It’s clear in The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 40 that we are coming to the end of the story. It’s time to wrap up a few storylines, and we start with whether a friendship can be restored.
This is a short chapter that focuses on whether Lord John Grey and Jamie Fraser can be friends again. They had fallen out during Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, but it was clear there was still some deep care between the two of them during this novel.
This chapter helps to settle the stormy weather. I think it also gives Lord John Grey a chance to see what he should have spotted a while ago, but he still doesn’t!
Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 40
Lord John Grey wants to know if there is a chance that he and Jamie can be friends again. There hasn’t been the right time at Helwater to talk to him about it, and it’s not easy to find somewhere quiet to discuss this.
When he sees Jamie with Willie watching a new groom with the horses, he decides that this is the perfect time. He just needs to find a way to do it, especially with Willie around.
Jamie has taught Willie how to climb up the fence to watch the new groom. The new groom is able to climb atop one of the unbroken horses, which Jamie gives a thumbs up to. Willie initially gets excited and cheers, but Jamie manages to quieten him down. This is the moment that John should have spotted something if he was paying attention. He wasn’t paying attention, though!
It is a chance for John to try something. He starts to play a chess match out-loud. There is some hesitation for Jamie, but he ends up playing the next part. John thinks of it as the time John and Jamie played chess in Ardsmuir, the first time John put a hand on Jamie. This is the moment that John realizes that there is hope for their friendship.
Could this chapter be adapted for the TV series?
We would need to see this chapter if The Scottish Prisoner was adapted. While it’s a quiet moment, it’s also important to mark a turn in John and Jamie’s friendship. Things had been tense between them this whole time, but they showed that they still cared for each other. We need to see their friendship turn around and be back on again.
I’d also like to see this moment between Jamie and Willie. It’s a small one, but it gives Jamie time to spend with his son, even if he can’t tell anyone.
There would be enough time as we got close to the end of the adaptation. And we need to end these things on happier notes.
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