Outlander season 2, episode 6 brought viewers a emotional cliffhanger where the ultimate price of deception, broken vows, and love remains to be seen.

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive!” Walter Scot’s famous words describe exactly what has transpired this season in Outlander, and now the cost of deception is dear.

Murtagh the confidante

After Jamie withdraws his duel challenge that he issued to Black Jack Randall, and later wants to feign small pox to ruin Charles’ wine investment, Murtagh can barely recognize his godson. Jamie’s actions, reactions, and deceptions have rendered him a stranger to Murtagh. Jamie, the man of action, who months earlier would have killed and been direct is a man of action no more. Murtagh’s blind trust finally reached its breaking point, as he angrily tells Jamie, “I ken I’m a simple man but strive for an explanation.”

Jamie, with Claire’s consent, finally tells Murtagh about Claire’s background. He’s remarkably accepting, stating, “If you believe your wife to be a witch, than who am I to contradict you?” Although, he does soundly punch Jamie immediately after chiding him, “You should have trusted me with that knowledge from the beginning.”

Murtagh views Claire with both sympathy and sadness when he looks up from a paper on which he has plotted the years of her 20th century life. Though Claire knows the rough outline of history, she cannot accurately predict Jamie’s, Murtagh’s, and her own future, as they were not recorded on any genealogy chart or in any history books that Claire was familiar with. He realizes what the cost of such knowledge is, stating, “Even knowing what Jamie says you do, I wouldna want to bear that burden.”

Prepare for the worst

After last week’s argument that sent Jamie and Claire to separate bedrooms, there is an uneasy peace between them. Jamie reckons that he and Claire are even when it comes to life debts that they owe each other. Besides that, their lives have to be more than tick boxes on who “owes” the other something.

The real reason Jamie has not ended Black Jack’s life is ultimately for Claire, not Frank, for whom Jamie feels he owes nothing. Should all their plans crumble, and the disaster of Culloden come to pass, Jamie wants Claire and their child to go back through the stones to Frank. Back to a man who will love and protect her.

Obviously, from the season 2 opener, we know that this is exactly what is going to happen. The question is, how does the now heavily pregnant Claire become the early pregnant Claire of the first episode? What happens to the child that she now carries? How does a monster like Black Jack meet Mary Hawkins, marry her, and father a child with her?

The price of friendship

Claire’s work at L’Hopital des Anges is appreciated by many. After a gruesome recounting of the process of hanging, drawing and quartering by surgeon/executioner Monsieur Forez, he warns Claire that the king is out to kill those who practice the Dark Arts. The current king will not merely chastise those caught as had his father. Those caught will pay with their lives after a rousing session of torture.

Claire warns Master Raymond that he is being targeted and that he must leave the city. He tells Claire that she has done him a great service despite her claiming, “that is what friends do for each other.” With a wry smile he lets her know that many would not have lifted a finger to warn him. As he begins to gather his things he tells her, “We will meet again, Madonna, in this life or another.”

Is Raymond from another time? He seems to know a lot. Is he from Claire’s 20th century timeline? Does “in this life or another” mean the afterlife, or in another century?

The plan and its success

Jamie and Fergus set the nettles and bitter cascara plan into motion, and it’s a success. There’s a certain poetic justice in Claire turning the “poison” that the Comte St. Germain used on her back on his own men.

The only slight complication is that Charles now asks Jamie to move his wine immediately along with the Comte St. Germain, who is quite suspicious. Cue a second plan featuring highway robber Murtagh alongside a beaten up Jamie, and Prince Charles sees his monetary ambitions dashed to ruins. Without money, Charles is without hope of raising an army. Charles may well be shipped off to Poland where he will commit suicide because he sees his life as meaningless. God has abandoned his divine right to rule.

The best laid plans

The only downside to the highway robbery scheme is that Murtagh, the man who usually guards Jamie’s right when Ian is not around, is now out of town taking care of disposing of stolen wine. This leaves the plucky Fergus to volunteer for the job, and this unintended circumstance has dire consequences.

Prince Charles has exceeded his credit at the brothel, and Jamie and Fergus go to clean up the mess. Instead of staying put, Fergus wanders into what is clearly Black Jack’s room. One can only imagine what happened when we see the door slam shut on the startled Fergus. No doubt whatever transpired precipitated a new duel.

Claire’s pregnancy, possibly due to stress, or possibly due to natural causes, begins to experience difficulty. She has spotty bleeding, and back pain before learning of Jamie’s rekindled duel in the Bois de Boulogne. Claire races across the city in a bone jarring carriage ride to arrive only to find the duel in full progress. Distracting either man would mean their death. Claire watches horror struck and in pain as premature labor with clear complications begins.

In the end, Jamie stabs Black Jack in the groin, presumably ending his ability to rape, and father any children. Frank therefore has paid the price of Jamie’s revenge, as Black Jack can no longer be Frank’s biological ancestor.

French troops surround Jamie. Someone must have tipped them off to the illegal duel, and they threaten Jamie to drop his sword or be killed. He is unable to go to Claire who is writing on the ground in pain.

Claire asks to be taken to L’Hopital des Anges before passing out in intense pain in a pool of blood.

All their schemes have led to their own personal destruction.

Outlander airs on Starz Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Do you need to talk about Outlander with other fans? Don’t miss our weekly, post-show, Outlander Google Hangout called Hangoutlander. Hypable’s Laura and Kyle join the crew from That’s Normal, where we talk about the recent episode in a lively, fun, funny, and slightly irreverent way. If you missed last week’s episode, you can catch the recording here. You can sign up for this week’s episode here.

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