Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Succubus Chapter 8 breakdown

After finding out why the soldiers believed a succubus was coming after them, we now get to find out who was doing the killing. Lord John and the Succubus Chapter 8 ends with a curse for John.

The chapter starts with John meeting the witch Blomberg hired. It’s clear that everything from the start of the story had meaning. The witch is the gypsy woman from the start of the chapter. She has connections to a few characters that we’ve met along the way.

At the end, she “curses” John. However, it’s clear that she has no idea who Lord John Grey really is. It’s not all that much of a curse.

Breaking down Lord John and the Succubus Chapter 8

It’s time for John to get all of the pieces of the puzzle together. John goes to meet the witch who Blomberg has hired, and it turns out to be the gypsy woman from the start of the story. It’s worth noting that she has a ring with the St. Orgevald emblem on it. John has seen this before, just a couple of chapters ago with the dowager.

Everything starts to fall into place. At first, we learn that Bodger died of a stroke. The gypsy says that it was brought on by the intercession of St. Orgevald, who was protecting her. Of course, we know that a stroke is a natural thing, but of course she is going to believe what she wants.

What about Koenig? Well, yes, he was married to the nurse who went missing. That nurse, Hanna, is this gypsy woman’s sister. The woman shares that Koenig had been unfaithful and she worried that her sister would go back to him. So, she gave him what was supposed to be a fatal dose of opium. When that didn’t work, she stabbed him through the mouth and pierced his brain, which explains all the blood. She wanted to make it look natural, so she punctured his throat with a nail to make it look like an animal’s fangs.

And Siggy? Yes, she was hired to take Siggy, but he woken and ruined the plans. It turns out that the dowager worried that John and Louisa would marry and Siggy would be taken to England. The dowager didn’t want to lose her grandson, so she hired the gypsy to take him.

Hanna is safe with family. It’s clear that the dowager is now happy that Louisa and John won’t marry.

Is everything handled? Not quite. John wants the woman to exonerate Agathe so that her body isn’t desecrated in anyway. The woman agrees to do that, but she does put a “curse” on John. She tells him that he will never satisfy a woman. Of course, John agrees with that and bids her goodnight. It’s probably not the response that she expected. I did get a good chuckle at her curse knowing who John prefers.

Could this chapter be used in a TV series adaptation

Of course, this is the chapter that wraps up the murders. We would need to see this if Lord John and the Succubus was used in a TV series adaptation. We’d need to get all the answers.

There is a lot of telling, though. I could see this chapter being adapted to show a few things, including how Koenig died and what happened to Bodger. It doesn’t need to be graphic, but it would need to be shown on the screen to play out the murder and the natural death instead of just having someone tell us what happened.