN ECHO IN THE BONE, from William's first taste of combat. This is one of our first glimpses of William's character, and I like the fact that he goes out of his way to treat this dead enemy soldier with dignity.

To his left, though, he caught sight of the American who had tried to shoot him, still lying in the wet grass. With a wary glance at the house, he crawled to the man, who was lying on his face, unmoving. He wanted to see the man’s face, for what reason he couldn’t have said. He rose on his knees and took the man by both shoulders, pulling him over.

The man was clearly dead, shot through the head. Mouth and eyes sagged half open and his body felt strange, heavy and flopping. [....] Gently laying the man back in the grass, he rose and went to fetch his sword. His knees felt peculiar.

Halfway to the spot where his sword lay, he stopped, turned round, and came back. Kneeling down, cold-fingered and hollow-bellied, he closed the man’s dead eyes against the rain.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, "Long Island". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

8) Roger's experience as a battlefield chaplain at the Battle of Savannah gave us all a vivid, brutal reminder of the horrors of war:

“Help, help me!”

He saw the man then, on hands and knees, dragging one leg, and he splashed through the puddles to reach him. Not much blood, but the leg was clearly wounded; he got a shoulder under the man’s arm and got him on his feet, hustled him as fast as possible away from the redoubt, out of range…

The air shattered again and the earth seemed to tilt under him; he was lying on the ground with the man he’d been helping on top of him, the man’s jaw knocked away and hot blood and chunks of teeth soaking into his chest. Panicked, he struggled out from under the twitching body--Oh, God, oh, God, he was still alive--and then he was kneeling by the man, slipping in the mud, catching himself with a hand on the chest where he could feel the heart beating in time with the blood spurting, Oh, Jesus, help me!

He groped for words, frantic. It was all gone. All the comforting words he’d gleaned, all his stock-in-trade…

“You’re not alone,” he panted, pressing hard on the heaving chest, as though he could anchor the man to the earth he was dissolving into. “I’m here. I won’t leave you. It’s gonna be all right. You’re gonna be all right.” He kept repeating that, kept his hands pressing hard, and then, in the midst of the spouting carnage, felt the life leave the body. Just ... gone.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 92, "Like Water Spilled on the Ground, Which Cannot Be Gathered Up Again". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

9) And finally, here's a quote from THE FIERY CROSS that reminds us, on this Memorial Day, that the fallen soldiers we're honoring were more than just anonymous casualties of war. They were real people, unique individuals, with families and loved ones who mourned their loss.

It’s the anonymity of war that makes the killing possible. When the nameless dead are named again on tombstone and on cenotaph, then they regain the identity they lost as soldiers, and take their place in grief and memory, the ghosts of sons and lovers.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 26, "The Militia Rises". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I hope you've enjoyed this collection!

Episode 810: "And the World Was All Around Us" (SPOILERS!)

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sat, 16 May 2026 20:08:58 +0000

Here are my reactions to Episode 810 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "And the World Was All Around Us". This is OUTLANDER's series finale, and I thought it was very well done!

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

The episode begins at night, with a pitch-dark sky gradually illuminated by a fiery cross -- the signal used for centuries by Highland Scots to call their clans to battle. All of Jamie's men are gathered there, and we hear the war cries of a number of different clans, including "Tulach Ard!" for the MacKenzies and "Caisteal Dhunaidh!" for the Frasers of Lovat.

The opening credit sequence took me completely by surprise, because we haven't seen or heard this version in a very long time. This is Raya Yarbrough's original version of the Skye Boat Song from Season 1, along with all the original images from the Season 1 opening credit sequence. What a treat to see and hear that again after so many years!

The "title card" for this episode is likewise the same as the one they used for Episode 101, "Sassenach": the blue forget-me-not flowers. I remember Diana Gabaldon saying at the time that she insisted that the forget-me-nots be included in that first episode. Later in this episode, we'll see more about that.

The next scene shows Jamie, at home on Fraser's Ridge, writing his will. This scene comes mostly from the book, but they left out Jamie's running mental commentary, which always makes me smile.

He cut the owl quill into a good point, composing his mind. The ink was fresh, smelling sharply of iron and the woody scent of oak galls. It calmed him. A wee bit.

…do hereby declare that this is my Last Will and Testament, and so swear before God.

I leave to my wife, Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp (damned if I’ll put his name in this) Fraser, all Property and Goods of which I die possessed, absolutely, with the Exception of certain individual Bequests as listed here beneath:

To my Daughter, Brianna Ellen Fraser MacKenzie, I leave two hundred Acres of Land from the Land granted me by the Cr…(well, two years more and the bloody Crown won’t have anything to say about it, if Claire and the others are right about what’s happening, and so far, they seem to be)…He muttered “Ifrinn” under his breath and scratched out granted me by the Crown, replacing it with from the land Grant known as Fraser’s Ridge.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 142, "Don't You...". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The only part of this that I didn't care for was Jamie referring to his son as "William James Fraser". That's wishful thinking on Jamie's part, if you ask me, but it's also straight from this scene in the book, so it's not something the show writers made up.

So Jamie has put his affairs in order, in anticipation of the upcoming Battle of Kings Mountain. A sensible precaution, under the circumstances.

In the next scene, Jamie and Claire are lying in bed. Both acutely aware of the coming battle, but trying hard to push aside that knowledge as long as they possibly can.

"Just before I came down tonight--it was starting to get dark--I found two [bees], curled up together in the cup of a hollyhock, covered in pollen and holding each other’s feet.”

“Were they dead?”

“No.” He’d moved off me but was still imminent. His hair was loose, soft and tumbled, sparking red and silver in the firelight, and I brushed it behind his ear. “I thought they were, the first time I saw it, but I’ve seen it several times since, and they’re just sleeping in the flowers. They wake up when the sun warms them and fly off."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 81, "Still Imminent". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Then Jamie quotes a bit from the Yeats poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree", which has been mentioned in books and show more than once.

"That's all ye wanted, is it no? To live a quiet life with only bees for company?"
"Not only the bees, no. I don't think the quiet life was ever meant for us."

I laughed at that. There's an understatement if I ever heard one!

Jamie is in a reflective mood, with the thought of his imminent death at Kings Mountain hanging over him like a storm cloud.

He was beginning to be sorry that he wouldn’t be alive to meet William’s wife or see his children, but pushed that thought firmly away. If he made it to Heaven, he was sure there would be some accommodation made for knowing how your family was getting along without you, maybe letting you have a wee look-in or lend a hand in some way. He thought being a ghost might well be interesting.... There were a number of folk he wouldn’t mind calling on in such a state, just to see the looks on their faces....

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 142, "Don't You...". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Keep in mind when Jamie says that, he has no idea that Frank ever saw his ghost looking up at Claire's window in Inverness before she went through the stones. Claire has never mentioned it to him.

Claire wonders whether her parents were keeping an eye on her, after their deaths when she was five. I wanted to tell her, "Not really. Henry and Julia hardly ever think about you in BLOOD OF MY BLOOD." (That was one of many things that bothered me about the prequel TV show.)

Claire's memory of the blue vase she wanted so badly is based on this bit from the early part of OUTLANDER:

My gaze lingered on a shop window filled with household goods—embroidered tea cloths and cozies, pitchers and glasses, a stack of quite homely pie tins, and a set of three vases.

I had never owned a vase in my life. During the war years, I had, of course, lived in the nurses’ quarters, first at Pembroke Hospital, later at the field station in France. But even before that, we had lived nowhere long enough to justify the purchase of such an item.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 1, "A New Beginning". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"I went up to Craigh na Dun in search of a certain blue flower." [Forget-me-nots, she means.] "The rest is our history. [....] I still don't have that blue vase, but I have everything I never knew I wanted."

"I should like to sleep in a flower with you, Sassenach, holding your feet." This line comes from BEES chapter 81. I know a lot of people think it's a very romantic thing to say, but personally I just don't care for it.

In the next scene, which isn't in the book, Roger and Bree are looking over the plot of land where they plan to build a new house, after Roger comes home from the upcoming battle at Kings Mountain. Bree, of course, can't go with him, because she has a newborn infant to take care of.

"You've always found your way back to me. Promise me that this time won't be any different, because Jemmy and Mandy and Davy need their father, and I need my husband."
"And I need all of you."

"Please be careful," Bree says. "And please, bring my Da home." (Alive, preferably!)

The next scene, with Claire and Fanny, is not in the book. I thought it was overly melodramatic, and I didn't care for it. Fanny is upset because Jamie and Claire are leaving, and she's afraid that they'll die and she will be left all alone.

"This is something we must do, and we can't bring you into it. It's too dangerous."

Oddly, Claire doesn't mention that they are heading for a battle. Fanny surely knows there's a war on! But Claire acts as though she's a much younger child, as though she's a six-year-old whose delicate ears must not be exposed to words such as "war" or "battle".

Fanny starts to cry, saying that she wants to go with them, to help Claire. Again, this strikes me as the reaction of a much younger child. She's certainly old enough to understand the risks of war. But I suppose her terror of abandonment is causing this very emotional reaction.

"I just found you and Grandda. I can't lose you so soon!"

When Claire told Fanny, "There is something that connects us", I was afraid that the subject of time-travel would come up in their conversation (we saw unmistakable evidence in last week's episode that Fanny has the time-travel gene, although neither Claire nor Fanny realize it yet), but fortunately it didn't.

The next scene, between Jamie and Bree, is not in the book, and I thought Jamie was awfully generous with his praise for Frank. He acknowledges that Frank did a good job raising Bree, without the slightest hint of jealousy or resentment.

"No matter what comes, no matter how the story ends, it will all have been worth it." That sounds to me like an epitaph for the TV series as a whole.

We have, of course, seen these tearful goodbye scenes more than once over the years, and I didn't find this one particularly interesting.

Next, we see a brief farewell scene between Ian and Rachel. They exchange a kiss, but Ian doesn't say a word. He just walks away. I thought that was odd.

Another farewell scene follows, this one between Claire and Bree. I'm glad to see them both wearing slightly brighter colors than the ones we've seen them in most of this season, but I was struck by the fact that they are both wearing the exact same shade of dark green. I wonder why? It seems an odd choice, to dress them so alike, when there are other plant-based dyes available.

I'm also wondering why Claire and Bree are hugging so hard, as though they'll never see one another again. Yes, Claire is going near a battlefield, but it's Jamie who will be in the most danger. But like Ian and Rachel, they say nothing, so we don't know what they're thinking.

The next scene, where Jamie talks to the bees, comes straight from the book.

“Ye’ll take care of her, aye?” he said at last, speaking soft to the bees. “If she comes to you and says I’m gone, ye’ll feed her and take heed for her?” He stood a moment longer, listening to the ceaseless hum.

“I trust ye with her,” he said at last, and turned to go, his heart easier in his chest. It wasn’t until he’d shut the gate behind him and started down toward the house that another bit of the poem came to him. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow…

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 141, "A Bee-Loud Glade". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In the next scene, Jamie's militiamen are gathering to march off to battle. As they ride out, we can see Jamie and Claire, Ian, Roger, Hiram Crombie, Jo Beardsley, and Buck. I was glad to see Hiram with them. He clearly has Patriot sympathies, even though he was one of the men who participated in the attack on Lodge night earlier in the season. And bringing up the rear, we see a number of infantrymen, including Aaron Whitaker and his black troops.

At one point along the road, they pass a small building, perhaps a church, displaying a "Betsy Ross" flag similar to this one. Later, they meet up with Benjamin Cleveland and his Over-Mountain Men, with the two groups together forming a much larger Patriot force.

Finally they arrive at Kings Mountain, where the militia makes camp. Jamie speaks briefly with Cleveland, who informs him that Major Patrick Ferguson's Loyalist militia has taken the high ground (not good news, to put it mildly!) Ferguson is wearing "a red checkered shirt" (more about that later) and he is riding a white stallion, so he should be easy to spot.

“All Provincials, are they?”

“No, sir,” said another young scout, quickly so as to keep Sevier from sticking his neb in. “Near on half of ’em don’t have uniforms, at least.”

