If episode 1 of Outlander: Blood of My Blood was about putting all the pieces on the board, episode 2, titled “The Veil of Time,” starts moving them. And because this is Outlander, the distinct feeling that every happy development — scarce though they may be — is probably about to come with a devastating turn.
I went into episode 2 hoping for a little more romance and a little less chaos, which, in hindsight, was probably asking too much of Outlander. “The Veil of Time” wastes no time raising the stakes.
Don’t worry, Ellen has a plan
In episode 1, we left Ellen (Harriet Slater) facing her brothers’ wrath, a prisoner in her own home, confined to the four walls of the family chapel. But she didn’t risk coming back to Leoch empty-handed; she proposes a plan that promises to save clan MacKenzie.
What she suggests is simple enough: put Leoch and all the MacKenzie lands under her name. In case the Jacobites don’t prevail and the Crown executes justice on the clan, the deed to the lands would be in a woman’s hands, and so not directly implicated in the rebellion.
Even Ned Gowan (Conor MacNeill), the infamous advisor to clan MacKenzie, agrees that Ellen’s plan is sound and cunning. After a discussion in private, Colum (Séamus McLean Ross) eventually accepts her proposal. “She is her father’s daughter,” he even says, suggesting that Ellen is as “red” — intelligent, clever, just, vengeful — as Red Jacob was.
Colum dictates his own conditions: Ellen must remain unmarried while the lands of clan MacKenzie are in her hands. This means that Ellen and Brian’s handfasting, which remains valid only for a year and a day, will have to stay a secret until the Rebellion has ended. But Ellen, being a true MacKenzie, agrees with her brother: she would rather die than see her clan in the hands of “strangers,” as she says.
“Frasers still”
As promised, Brian (Jamie Roy) is back at his father’s side. Lord Lovat (Tony Curran) tries to dissuade men to fight for him in the coming war, but with no success. No man wants to be associated with Simon Fraser because his name has been tarnished by scandal; he allegedly took advantage of a Lady Amelia Murray (keep this name in mind) in the past, and this led to the other lairds stripping him of his lands and title.
The tables turn once Brian steps in and delivers a speech worthy of a true leader. His speech is neither grandiose nor flattering, but rather factual and measured. What draws the men in is the way Brian makes his father look like one of them. He calls him proud, stubborn, and reckless, but at the same time asks the men present who among them is without fault.
“What matters is not the failures behind us, but the purpose before us,” he argues. “Not the shame of yesterday, but the honor of tomorrow.”
“So let them say we’re bastards and traitors. Let them say we're reckless fools. Let them say we stand no chance. Let them say it! Because we will answer them on the field. When the day is done, when the banners fall and the smoke clears, let them look to this place, to this hour, and say that they were Frasers still!”
In episode 1, Brian told Ellen that it’s clear she didn’t fall in love with him because of his way with words. After episode 2, I beg to differ. It’s a personal joy to see Brian growing into the leader he was always clearly meant to be.
While he has sworn an oath to Lord Lovat, he is now only loyal to Ellen and the promise of a future together. Brian says just as much to his father, who, unexpectedly, is proud of him: “That’s the spirit I admire most: a will to serve your own ends,” he tells Brian. “You’re not so different from me after all.” Chilling.
Straight into the lions’ den
Before riding back to Leathers, Lovat commands Brian and Murtagh (Rory Alexander) to keep recruiting men and to later meet him on the road to Inverness, where all the clansmen are gathering. The Fraser cousins ride to Castle Leach instead, to make sure Ellen is safe.
I can only describe this move as very bold and slightly insane, especially after finding out Colum MacKenzie paid men to kill Brian. But there he is, a Fraser walking straight into the MacKenzie lions’ den. Brian makes it clear he’s there first and foremost to see with his own eyes that Ellen is unharmed. Dougual being Dougal, he starts a fight. It ends quickly only because Brian has brought a hundred men to Leoch — not to challenge the Mackenzies, but to join them in the rebellion. This obviously pleases Dougal (Sam Retford), who has no choice but to spare Brian. He might actually get a Jacobite brother-in-law, after all.
I especially love this scene because it shows how much loving Ellen has actually changed Brian. In season 1, at the MacKenzie gathering, he was hiding in plain sight, both because of his illegitimacy and his connection to Simon Fraser. In season 2 and this episode in particular, he proudly walks inside the castle and holds his ground against Dougal and the man who ordered his death. It’s like Brian was emboldened by his own speech, as if those were the exact words he had always needed to hear from his father and the rest of the world.
Reverend Beauchamp
Henry (Jeremy irvine) is still being held inside the asylum, but he looks much better. Mrs. Graham’s (Emma Hartley-Miller) visits have obviously helped him: he now remembers baby William at the stones. But the only certain memory he holds is his love for Julia; he compares it to having a phantom limb: “The body remembers what the mind can’t accept is gone. Everyday I wake up and feel like something’s missing.”
