<i>Outlander: Blood of My Blood</i> Season 1, Episode 9 Recap: A Bad Day at Braemar

Spoilers below.

Poor Brian Fraser is going through it. His true love has dumped him; his father has disowned him; his best friend is furious with him; oh, and his true love’s brother has sent a group of assassins to kill him!

What was meant to be a celebration—the Earl of Mar’s tynchal at Braemar Castle—quickly turns sour by the end of Blood of My Blood’s penultimate season 1 episode, simply titled “Braemar.” The episode begins with eager anticipation for the gathering (and accompanying ceremonial boar hunt), where Simon fully expects the Grants to fall to their knees before him in gratitude for exposing the “MacKenzie slut” and her promiscuity. (He’s yet to hear that Ellen passed her virginity test with flying colors, no thanks to him.) He demands Brian accompany him to Braemar, but Brian convinces him to let Julia and baby William tag along—to showcase the future king of Scotland to the clans, of course. Simon loves any opportunity to play the braggart, so, naturally, he agrees to this plan.

But he’s not the only one with ulterior motives as the tynchal approaches. Malcolm Grant’s uncle, Malcolm McKinnon Grant, arrives from London to “help” Malcolm manage clan affairs after his father’s unexpected passing last episode. The Grant uncle—let’s call him Gruncle, since having two Malcolms is needlessly confusing—rides to Leoch to meet his future niece-in-law, whom he briefly charms before threatening to literally rip her heart out if she breaks Malcolm’s. He seems to suspect Ellen’s not all-in on this marriage arrangement, no matter what her virtue test results might imply. It’s safe to say Gruncle is not the fun, festive sort at a party.

The trouble is, Malcolm really does seem to adore Ellen, which makes her predicament (i.e. the fact that she definitely does intend to break his heart) all the trickier. If she somehow manages to get out of this match—which, of course, we know she will—there’s no way it’s going to end well for the new laird of Clan Grant.

Upon hearing of Gruncle’s threat, Mrs. Fitz urges Ellen to take extreme caution at the tynchal. She’s more than happy to help Ellen “bleed” on her wedding night—as she puts it, “women have been puttin’ that one over on men since Eve ate the apple”—but she can’t aid her mistress if she’s dead. As such, Ellen mustn’t so much as glance at another man while on Braemar grounds. But we all know how great Brian and Ellen are at hiding their feelings!

Indeed, at the gathering, it takes approximately 10 seconds for Brian to spot his secret wife in the crowd. Murtagh, who’s arrived at Braemar to do some spying on Simon’s behalf, watches the longing writ across his cousin’s face and senses an opportunity to rub salt in his wound. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” he asks. “Seeing the lass you love in the company of another.” It’s unnecessarily cruel for him to toy with Brian’s feelings, but Murtagh’s angry for myriad reasons, only the latest of which is that Brian put Ellen in danger by sleeping with her ahead of her virginity test. (I’d argue the Grants—and, by extension, Malcolm—put her in danger by submitting her to a virginity test at all. Alas, I don’t think Murtagh is looking for a debate at this juncture.) In response, Brian stalks outside the tent and angrily grasps a wooden pole. At least the man knows how not to throw a tantrum in the middle of the tynchal...unlike his father, but we’ll get to that later.

Underneath the same tent, Henry spots Julia across the sea of clansmen, and he notices baby William in her arms. Despite the inappropriate nature of conversing with another man’s wife, he can’t deny the chance to meet his son for the first time. Besides, he doesn’t even know Julia is “married” to Simon until the latter waltzes in to ruin the moment, as is his tendency. The laird of Castle Leathers expresses surprise that a Sassenach such as Henry would desire to meet his son, thus indicating his support for that child’s royal future. But in name-dropping the prophecy, Simon refers to Julia as his “wife,” which prompts Henry to literally curl his lip in disgust. Julia, ever the level-headed one, desperately tries to attempt telepathy with her real husband to convince him that, Honey, this is all part of a brilliant plan!!! Keep it together! Thankfully, before Henry throws any punches, Simon beckons them away, and Gruncle approaches with news that the clan chieftains will gather shortly to meet the Earl of Mar’s guest of honor. Henry isn’t free of his bladier duties just yet.

Nor is he free of his past mistakes. As the befuddled Mr. Beauchamp follows the rest of Clan Grant away from the crowd, who should come strolling out of the nearby brothel tent but a love-struck Seema! The sex worker Henry mistook for Julia in his fugue state a few episodes back! This episode’s getting juicy already.

At the chieftain meeting, Gruncle takes a beat to signal his alliance with the MacKenzies by talking up the now-split leadership between Colum and Dougal. He’s clearly much more of a tactician and opportunist than Malcolm, who really only wants one thing out of this partnership between their clans: Ellen herself. But the other clansmen have their eyes on bigger dreams. While the Earl of Mar surprises the crowd by introducing Rob Roy MacGregor as his guest of honor, it doesn’t take long for the hivemind to do its job. Badmouthing the existing British rule (and subsequent Scottish persecution), Rob Roy rallies the men behind the Jacobite cause. The Earl proclaims they’ll enjoy the games and the tynchal, but then a vote will be struck, and the group will decide if they are to become proper Jacobite supporters. Tucked safely amongst the crowd, Henry shakes his head to himself, knowing this rebellion will go nowhere good. But Simon hears in it nothing but the fulfillment of the prophecy: a Scottish ruler rising from the Fraser bloodline.