“But they do all have guns. Sir,” said the third scout, not to be left out.

“How many?” Jamie asked, and felt the words strange in his throat.

“A few more’n us, but not enough to make a difference,” Sevier replied, but in Jamie’s mind there echoed another voice: Frank Randall’s.

The forces were nearly equal, though Ferguson’s troops numbered over a thousand, as compared with the nine hundred Patriots attacking him.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 145, "The Mirror Crack'd". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Jamie and Claire finally have time for a private conversation. This whole scene comes straight from the book, and I was glad to see it included here almost verbatim.

“I was sitting on the porch, just afore we left, and I had wee Davy in my arms, him sucking on my thumb, and Mandy came up the steps covered in mud, to show me a bone she’d found by the lake and ask who’d owned it. I took it, looked at it, and told her it was from the backbone of a beaver, and she looked at me and asked did I hear animals.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 143, "Will I Tell You Something?". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

That's an intriguing thought, but there's more. Apparently Mandy and Jem can sense each other, their parents, and Claire, at a distance, the same way Mandy was able to sense that Jemmy was "gone" when Rob Cameron kidnapped him. But they do not sense Jamie in the same way.

"She says I’m a different color in her head. She kens when I’m near her, but canna feel me at a distance.”

“What color are you?” I asked, fascinated. He made a small sound of amusement.

“Water,” he said.

[....]

“You should ask Jem if that’s what he thinks,” I said, and slid my fingers between his, pressing his fingers back to stretch the knuckles.

“I will,” he said, with a slightly odd note in his voice. “If I see him again.”

And there it was. The stone in my heart, the lump of hot lead in my viscera. I’d forgotten, briefly, worn out by the labor of the day. But the thought of what might happen on Kings Mountain was never far from my conscious mind.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 143, "Will I Tell You Something?". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Jamie turns to face Claire, his expression very serious. "If I die tomorrow, I'll ask three things of ye."

Two of his requests are straightforward: "When ye can, find a priest. Have a Mass said for my soul." (Logistically difficult, given that the nearest Catholic priest is likely in Maryland, but possible.) And the last request, "Remember me," is what we might call a "no-brainer." (As if she could EVER, EVER forget, in a million years!!)

But it's the second request that gives me chills.

“Wee Davy,” he said. “Amanda says that he’s like me. The color o’ water. He’s not the same as she and Jem are…and I think that maybe means he canna pass through the stones.”

That one came out of nowhere, and I blinked. My eyelashes were heavy with wet, and drops flowed down my cheeks like tears. His hands tightened on mine and he turned his head toward me, a barely perceptible movement in the dark.

“I’ve said this before, but I say it now again, and I mean it. If I’m dead, ye should all go back. If it should be that Davy canna travel, give him to Rachel and Young Ian. They’ll love him wi’ all their hearts and keep him safe.”

I wanted to say, “I love you with all my heart--and I can’t keep you safe.”

But I squeezed back and said, as well as I could for the real tears starting, “I will.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 143, "Will I Tell You Something?". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In the show, Claire's response to that second request is quite different:

"I'm sorry, Jamie, but I can't promise that. Brianna would never leave her son. And as for me, this is my home. And if, God forbid, you are gone, well, then I'd want to stay here, where I can feel you all around me, in the life that we built."

I liked that VERY much! It's exactly what I'd expect her to say in that situation. All of her family is here in the 18th century. She has no reason ever to go back to her own time, no matter what happens.

The sex scene that follows starts out boring and predictable, just like most of the others this season, with both of them sitting upright and Claire astride Jamie, in what I've come to call (half-jokingly) the "Approved OUTLANDER Sex Scene Position" -- but then Jamie gently turns her over and lays her on her back, and it turns into something refreshingly different for a change. More natural, more sensual. Considering that this is going to be their last sex scene EVER, I think that's very appropriate, and the tone of it matches the description in the book:

We made love to each other, under the layers of sodden clothing, finding little warmth save that at the point of connection. We kept on well past the point where it was clear that neither of us could finish. Our bodies slowly left each other and we clung together through the dark until the dawn.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 143, "Will I Tell You Something?". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next morning, with the battle imminent, Jamie has a brief word with Roger:

“Ye'll help nobody if ye’re dead, and ye may be useful if ye’re not. Ye may be God’s henchman, but ye’ll follow my orders for now. Stay here until it’s time.”

Jamie had clapped him on the shoulder, grinning, then turned on his heel and shouted to his men that it was time. Jamie had given Roger two decent pistols, in holsters, with a cartridge box and powder horn. And a large, hand-carved wooden cross on a leather thong, which he’d dropped over Roger’s head last thing.

“So nobody will shoot ye,” he’d said. “Not from the front, anyway.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 145, "The Mirror Crack'd". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The troops march out, and then Jamie steps forward to give them a final pep talk before the battle. This rousing speech is not in the book, but I thought it was well done. Afterward, Jamie asks Roger to bless the troops, taking him by surprise:

“Dear Lord,” he started, with not the faintest notion what might come next, but a few words showed up, and then a few more. “Protect us, we pray, O Lord, and be with us this day in battle. Grant us mercy in our extremities and grant us the grace to show mercy where we can. Amen. Amen,” he repeated more strongly, and the men murmured, “Amen,” and put their hats back on.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 145, "The Mirror Crack'd". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

As the men march away, Jamie turns to Roger again, asking him to look after Claire, and to pray for him. Then he turns his full attention to Claire, who is waiting silently, a look of utter misery on her face. Will this be their final parting, ever?

Just as in the book, Jamie says, "Tha gràdh agam ort, mo chridhe." That's "I love you, my heart," in Gàidhlig.

Unlike in the book, Claire repeats it back to him: "Tha gràdh agam ort." This is the first time I can recall her speaking Gàidhlig in the TV show (not counting the blood vow at their wedding, when she didn't understand the language yet) and I thought that was a good addition.

So Jamie remembered his promise to Claire at the very end of THE FIERY CROSS:

“When the day shall come, that we do part,” he said softly, and turned to look at me, “if my last words are not ‘I love you’--ye’ll ken it was because I didna have time.”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 111, "And Yet Go Out to Meet It". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In my opinion, he's saying those words to her now in case he really should die in the upcoming battle, and I found that very moving.

They have time for one last kiss, and then Jamie gives her a smile and a slight bow, and hurries after his men.

Claire stares after them. "I feel like the Lady of Shalott," she says to Roger, referring to the Tennyson poem. Clearly she's not happy at all about staying behind while Jamie goes into what might be his last battle.

The fighting begins at last, with the Patriots struggling to climb up the hilly terrain while under fire from above. We see Hiram Crombie fall to the ground.

In the medical tent, Claire is rolling bandages when she hears the sounds of battle not far away. She quickly packs a medical bag and starts to head outside, telling Roger, "Don't you try to f*cking stop me!" He sticks close to her side as she hurries toward the battlefield.

Meanwhile, back on Fraser's Ridge, the women (and Fanny) are worried about what's happening on that faraway battlefield, too. This scene is not in the book, and frankly I thought it was unnecessary, constructed mostly to give the women something to do. Fanny seems to be an entirely different person in this scene than she was when last seen earlier in the episode. She seems suddenly much older, more mature. There's no attempt to explain the sudden change in her demeanor, but I thought it was an improvement. She sounds calm and steady, encouraging the others to "stay strong for them, or they might not come back."

Back on Kings Mountain, the battle is still underway. Buck is at Jamie's side, as they continue to fire at the Loyalists controlling the high ground.

They were close enough to the meadow now as to be able to see the enemy. He stepped out from the shelter of his tree and fired. Then he heard a faint, sharp whistle. Ferguson, that was him. Randall said the wee man hadn’t enough voice to call above the roar of battle, so he used a whistle to manage his troops. Like callin’ in a pack of sheepdogs, he thought.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 146, "The Curse is Come Upon Me". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

As the battle continues, the Loyalists charge the Patriots with bayonets fixed. Those are lethal weapons in close combat! Jamie puts aside his rifle and takes out his sword instead, ready for hand-to-hand fighting.

Claire is making her way up the hill, alone. She finds Hiram Crombie's body and closes his eyes. She stops to treat a wounded man, sending him down the hill to the field hospital. Suddenly she sees a man resembling Jamie, either dead or badly wounded, tumbling down the hill nearby. She runs to check, but it's not Jamie.

Roger, meanwhile, is helping one of the wounded, a black soldier, to get to safety. He sees Claire, calls to her to wait, but she ignores him, continuing to make her way up the hill toward the sounds of battle. Suddenly there is a loud explosion, and the impact sends Claire's medical bag rolling down the hill, out of her reach. Rather than waste time retrieving it, she picks up her skirts and starts climbing even faster.

The battlefield is very chaotic, but one moment I saw clearly: A redcoat charges Jamie, but Jo Beardsley throws a tomahawk and hits the redcoat, probably saving Jamie's life. More fighting follows, with Ian getting in his share of the killing.

Claire is still climbing, right in the thick of battle now. She finds momentary shelter, but then a redcoat sees her. Quick as lightning, she takes a pistol off the body of a dead soldier beside her and shoots the redcoat dead.

Finally we get a good look at Major Patrick Ferguson, the Loyalist commander, on his white stallion, blowing his whistle to get his men's attention. Ferguson wears a distinctive (historically accurate) red and white shirt in the book, but they changed it to a dark red tartan that is much harder to see from a distance.

Claire shelters behind a tree, and all of a sudden things grow very quiet. And suddenly the cry goes up, "The British are retreating!" The Patriots begin clearing the field, taking prisoners. Claire and Jamie catch a glimpse of one another across the field. Suddenly Major Ferguson comes galloping in on his white stallion. Jamie knocks him from his horse with a swipe of his sword, and Ferguson lies injured on the ground until the Patriot troops drag him away.

Jamie calls to Claire, "It's over, Sassenach!" and they embrace, then Claire leaves to tend the wounded, while Jamie goes to celebrate the victory with his men.

At this point I had no idea where the story was going, and I had a million questions. Were they going to let Jamie just walk off the field, uninjured? What about the events depicted in BEES: Jamie badly injured, Claire summoning the blue light and saving his life, and all that? Were they going to just skip over all of that and give the story a happy ending? What about Frank's prediction that James Fraser would die at Kings Mountain? Did they actually manage to change history?

What happened next isn't in the book, but it has much the same effect, as far as Jamie is concerned.

Jamie approaches Ferguson, lying helpless on the ground, and points his pistol at him. "Do I have your surrender, sir?"
Ferguson glares at him. "I will NEVER surrender!" And then he pulls out his own pistol -- and shoots Jamie in the left side of his chest, at point blank range (!!) Blood is dripping from his mouth already, definitely not a good sign!

Claire starts to run toward the place where Jamie fell. Buck and some of the others shoot Ferguson dead, and Ian gets in a good blow with his Mohawk weapon for good measure.

I thought it was very strange that Claire spends only a few seconds actually trying to treat Jamie's wounds. Has she already concluded that he can't be saved?

“I’m…no…afraid,” he whispered. “I’m not.” A bout of coughing seized him. It was nearly silent, but the violence of it shook his whole body.

[....]

“Well, I’m bloody afraid!” I snapped, and tightened my hold on his thigh, digging my fingers into his unresisting flesh. “Do you think I’m just going to sit here and watch you die by inches?”

“Aye.” His eyes closed, and the word was no more than a whisper. His lips were white.

He sounded completely certain about it, and the fear that was swarming over my skin burrowed suddenly inward and seized my heart with its claws.

[....]

His eyes opened and I saw them look past and through me, as though fixed on something far, far away.

“For…give me…” he said, his voice no more than a thread, and I didn’t know whether he spoke to me or to God.

“Oh, Jesus,” I said, tasting cold iron on my tongue. “Jamie--please. Please don’t go.”

