Outlander Book Club: Written in My Own Heart’s Blood Chapter 116 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter is all about William. While he’s walking through the forest, he sees some deer droppings. He starts to wonder if his horse will be able to carry a dead deer. Just as he thinks of that, he sees movement.

William is able to quickly shoot and kill the deer. He does have to slit the deer’s throat, and he holds the deer as it dies. I love seeing this moment, but it does surprise me. We’ve not seen much of William being all that capable in the forests. He’s ended up needing others to help him, so it seems a little too unrealistic. I would have preferred to see him a little more capable up to this point.

However, this is what we get. After killing the deer, he thanks it. That’s when he realizes this was something Jamie taught him to do. You give thanks to the life that has been lost for your sake. I do love the tradition, and I love that William has taken it on. What’s even better is that William doesn’t push the thoughts away. He holds onto them.

Now he decides to cut up the deer and take it to the encampment that he’s heading toward. William is trying to find out something about his cousin, Ben, who he is sure is dead. However, William holds onto a little bit of hope that Ben is still alive. The deer should lead to a warm welcome as it will be enough to feed a few people.