Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 29 breakdown

It’s time for a battle in Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 29. We see everything from John’s point of view, as he tries to escape the French.

This chapter certainly adds some tense elements to the story. We need it to feel the weight of the battle that John is in. After all, there would be no point sending the military on a campaign that ended up being for nothing.

This chapter also helps to further a bit of the Gerald Grey storyline. It all comes down to the surgeon who comes in at the end.

Breaking down Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 29

The French attack, and it leads to a battle among the two groups of armies. Lord John throws himself into the battle, proving that he is a leader to be followed. However, it puts his life at risk.

At one point, John is forced to jump into the Landwehr, where he has to quickly fight off his clothing and military gear. He only keeps his British red coat to make it easy to identity the side that he is on. After all, he heads down the stream to the English.

When the English lieutenant is killed, John takes over and orders the other soldiers to load the gun. However, the gun explodes and John takes a hit. He thinks that he is drowning, but that isn’t the case. Fortunately, he has been saved, and someone is able to get him to a camp for medical attention.

Hal is there with John. That’s fortunate as Longstreet comes in and orders John’s arm to be amputated. John would rather die than allow that to happen, and he asks Hal not to allow anyone to amputate his arm. John also thinks that death might be better for Percy.

When John wakes up again, he hears Hal arguing with someone in German. The surgeon is trying to tell Hal that John will die, and Hal asks John if he is dying. When John answers “no,” Hal cheekily tells him “Good. Don’t.”

Some sort of surgery is needed, though. Metal from the gun is in John’s chest and it needs to be removed without the use of opium. Hal gives John Gerald’s leather to bite down on as the doctors get to work. John looks to see the doctor above him and sees Hal cocking his pistol. I love that we have Hal here as John’s protector. With everything else going on, this is needed.

Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?

This chapter certainly would need to be used if there was a Lord John Grey series. The chapter brings us a battle, and it’s something that we would need to see. For a few books, there has been this buildup of this Prussian war, and we need to see something finally come of it. Plus, it puts John’s life in danger.

We also know that Longstreet is important in the Gerald Grey storyline. To have him turn up means something dangerous, and there’s no way around bringing that danger in without this chapter.

I would also want to see the protective older brother that Hal is. We don’t get to know Hal all that much up to this point, and he tends to put duty before anything else. But we know he will do what he can to protect his little brother, and we need to see that on the screen.

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