Outlander: Blood of My Blood Recap: Choosing Sides

Outlander: Blood of My Blood
The Veil of Time
Season 2 Episode 2
Editor’s Rating ★★★
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Would you look at that? Our oft-anguished Henry finally, mercifully catches a break. Ever since we met him, that man has been suffering, so it’s nice to have something work out for once.

His change in luck in 1924 is thanks to every time-traveler’s favorite ally, Mrs. Graham. After she and Henry, whose memory is becoming more and more like Swiss cheese every day, have a discussion brainstorming some ideas on how traveling through the stones might work, she’s heard tell of a whole range of things, including blood sacrifice, gemstones, and ritualistic dance. Henry doesn’t realize Arch Bug’s knife had a gemstone in it, but he does remember the blood on his hand. When Mrs. Graham returns to the Inverness asylum with some of Reverend Wakefield’s clothes so that Henry can make his escape, she also arms him with a jeweled brooch. He’ll have the gemstone, and he can use the pin to offer up a little blood before touching the stones. Since it’s All Hallow’s Eve — and the veil between worlds is thinnest — the time to go is now. And Henry does? It’s actually insane — pun intended — how easy it is for him to pop on a priest collar and walk out the front gates. Good luck, I guess? 

The one downside to Henry making his way back to Craigh na Dun to find Julia (he still doesn’t remember he has a daughter alive in his present day) is that we know that if he does make it through the stones, he’ll be walking into a real shitshow. The Highlands are in chaos. And nowhere is that fact clearer than Castle Leoch, where not just the Scots are in disarray, not just Clan MacKenzie, but the MacKenzie siblings. 

Ellen, Colum, and Dougal — not Janet, no one could ever hate Janet — can’t even seem to agree on anything with one another. Colum remains furious at Ellen for blowing up his alliance with the Grants; Ellen is furious with Colin for trying to have the love of her life murdered by hitmen; Dougal is ready to whip Ellen into submission but gets distracted when he realizes Colum doesn’t want to align Clan MacKenzie with the Jacobite cause, which, as we know, Dougal has a real hard-on for, which then causes Colum to get all pissy because Dougal doesn’t respect him as a leader. It’s some real Real Housewives of Castle Leoch shit and I, frankly, can’t wait until someone flips a table.

The only reason tensions calm is because after Dougal, as War Chieftain, makes his case for sticking with the Jacobites, Ellen realizes that if the Jacobites lose, the English will claim Castle Leoch for themselves, stripping the MacKenzies of all they own. But she has an idea: If Colum puts Castle Leoch in her name, she’s an innocent unmarried woman in this whole thing and the English wouldn’t have any cause to take the land. Colum hates this idea because of, you know, the patriarchy, but after making her swear she won’t get married before the war is over and they can change the deed back, the siblings make the switch. It’s a lot of talk about land deeds for a show I was hoping was mostly about hot Scots having sex, but here we are. 

This Jacobite uprising is also causing upheaval at Castle Leathers. Lord Lovat is out on the road in an attempt to collect Fraser men to fight under his banner for the Jacobites. Now, Outlander fans should remember that the time we spent with Lovat on that series was during the Jacobite Uprising of 1745, and we watched as this guy played both sides of the war in hopes of saving his own ass. You know he’s going to do the same thing here — if we know anything about the Old Fox, it’s that he’s always going to be a real dick about things.

For now, he’s all Jacobite all the time. The only problem is that he’s terrible at inspiring men to join him because everyone hates him, knows he’s scum, and he has zero charisma. But you know who has a ton of charisma and is a genuinely good guy? Brian. Motivated by wanting to survive this war so that he can live a happily ever after with Ellen, Brian gives a rousing speech about how he knows his dad sucks, but they need to look forward. They need to focus on “the cause that calls” them. On “the honor of tomorrow.” Lovat is one man; he reminds them, “but together as one clan […they] are a force to be reckoned with.” He ends the whole thing with a bit about letting them underestimate the Highlanders because they’ll show them otherwise. It’s all very effective! Brian is a natural leader. So much so that after he sees his son in action, Lovat leaves to tend to some “business” at Castle Leathers, which surely means he’s securing some type of alliance on the English side, right? 

