Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 10 breakdown

There is an attack on Lord John Grey in Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 10. It’s clear this has to do with his father.

I love this chapter as it brings characters back from Lord John and the Private Matter. We’re reminded of Rab MacNab and Nessie, who helped John get to the bottom of the murder in that book. Now they’re helping to patch him up.

The chapter also brings us more Percy and John moments. They are certainly needed for the book.

Breaking down Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 10

This chapter is more about a few stepping stones to add in some clues and put John’s life in danger. It all starts with John asking his mom about whether she got a page from Gerald’s journal. At first, she tells him that she burned it to keep the past in the past, but John realizes that she’s lying. She decides that she may show him eventually, but not right now. It’s clear that she knows something.

Hal and John then decide to take Percy to learn about sword fighting. This gives us a chance to see John’s fencing skills. He and Hal are discussing things and it turns into a moment of anger for John. I love that we see he isn’t all composed all the time, and he has a moment of weakness. Fortunately, it’s against his brother and leads to him winning the fencing match.

He is worried about what Percy thinks of him, though. He hopes that the look of shock on Percy’s face is also one of admiration.

As Hal leaves, John and Percy spend some time together. John realizes that they are being followed, so he tells Percy to run and he heads down an alley. There are two people after him. John is able to stab one of them, but the other overpowers.

Fortunately, Rab MacNab recognized John and followed. He stops the other assailant attacking John. Rab gets John and Percy to Nessie, who is now a successful madame. I love that we get to catch up with them, and that they help John.

The end of the chapter does bring up a question, though. These men wanted to beat John and not kill him. What are they warning him about?

Could the chapter be used in a TV series?

This cha[ter would be a necessary one if it was used in a TV series. We would need to see how Benedicta also got a page from the journal and is ignoring it. And we would need to see John end up beaten and for Nessie and Rab to show up to help.

The bit that isn’t as necessary would be the fencing match. It would be great to see Hal and John have this moment to see how they are as brothers, but it’s not as necessary for the overall plot. If something did need to be cut out, I could see this part being it. However, a show needs some action, and this is a great bit of fun action before the attack on John.