Skip to content 
In Episode 5 of ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2, all four main characters meet fateful deaths. As the Jacobite rebellion continues, Brian, who shares the same fate as Dougal MacKenzie, and Henry, who has returned as a Blader of the Grant family, enter the battlefield from the opposite side. Meanwhile, Julia is trapped in Castle Leather with Seema, a brothel worker with envious green eyes who threatens to succumb to a murderous rage with one wrong move. Finally, Ellen, who served as the herald of Lovat’s betrayal, returns to Leoch with Grace. But their journey is interrupted by the re-emergence of an old enemy, eager for revenge on the blood of the MacKenzie heirs. With war raging both politically and personally, it seems no one in the Highlands is safe. There are spoilers.
Julia has crossed a threshold from which she can never return.
When Julia returns to Leathers, she discovers that she, Davina, and her son, young William, are missing from the castle. Instead, she comes face to face with Seema, armed with a blade and seething with hatred for other women. A tense game between the two begins as they are locked in a room to prevent anyone from escaping. At the heart of the argument that drives this conflict is Seema and Henry’s past. A few months ago, a WWI vet slept with his wife and unborn child in grief after being misinformed about their deaths. During their time together, Henry projected his memories of Julia onto Seema and derived pleasure and comfort from her touch. In the end, the incident ended when he came to his senses, and all hope of rekindling disappeared when he learned that his wife was alive.
However, this left Seema with a cold aftermath. She was infatuated with the love Henry showed her, even though he had another woman on his mind. So she became convinced that she could get it back if she could just erase Julia from the equation once again. But her biggest dilemma is figuring out how this can be achieved without earning Henry’s direct wrath. This conflict buys the other woman some time, but Seema eventually decides to cut off the chase and ask for forgiveness later. As a result, a violent altercation breaks out between the two, and Julia ends up strangling the guard with her own hands. Once Seema dies, the protagonist finally leaves the room and discovers Davina returning to Leathers with William. The mother is reunited with her son, and Seema’s murder, even though it was committed in self-defense, hits her.
Henry stands his ground on the battlefield
After the Grants found Henry, Mac forced him back into his role as a blader. Moreover, he insisted on taking him with him to fight against the Jacobites at the upcoming Battle of Sheriffmuir. As a World War I veteran, he has extensive experience in the art of war, but has no desire to return to the battlefield. Nevertheless, he has no choice but to take up arms against the enemy once again. The battle between the Grants and the Mackenzies remains a bloody affair, ripe with gunfire and bloodshed. After his brief but meaningful reunion with Julia, Henry planned to escape the battlefield and return to Julia. Nevertheless, when the war begins and he finds an opportunity to escape, he ends up making a different choice.
Instead of fleeing the Grants, Henry chooses to stay and fight, saving Archbug’s life in the process. In the aftermath, as the battle ended and both sides retired to camp, Grant loyalists asked Grant why he did not escape. At the time, Henry revealed that he was unable to see his family, knowing that his comrades had abandoned him when they needed him most. Despite their past, Henry and Archbug seem to have bonded noticeably, going from enemies to friends. Moreover, despite the horrors he faces, Henry will likely always remain an honorable soldier at heart. On the battlefield, Sir Gerard Grey, Earl of Melton, takes note of this same honor and introduces himself to the blader.
Ellen tells Robert not to seek revenge
On the way back to Leoch, Ellen and Grace take a break. They talk about their respective lives and the latter even deduces the pregnancy of the MacKenzie heir. Likewise, the latter notes another woman’s affection for Murtagh and encourages her to follow her heart. Afterwards, while the two women are asleep, they are attacked by Robert McKinney, the son of the Clan leader who had previously attempted to stage a coup in Leoch. The father died at the hands of the eldest Mackenzie. Therefore, the son now wants to take revenge on her in his father’s memory. However, he refuses to outright shoot or stab her. Instead, Robert claims he wants to give Ellen a slow, painful death.
Although this is threatening, Ellen comes to some conclusions when Robert ties up both her and Grace. She realizes that the MacKinney heirs are stagnating. Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t have the temperament of a cold-blooded killer. In some ways, he knows that his father has taken his fate into his own hands. Moreover, there does not seem to be enough love lost between him and his dead father to justify his submission to senseless violence. Despite being tied up and at Robert’s mercy, Ellen speaks her mind to him and eventually helps him realize that revenge is not the only path he can take. But eventually, as the threat from the McKinney heirs diminishes, a new villain emerges. Bulloch, loyal to Lovat, appears and takes Ellen away.
Dougal makes a mistake and Brian sets out to save Dougal.
The Battle of Sheriffmuir ultimately ended inconclusively. Unless Argylle’s army retreats and Mar advances with the Jacobites, either side can claim a personal victory. But this is still unacceptable to Dougal. As the battle progresses, we also get a glimpse of Colum as he struggles with the difficult choices he has had to make thus far. During this time, he and Ned contemplate what the outcome of this war will be. If they are defeated, Ellen’s plan will keep Leoch and its lands safe. But if they win, the older brother doubts his war chieftain brother will be satisfied with his title. There remains a sense that Dougal always wants more. On the battlefield, he unknowingly proves his brother right.
When Mar rejects Jacobite expansion, Dougal makes a drastic decision. He gathers a few of MacKenzie’s men and sets off on a quest. Only one person later returned with serious injuries. He tells Brian how his leader’s plan to attack Argylle’s supply train went south. All who were with him were killed, and the war captain himself was taken hostage by his enemies. So Brian has a difficult choice to make. He promised Ellen that he would ensure that her brother returned home safely. So despite their differences, he sets out to rescue Dougal. Murtagh, forever loyal to his cousin, follows.
Read more: Outlander: Blood on My Blood Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: A Part of My Soul