Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Custom of the Army Section 2 breakdown

Lord John Grey finds himself promoted and sent to Canada within minutes in Lord John and the Custom of the Army Section 2. None of that has anything to do with the night before.

There are some consequences of the night before. One of those is Caroline’s brothers suggesting that John marry her. That’s not going to happen. Instead, John is heading to Canada to deal with another problem.

It’s time to get into the bulk of the story. Let’s see what happens.

Breaking down Lord John and the Custom of the Army Section 2

John is awoken by Tom Byrd, who tells John that Hal is here to see him. It’s early, and John is trying to remember the events of the night before. Things aren’t great for John with everything that happened. Caroline’s brothers want him to marry her due to the reputation she now has from the duel, and Nicholls’s father is angry after Nicholls died from the duel.

However, there are other important things to deal with. John is being promoted to lieutenant colonel. This is due to his heroic actions at Crefeld, and it should have come sooner. However, Reginald Twelvetrees delayed it for as long as he could.

Next up is a request to head to Canada, where Captain Charles Carruthers is being court martialed. John needs to be a character witness, and we learn that Carruthers had some brief intimate encounters with John around the time of Hector’s death and he has an extra dwarf hand. Due to the duel, Hal thinks that it’s best John leaves for Canada right away.

And so he does. A month later, John and Tom are in Canada, where they meet an Indigenous woman who says that the Hurons would be interested in John’s scalp. However, Captain Woodford shares that the local people aren’t as much of a threat as they are in other parts of the country. John’s focus is on seeing Carruthers and finding out what was going on.

In the night, it looks like things aren’t all that safe. There are shouts about “fire-ships” and “Indians.” As people rush, John tells them to halt, fearing that it is a trap. A sergeant joins John, happy that there is an officer who has a level head. It turns out that there were some Indians setting tents on fire, and at least one man was scalped.

John is surprised when a Indian called Manoke appears. Manoke shares that John’s tent was set on first, and Tom is upset that all of John’s things have been lost. Among the items was a miniature of Olivia, which was for Malcolm Stubbs. That’s something to worry about later. There are more pressing things to take care of.

Could this chapter be used in a TV series adaptation?

If this story was used, we would need to see this chapter. There are a few things that come from this that are important for the overall story, with the first being John being sent to Canada and the reason why. That is the main focus of the story, anyway.

Then there’s the mention of Malcolm Stubbs. This is an important foreshadow of things to come. After all, John comes across Malcolm and finds out something surprising and interesting.

We also need to see the danger that John is in. There is no story without some sort of drama or danger, and we need to see the buildup of the attacks considering this is all about the Siege of Quebec.

So yes, if this story was adapted, a lot of this chapter would need to be used.

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