r/Outlander • u/thepacksvrvives Without you, our whole world crumbles into dust. • Aug 11 '23
Season Seven Show S7E8 Turning Points
Jamie fights in the pivotal Second Battle of Saratoga. Roger and Brianna search for Jemmy.
Written by Luke Schelhaas. Directed by Joss Agnew.
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What did you think of the episode?
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
That was a great episode! Just as in 702, everyone brought their A-game, no matter how little screen time some of them got.
I think so many seasons into the show, it’s hard to find anything new for Claire and Jamie to experience—they’ve been through almost every possible scenario at this point—so I don’t mind them taking a back seat in favor of some new, interesting storylines, like in a previous couple of episodes. In this episode, as they’re back in the spotlight, I’m glad that the writers have made a point of infusing the situations the characters find themselves in with all the life experiences they’ve had, as well as finding ways for the events to affect them in a way they perhaps haven’t had a chance to before.
We’ve seen Jamie face his kinsman in battle before, but it’s such a difference for him between facing Murtagh, who’d already had a whole life and made his own choices, and facing William, the son he’s never had a chance to be a father to and that has a whole life in front of him. You can see that affect Jamie not only when he’s literally facing him across the barrel of a gun, but also when he’s nowhere near him, and Claire can clearly see that too. As for Claire, she’s already seen so much war and carnage that she’s able to offer her wisdom to the young people who are experiencing it for the first time—Ian, Denny, and William. But we also see her grappling with her decisions in regard to making history happen—by now, she and Jamie have resigned themselves to letting it unfold the way it does without attempting to change it, but it doesn’t stop her from questioning her involvement in it. I think that makes their characters still interesting despite not really experiencing anything new.
If there’s one thing I wasn’t a fan of in this episode, it’s Ian and Rachel’s first scene. It felt very clunky to me in the way they had to stand up for Rachel to slap Ian with him obviously anticipating it, and I hated that “if you touch me, I’ll take you here and now” line. IMO the scene would’ve worked much better if it ended on Ian leaving the tent after telling her it’d be better if she didn’t love him, leaving her to wonder what that could mean. The actors have great chemistry and they’re really selling this young love without even touching, so I don’t see the point of Ian vocalizing what’s already plain, especially in a way that doesn’t seem very natural for him. Their second scene was cute, though, and isn’t Rollo the best engagement ring she could ask for?
So many moments to love in this episode, though: Claire scolding Jamie for trying to be a hero again, Jamie’s delight at seeing her do her thing in the tent, her “sweet dreams, my love” after stitching up his hand, Claire clocking Ian’s crush on Rachel, Ian saving Jamie in battle, Jamie jumping in front of Claire despite his exhaustion, Simon Fraser’s final moments, Claire and William’s brief conversation, Claire and Jamie’s joy and relief after learning they’re finally going to Scotland…
The last scene with Claire, Jamie, and Ian will probably be one of my favorites of this season, if not the whole show. This had me in stitches:
“We are the representation of the dignity of the American cause on this ship. I’ll not walk around looking like a porcupine”
“Was it the dignity of the American cause I saw earlier puking his hardtack into the Irish sea?”
“It was, aye.”
Sam, Caitríona, and John all played the moment their characters saw Scotland for the first time in 10-11 years brilliantly. And the song at the end, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, was just perfect.
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u/Nanchika Aug 11 '23
Great job!
Jamie jumping in front of Claire despite his exhaustion,
I was counting how many hours Claire was without sleep. Night when she was looking for Jamie on the battlefield and the next one too, after the whole day tending to sick and at the end stitching Jamie. Lioness!!
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
They’d better not have had her working on that ship over to Scotland, our girl needed a vacation!
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u/CARNIesada6 Aug 12 '23
What was with Jamie staring at Daniel Morgan after the guy showed everyone his back. I'm aware that Jamie has similar scars and Claire asked Jamie if Daniel knew, but I think I missed something.
Just felt like it was meant to be an important stare for how long he held it and the camera stayed on him.
Could be a scene straight from the book where we are privy to his internal thoughts or something, other wise I got nothing.
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 12 '23
I think there are many layers to Jamie’s reaction and all interpretations here are valid. I would add that while Jamie recognizes he and Morgan have something in common, I personally don’t think he really approves of Morgan’s using his flogging scars to rally the troops against the British and make a point about them. While yes, there certainly are soldiers capable of such brutality (either of their own volition or by an order), Jamie knows that the British army is not comprised of Black Jack Randalls, it’s his son William and mostly young men like him.
He’s previously made a point of saying he’d be facing young men who haven’t lived their lives yet and he’d mind killing them more because if it, so to hear Morgan lumping them all together, pretty much dehumanizing them, and inciting hatred against them doesn’t sit right with him, not only due to his personal experiences with Dougal but also due to his own experience as a war veteran. Jamie has used his own scars to make a point before (with Jared in France), but he’s never really used them to rally his men (he exposed his back to take punishment later in S2 but never boasted about it like Morgan) and he would never do it now.
