‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: “Forgive Me, Father”

By Caitlin Gallagher

War is here on Blood of My Blood, with the Jacobite rising of 1915 in full force. And while blood is shed in the Battle of Sheriffmuir, the Scottish clansmen aren’t the only ones taking lives in “Forgive Me, Father.”

The episode starts with Colum (Seamus McLean Ross), who is struggling with his role as laird of Clan MacKenzie and his dead father’s expectations. Due to his pyknodysostosis (Toulouse-Lautrec syndrome), he’s at home instead of the battlefield alongside his pregnant wife Letitia, his unhappily-wed sister Jocasta, and lawyer Ned Gowan.

Also at home is Julia (Hermione Corfield), held captive by Seema (Lauren McQueen). The prostitute-turned-Grant-spy wants Henry for herself and thinks eliminating Julia would be the easiest way to get him.

Ellen (Harriet Slater) and Grace (Ruby Fubara) are camping on their way back to Leoch, and Ellen tells Grace that Murtagh has feelings for her. Grace lets on that she knows Ellen’s pregnant and asks: If Brian dies, what will become of the unwed Ellen and their baby?

Which is a great question, as Brian (Jamie Roy) and Murtagh (Rory Alexander) have reached the Earl of Mar’s army, and the fighting will start soon. Murtagh promises he’ll protect Ellen and the bairn if anything happens to Brian, and Outlander fans know he means it based on how devoted Murtagh will be to their second son.

With the Grants teaming up with the Loyalists, Arch Bug (Terence Rae) and Henry (Jeremy Irvine) are at the British camp where Arch asks if the faeries took him, as his wife Murdina believes. Henry explains the sensation of time travel and how the “faeries” tried to take his memory of his daughter Claire. Arch seems to respect that, and against all odds, these guys are officially bros now.

At Leoch, Letitia (Rebekah Lumsden) is blaming herself for the death of the kind Janet, and soon-to-be-dad Colum gets philosophical about how everyone is pieces of their parents. Ned Gowan (Conor MacNeill) interrupts to share the news that Dougal evaded Lord Lovat’s trap and is with Mar’s army. Later, Colum reasons that if the Jacobites win, Dougal will want to be laird of Clan MacKenzie. If they lose, Ned is confident that the British won’t seize Leoch with it in Ellen’s name. Colum thinks of his dad, Red Jacob, and his adoration of Ellen and regrets using her to protect the clan… though it’s doubtful he’ll stop.

But Ellen has a more pressing threat to deal with as she wakes up to find James MacKinney’s son, Robert (Macleod Stephen), holding a gun to her face to avenge his father. Grace tries to defend her, but he knocks her out and ties the women up. He promises Ellen a slow, painful death, but Ellen encourages him to choose a different path rather than end up like his father (with an arrow in him, courtesy of Ellen). Her words finally convince him, and just as he lets them go, wondering what type of man he could be without his toxic father, Balloch (Chick Allan) hits him from behind, presumably killing him, and captures Ellen for Simon. Uh-oh, Brian’s not going to be happy with his father.

Claire’s mom isn’t doing much better as Julia begs Seema not to hurt William. Seema’s quite cryptic about the baby’s whereabouts and comes up with a scheme to take William as her own (how very Hand That Rocks the Cradle of her). In some ways, you can almost pity the desperate and delusional Seema in these scenes. But as she threatens to tell Lovat that Julia is also married to Henry (bigamy runs in the Beauchamp family), she’s too dangerous to keep around.

Also worthy of pity is Jocasta (Sadhbh Malin), who still longs for Murtagh (just gotta wait till Outlander Season 4, Jocasta!). Mrs. Fitz (Sally Messham) encourages Jocasta to hope for a great love and doesn’t judge her for not loving her husband. Jocasta also confesses to Letitia that she’s relieved her husband John Cameron is at war. Letitia hopes that if her child is a girl, she never has to dread the sound of her husband’s footsteps. She later asks Colum what he’ll do if they have a daughter vs. a son. And with his daddy issues, Letitia prays for a daughter.

Throughout the episode, scenes of the Battle of Sheriffmuir play out in a battle of clan vs. clan. The British may have guns and cannons, but the Jacobites, led by a fierce Dougal (Sam Retford), aren’t intimidated. Murtagh has a particularly epic kill with a running jump, but it’s not all triumphant as Old Rupert (Craig Clelland) dies from a cannon blast. Brian and Henry encounter one another on opposing sides, but share a knowing nod and leave each other be. Future Jamie and Claire thank you for that.

It looks like Henry is going to bail from the fighting as he planned, but instead, he saves Arch’s life, saying he couldn’t face Julia (or Murdina) if he abandoned his fellow soldiers. His World War I training impresses a Redcoat who introduces himself — Captain Lord Gerard Grey (Digby Edgley). Yup, that’s none other than Outlander fave Lord John Grey’s dad. (Oh, what mischief their two kids will get into, iykyk.)

The fighting is over, and Dougal is pissed that Mar won’t continue to fight to claim victory (the battle will go down in history with no clear winner). He gathers 20 MacKenzie men to raid the Duke of Argyll’s supply train. Only Alec (Michael Cooke) returns worse for wear and tells Brian that Dougal and Old Angus were taken prisoner while the other MacKenzie men were all killed. Since Brian promised Ellen he’d make sure Dougal came back alive, he and his trusty sidekick Murtagh head to Fort William (which, in the future, will be Black Jack Randall’s headquarters) to bust him out.

Alone at the camp, Henry reads Julia’s letter she gave him last episode, which tells him that they’ll be together in this world or the next. And it might just have to be the next world because Seema is wielding that knife and ready to use it. But Julia tackles her, and in the ensuing physical struggle, Julia strangles Seema to death. A shaking Julia escapes the room to find Davina (Sara Vickers) and William perfectly fine; it appears Seema was bluffing when it came to them. As menacing music plays, Davina asks her where Seema is, and Julia whispers, “Gone.”

So although the episode had a theme of men asking forgiveness for their and their father’s sins, Julia may be the one praying for forgiveness next episode. And hopefully she can atone by helping to save Ellen from her other husband.

Caitlin Gallagher is a New Jersey-raised, NYC-based entertainment writer. When not writing about or watching TV, she can be found planning her next Halloween costume, crying over rescue animals, or praising Season 2 of The Leftovers.