We’re back! And what a return it is. Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day,’ wastes no time addressing the aftermath of the Season 1 finale, giving us some answers—and raising new questions—while laying the groundwork for the season’s conflicts and weaving a complex web that connects all the characters in one way or another. Ready?
Here we go!
Brian and Ellen Face an Impossible Choice
The burning crosses and the looming war force Brian and Ellen apart. But if Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day’ makes one thing clear, it’s that they aren’t willing to let that separation be permanent. Brian doesn’t want to leave Ellen behind. Despite his oath to his clan, he feels he owes Lovat nothing. He has already chosen Ellen over him, and he has no intention of backing down.
Furthermore, leaving Ellen alone isn’t an option for him—especially not with the Mackenzie men hunting her down. He won’t allow her to be harmed or to suffer for having chosen him. For Brian, Ellen is the priority. And we love him for that. We aren’t the only ones, either. Ellen feels the same way when she sees how Brian always chooses her, no matter what. She loves him more for it, knowing what it means to turn his back on his clan—especially when the crosses are burning.
That’s precisely why she knows they must part ways.
Ellen is a Mackenzie, and as such, she will fight tooth and nail for survival. In Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day,’ Ellen realizes that running away with Brian isn’t the answer. Sure, they’d be together, but they’d be fugitives. They’d have no family or clan to return to. They’d have no home. And they couldn’t survive like that—not for long.
Beyond that, Ellen feels a duty to help her clan. Colum betrayed her—and she will never forgive him for it—and Dougal is an idiot who can’t see past the end of his nose, but they are her family, her clan. She has to help them survive the looming war. She can’t simply walk away and leave them to their fate—especially knowing them as she does.
So Ellen, a true Mackenzie, weighs her options before making her move in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day.’ She knows the Mackenzie men won’t harm her, and she can keep her brothers away from Brian while she devises a plan to help her clan. The best part? Ellen is determined not to give up on Brian. She will let the Mackenzie men find her, but on her own terms. She won’t let her brothers control her. Ellen will return to them, but as an equal, not a prisoner. And we are proud of her for that.
Brian sees the logic and truth in Ellen’s words, so he knows they must part ways and ensure their clans survive what lies ahead… but they both promise to pick up where they left off once the storm has passed. And that brings tears to our eyes.
We also really appreciate that the show took the time to explain why they had no choice but to separate, rather than just springing the split on us and leaving us to fill in the blanks.
MORE: Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Review: Love, War & Family
Ellen and Colum Can’t Escape Their Betrayal
However, reality soon intrudes in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day,’ and Ellen voluntarily surrenders herself to the Mackenzie men. Her confrontation with Colum is even more brutal than we expected. He feels that Ellen betrayed him. Not only did she fail to keep her word to marry Malcolm—leaving him dead and Colum alone to deal with the fallout—but she also abandoned their clan.
Colum and Ellen shared a close relationship. They had unwavering trust in one another and a very similar worldview. While Dougal is all brawn and impulsiveness, they are more calculating, more… cunning. They carefully weigh the consequences before making any move, and their priority is the survival of their family and clan. That’s why it hurt Colum so deeply that Ellen upended everything. And for what? For a stranger, for a Fraser bastard—for someone who, in Colum’s eyes, wasn’t worth it.
Yet, Colum is forgetting one small detail: he was the one who betrayed Ellen. She had been willing to sacrifice herself—to marry a man she didn’t love—to keep Brian safe and ensure the clan’s survival. But Colum broke his word. Despite her sacrifice, he ordered Brian’s death. Consequently, Ellen—rightfully so—no longer felt any obligation of loyalty toward Colum, a brother who had stabbed her in the back out of sheer pride, choosing the clan over her.
The worst part of it all is that Colum knows it. He knows Ellen is right when she confronts him in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day.’ That’s why he refuses to see her and orders her locked in the tower: she forces him to face his own betrayal—an act he is ashamed of and regrets, even if he refuses to admit it to himself.
Colum also knows that Ellen can help him ensure the clan’s survival, regardless of who wins. He doesn’t particularly care about the Jacobite cause. His goal is for the clan to live to tell the tale once the storm passes—no matter the victor. So, he must play a dangerous game, walking a fine line and straddling the divide just long enough to know which side to choose when the moment arrives. And Colum knows that if anyone has a good idea of how to pull that off, it’s Ellen.