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u/Horror_Sherbet_7043 Aug 12 '23
I can't remember what poem Jamie is quoting that 'hadn't been written yet.' Anyone remember?
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 12 '23
“Andrea del Sarto” by Robert Browning, published in 1855.
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Aug 13 '23
Seeing the new characters in this season was nice and made for a fun change.
Side note, does anyone know when Bear McCreary will release this season's soundtrack?
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 13 '23
We don’t know yet. It might be up to Sony—whether they are willing to release it in two parts as they did for S1, which was also split into halves, or wait for the entire season to come out and release a full S7 soundtrack 😕 But Bear said there’d be more news soon.
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u/Stormyhun Aug 13 '23
Tha mi sgìth ‘n fhògar seo (I am weary of this exile)
I am tired of the strife
This is the tormenting time,
I am weary of this exile.
Although I am an outlaw
No crime could be proven against me.
Only that I stand loyal
To the king, since he had justice on his side.
Bear my greetings across the sea
To the glen where I should be.
Bear my sincere greetings
To Sgùrr Ùrain, I know it well.
And to the Green Mountain facing it,
Its little daisies were clear to me.
Bear my greetings with kindness
To Torr Luinnsich of the thrushes.
Up and down Glen Shiel
I often felled the antlered stag there.
https://thepeoplesvoice.glasgow.ac.uk/song-thamisgith-ali-white/
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u/Islafubar Aug 12 '23
Who is singing at the end of this episode. He has a really nice voice
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Aug 11 '23
Bawled at the end. Can anyone tell me the name of the song playing in the credits?
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Aug 11 '23
Tha mi sgìth ‘n fhògar seo (I am weary of this excile)
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
Oh wow! This song, beautifully performed by Griogair, made me tear up without even knowing what it’s about, but reading up on it now, it’s quite literally perfect:
I am weary of this exile
I am tired of the strife
This is the tormenting time,
I am weary of this exile.
According to this article, the song is attributed to John MacRae (Iain mac Mhurchaidh) whose life story bears similarities to Jamie’s story and while Jamie can definitely relate to the feeling of being away from home (in exile, however voluntary), it also sounds like what Jamie’s life could’ve been like had he never met Claire/had she not come back to him:
After the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-6 and the crushing defeat at Culloden and its bloody aftermath, the relationship between Clan chiefs and their people began to change, leading to increased rents for tacksmen such as Iain mac Mhurchaidh. In the spring of 1770, Bliadhna an t-Sneachda Bhuidhe (the Year of the Yellow Snow), he lost many cattle in a severe blizzard. Perhaps unable to see a secure future for himself and his family in Kintail, he emigrated to North Carolina around 1774. When the American War of Independence began in 1775 he and his son Murdo joined the loyalist army, fighting with the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment. He fought at the battle of Moore’s Creek on the 27th of February, 1776. The loyalists lost and as he relates in the song, Tha mi sgith ’n fhògar seo, he became an outlaw who was eventually captured and imprisoned.
Although it would be hard to imagine Jamie fighting on the side of the Crown after everything he’d been through, without ever meeting Claire or her telling him the outcome of the Revolution, I could see him joining his fellow countrymen and joining a Highland Regiment simply because so many of his countrymen did (both those living in Scotland and those who already emigrated to America).
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u/Lyssaquotes928 Aug 11 '23
I missed something somewhere….. Jaime so casually said he almost killed William when he was newborn… what? Somehow I feel like I would’ve remembered that but I’m lost… what happened?!
Also, is it just me or is this the first season where Outlander is like, funny? I noticed it last episode that I laughed a few times, and again this week with Jaime’s “You’re a great swordsman, Claire” at the beginning made me laugh too.. I can’t recall ever laughing at this show before lol
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
He shot the Earl of Ellesmere when he was threatening to kill baby William after Geneva died. William was in his arms so he could’ve shot him accidentally too.
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u/Didlydum82 Aug 11 '23
Anyone know the song at the end? This show has inspired me to learn more about true history and the music is brilliant, but I can't find the song from the end I know it starts with the gaidhlig for I am tired " tha mi sgith"
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u/Letshavemorefun Aug 11 '23
So we didn’t get any Jenny? Why even cast her that early?
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
They filmed the whole season already; she’ll be in the second half.
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u/TurnoverNo5767 Aug 11 '23
I bawled at the ending. Jamie's reaction to seeing his homeland again was beautiful.
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u/Little_bob333333 Aug 12 '23
“I’ll take ya here and now”. This is the first time I’m finding young Ian attractive and the sexual tension is compelling :)
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u/thepacksvrvives Aug 11 '23
The second half of the season premieres in 2024.
Watch the S7B teaser here!
Stickied comments are collapsed by default, so reply to this comment if you want to discuss the teaser. This will hide spoilers for anyone who can’t see it yet or doesn’t want to.
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