Outlander 2.12: Stubborn Fate and Scotland On and Off Screen

I've been especially a fan of Scotland this week - see here - so it was especially good to see Outlander 2.12 last night.  The plot was pretty good, too.

In terms of the larger history which Claire's time travel is trying to change, the Jacobites move to the edge of the Battle of Culloden, which will be their final defeat, despite Jamie's best efforts to change that.   The surprise attack the night before was a fine idea, as was attacking with the split, pincer-delivering force, but the Prince and his dull commander getting lost in the dark was inevitable, as was Jamie's co-commander correctly insisting that attacking the English with just half their force, even by surprise, would be suicide.   So the Battle of Culloden, with the disastrous result as we know from our history, will now presumably happen. (My wife and I visited the Culloden battlefield on our honeymoon in 1976, so I have to admit to being glad that at least my own personal history was not undone.  What would I do if that happened? :)

But this raises the question again of what Outlander is ultimately about. Based on last night and most of this and last season, it is about how the cleverest plans, based on Claire's knowledge of the future, cannot change recalcitrant history.   But the temptation to see it changed continues to loom ...

Meanwhile, we finally get some resolution of the knotty time-travel problem of how Frank, a decent man in the 1940s, can be a direct descendant of his look-alike Black Jack, as ugly in the soul as it gets, some two-hundred years earlier.   Black Jack marrying his brother's lover, who carries his brother's child, was good way of wrapping this up, and it was well played.

Also well played was the final scene between Dougal and his brother Collum, who was one of the most colorful characters in this vividly portrayed story, and I'll miss.  Made me think I wish there was more of the clan this year.   But the season finale beckons in two weeks, and I'll be back with a review after then.


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 ... Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling

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




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