Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 108 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

The chapter doesn’t have all that much foreshadowing. It’s all about plot development. It’s clear from Young Ian’s return alone that there is a story to follow. However, that doesn’t mean Young Ian is going to share the full story right away.

There is a weight to Young Ian’s return. We get more of that in the next chapter, but again, Young Ian isn’t ready to talk about it just yet.

Adapting The Fiery Cross chapter

We did see some of this chapter in Outlander Season 5. Instead of Roger, Claire was with Jamie and Jemmy. Everyone knew where Jemmy was, too. This was at the point where Roger was recovering from everything that happened at Alamance, as Young Ian’s return was pulled forward in the story.

I really like that we got the storyline earlier in the series. It wouldn’t have made sense to have Young Ian return toward the end of Outlander Season 5, especially with the way that some of the Book 6 storylines were used at the end of the season. Plus, from a show’s point of view, it made more sense to have an already established character for various plot points after this than have to add in other characters and spend the money on finding another actor.

The show already knew that John Bell’s Young Ian would need to eventually return. Why not bring it forward and make him part of the storyline to try to bring down Bonnet? Of course Young Ian would want to be part of that considering how he was directly affected by Bonnet.

I also loved how Young Ian and Roger got the chance to bond. They both bonded over trauma and loss. It’s one of the times that I really prefer the way the show did things than the book, and I’d read this book before watching the show unlike with previous seasons.

Young Ian’s return still had the suspense in the series. Even though it was Claire instead of Roger, we still had the boar attacking and Young Ian being at the top of the valley killing the boar. There was still that initial uncertainty of who was at the top and then the relief and happiness to see Young Ian.

What did you spot while reading The Fiery Cross Chapter 108? Let us know in the comments below.

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