Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 97 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

Some of the foreshadowing here is in Jemmy’s parentage. This is something that keeps coming up. There is always the question of whether Roger wants to know or not. There’s always that thought that Jemmy could be Bonnet’s, and there’s no sure-fire way to tell the truth.

Well, it turns out there is. Claire figures it out, and it’s all to do with a birthmark that Jemmy and Roger both have. It comes up in a later book, and this is supposed to be Gabaldon’s way of making it clear to us that Jemmy is Roger’s biological son.

There’s also a bit of foreshadowing of blood types coming up at a later point for another character. Young Ian will return after being asked to leave the Mohawk village and his wife Emily. It turns out that Emily’s consistent miscarriages may have been linked to the Rh-negative type of blood, something that Claire doesn’t get into in this discussion. She does mention there are “other types” of blood but that A, B, and O are the three main categories.

Adapting The Fiery Cross chapter

The chapter wasn’t used for the series. It doesn’t really need to be up to this point. We know Roger and the whole family has it in the back of the mind that Jemmy may not be his son. However, they can’t keep thinking that for Jemmy’s sake. It’s best for Roger to claim his son and be done with it. I like that the show focused on that and has moved forward.

However, I could see this topic come up at another point. Eventually, Young Ian’s story is going to come out. I could see him turning to Claire for some explanation as to how it happened, and this could also involve Roger. It would be a great way to include this topic and cover Young Ian’s story at the same time, reducing the scenes for the sake of time.

What did you spot while reading The Fiery Cross Chapter 97? Let us know in the comments below.

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