Claire and Jamie ride with Brown’s men in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 88
It’s time for Claire and Jamie to ride to face trial in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 88. Of course, we know that it’s not a fair trial. And we also know that Brown didn’t actually intend for this to happen.
Mrs. Bug makes sure Claire and Jamie have some food for the journey. She knows what is going to happen, and she feels guilty that she couldn’t get enough people to save them before it all came to this. However, Claire and Jamie are ready to face the ride to Hillsborough.
It’s not going to be easy for Brown to go through with the trial. It turns out the Revolutionary War has caused some problems to find justices of the peace. This means a ride to Wilmington is in order, and Tom Christie is going with them to ensure Claire’s safety.
We did get to see most of this chapter play out throughout Outlander Season 6. There was no way of avoiding this chapter as it helps to develop things for Tom and Claire. We need to see that he’s helping Claire now to help make later moments make sense.
And yes, there is a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. Most of it is plot development, though.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 88.
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Claire and Jamie waking the next morning. We find out that Mrs. Bug couldn’t find Arch so she had to head straight to Kenny Lindsay. That’s what took her so long to get back to the Big House. By the time they all got there, it was too late.
Jamie doesn’t want Mrs. Bug to worry about all that. He’s not angry. It’s not like she could have changed anything. The fact that the house is still standing is a big deal.
Mrs. Bug makes sure they have food for the journey, and so Claire and Jamie set off. The two are on horseback in the book, although the show changed it so they were in a wagon. It doesn’t really matter which way it was all done. Everything else in the chapter could play out.
Along the journey, which changes to a journey to Wilmington, Claire’s food is spit in and she does have rocks thrown at her. There is a moment when the man Claire shot in the previous chapter comes over and Claire smells the infection spreading. She isn’t going to help him, although her instincts as a doctor want her to. She says that he’ll rot, and it’s true. Later, Ezra falls of his horse and dies. Claire notes that he likely broke his neck when falling off his horse.
Jamie and Claire talk about how Jamie has once been tried for treason. Claire says she hasn’t been tried for anything, but it seems like everyone is going to overlook the witch trials in this moment. They were a farce, but then, that’s what this murder trial is also likely to be.
Jamie goes through what happened after he was tried for treason after Culloden. He had to walk from Inverness to Ardsmuir Prison, which surprises Claire. However, the focus has to turn to the upcoming trial. Brown is already doing the work he can to make Claire guilty before they even get to trial. It’s all stacking against her.
The only saving grace is Tom Christie who remains separate from Claire and Jamie, but he keeps an eye on them. Brown didn’t want Tom around. It’s only because of Tom that Claire and Jamie are even still alive. We need to keep an eye on what Tom is doing, because there is a reason behind it all.
The end of the chapter is the stone throwing. This turns into more of a melee with Brown’s men having to go after the horses. This leads to Brown no longer allowing anyone to stop at taverns. Blacking Claire and Jamie’s names didn’t go the way Brown expected.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
There is a little bit of foreshadowing in the story. The first is the need to change from Hillsborough to Wilmington. It’s clear that Brown didn’t intend it to go to actual trial. It’s also clear that this is not going to be all that simple. There are more things that get in the way of Brown’s attempts to kill Claire.
One of those is foreshadowed in the story. Tom Christie knows that Claire isn’t safe. He’s riding with Claire and Jamie to keep an eye on Richard Brown and his men. We don’t get to know why just yet, but it’s clear that Tom is going to do something to save Claire from facing execution for a crime she didn’t commit.
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
This chapter was adapted for the series. The Browns didn’t stop at taverns, though. This was likely due to keeping the need for sets to a minimum. It would have been cheaper to keep everything in the fields.
Another change was Claire and Jamie riding in a wagon rather than on horseback. There are a few reasons to do this, including the fact that it did make more sense to keep Claire and Jamie in the wagon. Why would the Browns have them riding on horseback? Sure, it doesn’t make sense for them to try to escape, but they could easily.
Then there’s the stone-throwing scene. This doesn’t lead to a huge melee. Instead, Tom fires his pistol in the air to stop it all before it all gets out of hand. I do think this was done as a way to show Tom’s need to protect Claire. He is also a good man under some of his contradictions. He doesn’t believe Claire is guilty, and he needs to see a fair trial happen. However, it’s clear that’s not going to happen.
We needed Tom’s role to be bigger in the show than in the books. The show has to literally show us things happening, and we get that chance to see the actors react to things without the camera being directly on them. The book story just tells us what Claire can see, while the show gives us that third-party view.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 88? Let us know in the comments below.
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