There are so many ties that bind us to people in life, and not all of them are based on blood relation. In Outlander Season 7 Episode 10 (“Brotherly Love”), we open with a bit of insight into Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) lifelong friendship with Ian Murray (Steven Cree). They’ve known one another since they were boys, and were bonded even closer when Jamie’s brother William died of smallpox when he was only 11. It was then that Jamie and Ian swore to be one another’s surrogate brothers, and they’ve maintained that view of one another in the years since. It’s no wonder, then that watching Ian die is even harder for Jamie — he’s losing yet another sibling. Ian’s last word is simply Jenny’s name, and just like that, he’s gone.
After burying him — Jamie single-handedly digging the grave, we should mention — Jamie reveals that he’s making a stop in Paris before heading over to Philadelphia, where Henry Grey (Harry Jarvis) is desperately wounded and in need of Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) help. He offers to bring Jenny (Laura Donnelly) along with him, but she knows now’s not the time for her – she’ll stay put in Scotland.
Speaking of Philadelphia, Claire and Young Ian (John Bell) are already there. Because this is long before texting and emails, they have know way of knowing whether Ian Sr. has already passed away, but Claire offers words of encouragement, saying that Young Ian’s father would have wanted him to go to Rachel and start his own life. He plans to get a horse and go to find her, but Claire warns him to be careful given that a war is still going on around them.
Philadelphia is under British occupation — no surprises there, but Claire didn’t expect there’d be so many soldiers there. Ian mentions the problem the city has with spies, hence the strict checks on everyone’s paperwork, though they don’t seem much interested in Claire’s.
Shortly after, Claire arrives at Mercy Woodcock’s (Gloria Obianyo) house and is shocked when a Black woman answers the door. She asks for the mistress of the house, but that’s the woman herself, and Claire’s forced to apologise for her presumption (though given the times, it makes sense why she’d made it). She explains that she’s there to operate on Henry, which is a relief to Mercy, as they’d been praying for help. Henry’s uncle, Lord John Grey (David Berry) is there, and he’s pleased to see Claire, as well.
John says he’s resigned his commission as a soldier but he still wears his uniform “for intimidation” — he does so to protect Mercy, since she’s for independence. He further explains that Henry is in danger, but he can’t be moved given his current state. Claire needs to go to the apothecary to buy what she needs to treat Henry, but alas, it’s all been purchased. Luckily, it was John himself who purchased the vitriol Claire needs, so it looks like they’re good to go. The operation goes off without a hitch, and after, Claire and Mercy have a heart-to-heart about Mercy’s husband Walter, who Claire confirms died. It’s sad, of course, but Mercy clearly has feelings for Henry, so that appears to soften the blow a bit.
Back in Scotland in 1739, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) have gone to Geillis (Lotte Verbeek) to see if she might be able to help Buck, but Roger’s still having a hard time getting over the woman before him. Roger claims he just expected her to be older since he’d heard she’s so “wise,” but she has no reaction when they point out that Buck is actually her son. Buck himself doesn’t seem to understand what’s happening, so Roger explains that she’s a time-traveler who’s killed five husbands and tried to kill Bri (Sophie Skelton). Awkward!
Roger is a bit confused, however. He believes that Rob (Chris Fulton) knew Gaellis, and he kidnapped Jemmy in 1968. However, he doesn’t understand why Rob, who wants the hidden gold, would bring Jemmy here, to 1739, when the gold won’t even be there for another 40 years. Looks like everyone has hopped back to the wrong time. For Gaellis’ part, she claims she doesn’t know Rob, though she’s not exactly known for being honest and straightforward. Roger believes her, though, while Buck isn’t so sure.
They don’t have much time to debate it, however, as soon Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish), Buck’s dad. It just get crazier! He doesn’t have much information to give Roger, but he does hand over military tags belonging to none other than Roger’s father, who went missing in action while serving in the military. How did it get to the 18th Century? The so-called “fairy man” who’s been hanging out there isn’t Rob Cameron, it’s Roger’s dad.
Claire meets up with Denzell (Joey Phillips), who’d looked after Henry a bit, and it’s a happy reunion. However, Young Ian doesn’t get his with Rachel, who’s been hanging around with Jamie’s illegitimate son William (Charles Vandervaart) in his absence. He’s taken quite a shine to her, but while she’s friendly with him, the interest seems largely one-sided. While Rachel gets an inkling that Young Ian is back after Rollo the dog goes running off toward him, Arch Bug (Hugh Ross) gets to her first.
By the way, good news — Arch Bug didn’t get to Rachel (at least not yet). She’s safe and sound at home with William, and she’s disheartened because she doesn’t think Ian is back after all. What’s worse, Rollo is missing now (not really, of course – he’s with Ian). When she goes looking for the dog, Arch does indeed catch up with her, and he explains that Ian killed his wife, so it’s clear he plans to kill her.
Ian finds them before he can hurt her, but it’s not Ian who saves her — it’s William who comes in the knick of time and shoots Arch right through the heart. Ian gets an axe slash in the arm for his troubles, however, and William tells Rachel to take Ian to Claire and leave him to clean up the body. The young lovers make their grand declarations to one another in the aftermath of their harrowing experience, as well — it’s very sweet!
However, there’s not much happiness to be had. Soon after, a letter arrives from Jamie for Claire confirming that Ian Sr. died 10 days before. Young Ian is at peace, however. Jamie also shares that he’s gone to see Joan at the convent in France and that he’s met with Mr. Franklin, who Claire assumes must be Benjamin Franklin. He closes out the letter by saying he’s booked himself a place on a ship coming to Philadelphia in two weeks time. That, however, was two weeks ago, so they can expect him at any time.
Mercy, however, reveals that she’s a spy who acts as a courier of sorts, and the man who takes her letters has been caught. She has a very important letter to get to General Washington today, but Mercy worries that she’s been followed and that she won’t be able to deliver it. Claire, of course, volunteers to do it for her. She pretends to be foraging again for supplies, but given that she was just there yesterday, she draws the soldiers’ suspicion. However, all it takes is a rant about explosive diarrhea for her to be given passage.
When she gets back, she has a visitor. John Grey is there with some bad news. Jamie’s ship was apparently lost at sea, and therefore Jamie is presumed to be dead, as is every other person aboard. There was a storm, a bad one, that “swallowed” the ship, and they have proof in the form of the ship’s manifest. Claire is in denial; she felt nothing, and she believes she would have. She goes to bed in a deep state of depression and doesn’t come out.
In the following days, a former colleague of Lord Grey’s comes to see him. He’s there to talk about Claire — he plans to arrest her as a spy and wants to make sure Grey has no personal tissue to her before he does so. Grey buys time by saying Claire’s at church since she’s at mourning, and he’s given a day of leeway. Lord Grey’s answer? Claire has to marry him, as it’s the “last service” he can give to Jamie. If she’s Grey’s wife, he can protect her, but Claire isn’t convinced at first. When he points out that Young Ian and anyone else associated with her will also go down, this is enough to change her mind. And so, it seems another wedding is on the cards.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.
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