Outlander Book Club: The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 33 breakdown

We head back to Hal’s house for The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 33. This is where Lord John Grey is recovering after his brush with death.

It’s clear that everyone worried that Lord John Grey wouldn’t make it through alive. We also get caught up on what happened to Edward Twelvetrees. Yes, he was killed, and no, Lord John Grey isn’t in trouble for this. I still have to question the fact that John was charged for the murder of Siverly and nobody has come after him for escaping prison yet.

The chapter has some beautiful foreshadowing in it, as well. It connects well to the main Outlander books.

Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 33

The chapter opens with Lord John Grey waking up. Many feared that he was dead, but he has pulled through. He does later think about how he’s grateful that Dr. Hunter wasn’t the one to work on him. He even empathizes with Quinn’s fear of being anatomized after death.

Lord John learns about what happened to Twelvetrees. He did die, but nobody is angry at John. In fact, they believe that John challenged Twelvetrees to a duel because the man was a traitor. That makes John the hero, and he gets a lot of letters from admirers who would like to marry him and have his children. I can see why that would happen—both for position and title.

John spends some time with his nephews, Benjamin, Adam, and Henry in this chapter. We get a chance to see how he loves the boys, and they clearly look up to him. There is a questionable moment when John talks about his private parts because of a question from Adam, but I think this shows his lack of experience with children.

As John gets the letters from the women, he thinks about how he wouldn’t make a suitable husband and doesn’t want a son of his own. We all know how the Outlander story plays out. John doesn’t end up with a son of his own, but he does end up with a son. I almost feel like this is setting up the storyline for John to marry Isabel and take Willie into his care. He is a kind-hearted man, and this is a great way to avoid other marriage proposals.

When John says that the letters can be burned, Minnie points out that one is more business like. It comes from a H. Bowles. John says that can be burned as well. I do find it odd that Minnie didn’t read that letter, as she read all the rest. You would think that she’d be curious about why Bowles is writing to Lord John Grey.

Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?

If The Scottish Prisoner was used in an adaptation, we would need to see this chapter. After all, it tells us what happened to John after the duel. We also learn what happened to Twelvetrees and why John isn’t being arrested.

I would love to see this moment with John and his nephews. It was always weird at first to consider John as a father because we’d never seen him with children. This scene would help to remind us that he is a kind man and that it would be a wish (but also not) to have children of his own. There’s almost that bittersweetness as he focuses on what he can’t (and in the end, doesn’t) want.

Plus, there’s the Minnie with the letters moment. I’ll take anything I can with Minnie as she’s such an interesting character.

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