We’re back! Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar’ completely broke our hearts. Brian and Ellen face an obstacle they can’t overcome, while Henry and Julia plan their escape. Ready?
Here we go!
The Laird’s Authority
The relationship between the Mackenzie siblings becomes even more twisted in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar.’ Colum eventually discovers that Dougal nearly ruined them in more ways than one, promising the Jacobites part of Ellen’s dowry. We don’t like to admit this, but this scene had us standing ovation for Colum. It described Dougal perfectly. There are many reasons why Dougal couldn’t be the laird of the clan, and the biggest of them is his selfishness.
When you’re a laird, you should put the clan first. But Dougal never did that. He always thinks about what he believes, what he needs, what he thinks is best. But he never strays from that and thinks about the consequences his decisions could have for the clan and whether they’re right or wrong. So we love that Colum put the pieces together and reminded him that his oath is to obey him as his laird, not the Jacobite cause.
In fact, we think that Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ is the first time Dougal truly sees and feels Colum as his laird. When he calls him to order and threatens to kill him, Dougal knows his brother and knows he will carry out his threat. As a laird would. Until then, Dougal still considered his brother too weak and lukewarm to be a laird. Someone who lacks guts and has too much diplomacy. That’s why he never hesitated to question his authority and challenge him as laird.
But Colum’s threat in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ changes everything. It’s the threat of a leader. So Dougal bows to it, no matter how much he hates it. And, as much as we love to see Dougal take a step back in his pride and selfishness, this means he betrayed Brian and Ellen. Dougal betrayed his sister. Although this isn’t something that surprises us. He never showed any consideration or even a modicum of loyalty to her. Ellen was never more to him than the woman who stole his father’s love and attention… and a pawn in the game of egos and power between him and Colum.
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The Bitter Taste of Betrayal
For Colum, Ellen was different. She was his friend and confidant. Until Red Jacob died, and Colum was torn between resentment toward Ellen, his love for her, and the desire to keep the clan alive. That’s why the times Colum betrayed Ellen—and there have been quite a few—hurt even more. Colum made no effort to honor the promises his father made to Ellen, nor to make her a sharer of her own destiny.
So in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ Colum also makes no attempt to understand Ellen’s feelings for Brian. And that’s why Ellen can’t stand Colum trying to make her feel guilty by invoking her father’s memory. It’s a low blow when Colum was responsible for breaking every single promise his father made to Ellen. Ellen was unlikely to fall for such crude manipulation. However, Ellen’s reaction makes Colum see how much she cares for Brian. And that’s the beginning of the end.
Colum is willing to do anything to get Ellen to marry Malcolm. The survival of the clan depends on that marriage in more ways than one. So if he has to kill Brian for that wedding to happen, he will. Ellen knows it. So they make a trade… Brian’s life for Ellen’s freedom. And it’s a horrible thing because this deal breaks Ellen’s heart into a million pieces. It destroys her.
She loves Brian, and to protect him, she must separate from him forever. And the one forcing her to do this is her own brother, someone Ellen, despite everything, still loves. Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ isn’t Colum’s first betrayal of Ellen, but it’s the betrayal that ultimately breaks her and leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. She’ll never be able to forgive her brother for this. No matter how hard she tries. And that breaks something in Ellen she didn’t know could be broken. And Colum’s impassiveness, seeing Ellen with tears in her eyes standing before him, unfazed, makes it all the more chilling. More… definitive. It is a turning point.
MORE: INTERVIEW: Matthew B. Roberts On the Consequences of Ellen’s Test in Blood of My Blood
Losing a Part of You in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar’
From then on, Ellen can’t smile. The thought of leaving Brian devastates her. A part of her would simply be going with him. Her soul and her heart would be going with Brian. She can marry Malcolm, but she’ll be nothing more than a shadow of herself if she does. But not doing so would mean Brian would pay with his life. Ellen isn’t fooled: Colum will make good on his threat. She’d be willing to leave everything and everyone, including her family, behind for Brian… but she’s not willing to risk his life.
As always, Julia is there when she needs her most, and Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar’ is no exception. She barely knows anything about this woman when Julia knows her deepest secrets and helped her without hesitation. If Julia were to speak out, it could ruin her… but Ellen knows she won’t. She can trust her. And Julia also dares to confide in Ellen, telling her much of the truth about her daily life.
Brian and Davina know she’s unhappy, but it’s the first time Julia has verbalized it so clearly. However, even though she paid a high price, she sacrificed herself for her son, and when you love someone, no sacrifice isn’t worth it. This makes Ellen reflect, and she realizes Julia is right. Losing Brian may make her a shadow of herself, but he’ll be alive, free, and, with time…happy. So it will be worth it. Ellen makes a decision: she’ll break up with Brian.