His eyelids fluttered, and closed.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, "A Lot of Blood". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Up to this point, events unfold basically the same way as the book. But what we don't see on screen is the next part, where Claire manages, through sheer force of will and an absolute determination not to give up, not to let him die, to summon the same healing powers she used much earlier this season when she saved the Cloudtrees' newborn baby girl. This is one of my favorite parts of the whole book, one of the most suspenseful moments in all of Diana Gabaldon's books, in my opinion, and it's a real shame that they couldn't find a way to show it.

I couldn't speak. I couldn’t move. Grief overwhelmed me and I curled into a ball, still grasping his arm, holding it with both hands, hard, to keep him from drowning, from going down into the bloody earth, away from me forever.

Beneath the grief was fury, and the sort of desperation that lets a woman lift an automobile off her child. And with the thought of a child and the reek of blood, I was for a split second not kneeling in Jamie’s blood on a blistering plain of surrender but on splintered floorboards by a sputtering fire, hearing screams and smelling blood, with nothing to hold on to but a wet scrap of life and that one phrase: Don’t let go.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, "A Lot of Blood". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Instead, Claire simply clings to Jamie, screaming, "NOOOOO!!! NOOOOO!!!" Not the same effect, at all.

Time passes. The other men leave, except for Roger and Ian. They try to persuade her to let him go, but she won't move.

Ian: "Auntie, he's gone."
Roger: "Claire, it breaks my heart to say it, but we've lost him."
Claire: "He just needs to rest. He needs his strength."

Unlike in the book, she doesn't appear to be doing anything at all to help him, medically. She's wallowing in grief and denial, but she's not trying to save him, just repeating over and over again that he needs to rest. I didn't like that at all. It appeared to me that Dr. Claire Fraser, former WWII combat nurse and experienced surgeon who has treated badly wounded men (including Jamie!) in emergency situations many times without losing her cool, absolutely let her emotions overwhelm her medical training in this situation.

Did she apply even basic first aid? Try to stop the bleeding, yell for others to go get her medical kit, try to ascertain exactly where the ball had entered or exited, treat him for shock -- anything??

In the book, Claire stays focused on the medical situation at first, only becoming desperate enough to try using the blue light when all other options have failed. Here, she doesn't really try to do much of anything medically. She essentially gives up on him, from a medical standpoint, and I found that shocking.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Claire looks up at the sky and shouts, "Where are you??" I think she's looking for Jamie -- his spirit, soul, whatever you want to call it.

The next scene is not in the book, but I liked it very much. It's the next morning, and Claire is still not moving. Roger tries one more time. "It's time to bury him, Claire." His tone is gentle, full of compassion. "I won't tell you I know how you feel, pretend there's anything I can say to make it better. That's impossible. But there are some things that must happen now, Claire. Let's take him home."

Roger leaves, and Claire looks down at Jamie's face, unmoving, and whispers, "He is home." She lies down beside him and finally closes her eyes.

The song that plays in the background, to the tune of the Skye Boat Song, is lovely, and not one we've heard before. As the camera pulls away, we can see that Jamie is lying on what appears to be a fallen standing stone. Whether that has any significance or not, we don't know.

Suddenly the scene shifts to a flashback of the scene in Episode 101, "Sassenach", where Frank sees Jamie's ghost looking up at her window on a stormy night in Inverness. They've added some new footage to it, to give us a good look at the ghost's face, to make it absolutely clear that it's Jamie's ghost. I'm very glad that they added that! I think it makes that whole scene much easier to understand.

As Jamie's ghost walks away, suddenly he's walking on grass instead of cobblestones, and we realize that he's in the middle of the stone circle at Craigh na Dun. Ghost Jamie touches the tallest stone, but nothing happens, of course. But as Ghost Jamie walks away, suddenly a small patch of forget-me-nots appears at the base of the stone, where his footsteps had been a moment earlier. (Diana Gabaldon has confirmed that this was her idea.)

I loved the montage of scenes from previous episodes that follows. Just as we saw when Fergus died, they've chosen some of our favorite moments from the whole series as a tribute to Jamie. Just wonderful!

The scene shifts back to Kings Mountain. Claire is still lying beside Jamie, and the first thing we notice is that Claire's hair is now pure white. Remember the old Indian woman (Nayawenne in the books, Adawehi in the show) saying that Claire would come into her full power when her hair turned white? Apparently that's what has happened here. Claire somehow managed to use her healing powers to resuscitate Jamie, but in the process she nearly died.

As the camera moves closer, suddenly both Jamie and Claire let out a simultaneous little gasp, and at that moment the episode ends.

Opinions vary on what that last bit means (showrunner Matt Roberts has said it's meant to be ambiguous), but I choose to believe it means they're both still alive (thank God!), that they will recover and live out their lives on Fraser's Ridge, together. So I think it's a happy ending.

I am still in Deep Denial over the thought that Jamie and Claire might die for real in A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT (Book 10), so having them both live through this works much better for me than the idea that they both died there on Kings Mountain. I choose to believe that Claire exhausted herself in the process of saving Jamie with her healing powers, to such an extent that she lost consciousness for a long period of time -- still touching him, still letting her healing blue light (or whatever it is) pass into him somehow -- and only woke at the same instant he did. (Or something along those lines.)

Just speaking for myself, I don't actually need the whole scenario presented here to make sense. I need a bit of hope at the end, to be able to imagine them recovering and returning to the Ridge to live out the rest of their lives together. The show has given me that glimmer of hope, and I'm happy enough with that.

IMPORTANT NOTE!! Be sure to watch all the way to the end of the credits for a little surprise! The final scene is a cameo appearance by Diana Gabaldon at a small book-signing attended by various members of the OUTLANDER production team. Watch the lady who comes up to Diana to get a book signed for her daughter, "Karen". Naturally I laughed out loud at that! (Before you ask, no, I don't think the show writers meant that as a reference to me personally, but it's a nice thought!)

UPDATE 5/17/2026 7:30 pm: Diana Gabaldon commented on this on TheLitForum:

I don't remember who the person was that handed me that book, but she said it was for her daughter, and I think I asked what her daughter's name was, to which she replied, "Karen". That, of course, instantly reminded me of "our" Karen (as it does whenever I encounter that name...), so while it was presumably actually intended for the lady's daughter, I _was_ thinking of our Karen when I wrote it!

Naturally I'm delighted to hear this!! If you look closely, you can see that the inscription reads, "For Karen", and of course, knowing that she was thinking of me makes that moment extra special. Thank you, Diana!

Many thanks to all of you who've enjoyed my recaps over the years. HUGE thanks and congratulations to the entire cast and crew of OUTLANDER for giving us eight wonderful seasons!!
----------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this recap. Look here for my recaps of all of the previous OUTLANDER episodes.

Looking for a place to discuss All Things OUTLANDER? Check out TheLitForum.com, formerly the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. You have to sign up in order to read or post on the forum, but it's free. For more about the forum, look here.

Mother's Day quotes from the OUTLANDER books

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sun, 10 May 2026 09:54:58 +0000

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Here are some of my favorite quotes about motherhood from Diana Gabaldon's books. This is an annual tradition on Outlandish Observations, and I hope you enjoy them!

*** SPOILER WARNING! ***

If you haven't read all of the OUTLANDER books, you will encounter spoilers below! Read at your own risk.

1) Marsali, in an advanced state of pregnancy, and five-year-old Germain:

She leaned back a little and pushed a hand firmly into the side of her mound. Then she seized Germain's hand and put it on the spot. Even from where I stood, I could see the surge of flesh as the baby kicked vigorously in response to being poked.

Germain jerked his hand away, startled, then put it back, looking fascinated, and pushed.

"Hello!" he said loudly, putting his face close to his mother's belly. "Comment ça va in there, Monsieur L'Oeuf?"

"He's fine," his mother assured him. "Or she. But babies dinna talk right at first. Ye ken that much. Félicité doesna say anything but 'Mama' yet."

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 27, "The Malting Floor". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

2) I like the realistic depictions of breastfeeding in these books, even though I've never had kids of my own. Here's Claire with Brianna, age three months:

Brianna burrowed into the front of my red chenille dressing gown making small voracious grunting noises.

"You can't be hungry again," I said to the top of her head. "I fed you not two hours ago." My breasts were beginning to leak in response to her rooting, though, and I was already sitting down and loosening the front of my gown.

"Mrs. Hinchcliffe said that a baby shouldn't be fed every time it cries," Frank observed. "They get spoilt if they aren't kept to a schedule."

It wasn't the first time I had heard Mrs. Hinchcliffe's opinions on child-rearing.

"Then she'll be spoilt, won't she?" I said coldly, not looking at him. The small pink mouth clamped down fiercely, and Brianna began to suck with mindless appetite. I was aware that Mrs. Hinchcliffe also thought breast-feeding both vulgar and insanitary. I, who had seen any number of eighteenth-century babies nursing contentedly at their mothers' breasts, didn't.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 3, "Frank and Full Disclosure". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

3) Jamie lost his mother at a very young age, but he hasn't forgotten her:

I had heard what he said to the plover he released. Though I had only a few words of Gaelic, I had heard the old salutation often enough to be familiar with it. “God go with ye, Mother," he had said.

A young mother, dead in childbirth. And a child left behind. I touched his arm and he looked down at me.

“How old were you?” I asked.

He gave me a half-smile. “Eight,” he answered. “Weaned, at least."

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 17, "We Meet a Beggar". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

4) Bree's reaction on the night before Claire goes back through the stones, when she thinks she'll never see her mother again:

"It's like--there are all these things I don't even know!" she said, pacing with quick, angry steps. "Do you think I remember what I looked like, learning to walk, or what the first word I said was? No, but Mama does! And that's so stupid, because what difference does it make, it doesn't make any difference at all, but it's important, it matters because she thought it was, and ... oh, Roger, if she's gone, there won't be a soul left in the world who cares what I'm like, or thinks I'm special not because of anything, but just because I'm me! She's the only person in the world who really, really cares I was born, and if she's gone..." She stood still on the hearthrug, hands clenched at her sides, and mouth twisted with the effort to control herself, tears wet on her cheeks. Then her shoulders slumped and the tension went out of her tall figure.

"And that's just really dumb and selfish," she said, in a quietly reasonable tone. "And you don't understand, and you think I'm awful."

"No," Roger said quietly. "I think maybe not." He stood and came behind her, putting his arms around her waist, urging her to lean back against him. She resisted at first, stiff in his arms, but then yielded to the need for physical comfort and relaxed, his chin propped on her shoulder, head tilted to touch her own.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 22, "All Hallows' Eve". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

5) Mother Hildegarde is very perceptive:

"I have noticed,” she said slowly, “that time does not really exist for mothers, with regard to their children. It does not matter greatly how old the child is--in the blink of an eye, the mother can see the child again as it was when it was born, when it learned to walk, as it was at any age--at any time, even when the child is fully grown and a parent itself.”

“Especially when they’re asleep,” I said, looking down again at the little white stone. “You can always see the baby then.”

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 40, "I Shall Go Down to the Sea". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

6) Jenny, on being the mother of a two-year-old:

“Ah,” Jenny sighed contentedly, bending to inspect her appearance in the gold-framed mirror. She wet a finger and smoothed her brows, then finished doing up the buttons at her throat. “Nice to finish dressing wi’out someone clinging to your skirts or wrapped round your knees. Some days I can scarce go to the privy alone, or speak a single sentence wi’out being interrupted.”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 27, "The Last Reason". Copyright© 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

7) Claire, in her farewell letter to Bree:

You are my baby, and always will be. You won’t know what that means until you have a child of your own, but I tell you now, anyway--you’ll always be as much a part of me as when you shared my body and I felt you move inside. Always.

I can look at you, asleep, and think of all the nights I tucked you in, coming in the dark to listen to your breathing, lay my hand on you and feel your chest rise and fall, knowing that no matter what happens, everything is right with the world because you are alive.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 42, "The Man in the Moon". Copyright© 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rightsreserved.)

8) Roger's mother saved his life in the moments before she died in the Bethnal Green tube station collapse in March, 1943.

