We’re back! Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright’ is the episode that made us understand Davina and her attitude, although it’s also one of the rawest and most uncomfortable to watch. And that leaves us with mixed feelings. Ready?
Here we go!
Sins and Sinners in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright’
Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright’ has two undeniable protagonists: Davina and Julia. Both have parallel stories. Their motivations and circumstances are different, but their stories are too similar. And this episode managed to make us understand Davina and sympathize with her.
The episode achieved what it intended: to stir us inside and leave us with a strange feeling, somewhere between compassion, contempt, and helplessness. As if we were divided. And that’s a reflection of Davina’s conflicting feelings toward Julia, and ours toward Davina.
On the one hand, Davina truly believed she deserved the abuse Lord Lovat subjected her to, that it was her fault, that she sought it out, that she brought it on herself. That’s what that disgusting swine kept repeating to her, and what those horrible women yelled at her in the midst of unbearable pain, torturing her.
But a small, tiny part of Davina didn’t buy that garbage. So, when she saw Lord Lovat looking at Julia, she recognized that look. And she recognized herself in Julia, too. A young, beautiful woman who wanted nothing more than to fulfill her duties and hated the extra attention the laird gave her.
So she warned her. Davina tried to prevent Julia from going through the same thing that happened to her, from suffering the same things she suffered. But Julia sought it out; she choseto crawl into that beast’s bed. And that made Davina furious and outraged her. She did everything she could to save Julia, and she rejected her help and her good intentions to choose hell.
Davina had no choice; Lord Lovat made that choice for her; he forced her. Now, the fact that Julia willingly went to that monster’s bed, that she chose that when Davina was forced into that hell, outrages and enrages Davina beyond words. It turns her stomach.
Davina thought Julia was just like her, a good woman about to suffer a horrible fate. And Davina wanted to save Julia just as she would have wanted someone to save her. But Julia proved her wrong. She chose that fate. So Davina concludes that she’s an unscrupulous woman, a snake, who cares nothing as long as she gets what she wants—although she couldn’t figure out what that is—and she even suspects that she’s trying to wrap Brian around her finger.
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Mixed Feelings
On the other hand, at the same time that Davina feels all this for Julia, a small part of her that Davina doesn’t dare admit exists, is also envious of Julia. Lord Lovat put her through hell and has never shown her a shred of respect or consideration.
To him, she has always been just a slave, an object to be used at his will whenever and wherever he needed her, whether in housework or in his bed. And, of course, he never considered making her his wife so that their son wouldn’t be considered a bastard. Lord Lovat has behaved no better toward Brian. He has always reminded him of his status as a bastard and let him know how much he despises him and considers him weak and unworthy of being his successor and carrying his name.
However, Lord Lovat behaves differently toward Julia and her unborn child in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright.’ Lord Lovat wants to marry her so their child won’t be a bastard, and even though that baby hasn’t been born yet, Lord Lovat is incredibly proud of him. More than he’s ever been of Brian. Because of this, Lord Lovat is giving Julia and her child a place he never gave to Davina or Brian, showing to Julia and the baby the respect he always denied to them.
That’s why Davina wants to punish Julia in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright.’ She wants her to pay for everything. For willingly choosing something horrible that was forced upon her. For obtaining a place that was always denied to her and her child when they deserved it, especially after everything Davina had to suffer. Of course, Davina’s conclusions couldn’t be further from the truth, but she doesn’t know that. Until she hears Julia beg for her son and protect him with such ferocity. That changes everything.
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Understanding and Courage
When Julia looks Davina in the eyes and tells her she did everything for her son, Davina understands. She did the same thing then and continues to do so now. She protected Brian from those horrible women while giving birth to him, and since then, she has protected him from Lord Lovat however she could.
For Davina, protecting Brian meant resigning herself to keeping her distance from him in public and keeping quiet about the fact that he’s her son. It meant not behaving like his mother except when they were alone together and continuing to serve Lord Lovat despite everything he did to her. For Julia, it meant having to sleep with that swine and pretending she isn’t disgusted every time she feels him look at her.
That’s why Davina realizes she’s making a mistake in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Birthright.’ After that, she drives those horrible women away with the scream she’s been holding back for years and actually helps Julia give birth. This is when a true bond is born between them.
It’s a connection born of understanding, but most of all, of the love they both feel for their respective children. But this scene goes even deeper, because it’s also about how understanding the truth about Julia forced Davina to confront that part of her that knows that nothing Lord Lovat did to her was her fault.
That part, so small that it’s been for years, grows larger until nothing else exists. And that gives her strength. That makes Davina finally stand up to Lord Lovat and defend Julia the way she wished she could have defended herself years ago if she could have. And Brian follows her lead. We’re really proud of them for this, especially Davina. That being said, while we understand why Davina did what she did, we still can’t forgive her for it.
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Other Stuff in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 6 `Birthright´
- Just when we were starting to think Arch Bug had a heart… we don’t understand why he made Henry suffer like that. Especially knowing that he supposedly suffered similar pain. Did he really think Henry was going to continue with his job as if nothing had happened? Worthless man…
- Seeing Henry like that broke our hearts, and of course, we don’t blame him for what happened with Seema. He was locked away in his own mind, and there he was with Julia. However, we already warned that that friendship was dangerous.
- Those women are horrible, and I hope they pay for everything they’ve done to Davina and Julia.
- Our favorite scene of the episode? The one between Julia and Brian. Their friendship is EVERYTHING. And it broke our hearts to know that Brian thinks his mother had a difficult life because of him when nothing could be further from the truth. He was and is her driving force, the only light in her life. The moment Brian blows out the candles and swears to Julia that she and her son can always count on him brought tears to our eyes.
- We realized they didn’t tell us the baby’s name. Why?
- Lord Lovat is the worst man ever. Those lashes on his own son… thank goodness Brian is nothing like him.
- Will Lord Lovat try to marry Julia again, or will he just lose interest?
- This episode has too many uncomfortable scenes that made our stomachs churn. Besides, we would have understood what was going on just the same if those scenes had been less explicit.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
