Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 65 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter mostly takes place on a battlefield of sorts. It’s nothing as big as before, but there is a chance to shoot and kill General Simon Fraser.

Leading up to this, Arnold tries to get General Gates to follow his thoughts. Arnold hears that the British are coming to test the Americans’ strength, and Arnold wants to go out with a show of force. That’s not something Gates wants to do. Knowing how history plays out, maybe Gates had the better idea.

It leads to Morgan being in charge of the riflemen who are supposed to take down the offices. One of those is General Simon Fraser, who Jamie doesn’t want to kill. He still remembers Simon as a young boy, so he decides to aim off—hitting another officer’s hat.

While there is an argument between Arnold and Morgan, someone does manage to shoot Fraser. Jamie is upset to see one of his kin go down, but he is more concerned about William. He can’t see William anywhere, but is that a good thing? Jamie doesn’t know.

At the end, Arnold is thrown from his mare and injured. Jamie saves him. As much as he would prefer to kill Arnold and prevent the treachery from happening, he had agreed with Claire not to attempt to change any of history. They don’t know what that would do. So, instead, he helps Arnold back up and gets him back to his tent.

What we do see is the reasons why Arnold could end up turning. There is the threat of him being court-martialed at one point. He tries to take over Morgan’s command, and Morgan is not happy about that. Did Arnold have the better plan, or was he just a sore loser?