Outlander last night featured some major reveals, but are the casual fans keeping up? Here is a quick catch-up for the confused.
The Outlander fanbase is really passionate. A good chunk of the fans have been following the eight novels and counting for years. Book to screen changes and omissions likely won’t affect these fans. But what about non-book readers? Are the casual fans getting lost?
Last night several points were brought up that casual fans may not appreciate, because they are repeated multiple times in the books, but the screen adaptation doesn’t have that luxury.
Geillis Duncan: Jacobite from the future
There are two main points when it comes to Geillis. The first is that she is from the future, 1968 being the year that she came through the stones. More than that, her trip was deliberate, not an accident like Claire’s journey. Furthermore, she believes that travelling back through the stones is possible.
Geillis deliberately traveled back in time in an attempt to aid the Jacobite Uprising. She seemingly believed that she could alter the past if she aligned herself and her money with key figures sympathetic to the Jacobite cause. In short, her mission was to change history as she knew it in the 20th century.
What is the Jacobite Uprising?
Without trying to sound like a lesson in A.P. History, the Stuarts ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland. They were sympathetic to the Catholics, and ruled until they were overthrown and fled to France and Italy. The Protestants, William and Mary, distant German cousins down the line of succession, were put on the throne. The name “Jacobite” is a Latin derivation of James, one of the Stuart kings.
For generations the Highland Scots, who were by-in-large Catholic, wanted the Catholic Stuart dynasty back on the throne of Ireland, Scotland, and England, and worked at various times to achieve this via political scheming and uprisings. The events of Outlander take place almost 60 years after the Stuarts were initially deposed.
The most tragic of these uprisings was the one in 1746, which culminated in the Battle of Culloden, where the Jacobite forces loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Stuart successor, met the English Army, and the Scots were slaughtered in a resounding defeat from which they never recovered. The clans were decimated, thousands died on the battlefield or in the ensuing persecution and famine.
Jamie’s connection to the Frasers and the McKenzies
Jamie’s mother, Ellen, was the sister of Column and Dougal McKenzie. She eloped and married Jamie’s father, Brian Fraser. Jamie is therefore connected to both clans. The McKenzie’s see him as both a threat and ally, likely more of a threat because it is becoming harder and harder to manipulate Jamie to perform the wishes of Colum and Dougal.
Dougal has two henchmen who are loyal to him: Angus and Rupert, who are both of Clan McKenzie. Jamie, on the other hand, is frequently accompanied by Murtagh who is loyal to him. Murtagh is connected to Clan Fitzgibbons and Fraser.
Despite the fact that the Scots more or less universally disliked the English, each clan was embroiled in petty squabbles with other clans. They lacked a unifying leader.
Black Jack Randall is untouchable?
As a member of the British Army, Randall did have a code of conduct to live up to. He manages to quite literally get away with murder and other atrocities because he has a protector in the powerful Duke of Sandringham. The two men shared a bed in a time where homosexuality was punishable by death, though with enough money and discretion this might be overlooked. (Note: as of April 28, 2015,https://www.hypable.com/outlander-gabaldon-jack-randall-isnt-gay/.)
What is becoming evident is that the Duke values the non-disclosure of his Jacobite sympathies, more than his relationship with Randall. Both things could get him killed, but a man of his stature is more likely to evade prosecution as a homosexual than as a traitor to the crown. It is on that basis that he decides to help Jamie.
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