Recap of Outlander
Season 2, Episode 12:
The Hail Mary
While Jamie desperately attempts to steer the Jacobites away from the doomed Battle of Culloden, Claire tends to an ailing Alex Randall who makes a surprising request. Colum MacKenzie arrives to put his final affairs in order.
Tropes
- Adapted Out:
- In the books, there is a hint of Jack Randall having unsavory feelings towards his younger brother. Jamie recalls Randall continually murmuring "Alex, tell me you love me" as he assaulted Jamie in Wentworth. It struck Jamie as odd that Randall knew his middle name, but he decides Randall must've been referring to a previous inmate who'd committed suicide, unable to cope with being raped. Claire is disturbed, knowing the youngest Randall brother is named Alex. When Captain Randall is later willing to give Claire military secrets in exchange for treating Alex, it becomes even more unclear if he's driven by fraternal love or something more sinister.
- In the books, by the time Culloden is approaching, Claire knew Jack could not be Frank's direct sire as Jamie had neutered him in their duel in France nearly a year prior.
- All for Nothing:
- All the times Claire intervened to ensure that Jack Randall would father a child with Mary were for not as he was never meant to be the biological father of the child. Frank's birth was ensured without Jack and Mary having to be together and Claire's insistent meddling created circumstances in which Fergus is raped and the stress of Jamie and Jack dueling caused Claire to miscarry.
- All the sneaking and lying Jamie and Claire did to prevent the Rebellion had little to no effect on the course of events and they ended up exactly where history dictated they would, except Jamie has been branded a traitor to the crown, forced to act as a leader of the rebellion, and cannot return home for fearing of bringing the Redcoats down on his family.
- Altar the Speed: Jack and Mary are married not long after meeting so that Alex can be assured of Mary's well-being before he dies.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Dougal demands to know why he's not being left in charge of Clan MacKenzie after years of serving as War Chief, Colum points out that if Dougal's leadership was as well-received as he thought it was, more than a handful of men would've volunteered to go to war with him.
- Back for the Dead: Alex Randall is in the final stages of Consumption; Colum returns to give his final orders on Clan business and then die.
- Beg the Dog: Because of the abuse he has visited on the Frasers, Captain Randall has to work hard to convince Claire to continue helping Alex. She only relents when he reminds her that Alex and Mary are kind people who don't deserve to suffer due to the animosity between Black Jack and the Frasers.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: Despite all the warnings that the Highlanders are too exhausted and malnourished to mount a major offensive, Prince Charles goes on a rant about how this is destined by God and forces them to try anyway, leading to their wholesale slaughter.
- The Bus Came Back: Captain Randall and Alex Randall who haven't been seen since the Frasers left France show back up; Colum asks to be put out of his misery after decades of suffering from a degenerative disease.
- Cain and Abel: Dysfunctional fraternal relationships are shown in both Colum and Dougal MacKenzie and Jack and Alex Randall.
- Comically Missing the Point: Prince Charles doesn't think that attacking the British during General Cumberland's birthday party would be very gentlemanly of the Highlanders. He decides to take a bottle of his best wine to give Cumberland after they've captured him.
- Continuity Nod: Colum gives his condolences to Rupert over Angus' death.
- Depending Upon the Undependable: A chance to catch the British unaware and rout their army is blown because Prince Charles and Quartermaster O'Sullivan insist on leading one of the contingents of troops, despite having never done so before. Unaccustomed to navigating the woods at night, they get lost and turn back for camp. The contingent led by Jamie and Lord General Murray arrive and are in the perfect position to deal a massive blow, but cannot mount an offensive without the second contingent to sustain their ranks, so they are forced to turn back as well.
- Downer Ending: The Battle of Culloden is going to happen. The Highlanders are going to be wiped out. Claire has to leave Jamie and go through the stones for the safety of their unborn baby.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Black Jack Randall is genuinely distressed over his younger brother's failing health and is even willing to trade military secrets to ensure that Claire will treat him. Mary also reveals that Captain Randall has been financially supporting the two of them throughout Alex's illness, paying their bills.
- Eye Contact as Proof: Colum says that he will turn Clan MacKenzie over to Dougal if Dougal can look him in the eye and honestly swear that he won't lead the men to a needless death in an un-winnable battle. Dougal is unable to do so.
- Faith in the Foe: Captain Randall believes in Claire's ability to heal people and is willing to trade military secrets in exchange for her treating Alex. He is visibly taken aback when she says that he can't be saved and the best she can do is make him comfortable through the end.
