Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 35 breakdown

It’s important to end a novel on a high. That’s what Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 35 does.

If you read the Outlander books first, you’ll know that Hal uses the title Duke of Pardloe. So, it’ll be confusing to those reading these books for the first time that he chooses not to go by that title. We know why, but why does he end up going back to using the title. Well, this book has the answers.

The chapter also offers some closure for John. We get to know where Percy is.

Breaking down Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade Chapter 35

This chapter involves a celebration. It’s time for Hal to collect his winnings from the bet that he made. With Adams’s confession, Hal now has the proof that his father didn’t kill himself. Nor was his father a traitor. The good grace of the Grey name has been restored, and now Hal is comfortable using the title Duke of Pardloe.

On top of that, there is a Christening. Minnie has given birth to a daughter, Dorothea Jacqueline Benedicta Grey. Minnie had thought of the names Prudence and Chastity, but John encouraged her to avoid names that are connected to virtues. If I remember rightly, both of those names are used by Slyvia in Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. Chastity definitely is.

John is the godfather, and he’s asked, in church, to affirm his beliefs. John thinks to himself that he isn’t so sure, but he will try for the baby. I think this is important as it’s really the first time that we see John have some real doubts about his faith. There was a conversation earlier in the book, but he tried to point out that God made people in his image, which means sexuality isn’t a sin. But does he really believe that here?

At the end, John gets a letter that is unsigned but mentions the seagulls on the Tiber. There is also a drawing of the Roman Forum. John knows that this is from Percy, and he burns the letter. He keeps the drawing, though. During the previous chapter, I wondered whether the family actually knew what John had done. This chapter seems to confirm to me that this is a secret John will take to his grave, if he can. We know that he can’t.

Could this chapter be adapted into a TV series?

Like the book, if there was a Lord John Grey series, this story would need to end on a high. We’d need to see what Adams’s confession means for the Grey family, and we would need to see that closure for John when it comes to Percy.

This chapter would need to be used, and I’d love to see it in full. That includes the Christening. While we wouldn’t be able to get John’s internal thoughts, just seeing him be godfather to Dottie would be great. Maybe he could whisper it to her.

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