Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 45 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

There is very little foreshadowing in the chapter. This is about moving the plot forward, focusing on Brianna’s rape and pregnancy. It affects everyone moving forward.

The foreshadowing comes at the very end, with Claire making it clear that Roger could be the father of the baby. She offers that hope, and we do eventually find out that Roger is the father. Sure, Roger claims Jemmy as his son and raises him as his son, but there is a moment in a later novel that makes it abundently clear that Jemmy is Roger’s biological son.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

While the chapter was used, things were moved around a little. This isn’t the first time Outlander has moved chapters around to work for the show. Instead of keeping the rape a secret until this point, we experienced it in linear fashion.

However, there was a huge difference in the storytelling. We didn’t actually see the whole rape take place. The camera was left on the outside, making us one of the bystanders who just turned a blind eye and deaf ear to everything that was happening. We even saw someone place Brianna’s shoes neatly by the stairs, knowing what was happening and just willing to be a part of it.

This was done for the viewers’ sake. There was a trigger warning before the episode, but by keeping the rape behind closed doors, it will have made it less triggering for some—of course, not all! This was still a difficult part of the episode to experience.

The conversation between Claire and Brianna did still take place at the Ridge. It was a chance for them to reconnect as mother and daughter. However, the ring wasn’t used during this part of the episode. Claire didn’t know that it was Bonnet until she found the ring in Brianna’s pockets. Claire is the one that brings this part up.

It’s a change I didn’t overly like in the show because I liked that Brianna trusted her mother so much to tell her the full truth. However, I do understand both storylines, and the reasoning was still the same. After everything Young Ian told Brianna about Bonnet, Brianna didn’t want to let Jamie know that Bonnet had raped her and then blame himself.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter 45? Let us know in the comments below.

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