Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling

My main interest in Outlander, as I've said many times, is how Claire's sojourn 200 years into her past can change history.   Clearly, she can change anonymous history - events and people we don't know about in our history - and has done so many times.  But changing the history we do know about, such as the course of the Jacobite rebellion, is something else again.

We got a tantalizing look at this in last night's episode 2.11.  Jamie and the anti-English prince very much want to press their advantage after least week's victory in Prestonpans - which has indeed been recorded in our history - and move forward with an attack on London which could win them the war, and Scottish independence.   The generals are against this, on the grounds that there are three English armies in the field between the Scots and London, and no one on our side knows where they are.

Claire's response is especially of interest.  She knows from her history that Jamie and the Scots did not advance to London.  But what if they had?  What was Claire thinking about that eventuality? First, that this might indeed win the war for the Jacobites, which would of course change history and make Jamie very happy.   But also - what would that do to Claire?  Would her memories suddenly change, so that she had no recollection of the Jacobites losing?

We've seen hints of this for different events - but nothing as large in history as the Jacobites winning. A change as big as that could well mean that Claire was never up in Scotland in the first place with Frank, which started this whole story.  It could well mean that was never even a Second World War.

Because of all that, I almost hoped that Jamie and Prince Charles had convinced the generals to march on London - what a wild next episode, with history thrown upside down, that would have made!

But fortunately for the sake of a straightforward story not rent by paradox, that didn't happen.  And we'll see what happens to our heroes in the next two episodes in the history we know - more or less.

See also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour ... Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest ... Outlander 2.3: Mother and Dr. Dog ... Outlander 2.5: The Unappreciated Paradox ... Outlander 2.6: The Duel and the Offspring ...Outlander 2.7: Further into the Future ... Outlander 2.8: The Conversation ... Outlander 2.9: Flashbacks of the Future ... Outlander 2.10: One True Prediction and Counting
And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother's Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let's Change History




Sierra Waters series, #1, time travel

#SFWApro