Outlander Book Club: The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 2 breakdown

It’s clear that Lord John Grey knows very little about his brother’s wife in The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 2. He finds out that she was a spy.

This chapter gives us the first part from John’s POV in the story. It’s clear that he is going to need to speak with Jamie due to the page that is written in Erse, a Scottish Highland language. This gives John a reason to see Jamie, as well.

However, I think this chapter gives us a little more about the Grey family as a whole, especially Hal. We learn more about his first wife, Twelvetrees, and Minnie. It certainly sets things up for later Outlander books as we get to know the children.

Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 2

The chapter starts with John going to see Hal. John has a parcel from Charles Carruthers, who died at the end of The Custom of the Army. In this parcel are accusations of various Army officers, including Siverly. Hal comments on how the package connects to John’s insistence to bring down the corruption in the Army, which we know has been an ongoing thing for a couple of short stories now.

However, there is a piece of paper written in a language that Hal and John don’t understand. Hal takes this time to admit that Minnie was once a spy, and her father a spymaster. In fact, Hal and Minnie met when Minnie was trying to get into his locked desk drawer. Rather than arrest her, Hal had his way with her and let her go. He then spent six months looking for her.

This does leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth for Hal. He’s not the gentleman that he has always been portrayed as. It is important to see all these sides to characters, though, so I appreciate the inclusion.

John also takes this time to let readers know about Hal’s first wife, Esme, who does come up in the later Outlander books. It turns out that Esme had an affair with Nathanial Twelvetrees, and she died in childbirth along with the baby. Hal killed Nathanial in a duel. We can now see why the Twelvetrees family hates the Grey family so much. This is a lot of information that helps to explain a few things, but it does feel like a bit of an information dump.

Hal takes the sheet to Minnie to see if she can decipher it. She does—the language is Erse, a Scottish Highland language. Hal thinks that John should take the sheet of paper to Jamie, but John doesn’t want to consider their last interaction. We all know that this is the way the story will need to go, though.

Could this chapter be used in a TV series adaptation?

If The Scottish Prisoner was adapted into a TV series, we would need to see this chapter play out. It starts off a bigger storyline for John, and it gives him the reason to head to Helwater and reconnect with Jamie Fraser.

Do we need all of it, though? It’s good to see Hal’s personal life, and that happens at the start of the chapter as John sees the children playing. It’s also good to get some backstory on Minnie since she is the one to help figure out the sheet of paper. I don’t think we need the bit about Esme. That could be included when Twelvetrees turns up in a previous story to understand why the Twelvetrees family hates the Grey family.

So, yes, this chapter would be used. At least, some of it would be.