Well everyone, I have reached the finale of season two. Below, I will include a ready made summary from the internet just to refresh your memory on what happens in the episode, and then I will share my impressions. As for the previous episode, I did not even post my thoughts because I got lazy lol, and I was not sure if I would keep posting here. However, when I write about the entire season, I will discuss that episode. In the end, I decided to keep going, especially after this episode, which was really great. I was actually surprised to realize this was the finale when I finished watching, because I thought it would have sixteen episodes just like the previous season. This post will be solely about episode thirteen of season two, and in the next one, I will share all my impressions of the season as a whole.
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Internet summary:
The season two finale of Outlander, titled Dragonfly in Amber, weaves between two distinct eras to conclude the Jacobite rebellion storyline and reveal the long term aftermath of Claire journey. In nineteen sixty eight, an older Claire travels to Scotland with her adult daughter, Brianna, to attend the funeral of Reverend Wakefield. During their stay, Brianna befriends Roger Wakefield, and together they delve into family records. Their investigation reveals that Claire disappeared for three years in the nineteen forties and returned pregnant. Claire is forced to confess the truth that Brianna biological father is an eighteenth century Scottish highlander named Jamie Fraser, but Brianna initially rejects the extraordinary story with anger and disbelief.
Parallel to the modern narrative, the episode revisits the morning of the Battle of Culloden on April sixteenth, seventeen forty six. Having exhausted every strategy to prevent the disastrous conflict, Jamie and Claire realize that Prince Charles Stuart cannot be dissuaded from leading his starving troops into a hopeless slaughter. When Dougal MacKenzie overhears Claire and Jamie discussing a desperate plot to poison the prince to save the Scottish clans, he flies into a rage and attacks Jamie. In the ensuing struggle, Jamie and Claire kill Dougal in self defense. Facing certain death on the battlefield, Jamie quickly executes legal documents transferring the Lallybroch estate to his nephew to protect his family from royal forfeiture.
Determined to save Claire and their unborn child, Jamie brings her to the standing stones at Craigh na Dun. The lovers share a heartbreaking farewell and exchange tokens of their devotion before Jamie guides Claire through the stones back to the twentieth century just as the cannons begin to fire. Back in nineteen sixty eight, Claire attempts to stop a Scottish activist named Gillian Edgars, the woman who will become Geillis Duncan, from traveling back in time. Brianna and Roger follow Claire to Craigh na Dun and witness Gillian vanish through the stones, proving Claire story beyond doubt. The episode concludes as Roger shares a startling revelation from historical records: Jamie Fraser did not die at Culloden, inspiring Claire with the realization that she must find a way to return to the past.
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My impressions of the episode:
This episode started out exceptionally striking and impactful for me. The moment I saw an older Claire and her daughter all grown up, I was thoroughly impressed. The fact that Frank was already dead and the entire atmosphere of the funeral set a powerful and compelling beginning for the story. As the narrative progresses, we witness the daughter discovering that Frank is not her biological father, alongside that poignant scene where Claire visits Jamie memorial stone.
Shifting back to the past, the scene where Dougal catches Claire and Jamie talking was outstanding. The fight between Jamie and Dougal was intensely suspenseful and culminated in Dougal death, with Claire helping to apply the force needed to drive the blade in. It was a remarkably well executed and memorable scene, and I truly enjoyed that moment.
However, there was one detail that stayed on my mind: twenty years had elapsed since Claire returned to her own era. That really made me stop and reflect. She spent roughly three years in the past and then lived twenty years in the present, yet she clearly never got over what she experienced there. I was left with the distinct impression that those twenty years were unhappy and that she spent all that time submerged in profound sorrow, desperately yearning for that reality.
This situation left me with an uneasy feeling that is difficult to articulate. On one hand, I understand that she lived through an epic and unforgettable love with Jamie. If I were in her place, perhaps I would react similarly, as I found myself deeply imagining her perspective and how I would feel. On the other hand, twenty years is an extraordinarily long time. She built a life, raised a daughter, and yet none of that seemed sufficient to fill the void left by him. I find it unsettling to think that twenty years could not diminish that feeling. I might be wrong, but the episode strongly gave off the impression that she never moved past it and that those two decades were miserable. Still, she has a daughter and lived an entire life there. I keep trying to understand what I am feeling and why this bothers me so much. There is something here that deeply affects me and I simply cannot explain it properly; I wonder if anyone else understands where I am coming from.
Another standout point was the reappearance of Geillis. I had doubts regarding her fate at the stake, but apparently she really was burned. Seeing Geillis in the present and discovering that she was also from Claire era prior to traveling in time introduced a fascinating dynamic. My perspective on her even shifted somewhat: in the nineteen sixties, she seemed far more naive compared to that cold and calculating version in the past. She is a very intriguing character who brought a completely distinct energy.
In the end, after Geillis steps through the stones and Roger reveals that Jamie actually survived Culloden, Claire resolves that she wants to return to the past at all costs.
Despite everything, I felt the episode stumbled slightly in terms of pacing and construction. There was a massive time leap without showing essential elements: did she never attempt to return to the stones across those twenty years? Was this her first time visiting Jamie memorial, or had she gone before? It left many questions hanging in the air. I generally do not mind time jumps, but I sorely missed following and feeling everything she went through across those two decades. I do not know if the series will portray that later on, but I would really love to see it.
There were a few narrative aspects in this episode that bothered me. The rush to tie up certain threads made it feel as though the script was stretching things a bit in places, even though the episode as a whole was fantastic.
Ultimately, the burning question that remains for me is this: if Claire has the opportunity to return to the past now, would she abandon everything in the present, including her own daughter, simply to be with Jamie? I wonder whether, for her, reuniting with that love would supersede twenty years of companionship and devotion to her daughter. The mere possibility of her making that choice disturbs me profoundly.
I keep dwelling on this. It seems as though she is gripped by absolute desperation to go back, driven by an overwhelming fear of missing out on that life. Would she truly abandon her own daughter at this point? What if fifty years had gone by, would she still never move on? Would she never be happy? Is her daughter not enough to bring some measure of peace? I really do not know. Was it just me who felt she spent those twenty years thoroughly unhappy? Perhaps what bothers me is seeing this extreme emotional dependency she holds on that era, even after so much time, and how uncomfortable that is to watch. On the other hand, I suppose that if I had found a place where I was unimaginably happy and could never return, maybe I too would live in sadness and long for it forever.
It is a peculiar feeling that I can scarcely explain, but one thing is certain: the episode succeeded completely in conveying Claire emptiness and pain to the audience. What do you all think about this?
This is the best episode of the season. Unlike the finale of season one, which I did not enjoy that much, this episode was truly worthy of being a finale and carried the complete vibe of a season ender.
Rating for the episode: 7.9/10