"She let go my hand,” he said. The words came more easily now; the tightness in his throat and chest was gone. “She let go my hand ... and then she picked me up. That small woman--she picked me up, and threw me over the wall. Down into the crowd of people on the platform below. I was knocked mostly out by the fall, I think--but I remember the roar as the roof went. No one on the stair survived."

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 98, "Clever Lad". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

9) I like Rachel's thoughts about her infant son, Oggy:

He wouldn’t recall this early life, the closeness of waking against her body in bed, turning at once to her breast and yielding up his separate existence so easily, becoming one with her as he’d been when she carried him inside, just for those moments while he fed from her again. Somewhere he might be weaned, on the road between now and then. He would be a different person when they came back. So would she.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 60, "Just One Step". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

10) And finally, this quote is very appropriate for Mother's Day:

“Did I ever think to thank ye, Sassenach?" he said, his voice a little husky.

“For what?" I said, puzzled. He took my hand, and drew me gently toward him. He smelled of ale and damp wool, and very faintly of the brandied sweetness of fruitcake.

“For my bairns," he said softly. "For the children that ye bore me."

"Oh," I said. I leaned slowly forward, and rested my forehead against the solid warmth of his chest. I cupped my hands at the small of his back beneath his coat, and sighed. "It was ... my pleasure."

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 13, “Beans and Barbecue". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I hope you enjoyed these quotes. Happy Mother's Day!

Episode 809: "Pharos" (SPOILERS!)

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Sat, 09 May 2026 19:02:49 +0000

Here are my reactions to Episode 809 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "Pharos".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

Diana Gabaldon wrote the script for this episode. I thought it was one of the best episodes this season.

The episode opens with Lord John regaining consciousness in a place we haven't seen before, a bloody wound on his temple from Ezekiel Richardson hitting him with the pistol at the end of last week's episode. He looks up to see Richardson smiling down at him.

"Where in God's name am I? And what am I doing here?"

Most of this scene comes straight from the book.

“I really do apologize,” Richardson said, and sounded as though he meant it. “I have no personal animus against you at all, and if I could have managed this without involving you, I would have.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Lord John is furious, but Richardson's next words stop him cold.

“Are you familiar with a man named Neil Stapleton?” Richardson asked, cocking one brow.

“In what sense, familiar?” Grey asked, raising both of his. “I might have heard the name, but if so, it’s been some time.” It had been some time, but the name “Neil Stapleton”--better known to Grey as Neil the C*nt--had struck him in the pit of the stomach with the force of a two-pound round shot. He hadn’t seen Stapleton in many years, but he certainly hadn’t forgot the man.

“Perhaps I should have inquired as to whether you knew him ... in the biblical sense?” Richardson asked, watching Grey’s face. He pushed the document toward Grey, whose eyes fixed at once on the heading: Confession of Neil Patrick Stapleton.

No, he thought. Bloody hell, no… He took up the document, glad in a remote way to see that his hands weren’t shaking.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

For those of you who don't know, Neil Stapleton, aka "Neil the C*nt", is a character from the Lord John books and stories. He and John had a brief sexual relationship some twenty years ago, but they were never close friends. Still, the fact that Richardson knows about John's relationship with Neil is very dangerous indeed, given that sodomy was a capital crime in those days. If Richardson makes this information public, the scandalous nature of the accusation could ruin John's whole family, including William and John's brother Hal.

John wants to know how Richardson got this confession. "What did you do to him? Bribery? Torture? Is he still alive?"

Richardson says Stapleton is still alive, but he is in London. There is another witness, however. The door opens and Percy Wainwright, aka Percival Beauchamp, walks in.

Percy looked dreadful, Grey thought. He was disheveled, his neckcloth missing, and his curly, graying hair matted in spots, sticking up in others. He was pale as skimmed milk, with dark circles under his eyes. The eyes themselves were bloodshot and fixed on Grey at once.

“John,” he said, a little hoarsely. He cleared his throat, hard, then looked away and said, “I’m sorry, John. I’m not brave. You’ve always been brave, but I never have.”

This was no more than the truth, acknowledged between them and part of the love they’d once shared; John had always been willing to be brave for both of them. He felt a tinge of sympathetic pity beneath the larger sense of annoyance--and the very much larger sense of fear.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Richardson reads from Percy's confession, pretending to be shocked at the mention of "unnatural acts" and "incest". The reference to incest is, of course, inaccurate; Percy and John are stepbrothers, not biologically related at all, but that won't matter if the London press gets hold of this confession.

John tries to shrug it off. "A gentleman does not submit to blackmail." He demands to know what Richardson wants.

"[Your brother Hal, the Duke of Pardloe] intends to give a speech before the House of Lords recommending the withdrawal of further funds for the war. Should that happen, the British government will lose both the war and the American colonies. That cannot be allowed."

Richardson wants John to persuade Hal not to make that speech, but instead to speak out in favor of continuing funding for the war.

"And what if he declines?"
"Then the scandal will thoroughly discredit him, and everything he says. And you'll be hanged for sodomy. Either way, I get what I want."

This is a very serious threat, as John knows firsthand. He saw a man hanged for sodomy with his own eyes, in LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE.

After Richardson leaves, locking the door behind him, John finds a nail lying on the floor.

Time passes. We see that John is being held near a lighthouse. There are guards outside his cell, but they're mostly ignoring him. John removes his signet ring and fiddles with it, but it's not clear what he's doing.

Percy comes to see John, to beg him to do as Richardson asks.

"I don't want you to die."
"Well, I share that opinion, but no, I won't do it."

The rest of this scene between Percy and John is straight from the book.

"I love you.” The words came softly, seeming to be addressed to the tabletop rather than John, but he heard them and was both shocked and annoyed to feel a small lump in his throat.

[....]

"If you meant what you just said, then for the sake of any love you’ve ever had for me--go and tell my son that I love him.” He badly wanted to shout, “For God’s sake, tell Willie what’s happened! Tell him to go to Prévost and get help!” But Percy was terrified of Richardson--and everything else in the world, he thought with an exhausted pity--and to ask him to risk something like that was likely to make him run away, get drunk, or cut his own throat.

“Please,” he added, gently.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 151, "A Message in a Bottle". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

John gives Percy his signet ring, telling him to give it to William. "He's my son. It should be his." That line isn't in the book, but I liked it.

In the next scene, we see Jamie, Claire, and William galloping through the countryside. Claire's voiceover indicates that she's seeking any possible way to avoid Jamie's being killed at Kings Mountain.

A visibly agitated Amaranthus greets them when they arrive at Lord John's house in Savannah. It's been seven weeks since anyone has heard from Lord John, with no clues as to where he might have gone. Amaranthus shows them a package that was recently delivered for Hal, who is still in London.

“That came this morning, for Father Pardloe, but I opened it. It’s from a man named Richardson.”

William snatched the letter up and read it quickly. Then read it again, unable to make sense of it. And a third time, slowly.

“Who is that man?” Amaranthus had retreated a little, eyeing the letter as though it might suddenly spring to life and bite. William didn’t blame her.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 137, "Infamous and Scandalous Acts". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The messenger was "an odd fellow" who "seemed quite melancholy" and asked after William as well. He said he had a message for William, but then he left without giving Amaranthus any details. Clearly that must have been Percy.

William opens the package. It's from Richardson, of course, and the cover letter is a very explicit threat: "Should you choose not to heed this suggestion, be apprised that copies of the accompanying documents will be forwarded to all London newspapers, as well as to each member of Parliament."

It takes only the briefest glance at the documents (including Neil Stapleton's confession) for William to guess the truth: that this has to do with Lord John's "proclivities".

"We need to find and burn all copies of these letters," Jamie says. This is something I've wondered about since I first read BEES. It's not enough just to rescue John. The mere existence of these letters would cause a huge scandal if the London press got hold of them.

One of the documents is signed, "P. Wainwright". Percy is involved somehow. William goes immediately to the solicitor's office where Percy works, to confront him. Notice the sign in front of the shop, with the name "G. Tannahill". That's an "Easter egg" for the viewers, because Guy Tannahill is one of the producers of the OUTLANDER TV series.

William storms into Percy's office, furious. He grabs Percy by the throat, demanding, "Where is my father?!"

Between them, Jamie and William beat the truth out of Percy: Richardson is responsible.

"Richardson!" William says, rapidly putting the pieces together. The same Richardson who sent him into the Great Dismal, who had him captured by Hessians.... "I'll kill him! After I kill you."

Percy doesn't know the exact location where John is being held, only that he's in a boathouse. He gives them John's signet ring, and Jamie discovers that the word "PHAROS" has been scratched into the inside of the ring. William and Jamie both recognize the word. It's Greek for "lighthouse". William says there's a lighthouse nearby, on Tybee Island. That must be where John is being held.

I thought it was a clever idea for John to conceal a message in the ring like that -- a message that Jamie and William would understand at once, due to their classical education. Pharos refers to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the ancient wonders of the world. I'd never heard of it before, but I love learning bits of historical trivia like this.

Percy assures them that Lord John is alive, but that's not good enough for William. "If we don't find my father, or if we do and he's dead, there will be nowhere safe for you." Good line!

In the next scene, Claire, Jamie, and William arrive on Tybee Island and locate the boathouse. Looking through a spyglass, they see Richardson in the distance, carrying a fishing rod.

"He'll likely be a while, then," Jamie points out. Easier to keep an eye on him if he's staying in one location, he means. And it will also (conveniently) buy time for Jamie and William to scout out the area near the boathouse.

At the boathouse, the guards are paying no attention when Jamie and William suddenly emerge from the water nearby. In moments they've killed the guards.

Claire watches through her spyglass as Richardson packs up his catch of fish and starts to leave. I liked her whispered, "F*ck!"

Meanwhile, Jamie easily breaks into the boathouse where John is being held. William is right behind him. I loved the look on John's face when William gives him back his signet ring. But even more, I loved that father-son hug -- and Jamie's reaction, watching the love flowing between his son and the man who raised him when Jamie himself could not. He had to be feeling somewhat jealous of John at that moment.

Richardson walks along the water's edge, oblivious to Claire's approach until she gets close enough to draw a pistol and aim it at him. She forces him at gunpoint to go into the boathouse, where Jamie, John, and William find them a short time later. With three pistols pointed at him, Richardson doesn't put up a fight. They handcuff him to a wooden post.

Claire is left alone with Richardson. The next scene is based on the book, but I think having Claire (a fellow time-traveler) be the one to have this conversation with Richardson, rather than John, works much better than it did in BEES. This is my favorite scene in the episode.

“[How] do you feel about slavery?” Not getting an immediate response, he said, much less patiently, “You were governor of Jamaica, for God’s sake--surely you’re well acquainted with the institution?”

“I assume that’s a rhetorical question,” Grey said, gingerly touching the healing but still-swollen laceration on his scalp. “But if you insist…yes. I’m reasonably sure I know a great deal more about it than you do. As to my feelings regarding slavery, I deplore it on both philosophical and compassionate grounds. Why? Did you expect me to declare myself in favor of it?”

“You might have.” Richardson looked at him intently for a moment, and then seemed to come to some decision, for he sat down across the table from Grey, meeting his eyes on the level. “But I’m glad you didn’t."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 138, "Inherited Evil". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire, of course, has never left any doubt that she deplores the institution of slavery, and wants no part of it. We saw that from her first visit to River Run in Season 4, where she was quite vocal in her disapproval of Jocasta keeping slaves.

"My great-great-grandmother was a slave," Richardson says. Then he proceeds to explain how slavery will be abolished in Britain and her colonies. It's basically the same explanation he gives in BEES, but he goes on to make his meaning abundantly clear with these added lines:

"But that's not nearly the number in America who may not be free -- not for eighty-five more years -- who continue to be enslaved and suffer and die. It's the Revolution which allows slavery to flourish here unchecked. And that leads to another bloody war--"

"The Civil War," Claire says, and that stops Richardson in his tracks.
"What did you say, madam?"
"You're talking about the North and South. Sherman's March. Gettysburg. Abraham Lincoln. You're a time-traveler."

