We open just outside Inverness, as Jamie, Claire, and the rest reunite with Prince Charles encampment.
And the men once vigorous and vital at Prestonpans are broken and demoralized following five months of retreat.
Our worst nightmare was coming true, and I felt completely helpless, Claire muses.
Credit: Steffan Hill
How the bloody hell did we end up here?
Meanwhile, Jamie is busy trying to dissuade the Prince from engaging with the British troops at Culloden.
After all, the location gives the Red Coats the upper hand.
Once theyre in better health and stocked up, they can then choose the better place for battle.
Shes in the midst of concocting a poultice to ease his discomfort when Johnnie walks in.
As in, Jonathan Black Jack Randall!
It speaks to the nugget of humanity that can still be found inside the sadistic soldier.)
Still the young naif, Mary doesnt realize Alex isnt going to get better.
But he must be cured!
she exclaims, as the camera pans to her burgeoning midsection.
Yes, Mary is pregnant.
Claires had enough and runs out of the boarding house with Black Jack close on her heels.
Shell help ease Alexs pain in exchange for intel as to where Cumberland and the British Army are encamped.
Claire administers to him first, and he tells her shes just wasting her time.
He asks for a final favor: Help to die.
Isnt suicide a sin?
Whats one more sin?
He asks for the kind of death Geillis exacted on her no-good husband.
Claire demurs cyanide is a terrible way to die.
Geillis wasnt burned until after the baby was born and placed in the home of William MacKenzie.
Claire agrees to assist him, but not with cyanide.
For what its worth, you have my deepest gratitude, he tells her.
She reminds him she only promised to ease Alexs pain she cant cure him.
As Alex is better able to breath and speak, he makes his final wishes known.
He asks for a minister, but not for his final rites; for Black Jack and Marys wedding.
Black Jack is revolted by the request.
Black Jack apologizes and quickly leaves the room.
Dougal mistakes Colums sudden appearance for an alliance with the Jacobite cause and is quickly corrected.
You choose a Fraser over a MacKenzie to lead the clan?
Over your own brother?
Dougal accuses Colum of using this moment as an opportunity to punish him one last time for fathering Hamish.
But Colum takes his last breath before his brother can complete his mission.
Heaven help, her.
The three Claire, Mary, and Black Jack then keep watch as Alex slips beyond reach.
They (Jamie and the General) will lead two separate columns of men and surround the British.
In their room later, Jamie is befuddled by Claires complicity in marrying Mary off to Black Jack.
She reminds him that Black Jacks death is mere hours away and that she should be safe.
Word finally gets to Jamie: Charles got lost in the dark and retreated back to Inverness.
What did you think of tonights episode?
ET for a deep dive into The Hail Mary with Lynette Rice and me.
