Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 10 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

There isn’t too much in the way of foreshadowing within this chapter. It mostly focuses on building the plot involving Jamie taking over at River Run. Of course, eventually, Jamie decides not to, but we’ll get to that in the future.

The foreshadowing is more in the letter. Ian knows that his son would likely become a soldier. I think we get this moment of foreshadowing Young Ian joining the Native Americans. He becomes a warrior and he does grow up considerably in the years he spends with the Native Americans.

It’s something that Ian and Jenny probably wouldn’t have wanted for Young Ian, but it’s hard to deny that some of it did him some good. At least he wasn’t at war in Europe!

Something that is clear is that Ulysses is much more important to Jocasta than just being a butler. She puts a lot of trust in him due to her lack of eyesight, foreshadowing a bigger story to come.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

We all know what Outlander Season 4, Episode 2 was like. It did include a little bit about Jamie taking over River Run, but it was mostly about Claire attempting to save a slave and her White Savior complex.

I did wonder why we didn’t get rid out to the turpentine during the series, but I do think that this was more about reducing the need for outdoor locations. Scouting for outdoor locations takes time and it’s much trickier to film than in the studio. Keeping things inside as much as possible is often preferable, which is what could happen with the storyline with the slave could do.

The show also has a problem with making Claire into a Mary Sue a lot. But let’s not go there.

At the same time, a TV show is always going to make changes. Writers want to make their own mark. They want to do a story how they think would work better, whether it’s for what or who they have available or simply because they want to be topical on another matter. We all have our own opinions on the books and whether some storylines could be skipped or changed slightly, so of course the show writers are going to have that.

One thing I am glad the show kept is the skunk moment. It was slightly different, with Young Ian and Rollo walking through the door with the stink, but it still had its humor. I would have loved to see the whole thing play out on screen, though. Seeing Jamie get ready to fight a skunk would have been so much fun!

Something that I do want to comment on is Maria Doyle Kennedy’s portrayal of Jocasta. We know she’s charming and cunning, but it isn’t easy playing a blind person when you’re not blind. That’s something Maria worked hard on, and she is believable in it. My grandmother had both macular degeneration and glaucoma during the last 10 years of her life and everything Maria does on the screen is everything I watched my grandmother do.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter X? Let us know in the comments below.

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