I love the look of utter shock on Richardson's face as he realizes, finally, that she is one as well. He clearly didn't expect that.

We get a brief glimpse of Jamie retrieving a rowboat, and then we're back with Claire and Richardson. Claire has been filling him in on a little of her own time-travel experience, just as she told Wendigo Donner years ago.

"1945, and 1968. The first time was an accident. The second time wasn't." Richardson sits down as best he can with his wrists still manacled behind him. "1968? This can't be a coincidence."

Interesting. Does that mean Richardson is connected to Donner and his group, or even Geillis, who also traveled back in time from 1968? In the books, we don't know what year Richardson traveled from.

Richardson explains his ultimate goal as follows:

"It’s very simple: if the patriots don’t succeed, the American colonies remain under British law. They won’t engage in slave trading, and their existing slaves will all be freed in the next fifty years. They won’t become a slaveholding nation, and the Civil War [....] won’t happen, thus saving hundreds of thousands of lives."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 138, "Inherited Evil". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Watching Claire as Richardson becomes more and more animated, caught up in the fervor of his cause, I get the feeling that she's remembering, very clearly, her own very similar conviction, back in Season 2, that history could be changed, that they could somehow find a way to prevent the slaughter at Culloden and the destruction of the Highland clans.

Richardson says that Lord John's brother Hal is the key. "I don't need him dead. I need him to reverse his position." To come out publicly in favor of continuing the war, in other words. Richardson wants him to convince the British government to stay in the war and fight, and eventually win.

"I understand your urge to change the course of history," Claire says. "I admire it. The past leaves a lot to be desired. But it won't work." She tells him about their efforts to stop the Rising, to prevent the Battle of Culloden. "No matter what side we fight on, no matter how hard we fight, what has happened before always happens again. [....] Maybe I'm not here to change history. Maybe I'm here to be a part of history."

"I don't know if it was fate, or destiny, or God [that brought me here the first time], but what I do know is that I'm supposed to be here, that I'm meant to be here. This is my time."

I like this VERY much!

Richardson, of course, replies that he believes he's meant to be there, too. "What is this ability we have for, except to try and make the world a better place?"

You may recall Geillis Abernathy, in VOYAGER, telling Claire much the same thing:

“You asked me why I thought we can pass through the stones,” I said to her back. “Do you know why, Geilie?” She glanced over her shoulder at me.

“Why, to change things,” she said, sounding surprised. “Why else?"

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 60, "The Scent of Gemstones". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And then Richardson pleads with Claire to let him go, "to do what I believe is my part in history." She asks for his word that he won't harm anyone, and he agrees. And -- incredibly -- she releases him! I started yelling at the TV, "NO!! You idiot, don't DO that!!"

Richardson heads for the door the instant he's free, and suddenly Claire hears a gunshot. She finds Lord John standing over Richardson, lying on the floor with a pool of blood under his head, obviously dead.

"That was for William," John says to the dead man. "If I had another shot, I'd put one in you for me, and another for Hal, too." I don't blame him one bit! Good riddance!

Even though I'm very glad Richardson is dead and no longer a threat, I was just astounded that Claire would let him go like that. It was a spectacularly bad idea, in my opinion. Has she forgotten about the lesson Jamie learned with Stephen Bonnet? You don't turn a dangerous criminal loose to cause more trouble just because you empathize with his situation!! Claire was very lucky that John was outside that door with a loaded pistol when Richardson came out.

It's worth noting here that we have no idea how Richardson's story arc will play out in Book 10, and I fully expect it to be quite different from what they've depicted here. Just remember, as Diana Gabaldon has said many times, "the books are the books, and the show is the show."

In the next scene, Jamie, Claire, and Lord John return to John's house in Savannah. John thanks Jamie and Claire for rescuing him.

"I couldna let you die at the hands of that bastard. And I have decided" -- long pause -- "to forgive you for what happened." For having sex with Claire, he means. "We need never speak of it again."

John's reaction takes Jamie completely by surprise.

"I do not forgive you. I do not forgive your pig-headed treatment of me for the past two years!" And with that, John storms out of the room.

If you ask me, John does have a point. He did nothing wrong (Jamie was presumed dead, after all), and yet Jamie beat him to a pulp, left him to the mercy of a group of Continental soldiers, and has barely spoken to him (civilly or otherwise) in all the time since. John has been willing to reconcile for a long time, but Jamie has never shown any sign that he's ready for that.

Claire persuades Jamie to give it a try, without actually saying so directly. "Tell me you don't love that man, and I'll never mention his name again," she says. Jamie doesn't even bother to argue. What's the point? They've said it all before, and the "end-of-series clock" is ticking. There's no time to waste. Jamie goes to find John in his study.

Jamie begins by talking about his family's tendency to stubbrnness. "My grandsire was said to have never apologized once in his life." (Thinking of the character of Lord Lovat as portrayed in BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, I can totally believe that.)

"When ye lay with Claire, ye said ye were both f*cking me, that it was me you were reaching for. That felt like a betrayal of our friendship."

"I said what I said trying to explain something that was impossible to explain. I never meant to hurt you, Jamie, but you--you nearly beat me to death for it, and might have, if those soldiers hadn't come along. And if you're not able to forgive me, after everything I've done for this friendship, then perhaps there IS no friendship!"

That's too much for Jamie, and he finally apologizes.

"I have wronged ye, John, and I am sorry. My pride kept me from seeing clearly. You have done more for me than I can ever repay." And naturally his thoughts turn to William.

“I had the making of him until he was six,” he said, and turned his gaze on John. “I ken what he’s made of. And I ken who shaped him after that. Tell me I’m wrong, my lord.”

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 88, "A Whiff of Roquefort". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You made him the man he is, and I ken well what ye had to sacrifice to do it."

This line isn't in the books, and I liked it very much. John did indeed make a major sacrifice when he agreed to become William's stepfather, essentially turning his whole life upside down, including a marriage to Isobel that he presumably would never have considered otherwise, in order to look after the boy when Jamie himself could not.

Jamie and John exchange heartfelt thanks, and things seem to ease a little between them. "I would like to claim my revenge," John says. He challenges Jamie to a game of chess, as they used to play in the old days, in Ardsmuir Prison.

I liked this whole scene very much. It's a very satisfying way to wrap up that long-standing conflict, and I liked the way their relationship has come full circle: their friendship resuming with a chess game, in the same way that it began all those years ago in Ardsmuir.

The next scene, between Claire and William, is one that Diana Gabaldon says she didn't write. I thought whoever wrote it was trying much too hard to make a point. Yes, William has "two fathers". So do a lot of the characters on the Ridge. Was it really necessary to waste valuable screen time listing Every Single Example, including characters that William barely knows?

"So many people in your life now were raised by a village." I really don't like this! It's much too reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's "It takes a village to raise a child," and jerked me momentarily out of the story.

William seems to think he must choose between his two fathers. He's evidently learned nothing from his time with Brianna, who has learned to love BOTH of her fathers. It's not a competition!

The next scene features William and Amaranthus. William's comments about forgiveness echo something we have seen in Jamie's thoughts from time to time in the books:

How to tell her in words, then, what he had learned himself by pain and grace? That only by forgiveness could she forget--and that forgiveness was not a single act, but a matter of constant practice.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 48, "Away in a Manger". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

If William is starting to learn that now, I think that's a good thing. But I don't think he should forgive Amaranthus just yet.

"I'm afraid there's no future for us," William says. He wishes her well, kisses her hand, and walks away. Good!! I really think he deserves better.

The next scene, where Jamie and Claire set out for home in the pouring rain, would have been even better if someone in the costume department had thought to provide them with cloaks or hoods or hats or some protection against the rain. I saw a comment online that this might be a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" that was playing during Jamie's heartbreaking departure from Helwater in Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", and maybe they did do it on purpose, but still, both Sam and Cait looked uncomfortable, getting soaked and trying hard not to react to it.

Having said that, I loved the bit where Jamie turns in his saddle as he rides away, catches William's eye, and gives him a small smile. So he remembered their conversation in last week's episode, where they talked about how Jamie had left Helwater without a backward glance, and how devastating that was for young Willie. I was glad to see that, and I took it as a sign that they really have reconciled, at long last.

Jamie and Claire return to Fraser's Ridge and resume their lives there, including bringing in the harvest. Bree gives birth to a healthy baby boy named Davy. If they're following the timeline of BEES, Davy's birth occurred on September 16, 1780, about three weeks before Kings Mountain. Clearly, if Jamie's going to fight at Kings Mountain, Bree presumably won't be in a position to accompany them to the battlefield. So Jamie takes the opportunity to have a private conversation with Bree, in case it should be their last chance.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Yikes! Just hearing Bree say that is terrifying.

Bree is understandably afraid of losing Jamie. "I finally have you in my life, and I can't imagine it without you. Please don't go!"

But Jamie insists he must go. "[Frank Randall] had no cause to love me. But he loved you. And he knew one thing about me, same thing I kent about him. That we would protect you with our lives. But I know the only way to truly protect you and everyone I love, is to fight."

I like that very much. Bree isn't happy about it, but she doesn't really have an argument to counter that. Besides, Jamie is a Highlander, and he won't back down from a fight if he thinks it's the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, in Savannah, Lord John comes to see Percy, wearing his officer's uniform. He sets a pistol down on the desk in front of Percy, in an unmistakable echo of Hal's actions in LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE twenty years before.

Without speaking, [Hal] picked up the haversack he’d dropped by the table, and withdrew a pistol. It was an old one, of German manufacture.

“I want you to go and see [Wainwright],” he said.

“What?” Grey said, disbelieving.

[....]

"Are you seriously suggesting that I call upon Percy Wainwright and murder him in the gaol?”

“No. I’m suggesting that you call upon him, give him this, and ... urge him to--to do the honorable thing. It would be best for everyone,” Hal added softly, looking down at the tabletop. “Including him.”

(From LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 27, "The Honorable Thing". Copyright © 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You betrayed us, Percy," John says. "You betrayed me. For that, you must answer."

When Percy hesitates, John offers him another option: "You sign this affidavit, confessing to the scheme to malign my character, extortion, and kidnapping. You will let the law decide your fate."

What about the possibility of copies of the incriminating documents being sent to the London press? John has an answer for that.

"If copies do resurface, the affidavit will render them null and void."
"And if I refuse?"
"It will be your signature on that paper or your blood. Either way, you will pay for your treachery."

If you think that's uncharacteristically ruthless of Lord John, keep in mind that in BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE chapter 34 ("Duchess of Pardloe"), John gouged out Bernard Adams' eye with a dagger in revenge for his involvement in the scandal that discredited John's father. He's totally capable of that sort of violence, even if he doesn't often show it.

John says that if Percy signs this affidavit, he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Tears in his eyes, Percy signs the document. John takes it and the pistol and turns to go.

"Will you ever forgive me, John?"

John doesn't answer. A few moments after he leaves the office, we hear a single gunshot and the thud of a body hitting the floor. Percy has killed himself. (Before you ask, yes, we're sure Percy committed suicide. STARZ included a "Suicide" warning at the beginning of this episode.)

My reaction here is about the same as in the book. I'm not unhappy to see Percy go.

This next scene is most definitely NOT from the book, for obvious reasons (and Diana Gabaldon has confirmed that she didn't write it), but I thought it was cute. Claire is in bed, writing something in a small book, when Jamie comes to find her. She lets him see it, and he reads from the first page:

"People disappear all the time...."

I burst out laughing when I heard that, because of course that's the first part of the Prologue to OUTLANDER.

People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.

Young girls run away from home. Young children stray from their parents and are never seen again. Housewives reach the end of their tether and take the grocery money and a taxi to the station. International financiers change their names and vanish into the smoke of imported cigars.

Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances, after all, have explanations.

Usually.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, "Prologue". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You're writing your story?" Jamie asks.
"No. I'm writing our story."

I love that, because that's the way I've always thought of it, as the story of both of them.

Suddenly Jamie hears someone calling his name from outside. It's Benjamin Cleveland and the Over-Mountain Men, coming to deliver a message. Ferguson is on the march in North Carolina, and Jamie's men must join the others at Sycamore Shoals in two days' time. The Battle of Kings Mountain will happen very soon!

