John and Jamie head to the Beefsteak in The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 30, and it leads to a fight. Of course it does.
I love how the Beefsteak remains a common location. This would certainly work well for settings when they need to find somewhere for John and others to discuss things out of the house. However, it is not usually the place or a fight to break out.
This time it does, and Jamie is the one able to bring it to an end. It’s clearly not for John’s sake, though. I think we know why Jamie does it.
Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 30
The chapter starts with John and Hal starting with the court-martial paperwork. This is going to be a long process, and it’s clear that more names will come out of the situation against Siverly. That includes Twelvetrees, which is important later on.
While John and Jamie are at the Beefsteak, they run into Twelvestrees. He isn’t happy about the entire situation, and there is a fight that almost breaks out. Twelvetrees tries to ruin John’s reputation by calling him a sodomite and sharing that Jamie is his latest bedfellow, but it’s Jamie that steps in.
Jamie publicly makes it clear that Twelvetrees was working with Siverly for the Jacobite cause. This makes Twelvetrees a traitor. Jamie also publicly calls him a murderer. It’s clear that he was the one behind Siverly’s death. Why else would Quinn blame John?
John realizes that Jamie said it all out-loud to make sure that there were witnesses to the accusations. Twelvetrees could end up being pulled in for a court-martial as well, and John hopes that is the case. However, John realizes that Jamie didn’t do it for him. Why did Jamie speak so publicly.
I think we all know why. Jamie knows that by doing this, he reduces the financial support for the Cause. This would make it much harder for people to rise up and fight for something that won’t work out.
Could this chapter be used in a TV series adaptation?
We would need to see Hal and John file the paperwork for the court-martial against Siverly. This not only helps to bring that storyline to an end, but it also helps with the next part of the storyline. It’s time to prevent the Jacobite Cause.
I would love to see the fight at the Beefsteak. We need some action in the story, and there isn’t much in The Scottish Prisoner. The little that we do get needs to be included, especially when it comes to Twelvetrees. Seeing Jamie stand up for John is also important, even if it’s not just to protect John. Yes, there is another reason, but that doesn’t matter while all this plays out.
So yes, if The Scottish Prisoner was adapted into a TV series, this is a chapter we would need to see.
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