In an emotional season finale on Outlander, we say goodbye to one character as he starts down his own path, and reunite the Fraser family. Here’s our review of “Man of Worth.”
The prologue for the episode features the time traveler that Claire met earlier in the season. He was a ghost then, but here, he’s alive and watching as two children play cowboys and Indians around him.
We know that his reasons for going back are probably in large part to warn the Native Americans of what’s coming. We get his backstory through Jamie, Claire and Ian’s interactions with the Mohawk later in the episode.
For the last time this season, let’s break down Outlander, “Man of Worth”!
The Mohawk and Roger’s rescue
They arrive at the Mohawk camp and talk of trading things to gain Roger’s freedom. When Claire removes her scarf to reveal the stone she found years ago, all the Mohawk back away, and Chief Tehwahsehkwe tells them they must leave. They will not trade with them.
Jamie, Claire, and Ian do as their asked, but when they’re far enough away from the Mohawk camp, Jamie says that he’s going back to get Roger. Claire tells him that he can’t go back. This is no Fort William, and he doesn’t know his way around.
“I won’t return to Bree with a lump of rock while Roger’s still here.”
As they’re unpacking for the night, Mohawk warriors and the Chief’s daughter, Wahkatiiosta, show up in camp, demanding the stone.
“We’re here for the stone. Give it to us and we will not harm you.”
“I’ll consider giving it to you if you help us get our friend back.”
“Very bold of you considering we could take it by force if we wanted to.”
Claire asks Wahkatiiosta why the stone is so important, and she begins to tell them about Otter Tooth, and his warning of war and death from colonizers. Many men followed him, and they returned with scalps of white men.
He was exiled from the Mohawk by Wahkatiiosta’s grandfather, but he kept coming back with the warnings. Finally, he got away and ran. The Mohawk found him and killed him. Even after cutting off his head, the words rung in the warriors ears:
“You will be forgotten. The Nations of the Iroquois will be no more. No one will tell your stories. Everything you are will be lost.”
The Chief took the head and stone and buried it far away from Shadow Lake.
Claire explains that she found the stone with the skull. She tells them that Otter Tooth’s ghost appeared to her, and that she believes ghosts only stick around when there’s a story to tell or a message to rely.
Wahkatiiosta and Claire come to an agreement. She’ll give them the stone, if they help Roger escape.
Later that night, they all enter the Mohawk camp, led by Wahkatiiosta to retrieve Roger. They get into the hut, and Claire sees Roger first, but when he sees Jamie, he’s shocked.
They’re able to get out of the hut, but a Mohawk warrior spots them. Wahkatiiosta pleads with him to keep quiet, but he shoots his gun into the air. What follows is a battle to get to the river, and no one makes it.
Kaheroton takes Jamie’s pistol and points it at his face while Claire yells, “Peace!”
In the morning, Chief Tehwahsehkwe banishes his own daughter for going against his wishes. He tells Jamie, Claire, and Ian that Otter Tooth has brought nothing but pain and disharmony to his people, and he won’t allow it to continue.
“Take the stone. Leave the village. Never return.”
“We’re grateful. We only ask that we can leave with our friend. “
“There has been no fair trade. Dogface must stay.”
Jamie volunteers himself to stay in Roger’s place, but when Ian goes to make the offer to the Mohawk, he exchanges himself for Roger. He apologizes to Roger before he turns to speak to Jamie about his decision.
When Jamie says he’ll come back and help him escape, Ian tells him no. He won’t break his word to the Mohawk. Jamie is brought to tears at the prospect of being separated from his nephew. Ian tells him that he’s chosen this path, and it’s okay.
“Ye once said that ye wished me to become a man of worth.”
“Ye dinna ken how worthy you are. Cuimhnich. Cuimhnich. Remember.”
“I wilna forget. Never.”
Jamie, Claire, and Roger leave the camp, and Ian and Rollo behind.
As they’re on the trail back home, Claire asks Jamie how he’ll tell Jenny, and he says that she won’t like it, but she’ll understand. Ian’s always been restless with a need for adventure. All the while, Roger’s sitting down and watching Jamie and Claire.
He’s reached his limit and knocks the hell out of Jamie. Claire moves to stop him, but Jamie tells her to let him do it. He owes it to Roger to let him get his licks in.
