Recap of Outlander
Season 2, Episode 11:
Vengeance Is Mine
After Jamie runs afoul of the Prince's War Council, he, Claire, and the Fraser fighting men are sent to scout ahead and procure supplies. Along the way they're ambushed by a superior force of Redcoats, forcing the group to scatter in hopes of regrouping later, leading to a most unexpected reunion for Claire.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Claire, who is active in her own rescue. Mary, who overcomes her timidity to stab her rapist with a knife.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Jamie is dead set against trading Claire for the men's safety. Finally, Claire demands "Am I not Lady Broch Tuarach? Are these men not my responsibility too?" Only then does Jamie relent.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Ross asks what happened to Rupert who has obviously been shot in the eye. Rupert replies that he tried to take a closer look at a musket ball.
- Asshole Victim: The Duke's valet who seemed to delight in menacing both Claire and Mary throughout the episode and is eventually revealed to be the man who raped Mary, ruining her life. It's hard not to cheer when meek, quite Mary stabs him to death.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: Prince Charles argues a case for taking on the 30,000 well-armed, well-trained, well-fed British soldiers in the heart of England with an army of only 5,000 under-armed, under-trained, under-fed, and injured Highland warriors. He believes that God's hand will guide them.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Mary seems the type to constantly need rescuing, but when the Duke's servant threatens to kill Claire and is revealed as Mary's rapist, Mary kills the man herself, defusing the hostage situation.
- Big Damn Heroes: Jamie and Murtagh in rescuing Claire and Mary; Dougal for jumping horses mid-gallop to keep an injured Rupert from falling off his horse and being captured.
- Big Damn Kiss: Jamie and Claire share one just before Dougal hands Claire over to the English soldiers.
- The Bus Came Back: Hugh Monro, who hasn't been seen since the middle of season 1, returns to help reunite Jamie and Claire; Mary, who was last seen in France, is being housed at the Duke's estate until she can be married off.
- Call-Back: Murtagh reminds the group that he swore he would lay vengeance at their feet in retribution for the attacks against Claire and Mary.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: A fan of playing both sides, the Duke of Sandringham finally betrays Jamie and Claire one time too many.
- Decapitation Presentation: Murtagh beheads the Duke and presents his severed head, literal proof that he fulfilled his vow to avenge their attacks.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In revenge for reporting the dangerous smallpox infection that could have wiped out a significant portion of the city, the Comte wants Claire killed. The Duke claims he talked the Comte down to just rape and that Mary was merely collateral damage.
- The Dog Bites Back: Mary is constantly yelled at and treated like an idiot child, the men running roughshod over her shy nature. But after discovering that the her godfather's servant is the man who raped her, Mary surprises everyone by stabbing the man to death.
- Either "World Domination", or Something About Bananas: Inverted. Claire uses Gaelic to send a coded message to Jamie, but as she's only heard the language orally, she's limited to phonetic spelling. The resulting message is difficult for the men to interpret despite Jamie and Murtagh being native speakers.Murtagh: She even misspelled "help"!
- Evil All Along: Although the Duke's loyalty has always been in question, he is revealed to be heavily complicit in the majority of the heroes' suffering in season 2.
- Evil Plan: The Duke of Sandringham is kind enough to explain his dastardly plan to lure Jamie into a trap and trade Jamie's life for his own freedom. The Duke gives enough detail and sufficient time for Claire to get a message to Hugh who in turn passes the information to Jamie and Murtagh.
- Eye Scream: Rupert is shot in the eye while trying to escape the Redcoat ambush. Later he has to have the bullet and the eye removed without any sort of analgesic.
- Faith in the Foe: Knowing Jamie's history of escaping Red Coat custody and the loyalty the Frasers have for each other, the Duke is confident that Jamie will be able to locate Claire and will come to rescue her no matter the risk. In fact, the Duke is counting on it.
- False Friend: The Duke proves once and for all that he is not to be trusted.
- A Friend in Need: Hugh Monro turns out to be one of the best allies Claire and Jamie could hope to have.
- Grammar Correction Gag: After Jamie spends most of the episode frantically trying to find Claire, he is extremely relieved to finally get a letter from her sent via Hugh Monroe. Even though the letter is informing them that Claire is in danger of being executed and they'll have to run towards certain death to rescue her, Murtaugh takes the time to criticize Claire's ability to write in Gaelic.Murtagh: She even misspelled "help"!
- Guile Hero: When the Highlanders are trapped in a chapel by the English soldiers Claire pretends to be a hostage to stop the soldiers from setting fire to the building.
- Heroic Vow: Jamie promises to make sure Claire is safe no matter what happens.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Averted and played straight. Jamie is prepared to give himself up to save the lives of the others. Dougal points out that if he is captured, he will be immediately executed with no time for a rescue attempt. Claire then offers herself up, pointing out that the soldiers will simply drop her off at the nearest Fort where the men can then rescue her later. Reluctantly, Jamie agrees to her plan.
