Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 23 breakdown

Lord John Grey finally tells his brother that their father was murdered in Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 22. We also get an update about Stephen von Namtzen.

Namtzen was introduced to us in Lord John and the Private Matter. We then saw more of him in Lord John and the Succubus, with him marrying Princess Louisa at the end of it. We get a quick update about him in this book, but the focus is on Gerald Grey’s murder.

It’s time for Hal to find out the truth. The question is whether Benedicta knows the truth.

Breaking down Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 23

Lord John Grey and Hal Grey are now in Hanover. They are at a party, which means a lot of drinking and dancing. The two men appear to be quite light-hearted, despite the dinner being dull. We do learn that Namtzen suffered an injury while hunting and the wound festered, leaving to Namtzen losing his right arm. He is recovering well, though.

Toward the end of the night, Hal shares with John that he heard a name in Bath. That name was Victor Arbuthnot, who was a friend of their father’s. While Arbuthnot didn’t write the statement that condemned Gerald, he did end up signing it. It’s still impossible to know what came of the statement.

This is when John tells Hal that he needs to know the truth. Hal never knew that Gerald had been murdered. Hal is angry that his mother would make the murder look like a suicide, but then he realizes that she had to shoulder the burden alone.

Does she know who the murderer was? That’s certainly possible.

Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?

This chapter would need to be included in a TV adaptation if it happened. It pushes the plot a little further, with Hal learning the truth about his father’s death and getting more information about friends of the past.

I would love to see this play out by seeing Hal go to Bath, though. We need to be shown and not told, especially on the TV screen, so it would make more sense to have to see Hal go to Bath. We can then assume that Hal told John everything instead of seeing it all play out. The only conversation we need to see happen directly is John telling Hal about Gerald’s murder and how Benedicta covered it up. This allows the plot to thicken well.

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