In an arc that most people didn’t see coming but should have, Henry Beauchamp has a complete break from reality at the end of Outlander: Blood of My Blood. It’s one of the most heartbreaking moments in the entire Outlander universe so far.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 6.
The latest episode sees Henry finally learn where Julia is. Well, sort of. He finds someone who has heard about her, and she delivers bad news. We know that the bad news is a lie, with Isaac Grant sending Arch Bug to find someone to lie for them to get Henry to stop searching for Julia.
Well, it looks like it’s going to have the opposite effect, because at the end of the episode, Henry breaks from reality. In his grief, he starts to envision himself back in 1918, learning that World War I has come to an end. There, he runs home to Julia to tell her, but we learn that he’s actually gone to the brothel, to the woman who pretended to be Julia.
Henry’s break from reality has always been foreshadowed in Outlander: Blood of My Blood
It was easy to overlook this happening, but it was always foreshadowed. Henry came back from the trenches with severe PTSD. It was known as shell shock back then, and the men coming back from war didn’t understand what was happening to them. In fact, a lot of soldiers were sent back to the trenches, where many knew they would die rather than be a burden on their families!
Henry has breakdowns now and then, finding himself back in the trenches. However, this is usually when he’s sleeping. He does have one break from reality in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 4, when he starts beating on one of the tenants while collecting rent and sees a soldier from the war. It’s clear from this that a break from reality is possible.
We've also seen how Julia is the one to help him through the breaks, whether it's her being there with him physically, or the necklace of St. Anthony to help him come back to reality. Believing that she's gone means that he has nothing to hold onto, and it's going to make it much harder for him to break free of this fantasy.
Henry’s brain is trying to protect him from this unimaginable grief
Ned Gowan said to Henry that he feared the search for Julia would end up keeping Henry. Instead, it’s ended in a grief that Henry’s brain wants to protect him from, which is why he’s gone into one of his happier moments: being with Julia after learning the end of the Great War.
This is what makes it such a heartbreaking moment. Henry can’t deal with his grief while his brain causes him to live outside of reality. He also can’t protect himself from any danger, as he believes that he is in his own time with his wife.
Eventually, this fake world that his head has created is going to have to break. If it doesn’t, it puts Henry at even more risk. Anyone showing any sort of sign of mental illness in this day would be killed to prevent them from being a burden. Or they would be locked away and maybe even tested on. Henry is vulnerable in his grief, and someone needs to find Julia to help snap him out of it.
The Outlander universe has touched on PTSD in the past, but not quite in this way. It hasn’t shown what a break from reality can do, making this one of the most heartbreaking moments for any character.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
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