Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 10 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

There is a little foreshadowing within this chapter, and the first is the gold. There’s no way Jamie would have just thrown this into the water. He would have hoped escape or freedom would be possible in the years to come. He’d keep that gold for himself.

The question is what he did with it. Jamie thinks about how he’s in wet clothes. There is a comment that the guards doused him with water, but is that really what happened? Was Jamie wet before allowing himself to be caught? Is it possible that he was in the sea? It’s something that will come up later in the story.

Another element of foreshadowing is the gem he gives Lord John Grey. Whether it was for his own freedom or not, the gem becomes important later in the story. John keeps it, a sign of his affection for Jamie. Then there’s a much bigger part in it when it comes to time travel.

As John and Jamie start their dinners together, I think there’s also a foreshadowing of the bond between them to come. They seem comfortable around each other, especially John. He wants to get to know Jamie more, and there’s more time for that in the next chapter.

Adapting this Voyager chapter

There’s no way this chapter couldn’t be used. However, things are told slightly in a different order.

We’ll start with the request for hunting. Jamie brings this up before he escapes. We see how the hunting is used as a distraction to give Jamie a chance to hide in the field and then get away. For a TV show, it was worth putting this in order like this rather than waiting for a later part of the show for Jamie to look back at himself escaping.

The important elements of the chapter are seeing John and Jamie’s bond forming. The conversations are shorter on the show due to time, but the important elements are raised. John shares his story about Hector and Jamie opens up about Claire. On the show, Jamie shows that he knows who John is sooner than he does in the books.

Putting things slightly out of order doesn’t change their meanings. It doesn’t change the bones of the story, but makes more sense for the needs of the TV shows.

I’ll admit that I watched the show first, so I do get that perspective. I didn’t feel like anything was missing in the overall story. Reading it does allow for the bond to breathe more, but that’s not the fault of the writers of the show and simply due to timing. Books allow more time. It’s as simple as that.

What did you see when reading Outlander Book 3, Chapter 10? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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