Meanwhile, back at the Mohawk camp, Ian is pushed through The Gauntlet. He manages to make it through. Chief Tehwahsehkwe tells the tribe:
“You have proven yourself worthy. You will become one of us!”
Ian is worthy, and I hope this isn’t the last we see of him. The scenes of violence between Roger and Jamie and Ian and The Gauntlet are so well done.
Once they stop fighting, Roger asks where Bree is, and Claire tells him she’s with Aunt Jocasta.
“She sent ye for me then?”
“Yes.”
“When I met you on the ridge, I thought that might be the reason you beat me. Because she said terrible things and turned ye against me.”
“No. No, she didna. She…that was my own notion. I didna ken who you were.”
“Oh, thank God. Having me beaten nearly to death and sold into slavery seemed a trifle extreme, even for a woman with her temper.”
Roger asks why he was beaten, even if he didn’t know who he was. Claire says it was a misunderstanding, but when it’s obvious Roger wants the whole story, Claire tells him about Bree’s rape.
After finding out this, Roger’s upset, but when he hears that it was Stephen Bonnet, he’s beyond furious. Roger explains that he was on Bonnet’s crew as a way to get to America.
Jamie is so angry that Roger would leave her alone, and Roger tells him that he didn’t leave Bree because they argued.
“I left because she told me to go, but even then, I came back for her, but i was forced back onto the ship by bloody Stephen Bonnet.”
He further explains that he was paid in gems because he had to finish sailing up the coast with Bonnet. He calls Bonnet a madman, and Jamie and Claire realize that all his feelings toward Bonnet, while justified, will affect his feelings toward Bree.
He keeps talking about how he can take Bree home now, and Claire tells him that there’s no way Bree can go back now. She was pregnant, and by the time they make it back, she’ll have had the child.
They also explain to Roger that the baby might not be his since Bree was raped the same night as when he left her, and he’s able to deduce that Stephen Bonnet may be the child’s father.
While I understand that Jamie and Claire want to protect Bree from anymore heartache, the way they throw all this at Roger and expect him to make a decision then and there with all his emotions is insane.
“This is all too much.”
“You cost me a lad that I love. And my daughter doesn’t need a coward.”
“What?”
“I’d rather she hate me for the rest of her life than for you to break her heart again. So, make up your mind.”
“I need time.”
Roger leaves Jamie and Claire for some time on his own, and Jamie and Claire finish their journey to River Run.
At River Run during that time period
Murtagh shows up at River Run for the first time in a several weeks, and Jocasta sits with him as he eats dinner. She shades him a little for being in jail, and asks if it was because of the Regulators or the task that Jamie sent him on.
“A little of both if ye must know.”
“Ye always did find trouble.”
“Some things are worth the trouble.”
Jocasta tells him that she’s grateful for his company, but he shouldn’t stay in one place for long. He says he just wants to check on Bree then he’ll leave. Jocasta tells him that they’re taking good care of her, and that she’s engaged to Lord John Grey.
Murtagh’s upset at the thought of Bree marrying a redcoat, but Jocasta reminds him that she needs husband.
“I ken you’re fond of marriage since ye’ve had three yerself but that’s no excuse to marry…”
“I do not recall asking your opinion on the matter.”
Jocasta gets Ulysses to escort her out of the dining room, and Murtagh throws his silverware down. He doesn’t like this idea at all.
While this is happening, Phaedre is feeling Bree’s stomach and checking on the baby. She tells Bree that the baby’s in good position and that she’s birthed lots of babies in this world. She doesn’t need to worry. Phaedre senses Bree’s hestiance on that baby, and tells her that her bairn will be perfect.
That evening, Bree and Murtagh talk about Lord John and her engagement. She tells Murtagh that she’s not going through with it. She was only giving her mother enough time to get Roger to her.
Murtagh then poses the question he’s been wondering, why did she go see Stephen Bonnet? She tells him that Jamie told her to forgive him if she could, and that’s what she went to do.
“Did it bring ye peace?”
“Some. Enough.”
“Do ye think ye could forgive your father? For your sake as well as his?”
“I already have.”
That night while Murtagh is still at River Run, he and Jocasta are having some whisky and seem to be in a better place than before. She asks him what his plans are, and he says he’ll go back to the Regulators. She calls him a fool, and he tells her that if the cause is just, it’s better to fight.
