Surviving the War

Brian meets his granddaughter, Brianna. And speaks of his love for his wife, Ellen.

Jamie and Claire spoke about Faith, and Brianna.

Brianna - with Jem and Mandy - found Roger. And Buck, their ancestor.

William goes to both of his fathers - Jamie, and Lord John - for help.

Of course we learn from Frances about the love that her mother held for her and Jane.

Ian and Rachel discover they are to be parents.

At its core, of course Outlander is about the love that Jamie and Claire have for each other.

But by this stage of their story - it's also about the bonds of love they have for their extended family. For the family that has come to be, because of their love for each other.

I so love this exchange.

Especially how Brianna brings up how much she can tell that Brian loved his late wife...and how it resonates with her because of how much her parents love each other.

Jamie loves Claire in the way that Brian loved Ellen.

OUTLANDER (2014 -)

5.07 "The Ballad of Roger Mac"

I’m not as brave as I was before ye ken, not brave enough to live without you anymore.

Where we see Frank showing wee Bree the painting at a museum.

Whoever had this idea - my hat's off to you!

Eleven minutes (!!!) of Jamie and Claire talking, and arguing, and crying, and tearing out their guts for each other.

For all the times they've had similarly extensive and deep arguments/conversations before - after Jamie rescues Claire from Fort William, when she confronts him for visiting the whores in Paris, when she learns about Laoghaire at Lallybroch, when she learns what Jamie did to Roger, when Jamie confronts her about her laudanum usage, when they react to Malva's accusations...

None of those conversations are as long in screen time.

Looking back...I think this conversation may be much more monumental. Because despite all of this history - all of the pain and sorrow they have both experienced in their lives together...they talk about it, they confront it, and they emerge stronger together. Precisely because of the cracks and the ugly bits.

I love their love.

He loves them - loves their love for each other - so very much. It's honestly wonderful to see.

William, poor lad, doesn't quite get it. He says to his stepfather - you married Claire at the expense of your reputation and happiness?

Lord John just looks at him, exasperated.

“so, they’re rivals.”

“oh okay, like they hate each other?”

“well, yes, but also they’re kind of obsessed with each other.”

“oh, so like a bromance?”

“sure, except one of them kills the other’s brother, and they swordfight in a sweaty duel that’s 80% longing stares and 20% shirtless posturing.”

“…wait.”

“and then they’re forced to team up later, but the entire vibe is just ‘if we were the last two men on mars’ energy.”

“so… are they gay?”

Lyria will be the one to kill Lysander.

Darrow may fight him, Pax may fight him, but Lyria will kill that wet sack of broken promises and he will loathe it as he dies.

This tho ^

Answers: Dancer can, but Roque can't. Why? Because the have different experiences with their people.

While Dancer sort of pushed for Red supremacy at any cost (different than Harmony's, because she was more about revenge and just having things her way using Red supremacy as a cover), he was also able to accept, after 'trial and tribulations', that his people are flawed, and not because Golds made them so. Because the people he was villainazing are his family, a family that wanted to do better for everyone. Because his people deserve better, but they are also responsible for their own choices. And also because he managed to see beyond his own biases, he stopped trying to pass the blame and create discord, because he saw how useless and divisive it was and he saw exactly who profiteered off of it. He excused Reds' homophobic behavior even though he experienced it first hand. He was a bit delusioned about them. Still, he managed to get it together.

Roque always knew his people were horrible, but he accepted it, even though it was unfair. He accepted all the horrible things about his people and never questioned them, thinking that in the grand scheme of things, it's for the betterment of humanity to have things as they are. No matter who he had to betray, kill or maim, Roque never faltered from his (im)moral direction. Not even when Darrow offered him his hand, at the end. Roque was delusioned too, vut with the grandor of his own Color. He was denying lots of things and chucked them up as Darrow's fault, but he knew, in his heart that he just can't let go of his beliefs.