Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 23 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

There is a bit of foreshadowing with both Arch and Tom in this chapter. When it comes to Arch, it’s clear that he is only really loyal to himself. Well, and to his wife. It’s clear that Arch knows a lot more than he initially lets on.

We know that he and his wife are looking for the Frenchman’s gold. They don’t really have any loyalty to the Frasers, and this just shows a hint as to why. It may be a different Fraser family but the name sticks.

The other bit of foreshadowing is Tom’s storyline. Claire stands up to him, and I think that this is the point we get to see him gain some sort of attraction toward her. This is something that is going to grow over the next few chapters.

Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter

The chapter hasn’t been used in Outlander Season 5. That’s not surprising since the Christies haven’t shown up yet. This is the storyline I expect to see turn up in Season 6. The family is going to come up as a problem.

We need to see the family interact with the Frasers. This is going to be important to understand motivations and get to know them. There needs to be some sense of sympathy or just get a sense of the darkness to the characters.

Arch’s storyline isn’t all that necessary. We haven’t had the Bugs come up as main characters and more as just in passing. We also haven’t seen the Frenchman’s gold show up just yet, and there isn’t really a need for that. The storylines that the Bugs are involved in with the gold can be developed in other ways—it all leads to the house fire.

What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 23? Let us know in the comments below.

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