Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 55 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

The branding is the big foreshadowing element in this chapter. It’s a Jacobite rose. There is only one person who would be so supportive of the Jacobite cause that she would still show that support now.

Everything screams to us that Geillis Duncan is the woman who owns the slaves. Claire has no idea that Geillis is still alive, though. Neither do we at this point in the story. However, all the clues are here.

I think there’s also a bit of foreshadowing that Ishmael knows of a place where Black people can go free. He agrees to talk about Young Ian and the other boys on the ship when Jamie makes him a deal—to set him free at a port of his choosing.

Claire and Jamie want to set Temeraire free when they can. This all links together, and eventually, the two slaves will be able to go free together.

Adapting the Voyager chapter

This chapter wasn’t used in the series at all. Outlander Season 3, Episode 12 had its own way of dealing with getting information about Young Ian. Temeraire talked to the slaves at the Governor’s Ball, which was needed since the pirates boarding the Artemis didn’t happen.

Honestly, it helped to condense the characters for the sake of the series. It helped to keep the focus on finding Young Ian, and not have characters popping up for a tiny reason. Some of the characters, like Temeraire, were needed. Those like Ishmael were great for connections in the book’s storyline but were unnecessary in the TV show.

And I don’t blame the show for skipping this chapter completely. While Joe was important, we didn’t get to know him as well as we do in the books. We didn’t hear about his son. It was clear from that point that Ishmael was never going to show up because it would have been too much for the TV show.

The show had to work for show-first and book-first fans. Cutting out the unnecessary plots not only made sense for the lack of time in the episodes but to condense things to keep show-first fans engaged.

What did you spot while reading Voyager Chapter 55? Let us know in the comments below.

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