Outlander: Blood of my Blood Season 2 Episode 8 Review: The True Heir of Leoch

Blood of my Blood Season 2 Episode 8, “The Dance,” pulls back the curtain on British royal society as King George steps into the world of Outlander.

It’s a masterclass in showing, not telling, as a scrappy Scottish cause fights back against the crown through an assault of visuals.

As the episode declares its allegiance to the Jacobite cause, it brilliantly assaults our eyes with clashing imagery of false gods at the center of a beautiful ballroom and the unlikely avengers occupying the gritty highlands they thirst to control.

The opening contrast of King George’s staff recognizing the loyal and brave men who have fought for the crown while those very men open fire on unarmed Jacobites outside their own homes.

The montage is brilliantly executed, handing Lord Gerard Grey’s wife his spoils of war in the same beats Grey is forcibly taking these titles and land the crown is gifting to guests.

It’s the first significant shot Blood of my Blood takes at the early days of Britain’s invasion.

The clashing storylines inside the two castles’ ballrooms do a stellar job of fulfilling the requirements the story demands of these fictional characters. Yet it rightfully hosts the historical movement happening under their noses.

The taste of ignorance and greed that coats every exchange inside the King’s gala complements the brutality Grey is handing out to the MacKenzie family in their own home.

Shots aren’t the only thing being fired, however. The storylines are flying with near-deadly precision. The dance is the perfect excuse to introduce Outlander fans to Lovat’s “real wife,” a.k.a. the one readers and viewers of the original series met.

Margaret Grant wastes no time getting familiar with Lovat, and it’s an exhilarating escalation of Julia’s connection to this world — or rather her lack of one. It’s even more bittersweet that this meet-cute happens while Julia is distracted by Henry in the study.

“You know what isn’t a scandal? When your wife dies,” should be melodramatic, but the writing is on the wall, and it’s good writing.

Julia and Lovat parting ways is as inevitable as her not being able to reunite with Claire. How the series chooses to navigate their failing marriage and the heir of Scotland that Lovat now possesses is a mystery to us. Those unknowns are a rarity for book readers.

For Julia and Henry, a couple whose fate was written long ago, we finally have new material to work with, and that’s exhilarating!

So is the series’ desire to reframe history to include the women it forgot.

Even in Diana Gabaldon’s books, many women end up dying in childbirth or from a cold in historically accurate fashion. So watching characters like Grace and Ellen take back the narrative by transcending every action they can call their own is rather enthralling.

For Ellen especially, as she is the true heir to the Mackenzie Clan and Castle Leoch.

Yet despite her father’s acknowledgments of such, she is still a woman. This episode flips the script on that fact and allows Ellen to live out her fantasy of owning the castle and her brother’s respect in a brief moment of victory.

She doesn’t miss the opportunity to establish a legacy Colum and Dougal will spend the rest of their lives attempting to measure up to. And she doesn’t take the role on with grace either. Ellen makes her brothers suffer for every business transaction they forced her into, every hit they put out on Brian.

She gets the last laugh, and she does not squander a second of it.

Indeed, Ellen’s formal resignation from the MacKenzie homestead is rich with slicing remarks and a level of manipulation Red Jacob would be proud to witness from his daughter.

Perhaps the greatest moment during her reign is the most tender, when she bids farewell to Ned — the closest confidant to her father and a second father figure to her.

Their goodbye is steeped in everything Dougal and Colum refuse to say to Ellen as Ned bows one final time to the woman he knows should be the clan’s leader. It’s heartfelt and a bittersweet acknowledgment that Ellen’s transition to her new life with Brian is on the immediate horizon.

It’s beyond refreshing to have Ned step outside the bubble of the study and Colum’s one-sided rants. The two men have rarely interacted with other characters or plotlines this season, reducing the financial advisor to an ongoing earpiece for the insecure heir as he drones on.

Honestly, these scenes between Colum and Ned aren’t weak. That said, there’s been no change of scenery or agency for several episodes now. It was time to leave the study and touch grass!

Alas, it’s also quite disappointing to see Grace and Murtagh part ways so quickly.

Cameron taking Grace with him to the West Indies to start his new plantation while Jocasta stays behind will certainly enrich Murtagh’s connection to the family later in life.

However, it is disappointing to confirm suspicions that this storyline is entirely fleeting. Grace and Murtagh deserve a little more time to make this heartbreak worth the trouble.

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What did you think of this episode of Outlander: Blood of my Blood? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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

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