Why wouldn’t Murtagh have told anyone where he was in Outlander?

Outlander Season 4, Episode 5 brought a beautiful reunion, but there’s been a big question for a long time. Why didn’t Murtagh get the word out to the Murrays about his location?

We got a beautiful and much-needed reunion between Jamie and Murtagh in Outlander Season 4, Episode 5. While it was full of emotion, there has been a big question for a long time. Why didn’t Murtagh get the word out to Jamie or even the Murrays about his current location?

Murtagh has been in the Colonies since he was sent from Ardsmuir Prison as an indentured servant. He’d been a free man for some time, which would have been time to send a letter to someone who knew him in Scotland. Yet, he went off the grid, in a sense.

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There’s one main reason Murtagh probably didn’t get the word out. By the time he could send a letter, he didn’t know if anyone was still alive. You could tell from the look he gave Jamie that part of him feared that Jamie had died. Plus, he would have known about the famines in Scotland, so may have feared that the Murrays had died.

Before this, he wouldn’t have been able to write. He’d made it clear that his first master was hard on him. He even thought about killing him on occasion. As an indentured servant, he wouldn’t have had the freedom to write letters when he wanted. He couldn’t have received any, either. Murtagh would have just had to move on from everyone he knew and start anew.

Also, by the time Murtagh could have written, he wouldn’t have wanted to know the details. There was always the fear that he’d lost his godson and the Murrays. They meant too much to him, like family of his own. Keeping quiet was better for him mentally, as he could keep the hope that they were all still alive.

“Voyager” and “Drums of Autumn” goes into the lives of the prisoners a little more. Before the hanging, Jamie and Duncan Innes explain that Gavin Hayes never knew what happened to his wife and son. He just had to hope that they were still alive. One thing he didn’t want to know was confirmation they’d met their end.

Why do you think Murtagh never got the word out that he was still alive? Should he have sent a letter? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander airs Sundays at 8/7c on STARZ.