- It's Personal: When the Duke is revealed as the mastermind behind the attack on Murtagh and Claire and Mary's rape, his fate is all but sealed with Murtagh who has sworn fatal vengeance on the man responsible.
- I Will Find You: Before separating, Claire promises Jamie that they will find each other again.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: It is revealed that the Duke thwarted Jamie and Ned Gowan's attempt to discredit Jack Randall, was behind the assault on Claire and the rape of Mary, and was the one secretly funding Charles Stuarts' campaign. Normally, his charm and social status protects him from the consequences of his outlandish behavior but when he tries to out gambit Claire and Jamie to trade the lives of Red Jamie and the Stuart Witch for his own freedom, he tips his hand a bit too far and loses his head, literally.
- Kick the Dog: Not only is Jamie effectively exiled, they even take his horse.
- Killed Off for Real: The Duke of Sandringham, who is beheaded by Murtagh.
- Lured into a Trap: The Duke of Sandringham pretends to aid Claire long enough to convince her to write a letter to Jamie asking him to come to the Duke's residence. Once the letter is sent, he delights in informing her that he's actually made a deal to turn in Red Jamie and his treasonous wife in exchange for a pardon for the Duke's own treasonous behavior.
- Off with His Head!: Murtagh hacks off the Duke's head with an axe as vengeance for his complicity in the attack on Mary and Claire which led to Mary's rape.
- Rape and Revenge: Mary finally gets to have her revenge on the man who raped her. She stabs him in the heart with a knife. Murtagh then takes revenge on the Duke for arranging the rape.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Due to his ability to influence Prince Charles, Jamie and his unit are reassigned to head to Inverness, removing his ability to advise the King.
- Running Gag: The Duke keeps yelling at Mary to go bed no matter the time of day or the reason she's attempting to talk to him.
- Run or Die: When their much smaller unit is ambushed by the Redcoats, Jamie's unit has no choice but to scatter in hopes of joining back up later.
- Say Your Prayers: As Claire sleeps, Jamie prays over her, asking God to protect her and keep her safe.
- Seeking Sanctuary: Averted. Jamie, Claire, and their men are hiding in a church but the Redcoats are fully prepared to burn the church down to capture the rebels.
- Smug Snake: The Duke is very sure that he's covered all his bases and will come out smelling like roses. He enjoys taunting Claire about her and Jamie's impending deaths for treason. Unfortunately, he spoke far too soon.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Hugh Monro. In the books, he is caught and hanged by the Duke's men before he can deliver the final message of warning to Jamie and Murtagh.
- Subverted Suspicion Aesop: Claire warned Jamie and Murtagh back in season 1 that the Duke could not be trusted due to his conflicting allegiances to Black Jack Randall and the Jacobite cause, but they believed they'd worked out a deal when he agreed to take Jamie's petition to Court. Claire's suspicions turned out to be more right than she even realized.
- Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The 1740s is a time where word is bond and a man who can not keep his word is the worst kind of useless. The fact that the Duke is practically spinning in circles as double and triple crosses people makes him really stand out as particularly malevolent.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Claire and the men agree they will come to Fort Hemeslee to rescue her. So, of course, the British have a change of plans and drop her off at the estate of the Duke of Sandringham. Claire then sends a letter to Jamie letting him know of her location and the Duke's agreement to help them provided they also help him escape his home detention with the Redcoats. So of course, the Duke is a lying weasel and has agreed to lure in Red Jamie in exchange for a pardon for his own suspected treason.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Jamie and Prince Charles want to take London. In a rare moment of agreement, Quartermaster O'Sullivan and Lord General Murray agree that it would be a suicide run given how grossly outnumbered they are.
- We Do Not Know Each Other:
- Hugh Monroe immediately recognizes Claire and knows she must be in trouble if she's with the Redcoats with Jamie nowhere in sight. He and Claire pretend to be strangers who have a random collision on the street so that she can discretely pass information to Jamie and Murtagh through Monroe.
- The Duke and Claire pretend not to know each other when Claire is brought to the Duke's estate. Claire is going by her maiden name and has been pretending to be a random English woman set upon by unknown Highlanders. The Duke, knowing how clever Claire can be, obviously thinks it wiser to wait, see what she's up to, and then figure out how to capitalize on it for his own benefit.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Claire once again has to pretend to be a captured English woman to get the Redcoats to back off of the Highlanders for her purported safety. The Redcoats agree to let the Highlanders go unharmed if they surrender Claire and their weapons.
- You Just Had to Say It: Jamie declares that they've given the Redcoats the slip. Seconds later, they cross paths with more Redcoats and the chase is back on, resulting in Rupert losing an eye.