- General Failure: Prince Charles and Quartermaster O'Sullivan are hellbent on fighting the British on the fields of Culloden Moor, despite how terrible of a defensive position it puts their troops in and how exhausted and under equipped the men are.
- Give the Baby a Father: Jack marries Mary so her baby will bear the Randall name and will be legally supported even if something happens to Jack.
- God Help Us All: Lord General Mary's reaction after Prince Charles suggests that the men don't actually need food and supplies as they are carrying out God's will.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Averted. Murtagh offers to marry Mary so she won't have to marry Black Jack Randall, but Claire rightfully points out that marrying a rebel Highlander who doesn't have a penny to his name and may die in a few days doesn't afford her nearly as much protection as marrying a British officer from a noble family who owns property.
- How Dare You Die on Me!: An extreme case. Jack Randall brutally beats his brother's corpse, absolutely losing his shit when his brother dies. From all appearances, Jack can not process the loss of possibly the only person in the world who actually loves him.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Alex's cough has progressed to debilitating and it is obvious he will not recover.
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite Claire, Jamie, and Murtagh's attempts to change the course of the Rebellion, history appears to be self-correcting and resistant to tampering. There are a number of people who are alive who would not be and vice versa save for the Frasers, but when it comes to big picture events, they appear to have little ability to change anything but their own behaviors.
- Insurrectionist Inheritor: Colum puts Jamie in charge of Clan MacKenzie until Colum's son Hamish is of age to be chief. Dougal is outraged as Jamie is a Fraser by birthright, has never sworn fealty to the MacKenzies, and is engaged in the Rebellion just as Dougal is. But Colum rebuts that he trusts Jamie to pull the Fraser and MacKenzie men out of the line of fire if the battle seems hopeless, something he knows Dougal won't do.
- Internal Reveal: Jack Randall was unaware that Claire was helping treat his brother.
- I Regret Nothing: Jack emphatically tells Claire that he doesn't feel bad for anything of the horrible things he's done in his life. He knows he's hurt people and he revels in their pain, delighting in the trauma he leaves behind.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Alex asks his brother Jack to marry his lover Mary as she is with child and needs both the family name and financial support to survive after Alex dies.
- Last Wish Marriage: Asking Jack to marry Mary is the final request Alex makes of his older brother.
- Miles to Go Before I Sleep: Colum has been setting his affairs in order. Meeting with Colum and Jamie is his last step before requesting Claire give him something that will let him die quickly and painlessly.
- Phlebotinum du Jour: Mary is attempting to treat Alex's tuberculosis with arsenic. Being a nurse trained two hundred years later, Claire is well aware that arsenic will bring color to the man's cheeks but the repeated doses are poisoning him.
- Poverty Food: The Highlanders are so hungry, they're boiling twigs and leaves for soup, just to have something in their stomachs.
- Pummeling the Corpse: Subverted in that Jack didn't kill Alex, but he seems unable to process his feelings through anything other than horrifying violence.
- Revenge by Proxy: Invoked. Jack Randall pleads for Claire not to take out her hard feelings against him out on his brother.
- The Reveal: Jack was never destined to be the direct ancestor of Frank Randall. His name appears in the family bible because he married his brother's pregnant lover to make sure the child had the Randall name and financial support after Alex died.
- Upper-Class Twit: Prince Charles refuses to so much as walk the camp and observe the state of his men. The Highlanders are little more than nameless faces to him, a means to an end.
- Verbal Salt in the Wound: As Jack tries to convince Claire that his marrying Mary is a bad idea, he reminds her that he brutally raped Jamie, even mentioning that he remembers what Jamie sounded like as he orgasmed. Claire is visibly disgusted and tries to walk away from the conversation.
- Villain Has a Point: Jack Randall points out that he enjoys hurting people, enjoys their suffering. Having shy, sweet Mary who has previously been raped marry him is probably a terrible idea. Claire agrees but knows he's fated to die in less than three days at the Battle of Culloden.
- Wartime Wedding: Jack and Mary are married immediately because if Jack dies at the Battle of Culloden, Mary can only continue receiving support if she is his widow rather than his sister-in-law.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Neither Jamie, Murtagh, nor Black Jack Randall himself can understand why Claire endorses the idea of Jack and Mary marrying, knowing full well that Mary is a shy, timid woman who has been raped and Jack Randall is a sadistic, intimidating man who has raped multiple people.
- Wham Line: "Tomorrow the prince will have his battle on Culloden Moore."
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Alex reassures Jack that even though he has very dark parts of his soul, Alex knows that he has good parts as well and that's why he is willing to trust the love of his life to his brother.
