Outlander: Blood of my Blood Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Not Fit for Travel

Outlander: Blood of my Blood Season 2 Episode 7, “Heart of the Highlands,” is a quieter, more subdued outing.

It gives the characters time to lick their wounds and grieve after a series of stellar episodes where everything was being thrown against the wall in fits of high-stakes action.

After such excitement, the slack on the reins cannot help but feel like a loss of momentum. However, it’s clear the season does need time to reset and prepare for the final stretch.

It never sat right that Maisri, the show’s living vessel for supernatural lore, is correct in many of her predictions about Julia and her life. However, she incorrectly mentioned that Julia could not travel through the stones.

So, in a truly game-changing reveal, the seer doubles down on her ability to see into people’s past and future when she confirms Julia is not a traveler. It was her unborn son who traveled through the stones.

It’s a chilling revelation that has executed two seasons of build-up to absolute perfection.

This knowledge comes after Lovat attempted to destroy Ellen’s womb and used his own wife as cannon fodder, suggesting Julia’s chances of traveling pregnant may also be dashed.

Just as Ellen’s best storyline was also devastating, this life-changing news for Julia will also change the trajectory of her story forever.

And really, Blood of my Blood had to do something.

We couldn’t continue down this path of Henry and Julia constantly being foiled in their attempts to get to the stones for the rest of their lives. The reveal that Julia cannot travel is the permanent roadblock they need to settle into this story as permanent players.

The goal is no longer to get home at all costs. While that’s devastating for Julia and Henry, it’s great news for the series.

We knew Claire never reunited with her parents. However, to learn it was because Julia can not travel adds a tantalizing new layer to their legacy. After all, Claire also falls for someone who cannot travel through the stones, and stays in another time just like her father.

Maisri’s words are also a huge puzzle piece in Claire’s lineage because up until now we never knew who the travelers in her family were. Now we know for a fact that Henry is the traveler who passed the ability down the Beauchamp line.

The B-storylines of this episode feature excellent romantic development.

Dougal and Maura have established themselves as romantic scene stealers with their youthful honeymoon chemistry. So it’s unsettling to see war has popped the playful bubble their arranged marriage has existed in up until this point.

However, it’s valuable to see Dougal shaken by the very thing he claims to be an expert in. As war chief, he finally experienced bloodshed directly as a result of his careless actions. He has lost loyal soldiers to his own immortality complex.

Dougal’s headstrong mantra is being called into question, and he understandably is reckoning with his future as a husband and father.

And yet, his grief forces these two crazy lovers to take a step back. In a moment that feels reminiscent of the interlocked pinkies, Maura urges him to be tender and vulnerable in her embrace. It’s a significant moment that transforms their spring fling into a marriage that will stand the test of time.

Murtagh and Grace also take advantage of the quiet episode to explore the beginnings of their romance.

This one is a little more difficult to root for just because Grace is a new character, and Murtagh’s romantic life before Outlander isn’t a key talking point. It would be easy for Blood of my Blood to pull the rug out from under them just as we begin to invest time in a new couple.

Despite that hesitation, it’s lovely to see these two sweethearts find companionship in each other. On a most basic level, their romance is whimsical when so much of what’s happening around them is not.

The show has done well to give Murtagh something else beyond his loyalty to Brian and his ill-timed crush on Ellen. Plus, it’s lovely to see Grace experience an intimate relationship for the first time of her own agency.

Surprisingly, it’s the fallout of Lovat’s cruel act against Ellen that is underwhelming.

Brian’s fury sets up potential earth-shaking conflict. But much like the issues that plague Julia and Henry’s storyline, knowledge of the future doesn’t always help this spin-off. And knowing Lovat cannot die is what hinders the brewing storm from reaching its pinnacle.

The episode does a decent job of deflecting by having Brian demand the house at Broch Mordha as penance for Lovat’s actions. However, so much screen time is spent justifying and grappling with not killing Lovat that it becomes clear the show itself is stepping in, and this decision isn’t a character-based one.

While that’s the case with any TV show, it shouldn’t feel like a higher power is puppeteering its characters.

That said, it is incredible to see Brian put Lovat in his place. That foolish man finally understands just how much he should fear his son — as he should!

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Outlander: Blood of my Blood airs Fridays on the Starz app and streaming platforms.

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