Murtagh presses all the wrong buttons, telling Jocasta that she’s letting her people suffer while living in a nice home. She could do something.
Jocasta tells him that he’s in the new world now, and he can make a fresh start. This isn’t the right thing to Murtagh since he wasn’t give the choice to come here; he was forced. Jocasta reminds him that despite that, he could start over.
Murtagh tells her that she could be involved, ways she could use her influence. Jocasta puts the pieces together in her head (or at least she thinks she does) and accuses him of trying to get something from her.
“Aye, Jo, no! You’ve kent me nigh on fifty years.”
“Aye, and you’re always after something. Ye have that skeekit way about ye and ye don’t use many words, but in your head, ye’re always scheming on how to get what ye want.”
“Scheming? What? Ye sound like a lunatic.”
“A lunatic. Truth be told, I never liked ye. Ye used to decend on Leoch like a dark cloud o’ rain, staying well past yer welcome, drinking our ale, and griping about everything. The way ye glower and stare, ye make folks uneasy. Ye’re as stubborn as a mule then, and you havena changed a bit. I canna believe I allowed ye to darken my door.”
Murtagh grabs Jocasta’s arm, and she throws her whisky in his face. The scene transitions to the next morning, and we see that Jocasta and Murtagh spent the night together. She asks if he has to go, and he tells her that she pointed out that it wouldn’t be good if he stayed in one place for too long.
She climbs back into bed with him instead of going down for breakfast, and whoa lawd, ships are sailing!
—
When we next see River Run, Bree’s giving birth to her son. When she wakes up, Jocasta tells her that she can see her son when she’s ready, and that when the time comes, they’ll choose a birthday wisely. He’ll definitely be born in wedlock.
When Bree sees her son, she smiles and kisses his forehead. He looks like he has reddish hair.
Reunions
We next see River Run two months later. Bree is holding her son and speaking with Murtagh when Phaedre comes running inside and saying that Jamie and Claire are finally back!
When Bree comes out on the porch with her son, she sees that it’s only her mom and Jamie. She immediately starts crying because Roger isn’t there. They tell her that Roger is alive, but she realizes that he didn’t come with them after finding out the truth.
Jamie and Claire are heartbroken for Bree, and the reunion is bittersweet.
In the house, Claire is holding the baby when she finds out that Bree didn’t name him yet because she was waiting for Roger. Claire thanks Jocasta for taking care of Bree, and she passes the baby to Jocasta as she goes to check on Bree.
Jamie goes to Murtagh and finds out about the prison explosion. Murtagh says that Bonnet didn’t get out, but I’ll wait on that one. I don’t trust that kind of evil.
Upstairs, Claire tells Bree that she wants to take her home to Fraser’s Ridge. She’ll be surrounded by family and they’ll take care of her and the baby.
Jocasta, Murtagh, Jamie and Claire are having dinner, and there’s an empty seat between Jamie and Claire. Everyone is eating in silence when Bree comes down to join them. This is the first time that Bree seems okay after the birth of her child.
It will be hard for her, but she looks determined to move on.
The following day, everyone is packing up Bree’s things, and Jamie and Claire thank Jocasta again and invite her Fraser’s Ridge. While Bree is packing, she sees Roger out of her window and runs downstairs to see him.
“I didn’t know if you’d come.”
“I may be stubborn, but I’m no fool. I love you. I always will.”
“I love you, too.”
“The bairn?”
“A boy.”
“Take me to see my son.”
The reunion is loaded, though, because redcoats come down the lane. Immediately, Bree thinks they’re there for Murtagh. Jocasta tells Ulysses to hide Murtagh in the slave quarters, and the redcoats come inside, asking for James Fraser.
When Jamie tells them who he is, they give him a letter from Governor Tryon.
Jamie tells Claire what’s in the letter, and we find out what our big problem for next season will be.
“He’s ordered me to muster and lead a militia to fight the Regulators. My first mission is to hunt down and kill the fugitive Murtagh Fitzgibbons.”
What did you think of the season finale of Outlander? As we move into these months without the show we adore, we can be excited that STARZ has renewed the series through season six! Filming should begin soon, too!
In the meantime, how do you think Jamie will take the task assigned him by Tryon?
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