Focused just on the Outlander book
We’ll start with just a focus on the chapter itself. This is an important one, setting up elements that we know must be important for the story but we can’t exactly figure out why at the time.
We’re introduced to Mrs. Graham, who reads tea leaves and palms and dances at the stones. When she gives Claire a reading, she sees contradictions. Claire will go on a journey but not go on a journey. She’ll marry twice but marry at the same time. There’s a lot to take in that makes sense at a later stage.
This is also when we meet Reverend Wakefield and Roger, getting to know who they are. They could just seem like side characters, but it’s clear that they (and Roger especially) will become bigger parts in future storylines.
The chapter also introduces us to Black Jack Randall in a way. We get to hear what the dispatches tell us, hinting that there was a benefactor and that there will be trouble for anyone who crosses his path. We don’t need to know what’s to come to feel some uneasiness about this character.
Most importantly, Claire takes her journey through the stones. I’m always curious as to why Claire doesn’t hear the buzzing when she is up at the stones the day before she travels. I think this is supposed to signify that traveling is only possible on certain days of the year. It’s not Beltane when Claire first visits.
But this is just the start of the journey that’s to come. We’ve left 1945/46 behind and now we’re focused on the 1740s.