Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 22 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

This chapter is all about what’s to come for Claire and Jamie’s story, but it has a powerful effect on Brianna and Roger’s story. You see, Brianna has found the same clipping. She knows about her parents and decides to head back in time to stop the fire. And Roger follows her.

Finding this clipping is the catalyst for their story in the past. And arguably it’s needed to bring them back together. I don’t think Roger and Brianna would have been together if they both remained in the 20th century. Brianna needed to go through the things she did in the past to realize her love for Roger.

However, there is another element of foreshadowing. It tells us how Claire and Jamie die in 1776.

But do they? Is there anything to stop this from happening? Can history be changed? These are all thoughts we end up with just from this moment in the books.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

There was no way Drums of Autumn Chapter 22 couldn’t be used for Outlander Season 4. Without the clipping, there would be no reason for Brianna to head to the past, except that she misses Claire. And really, I don’t think I’d have bought that as a storyline considering the time period she would have gone to and the type of woman she is.

She makes the choice to go to the past to save her parents. She sacrifices her comforts for them, and that’s a much more believable story.

Roger heading back to protect Brianna is also believable considering how much he loves her. He will do anything to keep her safe.

But the chapter was changed slightly. In the show, Roger and Brianna have completely broken up by this point. They’ve not spoken since the festival, but it hasn’t stopped Roger from looking, showing us his connection to this story. He initially has good news about where Claire and Jamie have settled (getting rid of the thoughts about the printshop fire and searching the rosters), but then he later finds out about the house fire.

It’s Fiona who tells him, who makes it clear she’s always known the truth about Claire and time travel. Things don’t play out like this in the show, but Fiona does eventually become important in the story later on. It will be interesting to see how all that plays out on the TV series.

But for now, let’s stick to this. Fiona is given a more important role in the series by passing on the clipping she’s found, showing that she cares for Roger and the Frasers/Randalls. She also accompanies Roger to the stones, helping him get ready for the journey and pluck up the courage to go through the stones.

Something I loved was seeing Fiona go from this young girl who fancied Roger to someone who just wanted to help. She’s very much like her grandmother, and it’s important to be reminded of Mrs. Graham now and then. Using Fiona was a natural way to do it on the TV series.

It’s because of this and the fact that the TV show needs to utilize supporting characters in different ways to the book that I don’t mind the change. If the show wants to keep Iona Claire on the series, utilizing her in seasons is important to make sure fans remember Fiona and to also make it clear that she’s still a welcome part of the show.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter 22? Let us know in the comments below.

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