Brian continues collecting Fraser men. With around 100 following him now, he and Murtagh pay a visit to Leoch. Of course, it’s because he wants to lay eyes on his girl, but he’s also smarter than he looks — he knows they’ll all have a better shot at defeating the English if they join forces. He’s going to Leoch to attempt an alliance. It’s an equally gutsy and stupid move. 

Not surprisingly, the MacKenzie brothers aren’t thrilled to see Brian Fraser walk into their Great Hall. Brian threatens Colum if he lays a hand on Ellen; Dougal cold cocks Brian, you know, real macho brother-in-law type stuff. When Brian finally makes his offer to band together, though, Dougal (also smarter than he looks) takes him up on it. If Brian and his men pledge loyalty to Dougal, then they can call a truce. 

With all that Jacobite business out of the way, Brian can finally get to the other, much more important reason he risked it all to walk into Castle Leoch — a makeout session. Ellen and Brian go back to the animal pen where they first met to smash faces and have Ellen explain that they’ll have to put any kind of wedding on hold until after this war is over. “You were meant to be mine, Ellen MacKenzie,” Brian tells her, and he’ll wait as long as it takes to be with her. 

At least one couple gets to brave the uncertainty of life together, right? Back at Leathers, Julia is still having trouble dealing with her new reality without Henry or Claire. What’s a woman at her wit’s end with half her family 200 years in the future to do? Julia calls in a seer. 

We know Maisri is legit, and she did see a young girl with dark curls before, so, honestly, this feels like a pretty good move for Julia. Of course, to keep herself and baby William safe, she needs to lie about why Maisri is here — especially once Lord Lovat returns and is pissed she invited someone into their home without asking him first. She explains that she’s terrified that Grant Bladier will return and try to kidnap her and the baby again, and she wants Maisri to perform some charm to keep them safe. Maisri does this, but while there she also offers up some additional notes on that prophecy regarding the baby. (Remember, Lovat has hung his hopes of glory on this baby becoming a king, still believing he’s his son.) She talks about “a babe in arms with two mothers and fathers three.” Lovat’s first inclination is to believe that this could mean his son will be a Catholic king (mother Mary, the Holy Trinity, you get it). My first thought is that if that little theory about Brian and Ellen having to raise baby William at some point, the two mothers/three fathers makes sense. Maisri also adds this note: “Your son’s name is not yet regal, but mark me, if he stands the last of your line, he shall one day be a king.” Why do seers have to play us like this? 

More importantly for our current story, Maisri also has two major messages to give Julia. First, according to Maisri, Julia doesn’t have the power to travel through the stones. An interesting wrinkle, no? Second, he sees the curly-haired girl, and she’s safe with “a father’s love” nearby. Julia takes this to mean that Henry is with Claire and that she’ll never see them again. We, of course, know that the “father’s love” is Henry’s brother, Claire’s Uncle Lamb. Henry’s coming back to you, babe, don’t lose faith! 

Clan Business

• Well, of course Arch Bug hires Seema — Henry’s old pal from the brothel — to be his “eyes and ears” at Castle Leathers. The Grants offer Seema up as a scullery maid to make amends with the Frasers for all that kidnapping business, but Arch Bug really just wants to know if Henry returns for Julia. Wait until Julia figures out how Seema knows her husband! 

• Is Murtagh getting a real love interest this season? He and Grace, Jocasta’s new servant, seem to really enjoy one another’s company when she tends to some of his wounds from the scuffle with Dougal. It’s very sweet. But what’s up with that strange look that passes between Grace and Jocasta’s husband? Was that fear I detected? Murtagh can never fall for a woman with zero baggage, can he? 

• How crushing to watch Uncle Lamb decide it’s finally time to give up searching for news of Henry and Julia — so that both he and Claire can begin to move forward — just as Henry’s story is published in the Inverness newspaper. He was so close to finding his brother, but alas, it was not meant to be. 

• Okay, I did love Mrs. Graham reading Henry’s tea leaves, knowing that one day she would read his daughter’s too. I am a simple woman. 

• Truly dying that Maura gets so horny over watching Dougal have a sweet talk about duty with tiny Angus and Rupert and then beat the shit out of Brian. Girl, I get it!!