After such a stirring proclamation, Simon attempts to inform the Earl of his newfound Jacobite allegiance and the prophecy regarding his son. But Gruncle will have none of this lunacy. Before the entire group of clansmen, he calls out Simon as a “fantasist” and a “detestable nodcock”: The “MacKenzie slut” was, in fact, found to have her virtue intact. That makes Simon a liar. Lord Lovat’s alarmed to hear this, considering this was one of the very few instances in which he actually told the truth. Ellen did sleep with another man—his bastard son! But Gruncle’s public castigation sends Simon running for Leathers. Henry even gives Gruncle an impressed nod of approval, as if to say, Hell yeah, brother. That guy sucks.

Despite being explicitly told not to so much as glance at another man, Ellen practically makes a beeline toward Brian—she looks at him, talks to him, even holds hands with him in front of a pair of arm-wrestlers. Their complete and utter disregard for subtlety is genuinely a source of frustration for me at this point. I’m having a hard time believing the entire country of Scotland wouldn’t have figured out they’re in love! As it is, her brothers have, in fact, learned the truth, and when Ellen sees Ned combing through the party in search of her, she tells Brian to meet her at the “old kirk” on the castle grounds later that day.

Soon, she realizes Dougal has spilled the beans. After Rob Roy drops by the MacKenzie tent in search of his donated Jacobite money—which “disappeared” back when the Redcoats broke up the party at House Nairne—Dougal must next face Colum’s wrath. Colum demands his war chieftain reveal whatever other secrets he’s kept buried, and soon enough Dougal chokes up the worst of the bunch: Ellen has fallen in love with Brian Fraser. Enraged, Colum confronts Ellen, and they get to sparring: She tells her brother that if he so much as touches Brian, she’ll convince Malcolm to withhold Grant allegiance (and money) from Clan MacKenzie. And so they strike a deal. Ellen will stay away from Brian, but only if Colum does not harm him...or, importantly, see him harmed. “From this moment onwards, you have my word,” Colum promises his sister. But that little trick of the tongue belies a betrayal. Undoubtedly, he’s already sent the Gallowglass—a crew of local assassins-for-hire—after the young Fraser.

But before the Gallowglass can get to him, Brian takes Henry aside in the woods, granting him the truth about Julia and Simon’s sham marriage. At the same time, Julia and Ellen meet at the Countess of Mar’s sewing circle, where Ellen gets the same spiel: After she was separated from Henry, she was forced to marry Simon to protect William, yadda yadda, so on and so forth. Julia then takes the opportunity to deliver a rousing speech about the great sacrifices we make for love. “In spite of the pain it causes you, you protect [your loved ones], no matter the cost,” she announces. Ellen immediately accepts this as gospel. She knows what she must do next.

The next handful of scenes are a brutal montage for sweet Brian. In the “old kirk” cemetery, Ellen informs the young Fraser that they must not meet again. It’s over! She’s not in love with him; she was never in love with him at all! Brian’s not an idiot. He knows she’s lying. But he knows better than to try to halt a MacKenzie in motion. Mere moments later, Simon throws a massive fit over Brian’s failure to sufficiently corrupt Ellen and ruin the MacKenzie-Grant alliance. He shouts at his son; he beats him; he swears him off altogether. And that’s all before Brian goes on a brooding stalk through the woods, where he discovers the Gallowglass in hot pursuit, slinging arrows directly at his head. Thankfully, before one of those arrows can make contact, Murtagh enjoys a change of heart. Chasing Brian and throwing him to the ground—and out of range of any harm—he tells his cousin, “If anyone’s gonna kill ye, it’s gonna be me.” That’s family for you!

Finally, Henry and Julia have the chance to plot their own escape from their respective clans. Under the guise of official bladier business, Henry meets with Ned and tells him he would’ve killed Isaac Grant himself had the elder not died of his own accord. The Grants lied to him; his wife and child aren’t dead. They’re safe and alive and at Braemar! Eager to help his new friend, Ned delivers Julia—what else?—a letter from Henry, telling her to meet him by the riverside at the tynchal. When they finally do, she begs forgiveness for “marrying” Simon, though Henry claims there’s nothing to forgive. I won’t lie—this line made me laugh. Henry, my man, that’s a little rich coming from you! You have your own infidelity to confess, if memory serves? Seema sure seems to recall!

As the clans—including Clan Grant—officially pledge their allegiance to the Jacobite rebellion, rallying to restore a Stuart monarchy, Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp hatch their own forbidden plan. Together, they conspire to meet outside Leathers the next morning and ride like hell to Craigh na Dun, where they hope to venture back to their own time period...and back to their daughter, Claire.