And with that, the episode ends.
----------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this recap. Please come back next week for my recap of the series finale, Episode 810, and look here for my recaps of all of the previous OUTLANDER episodes.

Looking for a place to discuss All Things OUTLANDER? Check out TheLitForum.com, formerly the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. You have to sign up in order to read or post on the forum, but it's free. For more about the forum, look here.

Happy Birthday, Jamie Fraser!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Fri, 01 May 2026 10:50:49 +0000

Wishing a very happy birthday to our favorite red-heided Scot, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, who turns 305 years old today, believe it or not! He was born on May 1, 1721.

In honor of Jamie's birthday, here's a selection of some of my favorite quotes by and about him from the OUTLANDER books. I tried to pick quotes that illustrate as many different aspects of Jamie's character as possible. I hope you enjoy them!

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

If you haven't read all of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER books, you will find SPOILERS below! Read at your own risk.

OUTLANDER

This is the point where, on my first reading of OUTLANDER in 2006, I fell in love with Jamie Fraser.

A Highlander in full regalia is an impressive sight--any Highlander, no matter how old, ill-favored, or crabbed in appearance. A tall, straight-bodied, and by no means ill-favored young Highlander at close range is breath-taking.

The thick red-gold hair had been brushed to a smooth gleam that swept the collar of a fine lawn shirt with tucked front, belled sleeves, and lace-trimmed wrist frills that matched the cascade of the starched jabot at the throat, decorated with a ruby stickpin.

His tartan was a brilliant crimson and black that blazed among the more sedate MacKenzies in their green and white. The flaming wool, fastened by a circular silver brooch, fell from his right shoulder in a graceful drape, caught by a silver-studded sword belt before continuing its sweep past neat calves clothed in woolen hose and stopping just short of the silver-buckled black leather boots. Sword, dirk, and badger-skin sporran completed the ensemble.

Well over six feet tall, broad in proportion, and striking of feature, he was a far cry from the grubby horse-handler I was accustomed to--and he knew it. Making a leg in courtly fashion, he swept me a bow of impeccable grace, murmuring “Your servant, Ma’am,” eyes glinting with mischief.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 14, "A Marriage Takes Place". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER

Jamie and Claire's farewell is so heartbreaking! But I think the idea of a love that outlasts even death itself is one of the most powerful themes of the entire series.

"I will find you,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you--then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest.”

His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.

“Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well."

(From DRAGONFLY IN AMBER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 46, "Timor Mortis Conturbat Me". Copyright © 1992 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

VOYAGER

Jamie is a born leader, as we saw during his years in Ardsmuir Prison.

He had come from the bosom of family and tenants, from a strength that had sustained him for seven years, to find a lack of hope and a loneliness that would kill a man faster than the damp and the filth and the quaking ague of the prison.

And so, quite simply, he had taken the ragtag and remnants, the castoff survivors of the field of Culloden, and made them his own, that they and he might survive the stones of Ardsmuir as well. Reasoning, charming, and cajoling where he could, fighting where he must, he had forced them to band together, to face their captors as one, to put aside ancient clan rivalries and allegiances, and take him as their chieftain.

“They were mine,” he said softly. “And the having of them kept me alive."

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 33, "Buried Treasure". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

DRUMS OF AUTUMN

Other people may see Jamie as a hero, or "King of Men", but Jamie himself would disagree. He's all too aware of his own faults.

“Do ye really think me a good man?” he said at last. There was a queer note in his voice, that I couldn’t quite decipher.

“Yes,” I said, with no hesitation. Then added, half jokingly, “Don’t you?”

After a long pause, he said, quite seriously, “No, I shouldna think so.”

I looked at him, speechless, no doubt with my mouth hanging open.

“I am a violent man, and I ken it well,” he said quietly. He spread his hands out on his knees; big hands, which could wield sword and dagger with ease, or choke the life from a man. “So do you--or ye should."

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 13, "An Examination of Conscience". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

THE FIERY CROSS

We don't often see Jamie thinking about those twenty endless years of separation, but I like this small glimpse of how he got through it.

“How many nights in twenty years, a nighean? How many hours? For I spent that long in wondering whether my wife still lived, and how she fared. She and my child.”

His hand ran smoothly over my head, gently stroking my hair. Brianna said nothing in reply, but made a small, inarticulate sound in her throat.

“That is what God is for. Worry doesna help--prayer does. Sometimes,” he added honestly.

“Yes,” she said, sounding uncertain. “But if--”

“And if she had not come back to me”--he interrupted firmly--“if you had not come--if I had never known--or if I had known for sure that both of you were dead …” He turned his head to look at her, and I felt the shift of his body as he lifted his hand from my hair and reached out his other hand to touch her. “Then I would still have lived, a nighean, and done what must be done. So will you.”

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 81, "Bear-Killer". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES

We tend to think of the abduction/rape mostly in terms of what happened to Claire, but Jamie was very deeply shaken by what happened, too. I love the way he pushes his own feelings aside in the face of Claire's need, waiting until she is asleep before he will let himself cry.

He held her, both arms wrapped around her as though to save her from drowning, but felt her sink away all the same. He wished to call out to her not to go, not to leave him alone. She vanished into the depths of sleep, and he yearned after her, wishing her healed, fearing her flight, and bent his head, burying his face in her hair and her scent.

[...]

Then he cried, soundless, muscles strained to aching that he might not shake with it, that she might not wake to know it. He wept to emptiness and ragged breath, the pillow wet beneath his face. Then lay exhausted beyond the thought of tiredness, too far from sleep even to recall what it was like. His only comfort was the small, so fragile weight that lay warm upon his heart, breathing.

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 29, "Perfectly Fine". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

AN ECHO IN THE BONE

Jamie has just offered William his hat, in exchange for the one he shot off the young man's head by accident in the wheat field. It's the first time he has spoken to his son in many years.

"Are you all right? What on earth is the matter?" I sat beside him and put a hand on his back, beginning to be worried.

"I dinna ken whether to laugh or to weep, Sassenach," he said. He took his hand away from his face, and I saw that, in fact, he appeared to be doing both. His lashes were wet, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.

"I've lost a kinsman and found one, all in the same moment--and a moment later realize that for the second time in his life, I've come within an inch of shooting my son." He looked at me and shook his head, quite helpless between laughter and dismay.

"I shouldna have done it, I ken that. It's only--I thought all at once, What if I dinna miss, a third time? And--and I thought I must just ... speak to him. As a man. In case it should be the only time, aye?"

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 66, "Deathbed". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD

Jamie's relationship with Lord John Grey is complex and multilayered. I hope some day they can resume their friendship.

"When Geneva died and it was my fault, it was a knife in my heart--and then William ..." His mouth softened. "The bairn cut me wide open, Sassenach. He spilled my guts out into my hands."

I put my hand on his, and he turned it, his fingers curling over mine.

"And that bloody English sodomite bandaged me," he said, so low I could scarcely hear him above the sound of the river. "With his friendship."

He drew breath again and let it out explosively. "No, I didna kill him. I dinna ken if I'm glad of it or not--but I didn't."

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 24, "Welcome Coolness in the Heat, Comfort in the Midst of Woe". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE

I love this quote, on multiple levels. The echo of the Prologue to BEES is unmistakable. The thought of what lies ahead, the prospect that Jamie might actually die this time, for real, is terrifying. But my favorite part is that last line. Just wonderful!

"It's--unpredictable."

"Aye," he said, after studying my face for a moment. "Like war." He nodded toward the distant mountains, though his eyes didn't leave mine. "Ye never ken for sure what will happen--maybe nothing, maybe not for a long time, maybe not here, not now--" His fingers tightened on mine. "But ye ken it's there, all the time. Ye try to push it away, not think of it until there's need--but it doesna ever go away."

I nodded unable to speak. It lived with both of us; with everyone, these days.

The wind had dropped, but so high up, there was still a cold breeze, breathing through my clothes. The warmth of the wine had faded from my blood, and Jamie's hand was as chilled as mine--but his eyes were warm and we held on.

"Dinna be afraid, Sassenach," he said at last. "There's still the two of us."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 65, "Green Grow the Rushes, O!". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I love the twist Diana Gabaldon put on that last line! The first time he said it was on their wedding night. The second time, the day of their reunion. And here's the third time, altered just slightly. Jamie and Claire are still the same people, older now, a bit battered round the edges, but the core of their personalities, and the depth of their love for one another, will never change, no matter what happens. I find that immensely reassuring, even though I've always known that about them.
-------------------------

Happy Birthday, Jamie! MANY thanks to Diana Gabaldon for creating such an amazing character, and to Sam Heughan for bringing him to life on TV!

How are you feeling about the OUTLANDER TV show coming to an end?

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:08:34 +0000

With OUTLANDER's series finale coming up on May 15th, I have a question: How are you feeling about the show coming to an end? Anxious, relieved, indifferent, sad to see it ending, eager to see how they'll wrap it up, or somewhere in between?

If you're feeling a bit anxious or apprehensive about the finale, perhaps this will help. I posted the following thoughts on TheLitForum a few days ago, and I just thought I'd share them here as well, in case others are feeling the same way.

I think it's natural to feel some anxiety, as the show prepares to come to an end at long last. For those of us who have been watching since the beginning, it's been part of our lives for such a long time that it will be hard to say goodbye. And now that the show has diverged from the books in many ways, we can no longer be sure what they're going to do in the last two episodes, other than Kings Mountain, of course.

I find myself feeling some of that "Don't screw it up! Please, don't screw it up!" anxiety that I had before the show premiered in 2014, when my expectations were still pretty low (but cautiously optimistic) and I really had no idea if I was going to be happy with what they produced. What I was hoping for back then (praying hard for it, in fact) was that they woudn't butcher the plot, alter the characters beyond recognition, or cut some of my favorite scenes. And in Season 1, they managed that, for the most part, and exceeded my expectations in many ways.

I'm feeling the same way now. "Don't screw up the ending!" Please, leave us in a good place, let us come away from the final episode smiling -- even if it's smiling through tears -- and thankful for the amazing roller-coaster ride we've been on for the past 12 years.

That's what I mean when I say that I hope they can "stick the landing" (like an Olympic gymnast), and the worry that they will not is causing me some low-level anxiety. As always, all we can do is wait and see.

What about the rest of you? Feel free to post a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.

Episode 808: "In the Forest" (SPOILERS!)

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 23:54:37 +0000

Here are my reactions to Episode 808 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "In the Forest".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

This episode was definitely an improvement on last week's, but there's relatively little material taken from the books. For that reason, you can assume that most scenes are not based on the books, unless otherwise indicated.

The episode opens with Jamie and Marsali standing at Fergus's grave, reminiscing about him. We can see the small cairn that Fanny built, beside the freshly dug grave.

"I'm thinking of taking Percy Beauchamp up on his offer," Marsali says. "Using the money from the sale of the land up north to rebuild the printshop." I was surprised to hear this, for two reasons: first, Fergus was adamantly opposed to the idea, and second, surely the inheritance from the Comte St. Germain would be worth vastly more than the cost to rebuild the printshop!

Why did she change her mind? "When I left Scotland, it wasn't only for love. It was because I wanted to make my own way, livin' by my own rules, determining my own fate. I wanted freedom. That's what America wants."

But she's no longer a carefree fifteen-year-old with no responsibilities. She's a widow with four young children to care for. Money isn't a guarantee of freedom, especially as the money wouldn't be hers in this case, but Germain's.

The conversation turns to the revelation that Fergus is (apparently) the son of the Comte St. Germain. "He knew the Comte to be a villain. I'm sure he didn't want to believe that he came from such an unscrupulous man." That hits close to home for Jamie, because of William's reaction to the revelation that Jamie is his biological father. The parallels here are very clear.

"[Fergus] never wanted to call any man but you his father," Marsali says.

