By the end of Outlander: Blood of My Blood’s third episode, one thing is abundantly clear: It’s the women in this story who are the bravest among them. In “School of the Moon,” both Ellen and Julia put into motion plans that come with great risk in order to both protect themselves and their families.
Ellen MacKenzie proves herself to be every bit the leader her father believed she could be, by which I mean, oh baby, does she know exactly how to manipulate her idiot, arrogant brothers. It is a pleasure to watch her work. While Colum and Dougal are battling each other to be the new laird of Clan MacKenzie, Ellen sees that by dividing the clan vote between them, they’ve only made it easier for MacKinney to swoop in, win the vote, and steal the clan from their family. Her anger here is twofold: She’s pissed that her brothers are using her as a bargaining chip as they attempt to whip votes — we know Colum has promised Ellen to Malcolm Grant to shore up an alliance with Clan Grant, but now Dougal has secretly promised her to MacRonnach, if he can get the Jacobites in the crowd on Dougal’s side. But she also knows, thanks to a reminder from a genuinely frightened Ned Gowan, that if the MacKenzies lose the lairdship, they will most likely lose their lives, too. The families of those pushed out of leadership positions have a funny way of disappearing, Ned tells her. If Ned cannot get the two brothers to work together for the good of the clan, Ellen will have to figure out a way.
Now everyone knows that the best way to get two insecure ding-dongs to do what you want is to prey on their insecurities. That is Ellen’s plan. Both Colum’s and Dougal’s self-doubt was born from the way their father viewed them. They have daddy issues, of course! And both of their issues were cemented thanks to one fateful night that we get to see in flashback: Red Jacob is essentially testing his sons to see if they are worthy successors by sending them out with fellow MacKenzies to steal some cows from a neighboring clan. I never said the test was cool, okay?
Jacob tells Ellen that if Colum can successfully lead these men through this task, he’ll have proven himself a warrior and real laird material. It’s not long before Dougal is dragging Colum back into Leoch — his horse reared, Colum was thrown, and he can’t walk. When Jacob demands to know why they just abandoned the mission, Colum tells him that they never made it to where they were supposed to be. Jacob is disgusted. He’s even more so a month later when Colum still hasn’t been able to get out of bed. As Jacob lays into his son for being weak, he finally spills on what really happened the night of the cattle raid: They didn’t make it to the planned location because Dougal went rogue — he wanted to get back at Clan MacDonald and so took off for their land. Most followed him. When the MacDonalds realized what was happening, they attacked — that was when the horse bucked and Colum fell. Jacob is angry … about the fact that the clan followed Dougal, proving Colum is no leader. Colum tries to run after his father and Ellen tries to stop him, but Colum falls down the stairs during the attempt and breaks his legs further.
But this cattle-raid experiment didn’t only prove to Jacob that Colum wasn’t fit to be laird, it also proves Dougal isn’t either. When Dougal shows no remorse for hijacking the plan to serve his own desires — he wants glory for himself and the MacKenzie name above all else, no matter how he gets it — Jacob realizes that Dougal will never put clan needs above his own. “You’re a fool, Dougal,” he tells his son before walking away. He doesn’t even think punishing Dougal with lashes will teach him a lesson at this point. To Jacob, he’s another son who is a lost cause. Ellen watches the entire thing.
Back at the Gathering, the oath-taking is approaching. Ellen feels more and more trapped on this little chessboard her brothers have fashioned, but we’ve already established Ellen is a clever chess player — she tells Glenna that there “are still moves to be made.” For Colum, those moves include building him up: She reminds him that a great laird is more than a warrior, a great laird needs to wield his pen more than his sword. For Dougal, she reminds him why their father never named him his successor — because he showed no loyalty to the clan. And now, his selfishness might cost their family that clan. Both brothers might act like they don’t respect Ellen — Colum even tells her that their father only humored her when she offered counsel, and that one really stings — but it’s clear they are listening to what she says, and she knows it.
Ellen meets with Ned. She has a plan to run by him, to make sure it’s feasible. She also believes her brothers may be more amenable to teaming up, but the request has to come from Ned, not her. Ned is relieved and, more important, impressed. When the oath-taking ceremony comes around, Ellen watches as her brothers band together. Colum will be named laird and Dougal will be his war chieftain — in charge if and when the clan enters into a war. They pledge fealty to each other, and then the entire clan follows suit. This is how Ellen saves her family. Now, it doesn’t mean her personal problem — being betrothed to Malcolm Grant for an alliance — has been dealt with yet, but she deserves at least a few nights to relax for pulling off this flawless succession plan.
Over at Castle Leathers, Julia has much less to celebrate. Davina has figured out that Julia is pregnant. (She hasn’t had her period and she’s been around for over a month.) Julia denies it, but Davina doesn’t buy it and she explains how few options she really has. She could run, but she has no money and no place to go, and for the most part, most men aren’t into raising another man’s child. She could stay, but once Lord Lovat learns she’s pregnant, he’ll get rid of that baby one way or another. Or she could “bring down the flowers,” which is a cutesy little way of saying induce an abortion. Whatever she decides, she needs to do it quickly — she’ll be showing soon.
Julia does not want to end her pregnancy. She still holds out hope for a day when her family will be reunited and Claire will meet her sibling. In another letter to Henry, she tells him that this baby is “the only piece she has left” of him. She won’t let it go. But Julia is no dummy. If Davina got to raise Brian in this house only because Brian is the son of Lord Lovat, then Julia knows what she has to do. If she can make Lord Lovat believe this is his child, she’ll have a shot at keeping her baby alive. It seems like there is a whole heap of pretty terrible cons to this plan and yet, what other choice does she really have? (Also remember, she has no idea Henry is in this time looking for her.) So Julia weeps, she asks Henry for forgiveness, and she steels herself. And then she walks into Lord Lovat’s bedroom and offers herself to him. Anyway, I need to go peel my skin off in the shower, byeeeee!
Clan Business
• With Colum installed as laird of Clan MacKenzie, the tenuous alliance between the MacKenzies and Grants is still on, which means Ned is still happy to help Henry in the search for Julia. He introduces Henry to Una Hay, the best brothel owner in the Highlands, and she assures Henry that if there’s a woman who matches his description of Julia wandering around Inverness, she’ll be able to track her down. I don’t know how much “kind eyes” will help identify her, but here’s hoping.
• When Brian learns Ellen is betrothed to Malcolm, he takes a risk and informs his father of the match, knowing the MacKenzie-Grant alliance will piss him off enough to stop the marriage — Isaac Grant is supposed to be Lord Lovat’s ally. He does not, however, foresee his father stopping the marriage by way of spreading rumors that Ellen has been sleeping around the Highlands.
• I’m very worried about the hit Brian and Murtagh’s friendship is going to take when Murtagh discovers that Brian is not trying to stop this marriage to help his ol’ pal Murtagh out, but because he, too, loves Ellen. It’s going to crush the little guy!
• Once again Brian steps in to protect Julia from the lech that is his dad. I want Jamie and Claire to know about all of this so badly!
• I guess if Brian and Ellen can’t be together yet, this hillside finger-bang Ellen has in her dreams is an acceptable trade-off. It’s very romantic … until Glenna wakes her up. I’ll never disparage Mrs. Fitz, but I really did hate her in that moment.
