THE EXILE speculations
Just a few ideas/speculations based on the preview of THE EXILE in the U.S. trade paperback of AN ECHO IN THE BONE....
SPOILERS below! Don't read this unless you have seen the EXILE preview!
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OK, so we now know that Murtagh saw Claire come through the stones. (Yes, it's true. Diana confirmed this on Compuserve earlier this week.) Based on that, I have a few thoughts:
1) No wonder he's so suspicious of her. Wary, even. He's sworn to protect Jamie. If he thinks Claire is a faery, presumably he'll do anything he can to protect Jamie from her.
2) And when Jamie announces he's going to MARRY her, clearly Murtagh will feel compelled to do anything he can to try to talk him out of it. Bad enough that she's a Sassenach, and maybe a spy, but a Sassenach spy with possibly supernatural powers?? That would be enough to freak anybody out, don't you think? <g>
3) Think about Jamie's reaction right after Claire tells him the truth about where she comes from. He sits there without speaking or moving for a long time. What's he thinking? Is it possible he's remembering Murtagh telling him that he'd seen Claire appear out of nowhere from the stone circle, and now realizes that Murtagh hadn't been imagining it?
4) At the Abbey, after Wentworth, when Jamie begs Claire to leave him and go back to her own time, he says Murtagh will take her back to the stones. "I've told him." What, precisely, did Jamie tell Murtagh? When did they have this conversation? Can you imagine Jamie telling Murtagh, "'When I'm dead, you must take Claire back to Craigh na Dun and....leave her there." It makes no sense at all, from Murtagh's point of view, UNLESS he already saw Claire emerge from the circle.
5) Fascinating to think that Murtagh knew something so important about Claire long before Jamie did. Did Murtagh tell anyone else (like Colum or Dougal) what he had seen?
All speculations and wild theories welcome! I'd like to know what the rest of you think.
SPOILERS below! Don't read this unless you have seen the EXILE preview!
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
OK, so we now know that Murtagh saw Claire come through the stones. (Yes, it's true. Diana confirmed this on Compuserve earlier this week.) Based on that, I have a few thoughts:
1) No wonder he's so suspicious of her. Wary, even. He's sworn to protect Jamie. If he thinks Claire is a faery, presumably he'll do anything he can to protect Jamie from her.
2) And when Jamie announces he's going to MARRY her, clearly Murtagh will feel compelled to do anything he can to try to talk him out of it. Bad enough that she's a Sassenach, and maybe a spy, but a Sassenach spy with possibly supernatural powers?? That would be enough to freak anybody out, don't you think? <g>
3) Think about Jamie's reaction right after Claire tells him the truth about where she comes from. He sits there without speaking or moving for a long time. What's he thinking? Is it possible he's remembering Murtagh telling him that he'd seen Claire appear out of nowhere from the stone circle, and now realizes that Murtagh hadn't been imagining it?
4) At the Abbey, after Wentworth, when Jamie begs Claire to leave him and go back to her own time, he says Murtagh will take her back to the stones. "I've told him." What, precisely, did Jamie tell Murtagh? When did they have this conversation? Can you imagine Jamie telling Murtagh, "'When I'm dead, you must take Claire back to Craigh na Dun and....leave her there." It makes no sense at all, from Murtagh's point of view, UNLESS he already saw Claire emerge from the circle.
5) Fascinating to think that Murtagh knew something so important about Claire long before Jamie did. Did Murtagh tell anyone else (like Colum or Dougal) what he had seen?
All speculations and wild theories welcome! I'd like to know what the rest of you think.
Diana states that Murtagh witnesses Claire's arrival via the Stone Circle. Did anyone ask her whether this was known to her during the writing of Outlander or was it a facet to the story she developed for The Exile?
Depending on that answer, then questions you posed in #3 and #4 take on meaning. I could envision it as you speculate in #3, as Jamie contemplates the shocking truth of what Murtagh revealed, then Claire unwittingly confirmed. What a bombshell!!
But, I've always taken Jamie's comment, "I've told him" as meaning he told Murtagh the bizarre truth of Claire's time traveling abilities. Jamie's direction was to take her to Craigh na Dun for her to return to the future, and it would have to be something Murtagh would have to trust as truth since Murtagh made his vow to Jamie.
I am more than excited to get my hands on The Exile.
Regards,
Midge
(Merrymags)
Yes, someone asked that exact question. Look here for Diana's answer.
I'm quite excited about THE EXILE, too. :-)
Karen