The third season of Outlander ended on December 10th with an action-packed finale entitled Eye of the Storm. This finale didn’t follow the same kind of formula as previous Outlander season finales, though, which straddle both time periods that the show is set in, i.e. the 18th and 20th centuries. Instead, Eye of the Storm ended with an indication of where next season will be set rather than when.
A change for the show, viewers will get a chance to see pre-revolutionary Georgia and probably other colonial settlements next season. Where the third season followed Gabaldon’s Voyager novel, the fourth season will reportedly follow Drums of Autumn.
Outlander: Eye of the Storm – Friends in High Places
It pays to have a Governor as a friend, as Jamie is reminded when Lord Grey frees his Scottish friend from Captain Leonard’s arrest. Forbidding Leonard from taking Jamie until Leonard has produced some evidence that Jamie is a seditious murderer, and getting a few good jabs in about the British Navy, Lord John once again proves his worth as a friend and comrade-in-arms.
Outlander: Eye of the Storm – The 200-year-old Baby (not Donald Trump)
Searching Geillis Duncan’s house for young Ian Fraser, Claire is apprehended by Geillis’s powerfully built footman. Geillis accuses Claire of working against her over the past decade to prevent the return of a Scottish king to the throne, and in her haste to convince Geillis of her innocence Claire reveals that she traveled back to 1948 in order to raise her then-unborn child Briana in a safe place. Geillis realizes that Briana is the 200-year-old baby that the prophecy spoke of.
Outlander: Eye of the Storm – Willoughby Triumphant
Shortly after this transpires, Willoughby kills Archibald Campbell, the brother of the prophetic Margaret Campbell, while defending Margaret her abusive brother. Willoughby and Margaret’s relationship has blossomed since last we saw them, and they intend to run away together. With Archibald dead on the ground, nothing will stop them. Luckily, just before his death Archibald reveals to Claire and Jamie the nature of the prophecy concerning the 200-year-old baby that Geillis has been so absorbed with.
Realizing that Geillis intends to kill Briana, Claire gets a brief chance to talk to her daughter using Margaret as a medium. Unfortunately, the content of their discussion is less than pleasan: Briana is being chased by a “monster” and needs help. After coming out of her trance, Margaret repeats the name of a nearby cave, and Jamie and Claire make their way there, believing both that Geillis intends to kill Briana and that she will do so by sacrificing young Ian.
Outlander: Eye of the Storm – Don’t Lose Your Head
The time-crossed lovers stop Geillis from killing Ian in the nick of time, but unfortunately Claire’s method of stopping Geillis leaves Geillis headless. They hurry young Ian out of the cave and away from the stones that very nearly draw Claire back to the 20th century.
Their young compatriot now recovered, the Frasers set sail for home, but, after a bit of trademark canoodling, they meet yet another obstacle. A raging storm assaults their ship, and Claire gets washed overboard. Jamie, who must be getting sick of always saving Claire’s life, dives down and rescues her from a watery grave, but upon surfacing they find little help.
Adrift on some flotsam for a time, they finally wash up on an unknown beach. After resuscitating his water-logged wife, Jamie spies some locals. Asking what island they’ve wrecked on, the pair are met with surprise. No island, says one of them. They’re told they’ve reached the mainland, Georgia to be exact. Jamie is confused, but Claire understands. They’ve reached the colonies, what will one day become the United States of America.
Outlander: Eye of the Storm – Drums of Autumn
As always, as a watcher of the show but not a reader of the novels, I have no concept of what to expect from Oultander’s fourth season. I wonder if we viewers will get a chance to reconnect with Briana and Roger. Based on her brief conversation with Claire, it sounds like Briana could be in some form of danger not yet resolved by Geillis’s beheading.
I also wonder if we might see a set of American stones that could allow for easier travel between 18th and 20th centuries. With Black Jack and now Geillis out of the way, one longs for a villain and a cause for the heroic couple to fight for, although I recommend against trying to install a Scottish king on the throne. Didn’t work out too well for Geillis.
