Jamie thinks back to a prophecy about his life (and death) in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 10
We get a short chapter that’s focused on Jamie in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 10. He thinks back to his time in France as a student, foreshadowing a little of things to come.
The chapter starts with Jamie thinking about Roger. He struggles to talk to Roger about the future. It’s a very simple reason why that is.
The thoughts of Roger make him think about his time in France. When he was a student, he came across a fortune teller who had a dark prophecy for him. It’s something that he’d rather forget about, but it’s clear that there is some truth to it.
This chapter does involve a little bit of foreshadowing. While some of what the fortune teller said has already happened, there’s still more to come. It doesn’t sit well with Jamie.
The chapter hasn’t been used in the series. I’m not sure if it will, although it could be used in a very small conversation with Claire, Brianna, or even Roger. There are ways to add this in without taking up a lot of time, and I’ll get to that in the adaptation section.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 10.
Just the Outlander chapter
Jamie thinks about how he struggles to talk to Roger about the future. When he talks to Claire, he learns more about his wife as well as some of the whimsical things she shares. When Brianna shares things about the future, it involves some of the machines and people walking on the moon.
Roger has a historian’s mind. His focus is on the big events to come; events that will change the world forever. While these moments are important, they’re not always moments that people want to focus on. Roger is clearly just trying to do his part and use his knowledge to everyone’s advantage, but it’s hard when he didn’t study the American Revolutionary War.
Jamie’s mind wanders to France when he was a student. He thinks about the fortune-teller who read his palm and said that he is like a cat. He’ll have nine lives before he dies for good. It’s hard now not to go through all the times that Jamie has died or that he’s become close to death.
The fortune-teller tells him that it doesn’t always hurt to die, but sometimes it does. Jamie hears Murtagh’s voice in his head telling him “it doesna hurt a bit, to die.”
This brings up some heavy thoughts and a racing heart. Jamie doesn’t say it, but we know now that the body holds trauma. This is the trauma coming up. His heart rate is because there’s the threat of memories coming back, and Jamie notes that he doesn’t remember everything from Culloden.
Some memories are coming back in his dreams. He hasn’t told Claire about them yet.
Now that he’s at the cabin and finds it empty, his mind is back on the task at hand. He needs to find Roger, and so he heads in the direction of an axe and male voices.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
This chapter is important when it comes to the prophecy. Jamie will die nine times before a permanent death. We know that there have already been times that he’s died and managed to come back. And that’s without the fact that he’s dead in every book—I don’t think Claire, Brianna, or Roger being in the future actually counts as the time Jamie has died and come back to life.
So, it means there are more things to come. If you’ve read future books, you’ll know of times. There is even one moment in Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. There was the axe to the head, the time at Fort William, Culloden (well, after because of his infected leg), and the snake bite. They all come to mind, and I know that I’m missing some, but that’s just four right now.
How many lives does Jamie have left?
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
The chapter hasn’t been used in Outlander just yet. That’s not the say it won’t. I don’t think we’ll get mentions of Culloden or the part where Jamie is looking for Roger. Instead, it’s going to be the mention of the palm reading.
I don’t remember it ever being mentioned on the series yet. It could be mentioned in passing while Claire and Jamie are talking. Or maybe Jamie could mention it to Roger when they’re talking. It would be easy for Jamie to say something like, “a fortune-teller once said I had nine lives like a cat.”
There would be no need to go into a lot of detail. This is just one of those things that is a nice Easter egg for book fans.
But if it is missed, it’s not going to be a big deal. It doesn’t have a huge part in the overall story, but it would just be a fun addition.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 10? Let us know in the comments below.
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