Episode 703: Death Be Not Proud

That was quite lovely. Shall we discuss?

Warning- Contains spoilers from Outlander Episode 703: Death Be Not Proud. Another warning- I discuss pet loss and euthanasia (you’ll see why).

With a decidedly slower pace than the previous two installments, this episode adhered pretty tightly to the novels in regards to story and dialogue. As such, watching this hour felt very much like a reading of Diana Gabaldon’s works— a reflective immersion into the story of a loving family as they continue to navigate life’s triumphs and tragedies.

There were a number of prominent themes in this episode (home and homecoming, communication across time and distance, a sprinkling of rising-from-the-ashes symbolism) but, as a veterinarian, I think the most appropriate place to begin is with Adso.

“It’s just a cat,” Claire cries into Jamie’s chest, letting the full emotion of recent events finally catch up with her. It’s perhaps a somewhat throwaway line for most viewers, but for me that line felt personal and tied the episode together most completely. You see, I hear that phrase— “It’s just a cat (or dog, etc)”— frequently and nearly always in the context of grief. Most cat and dog (or other companion animal) owners have unfortunately experienced pet loss or euthanasia, but I’d like to offer a bit of perspective from those of us on the other side.

Euthanasia is a means to end suffering, and for that most veterinarians tend to view it as a privilege in the type of medicine we practice. But it is difficult to watch people grieve. Harder still, sometimes owners feel the need to apologize for their grief. “It’s just a cat,” they will tell me with a tinge of embarrassment, letting me know that they know that there is other suffering in the world that perhaps outweighs the loss of a pet.

Here is what I can assure you: it doesn’t matter. Yes, the world is full of tragedy and loss and inequities of a large scale and it always will be. But the suffering of others does not mean that the grief of an individual is not important…we do not need to qualify our emotions in order to feel them. The loss of a pet is enough; for whatever reasons we feel any of our emotions, it is always enough.

And that is what we watch these characters experience this hour: their worlds are collapsing but what they have is enough. Claire and Jamie have lost their home, but their love is enough. Jamie may never be able to claim William as his son, but the small portrait is enough. Lizzie doesn’t have much to offer Claire in regards to clothes and other household goods, but she has enough. Brianna and Roger have said goodbye to their family, but the letters are enough. Ian cannot see his way to the other side of his guilt and regret, but Claire reassures him that for now breathing is enough. “Enough!” Jamie shouts at the Ridge inhabitants as they struggle to save the Big House. Enough. Sometimes we have to know when enough is, well, enough.

Not too much *happens* in this episode. But that’s okay—this is an episode essentially devoted to grief (the Fraser’s, the MacKenzie’s, Arch Bug’s), and a mourning period often necessitates inaction. In short: Jamie confronts Arch about the stolen gold, to which Arch is unapologetic and says the gold really belongs to Scotland and Hector Cameron was a jerk anyway so who cares. Jamie tries to wash his hands of the mess and dismisses the Bugs, but Ian accidentally kills Murdina when she comes at night to take the rest of the stash. At Murdina’s funeral Arch vows vengeance on Ian, and Jamie decides this is maybe a good time to get Ian out of there and take the family back to Lallybroch.

And speaking of Lallybroch, back in the twentieth century Brianna and Roger are almost definitely buying the property after discovering it is long abandoned and for sale. They are also delivered a chest of letters written by Jamie and Claire two hundred years ago, filling them in on their eighteenth century lives.

Also Adso survives the fire but Claire has to say goodbye to him anyway. Also also, Lizzie is pregnant again because she has two cute husbands and they make cute babies and really who can blame her.

The survival of Jamie’s Highland clothing meant we were treated to the return of his kilt and more formal Scottish dress. Which is appropriate for an episode that in many ways felt like a return to Scotland itself. The ideals of oaths and clan loyalty loom large in this episode, as Arch and Jamie argue over the morality of stealing or keeping the lost Jacobite Gold. And, of course, the MacKenzies have actually returned to Scotland.

Look at the color schemes in these scenes— complementing and matching shades of teal, mauve, and brown. Costume designer Trisha Biggar did a great job telling a story with these clothes: these are characters that remain connected despite being centuries and miles apart.

I was curious how the concept of grace may be employed this season when the Season 7 trailer debuted using Franz Schubert’s melody for Ave Maria. Sadly, at Murdina’s funeral Arch has no grace to give. But there is a perhaps a different relevance for this song within this episode’s context and themes.

Claire singing Ave Maria at Murdina’s funeral was notable for a few reasons. First, notice how she is the only person singing. As Franz Schubert will not be born for another twenty years, Claire is the only one who knows the tune and it’s therefore an appropriate song for an episode that straddles two centuries. Moreover, this is a song within a work of music that Schubert set to Walter Scott’s “Lady of the Lake,” a poem that itself will not be written until the early 19th century and was hugely influential in the revival of Scottish art and literature. Again, it’s a fairly a direct nod to Highland culture in an episode in which the main characters return to Scotland. Finally, we realize we do not need a full choir to feel the full weight of Schubert’s work— Claire’s voice is enough.

And the idea of “enough,” is a fitting one heading into the holiday here in the United States…the celebration of our declaration of independence that will happen two months from the setting of this episode. As we constantly work toward a more perfect union, may we look for those brushing off the ashes of a tragedy, help them rise again, and ensure they always have enough.

Slàinte.

Screencaps provided by Outlander-Online.