"Fergus Fraser was my son," Jamie says firmly, and then, addressing the grave before them, "Son of my name, of my heart. Now, then, forevermore. No piece of paper, nor anything in this world, can change that."

Marsali asks Jamie to let her speak to Fergus alone. She tells him she'll take the money, for the sake of her bairns, "and the bairn yet to come." (For those of you who missed it in the last episode, yes, Marsali is pregnant with #5.) "I'm so happy to have more of you," she says, with tears in her eyes.

The "title card" for this episode features Jamie demonstrating "fly tying", a technique used in fishing. (Thanks to my friend Christie for the tip!)

In the next scene, Roger and Bree have returned to Fraser's Ridge, bringing the crate of muskets provided by Col. Francis Marion.

Jamie examines the guns, then starts talking about a new type of rifle designed by Major Patrick Ferguson, who will lead the Loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Bree says she's familiar with the Ferguson rifle. "My father showed it to me once." Interesting that Jamie doesn't frown at this reference to Frank. He only smiles and says, "He was right to."

Bree mentions another type of rifle, called the Hall rifle, adopted by the US Army in 1819.

The talk turns to Bree's shooting skills, and Roger says, "There's a reason why she was nicknamed 'Deadeye', practically from the time she could walk." That gets Jamie's attention, because Frank Randall's book, THE SOUL OF A REBEL, is dedicated, "For My Dearest Deadeye."

Later, Jamie and Claire talk about that in private.

"[Frank] armed her with the knowledge of how to survive in this time." Did he know she would go back in time, or was he only guessing, trying to prepare her, just in case? We don't know.

"It's a warning," Claire says. "He was trying to save you, for Bree, because he knew that you would--"
"Continue to protect her," Jamie finishes.

Jamie says that he used to pray for Frank. That's true, as we saw in THE SCOTTISH PRISONER:

Lord, he thought automatically, as he did whenever thought of them came to his mind, that she might be safe. She and the child.

How old would his first child be now? He swallowed a thickness in his throat but continued doggedly in his train of thought. Claire had been two months gone with child when she’d stepped through the stones and back to Frank.

“God bless you, ye bloody English bastard,” he said through his teeth. It was his customary prayer when Frank Randall came to his mind--something he tried to avoid happening, but now and then ... “Mind them well!”

(From THE SCOTTISH PRISONER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, "Summoning". Copyright © 2011 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I liked this exchange between Jamie and Claire:

"We canna change the course of history. Lord knows we've tried."
"Maybe not the course of history exactly. But we have changed small things, things that may seem insignificant in the flow of time."
"You trying to say I'm another one of those 'insignificant things'?"
"Perhaps. Even if you are very significant to certain other people, whoever they may be."

Meanwhile, back in Lord John's house in Savannah, Amaranthus is upset because no one has seen William for days, and she doesn't know where he's gone. She suspects that she might have driven him away.

But Lord John says that's not it, telling her that he and William had an argument "of a private nature", adding only that it was "a rather difficult moment between father and son."

He's referring, of course, to William's discovering John in a passionate embrace with his former lover, Percy Beauchamp, in Episode 807, and William's inescapable conclusion that his stepfather is a sodomite. A very scandalous discovery, considering that sodomy was punishable by death in those days.

Amaranthus is distressed because she lied to William (or maybe just that she got caught lying to him?), and she feels that William's character "prevents him from forgiving deception in others." And that, of course, hits home for Lord John, who lied to William for years about the fact that Jamie Fraser is his biological father.

Back on the Ridge, Jamie is studying Frank's account of the Battle of Kings Mountain. You can tell because of the distinctive shape of the battlefield depicted in the book.

They've started making preparations for Kings Mountain in other ways. Bree, for example, is busy designing and building her new rifle. This is loosely based on a bit from A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, where Bree showed Robin McGillivray her design for an improved rifle:

“Did your lass show ye those?” Robin asked, with a nod at the papers. He pulled the tail of his shirt up from behind his leather apron, and mopped steam from his sweating face, looking amused.

“No. What is she about? Is she wanting ye to make her a gun?” He relinquished the sheets to the gunsmith, who shuffled through them, sniffing with interest.

“Oh, she’s no way of paying for that, Mac Dubh, unless Roger Mac’s discovered a pot o’ fairy gold since last week. No, she’s only been telling me her notions of improvement in the art of riflery, asking what it might cost to make such a thing.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 41, "The Gun-Smith". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The problem is that Bree, of course, is not a gunsmith trained to build this type of weapon, so I don't think it's believable that she could build it all by herself!

Meanwhile, Jamie has started training his militia. Knife-throwing or hand-to-hand combat may not be of much use against a well-equipped Loyalist force at Kings Mountain, but I suppose they have to start somewhere.

In the next scene, Buck tells Roger what happened after he and Bree and the kids went back through the stones. He went back to see Geillis again, but apparently nothing came of it. Having nothing better to do, Buck went back through the stones at Craigh na Dun, to 1980.

"The first person I encountered was Rob Cameron. I watched as he went into a shop, and bought a gemstone. Any fool could see what he was intendin'" We see in flashback how Buck confronted Cameron in his home, obviously preparing to go back in time.

"I owe Roger MacKenzie a life," Buck says. "Yours'll do." After a brief fight, Buck kills him with a knife and takes the gemstone, as well as Cameron's tricorn hat.

So we don't have to worry about Rob Cameron coming through the stones after Bree. (Not that I personally was all that worried; we know from the books that he can't time-travel.)

In the next scene, Bree demonstrates her new rifle, which loads much faster than the type Jamie has been using. Buck and Jamie are very impressed! So am I, considering that Bree has no training in how to build a 19th-century rifle.

Some time passes, and then one day William arrives on Fraser's Ridge, to everyone's surprise. Fanny, especially, is very excited to see him. Jamie welcomes him politely.

"Thank you...sir. I hope I am not intruding." William's manner toward Jamie is cold and formal, in contrast to the way he greeted Claire and Fanny.

William asks to see Brianna. He tells her what he learned about Amaranthus and Ben, including the fact that it was her idea for Ben to pretend to be dead. Naturally William feels like a fool. Bree is sympathetic.

"I had to tell someone, so I came to tell you, the only member of my family who has never broken my trust."

That evening, the whole family gathers for dinner, complete with a "kids' table" where Fanny and the younger children sit to eat. Everyone is happy and relaxed, except for Jamie. Roger announces that his application for ordination as a Presbyterian minister has been approved.

AFter dinner, Jamie invites William to go fishing with him in the morning. William can't help recalling the last time they went on a fishing trip, in Episode 406, "Blood of My Blood", where Jamie saved him from the Cherokee by telling them William was his son. Naturally William didn't know at that time that Jamie was telling the truth.

"I thought you were merely lying to protect me," William says bitterly. "How easily duped I was."
"I'll always try to protect you, lad. No matter what."

William tries to decline the offer to go fishing, but in the end he's forced to agree.

The next morning, Jamie and William are knee-deep in the trout stream, with plenty of time to talk. This is a really good scene. They reminisce about fishing at Helwater, and William actually loosens up enough to smile at the memories. He recalls a time when he caught two dozen trout, and when Jamie is skeptical, he says, "If you don't believe me, ask my father!"

Oops. The conversation instantly turns serious at the mention of Lord John. William reveals that he knows John is a sodomite, and things get very awkward.

"I caught him in the arms of a man, so in addition to being a sodomite, he's an indiscreet one as well." This is what happens when the writers have Lord John doing something that his book counterpart would never do in a million years. In the books, John is nothing if not discreet, especially about his sex life!

"You and he, at Ardsmuir, were you lovers? Is that why he agreed to raise your illegitimate son?"
"Why would you ask me something like that?"
"Because it makes perfect sense!"
"But it isn't true!"

I thought this scene was really well done. Both Sam and Charles did an excellent job.

Jamie tries to defend John, saying, "John's private life is his personal affair, and I'll neither defend nor condemn it. He's one of the best men I know. [....] He's given you everything he had to give!"

"Except the truth. On that point, you're exactly the same." William shoves his fishing rod into Jamie's arms and stalks away.

Back at the house, William is preparing to leave when Claire comes out to talk to him. I didn't care for the way she kept her arms folded throughout the first part of the discussion, like a parent scolding a wayward teenager. He's not her son, after all.

"It was a mistake to come here," William says. "A foolish, impulsive mistake."
"It was hardly impulsive. It takes a long time just to get here."

That reminds me vividly of Claire's reaction to Lord John and Willie's visit to the Ridge some years before:

"I determined that we should sail to Charleston, and from there, travel overland to Virginia. I trusted to the novelty of the experience to divert William from his grief--which I am pleased to observe, it seems to have done. He has been much more cheerful these past weeks.”

I opened my mouth to say that Fraser’s Ridge seemed a bit out of his way, regardless, but then thought better of it.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 25, "Enter a Serpent". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire points out, unnecessarily, that they're in the middle of a war. "So I want you to think -- really think -- about how you'd feel if this morning was the last time you ever see your father."

William is still digesting this when he looks up to see Jamie in the distance, teaching Mandy to ride a pony. He abruptly recalls his own childhood at Helwater, when Mac the groom taught him to ride in exactly the same way.

I really liked the way they did this, because it brings back not only William's memories of "Mac" from Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", but also (for the viewers) recalls the scene in Episode 702, "The Happiest Place on Earth", where Jamie brings newborn Mandy to the stable and makes the following promise to her:

"Someday you'll ride him. Grandda will teach you. And you will be a braw equestrian." Awwww!

William is remembering more than just horse-riding lessons, of course. He has vivid memories of the day when he was six years old, when Mac left Helwater for good:

Willie knew how an earl should behave; he was making a masterful effort to subdue his tears, sniffing ferociously and swiping at his face with a sleeve.

“Allow me, my lord.” Jamie did kneel then, and wiped the little boy’s face gently with his own coarse handkerchief. Willie’s eyes looked at him over the cotton folds, red-rimmed and woeful.

“Have you really got to go, Mac?” he asked, in a very small voice.

“Aye, I have.” He looked into the dark blue eyes, so heartbreakingly like his own, and suddenly didn’t give a damn what was right or who saw. He pulled the boy roughly to him, hugging him tight against his heart, holding the boy’s face close to his shoulder, that Willie might not see the quick tears that fell into his thick, soft hair.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 16, "Willie". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And of course he remembers their parting in Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", watching Jamie ride away, not looking back. Absolutely heartbreaking, for both of them!

The next scene, between Rachel and Fanny, is something I really didn't expect. Fanny is upset because some older boys at the trading post somehow got hold of the pamphlet containing Jane's confession. They were giving her a hard time because Jane was a murderer and died by suicide, so she must therefore be burning in Hell.

Fanny says she can't bear it, "the thought of her suffering, burning forever." Rachel suggests that she go and speak to Roger about it.

In the next scene, we're back in Lord John's house in Savannah. Amaranthus brings John a letter addressed to him. It turns out to be from Percy Beauchamp. He has news of Richardson, and asks John to meet him in three days to discuss the matter.

Book-readers can see where this is leading, of course. I wanted to yell at him, "It's a trap, John, don't go!"

Meanwhile, back on the Ridge, Jamie is training his militia, practicing drills on terrain similar to what they will encounter on Kings Mountain. This is vaguely inspired by the book, but in BEES Jamie was putting his men through cavalry drills, and here they're all on foot, scrambling up hills and among the trees.

Suddenly William rides up and joins Jamie. They make small talk for a bit, talking about the militia and the weather, nothing of importance, and then Aaron Whitaker (the free black man we met earlier in the season) approaches with some of his men. He says Ferguson attacked a settlement of free blacks nearby. These men fled, and now they want to join the militia. Jamie gladly accepts.

Jamie starts to walk away, but stops when William blurts out, "Hunting. We should go hunting. In the forest. Obviously in the forest. But together, you and I. If you have the time, or the inclination, for hunting in the forest."

William is clearly very embarrassed at the awkward way he phrased this invitation ("I don't know why I keep saying forest") but I liked that. It made him seem much less stiff and formal in his manner toward Jamie. They agree to meet the next morning, in the forest.