However, Ellen knows Brian and knows she can’t tell him the truth. If she does, Brian will never accept losing her and will do anything to be with her. He won’t mind risking his own life for it. And Ellen can’t let him do that. Ellen has to break his heart…and not leave even a piece behind. So in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ Ellen lies to Brian. She lies to him again and again, trying to leave bleeding wounds. She hits Brian where it hurts, using his insecurities—the ones he blindly confided in her—against him.
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The Greatest Sacrifice
Brian had always considered himself less than worthy of Ellen, having no property or title to his name, being a mere bastard son of a despicable laird brought low by his own crimes. Brian didn’t even have a last name or family prestige to boast about. And that never mattered to Ellen…but now, she makes him believe it did. How could she, a Mackenzie, truly fall in love with someone like him? Ellen’s every word is like daggers that go straight to Brian’s heart and twist it, draining it of blood.
And every word Ellen says in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ also breaks her to the core. To break Brian like that, to be so cruel to him… Ellen can hardly bear it. She can barely hold herself together. But she does it. She has to. She has to make the lie believable so that Brian will leave her and save him; she’s protecting him with everything she has. Even if Ellen ends up broken in the process, that doesn’t matter; only Brian matters. And we’re already bawling our eyes out.
That said, the worst part is that Ellen’s sacrifice is for nothing. In the end, the Gallowglass attacks Brian and tries to kill him. And we can’t help but wonder if Colum broke his promise and delivered the final blow to Ellen, betraying her once again. That seems most likely to us because, as much as Lord Lovat is angry with Brian or despises him, we don’t think he would be capable of ordering his death. Despite everything, he’s still blood of his own blood.
Luckily, Murtagh, as always, has Brian’s back in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar’ and manages to save him at the last minute. Murtagh is angry, disappointed, and hurt by Brian. That’s why he didn’t waste the opportunity to enjoy seeing him get a taste of his own medicine when Brian saw Ellen with Malcolm. But that’s one thing, and wanting him dead is quite another. As much as Brian’s betrayal may have broken his heart, he’s still a brother to Murtagh. And we need these two to work it out once and for all. We love them!
MORE: Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1, Episode 7 Review: ‘Luceo Non Uro’
Complicated Family Relationships
Malcolm’s uncle is going to cause trouble, mark our words.
In Outlander: Blood of My BloodSeason 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ he acts as if everything belongs to him. First, Mackenzie’s house. He went to Leoch and treated Colum and Dougal like his servants—and we enjoyed it, we won’t deny it—while he dared to threaten Ellen in her own house. But perhaps most tellingly, he committed Clan Grant to the Jacobite cause. And that decision rests solely with the laird, that is, Malcolm.
So his uncle crossed the line. Malcolm was right to stop him, although we think he was a bit lacking in firmness. And that’s the problem we think his uncle sees in him. His uncle loves him and genuinely cares for him. When he threatened Ellen, he meant it. Not only because of Clan pride, because of the humiliation it would be if she rejected him like that, but because it would break the heart of someone he cares about. So yes, he loves him…but he doesn’t see Malcolm as ready to be laird. He thinks Malcolm is too soft.
The fact that it takes him so long to decide on the clan’s loyalty and, above all, the way he is so blindly enchanted by Ellen, believing her to be perfect and holding her on an altar, are only proof of this. Malcolm doesn’t have the malice, maliciousness, or cruelty of his father, and while for many that would be good news, Malcolm’s uncle sees it as a weakness.
On another note, in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar,’ Lord Lovat is furious about the humiliation he suffered in front of everyone—even though he deserved it. And, as always, he takes it out on Brian. It’s not the first time Lovat has told Brian he’s unworthy of being his son and that he’s useless, but Ellen has just broken his heart, and after a lifetime of enduring his father’s scorn and insults, Brian has reached his limit.
Actually, the fact that Lovat disowns him is a relief to Brian. Lovat is a horrible man, and he wants nothing to do with him. And we give him a standing ovation. But we hate watching Lovat, being the coward that he is, arrange for his guard dog to leave Brian in the dust. We can’t stand either of them and eagerly await the moment Brian is truly free of them.
MORE: Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1, Episode 6 Review: ‘Birthright’
Other Stuff in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Braemar’
- Ellen and Brian’s glances and smiles across the room. Heart eyes.
- Julia and Ellen’s friendship is wonderful.
- We love Ned and Henry together.
- And that Brian went to defend Julia to Henry so he wouldn’t think she had betrayed him.
- It hurt to see Brian and Ellen devastated by their own families.
- If Colum was the one who sent the Gallowglass after Brian, I hope Ellen makes him pay dearly for this betrayal.
- Ned and Brian saved the day for Henry and Julia, but what will Seema do? In any case, it’s time for them to escape. Their enemies are piling up.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