But he is so angry with her—and with himself—that he cannot bring himself to listen or accept her help. His pride takes over again, and he insists on resolving this impossible dilemma on his own. Yet Ellen is nothing if not stubborn, we can be certain that even if Colum refuses to listen, she will force him to.
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Everyone Is Playing the Long Game
On top of all this, Maura begins to integrate into the Mackenzie family in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day,’ yet she remains a Grant at heart and cries out for vengeance. Malcolm was her brother, and she loved him. She blames Ellen for his death and loathes the idea that the matter will be swept under the rug with cold courtesy and a false alliance between the clans. She hates that her brother is being denied the burial and justice he deserves.
It’s understandable. However, we are not at all fond of the vow of vengeance her uncle and Maura have hatched here. We sense trouble brewing down the line, as Malcolm will not hesitate to try and crush the Mackenzies the moment he gets the slightest chance; he is simply biding his time.
And the question remains: what will Maura do? Malcolm was her brother, and she needs someone to pay for his death—but she is also a Mackenzie now. That means the ruin of the Mackenzie clan would be her own ruin, too. And then there is that spark between her and Dougal…
Speaking of which, the dynamic between them is quite interesting. They’re physically attracted to one another—that’s clear—but there is something more than lust at play. It’s like a mutual support system and a tacit agreement to maintain a peaceful marriage. They act as a united front.
While Ellen confronts her family, Brian does the same with Lovat in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day.’ Brian loathes having to return to Lovat’s side and submit to his orders for the conflict ahead, yet he has no other choice. For his part, Lovat has not forgotten that Brian betrayed him by choosing Ellen over him, nor does he forgive the blatant contempt Brian feels for him—contempt Brian no longer bothers to hide.
However, Lovat must be pragmatic. With war looming, he needs to keep Brian close. Like Colum, he cares nothing for the Jacobite cause; his only concern is survival. For Lovat, that means reclaiming his title, his lands, and his pride. Consequently, he will fight for whichever cause best guarantees those outcomes. Right now, that appears to be the Jacobite cause. Yet Lovat is driven not by loyalty, but by pride and ambition—which is why we remain wary for the time being.
MORE: Everything We Know About Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2
Henry and Julia Are Torn Apart Again
While Brian and Ellen face the early stages of the revolution, Henry and Julia have their own battle to fight in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day.’ They have been separated again. And this time, it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to find their way back to each other. Julia barely has a moment to process the fact that Henry has crossed the stones—and that she may have lost him forever—before she has to pretend she wants to return to Lovat’s arms.
Fortunately, she staged a kidnapping. That story provides cover for what happened and keeps Lovat from suspecting her true intentions, making it relatively easy for her to return. However, Lovat is becoming increasingly volatile. We can’t help but wonder how long Julia will be able to handle him without arousing his suspicion.
Yet, even though she and little William are relatively safe, Julia is heartbroken. She could barely hold herself together enough to pretend—in front of everyone—that Henry had taken her against her will. Her only solace is the hope that Henry is with Claire. But the pretense is slowly killing her. That’s why we’re glad she told Davina the whole truth. Julia needs someone to talk to, someone she can be honest with about her feelings and thoughts.
Henry, for his part, isn’t faring any better in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 ‘Remembrance Day.’ It broke our hearts to watch him being tortured over and over again. It was so severe that he lost his memories of Claire, his Claire, which explains why he never returned to her side. The little girl he and Julia were fighting to get back to. The little girl for whom he crossed the stones. It’s truly heartbreaking.
And yet, it’s both sad and beautiful that, despite the torture—despite everything—Henry hasn’t let go of Julia; both she and scattered fragments of memories regarding Claire remain with him. They keep him anchored to the here and now, keeping him alive. They’re his light. Without them, Henry would have given up long ago. He struggles to connect the dots—to grasp the significance of things—yet he knows they matter. He knows they’re everything. Henry just doesn’t know how much longer he will be able to remember that.
In the end, when all seemed lost, Mrs. Graham appears. She’s the only one who knows Henry isn’t delirious when he speaks of the stones. And her arrival gives us hope. Perhaps she can get Henry out of there, or perhaps, at the very least, she can serve as a tangible reminder that time travel is real. Someone to remind him what he is fighting for and help him hold on a little longer.
PS: The flashbacks with little Claire are the cutest thing ever!
Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 airs on Fridays at 8:00 PM ET only on STARZ and at midnight in STARZ App.
