Lionel Brown is taken care of in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 33
Lionel Brown is dealt with but not in the way anyone expected in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 33. Will it cause problems for Jamie? That is a topic that comes up.
It’s Mrs. Bug who deals with Lionel Brown, something that was foreshadowed in an earlier chapter. However, she doesn’t just do it for herself. We get a chance to see that Mrs. Bug cares about the Frasers, although it’s not enough to change what does eventually happen with the Bugs.
Claire didn’t want this to happen. At the same time, it did look like she might plead for Lionel’s life once Jamie chose what to do. It’s too late now.
The chapter doesn’t really foreshadow all that much. It’s more about plot development for me, and I’ll get to that in the foreshadowing section.
While it was used in the TV series, there were some substantial changes. One of those was who killed Lionel Brown, and I think it was more fitting for the story, especially the story of the TV series. It’s something I’ll explain in the adaptation section of the post.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 33.
Just the Outlander chapter
During this chapter, Claire tends to Lionel Brown’s wounds. He’d managed to crawl out of the surgery and ask for help. He doesn’t want to die. He is certainly convincing, although we find out that it is all an act. He isn’t actually sorry for the things he did.
While tending to wounds, Claire gets a chance to ask about Donner. This is when she learns his name was Wendigo, and Claire knows that the name is that of a mythological creature in the Native American culture. She can’t remember the tribe, but that doesn’t really matter. Donner chose this name on purpose.
When Claire goes to get something, Mrs. Bug takes it upon herself to deal with Lionel. It turns out that he gloated to her that Claire would have sympathy for him and would plead for his life, and Mrs. Bug didn’t want that to happen. So, she decided to smother him with a pillow. Claire tries to resuscitate him with CPR, but it’s too late.
Jamie now needs to figure out what to do with Mrs. Bug. After all, this could cause a problem with Richard Brown, and it is murder. Arch Bug offers his life for his wife. Jamie decides not to take it when he hears the full story. He’s not going to punish people for these actions.
It turns out that there are no marks to show how Lionel died. While they can’t say he died in the fight—assuming Donner went back to Brownsville and told the story so the Browns retrieved the bodies—Jamie does realize that he can tell Richard that they took Lionel to treat his wounds. He died from those injuries.
The end of the chapter connects to something Mrs. Bug said to Jamie. He is much like his grandsire, who she saw executed on Tower Hill. Claire notes that Jamie is as ruthless as his grandfather at times, but not always. There are certainly similarities, but that doesn’t make Jamie a bad man. Jamie can’t help but comment that his grandfather is likely laughing at the idea of Jamie being just like him.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
This chapter doesn’t foreshadow too much. If we look carefully, I guess it’s that there will be a story of revenge. Arch offers his own life for that of his wife’s. When Mrs. Bug is killed, we know that Arch is going to cause problems. He won’t let anyone get away with that.
However, the chapter is mostly plot development for the next part of the story. We need to get Lionel Brown’s body back to Brownsville, and it’s time to wrap up a few things.
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
The chapter was used in the TV series but in a vastly different way. It wasn’t Mrs. Bug who killed Lionel Brown. It was Marsali.
I actually liked the way the TV series handled it. For one, it brought back the hemlock root, which Marsali knew would be a death sentence to Lionel. Another thing is that Marsali would have wanted revenge of some sort. She’d been attacked and knocked out because of Lionel and his men in the TV series.
Plus, this wasn’t just for her but for Claire. We got to see just how strong that bond between Marsali and Claire has grown over the years.
There is also the end line when she asks Jamie if she’s going to hell. I think this is going to play a strong part in Marsali’s storyline with Henri-Christian, and if it plays out how I think it will, it’s going to make a lot of sense.
There isn’t a lot of time in the series. We haven’t had the chance to really get to know the Bugs, so having Mrs. Bug do the killing wouldn’t have made sense in the series. It was better giving that task to an already established character. I am looking at it from a TV series development standpoint here.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 33? Let us know in the comments below.
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