Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 9 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

The foreshadowing in this chapter certainly comes from Jamie’s part of this story. We only see it from John’s point of view, which certainly limits a lot.

However, we know that Jamie wouldn’t just attempt to escape because he finally has his irons off. He chose to be arrested to protect his family. He wouldn’t put the tenants and his family at Lallybroch in danger by escaping. He is also loyal to those at Ardsmuir, so there was clearly another reason for him to attempt to escape.

It’s clear this will come up. We’ll find out what the rambling man really said, what Jamie wanted to do, why he really escaped, and why he turned himself in.

There’s also a little foreshadowing of John’s feelings for Jamie. He goes from hate to love—and there is a fine line between these two feelings. John notes how kind Jamie is with the rambling man, seeing a different side to him. There’s an element of foreshadowing that these changing feelings will continue.

Adapting the Voyager chapter

There was absolutely no way that this chapter couldn’t have been included. It plays a part later in Voyager, which means it would come up later in Outlander Season 3. It’s also important to show the relationship that forms between Lord John Grey and Jamie.

John starts to trust Jamie. He sees the prisoner in a new light, which leads to a friendship and love later. It’s something the TV show simply had to show, although it couldn’t quite go into as much detail as the books do.

In the chapter, there’s a thought of Claire. Jamie talks about watercress and how his wife is “gone.” John translates that to “dead,” and part of him is glad. It’s mostly that he hates that Claire tricked him so well, but there’s also this element of possession when it comes to Jamie. The TV show doesn’t have the chance to show John’s dislike for Claire at this point in the story.

We also got to see Jamie’s point of view in this chapter. In the books, it’s possible to flash back and forth between timelines without losing too much emphasis on the main story. The TV show works best with things running in a linear fashion, especially at this point in the story. However, there is a flashback held for Jamie’s story to Claire when he was on Silkies Island.

What did you see while reading Voyager Chapter 9? Share in the comments below.

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