Mrs. Graham is determined to help Henry. She suggests he travels through the stones on All Hallow’s Eve — modern-day Halloween — when the veil of time grows thin. First, he has to escape. She again comes to the rescue by providing him with a disguise: Henry changes into Reverend Wakefield’s clothes and walks out the doors of the asylum, finally free. When he reaches Craigh na Dun, he uses a gemstone — another gift of Mrs. Graham’s — to cut his skin to draw blood. He touches the stone and finally goes through.
Julia learns a hard truth
If in episode 1 Julia (Hermione Corfield) was crying on Davina’s shoulder, in episode 2 she’s back on track to attempt time travelling again. First, she needs to find out for certain if what happened at Craigh na Dun was an accident or her inability to travel through the stones. So, when Lovat leaves with Brian and Murtagh, she calls the seer Maisri (Katharine O'Donnelly) to Leathers. Julia’s excuse is to protect the household with a charm against the “Grant man” who kidnapped her and her baby. She mentions the stones to Maisri and the seer warns her of the danger posed by the stone circle. She announces to Julia that she doesn’t have the gift to travel through the stones.
This, of course, might give pause to the viewers. How, then, was Julia able to travel the first time? There are some variables to consider — even though we (and the characters) don’t know for certain the truth about time travel. Two things are essential: a gemstone and an innate gift for time travel. At times, blood has also been deemed necessary, but that is not always the case. We could also argue that, as Mrs. Graham tells Henry, the stones “answer the heart’s true call,” meaning they take the traveller to where they truly desire to be.
Maybe, in the chaos of the moment, Julia was simply terrified for baby William, and so her heart’s true call was to stay put and not risk harming him. It’s not clear if she had any gemstones on her, but she probably didn’t. Moreover, the first time she travelled, she was pregnant. Many fans have theorized that while Julia might not be a time traveller, baby William may be, and that’s why she was able to come through from 1924. We can’t know for certain, but the series is setting up Julia as being unable to time travel. This means that she’s stuck in the 18th century for good.
To make things worse, Maisri tells Julia that she can see Claire (Mae & Tuesday Roberts) in the future, safe with a “fatherly figure” beside her. Julia believes this to be Henry, but we know it’s actually Uncle Lamb (George Kemp), Henry’s brother.
Uncle Lamb, the father who stepped up
Julia and Henry’s disappearance brings consequences to their family in the 20th century. In 1924, we see Uncle Lamb in his Cambridge office, packing up in preparation for his move to the Middle East. We find out he’s been looking for Claire’s parents all this time, but, after months of nothing, he decides to give up the search.
This could not have come at a worse time: in the newspaper on his desk, we can clearly see Henry’s picture in an insert. The only reason why no one has been able to find him is his name: since coming back to the 20th century, he has been calling himself Henry Grant. By going back to the 18th century, Henry has effectively once again abandoned Claire, and once again involuntarily. This creative choice remains true to the Outlander canon, since Claire never sees either of her parents again.
Love blooms at Leoch
Season 2 is setting up two new romantic couples. First, Dougal MacKenzie and Maura Grant (Bobby Rainsbury), who had to get married at the end of season 1 instead of Ellen and Maura’s brother, Malcom (Jhon Lumsden). Theirs is a tried and successful dynamic all the way from Outlander season 1: their wedding resembles the marriage of convenience from which Claire and Jamie’s legendary love was born; their shared stubbornness and fierce family loyalty make for entertaining scenes — especially the more intimate ones, which provide a much-needed comic relief.
The second couple was introduced in this episode: Murtagh Fraser and Grace (Ruby Fubara), Jocasta’s lady’s maid and a new addition to the series. Murtagh’s past has always been a point of great interest for me: canonically, we don’t know much, apart from his unrequited infatuation for Ellen. Outlander gave him more depth and kept his character alive far beyond his story in the books, which led to his reconnecting with Jocasta at an older age. From what I saw, Blood of My Blood will try to explore the past failed loves that will eventually bring Murtagh to accept his true love is Jocasta (Sadhbh Malin). Following this logic, nothing good will happen between Murtagh and Grace… but I can only hope it won’t be as tragic as everything else in the Outlander universe.
Verdict
If there’s one thing Outlander: Blood of My Blood episode 2 makes clear, it’s that nobody in this story is simply waiting for fate to decide what happens to them. Ellen is making plans to save her family. Brian is finally stepping into his own identity. Julia refuses to give up on finding a way back to her husband and daughter, and Henry literally escapes an asylum to be reunited with his love. Even Murtagh, despite his lovesick reputation, seems to be allowing himself to get a little closer to a woman who, fortunately, is not Ellen.
That’s what I particularly love about this episode: beneath all the clan politics, time travel and impending war, it’s really about people choosing where — and with whom — they belong. There’s something particularly satisfying about watching Brian and Ellen become more confident in who they are and what they want. Their love is no longer simply a private escape from the expectations of their families; it is beginning to shape the political and personal choices they make.
Honestly? I’m worried for all of them. Which is exactly why I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Grade: A-
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