In the next scene, Roger is practicing singing a hymn for his ordination. It's good to hear him singing after all this time, but I still have to do a double take when I hear Roger singing with the same volume and power in his voice that he had before the hanging in Season 5. I have to remind myself that in the show, he recovered fairly quickly from the hanging and suffered no permanent damage to his voice, unlike Book Roger.

Fanny comes in silently and Roger asks what she thinks of the hymn. "Perhaps God is a great father to his sons, but I don't think he cares about his daughters." That's a depressing thought!

"Will you be different, once you're ordained?" she asks. The answer to that question comes straight from the book, but in BEES it was Jem who asked the question.

“Ye’ve seen when they ride out, your grandda lifts his sword or his rifle as the signal to start?”

Jem nodded enthusiastically, and Roger was obliged to admit that seeing Jamie do that sent a small thrill down his own spine.

“Well, see, that’s the signal that the men are to follow him and go where he leads them. If they come to a place where they need to go in a certain direction, quickly, he’ll draw his sword and point it in the way they should go, so they can all follow at once and not get lost."

“He’s still just who he is--your grandda, and your mam’s father, and a good man--but he’s also got to be a leader, and when he does that, he wears his leather waistcoat and he has his sword in his hand, so everyone knows he’s the leader. He doesna have to stop and explain it to anybody.”

Jem nodded again, listening intently.

“So, that’s sort of what it’s like for me to be ordained. Folk will know that I’m…a sort of leader. Being ordained is--my sword, in a way.” And with luck, they might pay attention to what I tell them, now and then…

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 70, "A Sword in My Hand". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next morning, Jamie and William go hunting (in the forest, of course), and Jamie kills a stag. He says the gralloch prayer over the carcass.

“O Lord, bless the blood and the flesh of this the creature that You gave me,” Jamie said softly. He scooped a pinch of the herbs himself, and rubbed them between thumb and forefinger, in a rain of fragrant dust.

“Created by Your hand as You created man,
Life given for life.
That me and mine may eat with thanks for the gift,
That me and mine may give thanks for Your own sacrifice of blood and flesh,
Life given for life.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 71, "Black Pudding". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

William watches Jamie closely during this prayer, and when it's over, he apologizes for his outburst during the fishing trip. And then he begins to speak about his memories of Mac at Helwater.

"You were the one person in my life I wanted to emulate when I grew up. I worshipped you like a hero, as only a young boy truly can. I loved you. Then you left Helwater. Left me. And as you rode away, you never even looked back. I am your son! I didn't know it then, but you did. How could you leave me?"

So there it is at last: the question he's never been able to ask, hanging in the air between them.

Jamie explains that he did what he thought best at the time. "And no, I didna dare look back, lest the sight of your face shatter my resolve. I've regretted it for years. I ken the pain it caused ye, discovering the truth, and the manner in which it was revealed. For that I am deeply sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."

And William hugs him tight, crying.

I thought this whole scene was really well done. It was emotional, yes, but it was also a moment we've been waiting for, for a very long time. It seemed to me like a true catharsis, for both of them.

The next scene is also a moment we've been waiting for, but I found it a bit confusing. Was this actually Roger's ordination? It seems so, but I would have liked to see the actual moment of his ordination as a minister. As presented here, it seems like an ordinary church service, albeit with a bigger crowd than usual and the traveling minister standing before the congregation. The focus was much more on the singing than on this momentous event in Roger's life, and I found that disappointing.

In the middle of the hymn, Fanny pokes her head briefly in the door of the church, but quickly leaves again. Later, Roger comes to ask her why. "I can't stand to be in a place where my sister isn't welcome," she says simply.

Fanny seems sure that her sister committed a mortal sin, condemning her to Hell. Roger isn't so sure. "Different denominations have different beliefs." He suggests that she try talking to God herself. "Let Him know how you feel."

So Fanny goes to Jane's cairn and talks to her sister. "If you can hear me, Janie, please send me a sign."

And just like that, she looks down and finds a large, shiny green rock in the stream at her feet. It's apparently a raw emerald! I think they got the idea from this bit in BEES:

I was rubbing a handful of damp leaves between my hands to clean them when I realized that there was a pebble among the leaves. I tossed it away, but caught a glimpse of vivid color as it flew through the air, and grabbed it up again.

It was a raw emerald, a long rectangular crystal of cloudy green in a matrix of rough rock.

I looked at it for several moments, rubbing my thumb gently over the surface.

“You never know when it might come in handy, do you?” I said, under my breath, and tucked it into my bag.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 22, "Ashes, Ashes". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The raw emerald grows warm in Fanny's hand, then hot, and finally breaks into pieces in her hand, while she seems to be sensing the same "buzzing" sound that emanates from the stone circle at Craigh na Dun.

We've seen this before, in both books and show. There is a scene in Episode 511, "Journeycake", where Jemmy holds an opal that breaks apart like that -- from which they conclude that he's definitely a time-traveler. (The corresponding scene is in FIERY CROSS chapter 109 if you're interested.)

The same thing happened when Fanny picked up that raw emerald, so the conclusion is unmistakable: Fanny must be a time-traveler! (In the show, that is. We have ZERO evidence that she is a time-traveler in the books!) This is clearly intended as more evidence for the "Faith lived" theory. It remains to be seen what they'll do with this revelation in the last two episodes.

In the final scene, Lord John goes to meet Percy at the solicitor's office in Savannah. Percy has promised to give him news of Richardson.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense!" John says impatiently. " Where is the black-hearted scoundrel?"

Richardson steps into the room, holding a pistol. "You needn't look far," he says, and slugs John in the head with the gun. He falls unconscious to the floor. "Good to see you," he says, looking down at John's unmoving body, and the episode ends.
----------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this recap. Please note that there will NOT be a new episode of OUTLANDER the week of May 1! Come back the following week for my recap of Episode 809, and look here for my recaps of all of the previous OUTLANDER episodes.

Looking for a place to discuss All Things OUTLANDER? Check out TheLitForum.com, formerly the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. You have to sign up in order to read or post on the forum, but it's free. For more about the forum, look here.

No new episode of OUTLANDER the week of May 1!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:37:52 +0000

The OUTLANDER TV series will be taking a brief break between Episodes 808 and 809. There will be no new episode the week of May 1!

Episode 808 ("In the Forest") will be released on STARZ on Friday, April 24, and Episode 809 ("Pharos") will be released on Friday, May 8, with the series finale to air the following week, on May 15.

You may recall that they've had brief breaks like this in OUTLANDER's schedule from time to time, especially when they want to create "buzz" for a particular episode. I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up.

Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested. Thanks!

Visit to the American Revolution Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Henry) — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:22:00 +0000

I had a great time last week visiting the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, VA. It's my favorite historical museum, and when I heard that they were going to be doing an exhibition of costumes from OUTLANDER Seasons 1-4, naturally I had to go and see it!

I started off my visit to the museum by exploring the Continental Army camp. I always enjoy looking at the 18th-century medical equipment on display in living history areas like this. It was still early in the morning, so there weren't many people around. I was just chatting with the re-enactor in charge of the surgical supplies, telling her how much I love the museum, and then she asked, "Are you the one with the blog?"

I laughed and said yes, Outlandish Observations is mine. Apparently she spread the word to the other employees, because an hour later when I was looking at the OUTLANDER costume exhibit (see below!), she came to find me along with the museum's Director of Operations, a woman named Mariruth.

Mariruth said the museum staff were all excited when they heard the news: "The blog lady is here!" I giggle every time I think about that!

Mariruth confirmed that I was the first to post on social media about this costume exhibition, and when she asked how I knew, I said, "Simple. I'm on the museum's mailing list, and I got an email about it." She was very appreciative of the way I've helped to publicize the American Revolution Museum and tell OUTLANDER fans about it. It was a thrill for me to be treated as a VIP like that, as you can imagine, especially since I had not told anyone at the museum I was coming!

Here are some other items of interest to OUTLANDER fans that I saw in the army camp:

Army tents. The one on the right is an officer's tent. The one on the left would house several soldiers, in very cramped conditions!

Laundry area. Camp followers (women who accompanied the army) would do the washing.

The sharpened logs are called abatis, designed to keep enemy soldiers from climbing up a hill or embankment. You may recall Jamie encountering them at Saratoga in ECHO:

The redoubt itself stood fifteen feet high, a packed earthen wall with a palisade of logs built atop it--and between earth and palisade were abatis, logs sharpened to a point and flung down pointing outward.

Balls were spattering the field before the redoubt, and Jamie ran, dodging bullets he couldn’t see.

He scrabbled with his feet, clawing for purchase on the logs of the abatis, got one hand through a gap and onto a log, but lost his grip on the flaking bark and fell back, landing bruisingly on his rifle and knocking out his wind. The man beside him fired up through the gap, and white smoke spurted over him, hiding him momentarily from the Hessian he’d glimpsed above. He rolled over and crawled fast away before the smoke could drift off or the fellow decide to drop a grenade through it.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 65, "Hat Trick". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

With the latest episodes of OUTLANDER Season 8 fresh in my mind, I was particularly interested in the Continental officer's tent they had in the army encampment. As you look at these pictures, imagine General Bleeker using the various items on display.

Continental officer's uniform. Notice the gorget, identifying him as an officer.

Portable writing desk. Lord John has used one like this, and Roger used one in FIERY CROSS to write his account of how he came to be hanged at Alamance.

Campaign chest for the officer's personal effects.

A well-worn copy of COMMON SENSE by Thomas Paine, on the table in the officer's tent.

Finally, I couldn't resist a selfie with the 24-pound siege cannon in the background. This cannon is similar to those used by French forces during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. It's enormous!

I was impressed by the amount of OUTLANDER merch for sale in the gift shop, including almost a full set of OUTLANDER hardcovers! What a change from the first time I visited there, in 2013, when there wasn't a speck of anything OUTLANDER-related in the whole museum. The "OUTLANDER Effect" is real, and clearly they're taking advantage of the final season of the TV series to draw in fans who otherwise might not have heard of this wonderful museum.

I was told that they were hoping to sell 5,000 tickets for the costume exhibition, and as of last week, they'd sold at least 7,000 -- with a month left to go! (Tickets are still available if you're interested! The special exhibition runs through May 18, 2026.)

OUTLANDER: COSTUMES WOVEN IN TIME

This is the sign at the entrance to the "OUTLANDER: Costumes Woven in Time" exhibition.

Frank and Claire in Inverness in Episode 101.

Black Jack Randall's uniform.

Claire wore this skirt in Season 1. Look at how carefully it's pleated, just like a kilt would be.

One of the highlights of this collection was, of course, getting a close-up look at the costumes from Episode 107, "The Wedding". What a treat to be able to see these in person!

Jamie's wedding outfit. "A Highlander in full regalia is an impressive sight," indeed!

Claire's wedding gown. It's just stunning in person! The skirt is too wide to get the whole thing in a photo.

Closeup of the bodice of Claire's wedding gown. I like the metallic pieces sewn into the gown. Quite a distinctive look!

The infamous Red Dress that Claire wore on her first visit to Versailles in Season 2.

I love the embroidery on this waistcoat that Jamie wore in Paris in Season 2.

This ensemble Claire wore in Paris was inspired by a Dior outfit from the 1940s.

Claire's "batsuit" from Season 3. I was very surprised to see that it's a sort of grayish-blue color in real life, not the light blue color we see on TV. Perhaps something to do with the lighting in the museum? I know not everybody is a fan of this outfit, but I've always liked it. I thought it was a clever idea, a versatile and ever-changing costume, built to last the whole season. It almost becomes a character in its own right in Season 3, and it was interesting to see it up close.

Here are some of the Cherokee costumes from Season 4.

It's a wonderful exhibition and I'm glad I had a chance to see it!

I'll close with a tip for visitors to the American Revolution Museum: Don't miss the daily cannon demonstration, which is very entertaining and informative!

I highly recommend the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown! It's a real treat for OUTLANDER fans, and the staff are very friendly and willing to answer questions.