James meets Roger at home in Outlander Season 8 episode 4. He tells the guy that his has considered his plan to get guns to arm the Ridge. It will still be dangerous, but Randall’s book says the battle to end the siege of Savannah will be on the ninth of October. Continentals will fail. The battle will be bloody, but it won’t reach the center of the city. So if he waits out the fighting there, he should be safe enough, as will Fergus, Marsali.
Claire thinks the children can stay with them there. James hands over the letter to Roger. He asks him to take it to Lieutenant Colonel Francis Marion. He reveals the book says the guy will be with the Continental Army in Savannah. He has a great deal of experience with militias. Might be keen to arm men from the backcountry. Roger wonders if they’re starting their own militia. James offers to join Benjamin Cleveland and his Overmountain Men if Roger doesn’t want to do so. He claims that he won’t report back to the murdering guy.
Roger guesses James would think it would at least have the decency to shine, like in a film. He asks him about the bandits. He wonders if he wants to make them into bullets like he did the last time. James denies it. He says that there’s no time. But he has an idea.
Roger is busy in Fergus’s kitchen. Marsali asks him about the abominable smell. He reveals it’s a present that was given by James and Claire. It’s sauerkraut. He dumps the sauerkraut into the pot. Fergus smells it. He cannot endure it. Roger takes out a bottle of whiskey. He hands over the wine to Fergus. Brianna tells Fergus that it was father’s idea. Perfect hiding place. Roger takes out the gold. The gold is for muskets. James is forming a militia. And there’s an officer in the Continental camp, Francis Marion who’s been known to arm backcountry patriots. Brianna reveals they thought they should leave the minor detail. They have explained everything in the letter.
Fergus asks Roger if he’s going to break into an army camp with a king’s ransom in bullion. Roger denies it. He doesn’t want to bring any trouble. He knows Marion won’t have crates of guns just lying around the camp that he can readily part with. Arrangements need to be made. So Brianna hopes Marsali could help them. Marsali agrees. Fergus gets Roger to cover the bucket. He doesn’t think anyone wants to taste the sauerkraut. Roger offers to hide the gold and drink to their reunion. Fergus and Marsali walk away with the wine. Brianna asks her husband if he thinks they should leave for the camp now. He doesn’t intend to do that. Because there’s plenty of time to find Marion and be back before the battle. But a glass of wine will speed him on his way. He kisses Brianna.
James rides his horse home. He tells his wife that Cunningham wasn’t exaggerating. He was collecting rents, trying to ascertain the loyalties of the settlers without arousing suspicion. Most of the families there are loyal to the Crown, and those who aren’t would be reluctant to join a militia that oppose it. I cannot try to recruit them without risking it getting back to Cunningham. Claire thinks it’s reasonable that the Ardsmuir men will fight when it comes to it. James thinks he should recruit men from further afield. He leaves today with Ian and Josiah. They ken the outposts that have cropped up while they were away. Claire remind his husband that he cannot keep Cunningham waiting forever. Cunningham will realize that he won’t join his team. She thinks it will be simply to just drive the guy away.
James points out that someone will replace Cunningham even if he kills the guy. He thinks it’s better to let the guy with him. So he can keep an eye on the guy. Cunningham told him his commander is Major Patrick Ferguson. Frank wrote of the man. He’s the one that formed the Loyalist militia that fight at Kings Mountain. Claire doesn’t know Frank’s motives in writing the book. James points out what the guy wrote is happening before their eyes. He met Cleveland, and now Cunningham mentions Major Ferguson. Claire thinks it cannot prove that James and Ferguson fight. She tells James that Frank could be lying. He reveals the book says that Ferguson is vicious, ruthless on the battlefield and off, burning the homes of rebels, forcing their allegiance. He tells her that he’s not sure if he will fight. But if Cunningham is forming a militia, they need to be ready, regardless of the book.
In Fergus’s house, Fergus drinks with Roger and Brianna. He tells them that those guys like muskets, liberty and sauerkraut. It promotes Brianna to laugh. Marsali thinks it’s weird that a minister and his wife steal guns. Roger confesses it to the madam that it was Brianna’s idea. Brianna thinks it’s the best way to make them not be suspected. Once they return to the Ridge, their family has a doctor, a soldier and a minister. They need an armorer. Marsali brings up that Brianna promised to paint a picture for Lord John. Fergus reveals he received a letter. He was asked to meet Percival Beauchamp. He asks Roger and Brianna if they know the guy. The two deny. Fergus reveals the guy claims that he has information that will be of great interest to him. But Lord John says the guy can be a slippery fellow. Fergus needs to make the decision on his own if he can trust the guy. Brianna reminds Fergus that her mother’s maiden name was Beauchamp. She thinks it’s quite a coincidence.
Someone breaks the window with a stone. It startles Brianna. She screams. Fergus runs out to chase the culprits. But the two run too fast. Roger asks Marsali and Brianna if they’re fine. Marsali brings up that the two guys didn’t put a note on it this time. Roger figures it out that it has happened before. She received some horrible threatening letters and the bag full of dead rats. Another with a serpent.
Fergus comes back with the broken printer. Brianna sees the printer. She wonders what happened. Marsali reveals those guys blamed the printer when they weren’t happy with the news. It promotes Roger to believe that someone discovered Fergus is a Patriot. James mentioned Fergus has been printing for the cause. Fergus admits that he print pamphlets for the Rebels. But he takes a more impartial approach. He and his wife try not to provoke one side. But they end up angering both sides.
James and Josiah meet the three guys in the forest. They comfort them that they will get guns soon. The three guys volunteer to follow James. James is happy with the good news. He asks Josiah to write down the three’s names. Ian reports to James that he recruited three more men. There’s a Scotsman. He knows Roger and Brianna. He’s looking for the two. James realizes that the guy is Cameron. He approaches the guy with a gun. He points the gun at his head. He asks him if he’s Cameron. He denies it. He says that he’s William Buccleigh MacKenzie. He asks James to tell Brianna and Roger that Cameron won’t bother them again. He returns Roger’s book. James takes over the book from Buck. Buck says that Cameron doesn’t want the wrong person to get the book the second time. James recognizes Buck. He tells him that he reminds him of his father.
Outside Fergus’s house, Fergus thinks Brianna can paint him and his wife after she paints Lady Grey. Brianna is happy to take the job. She promises to paint the whole family. Marsali brings up that they need to send to Philadelphia for a canvas big enough. She laughs. Fergus asks Brianna and Roger not to linger at the Continental camp. Talk among the merchants is that a battle is imminent. Roger promises Fergus that they will come back soon. He hopes he will see Fergus and Marsali again.
In the evening, Fanny and Claire are at home. Fanny asks Claire if she thinks houses are alive. Claire tells the girl that it was the wind. But she thinks the places that people live in for a time absorb a little bit of them. She often thinks that houses affect the people living in them. So why wouldn’t it work both ways?
Fanny wonders if Claire thinks Amy is still in her cabin. Claire expresses that she doesn’t know about Amy’s cabin. When people die naturally, the people they leave behind sense them. Sense that a part of them is still with them in a way. She doesn’t know that she would call that haunting. It’s more like a memory. A longing. Fanny tells Claire that she wishes Jane would haunt her. Claire grabs the girl’s hand. She tells her that she won’t forget Jane. Jane won’t forget her as well. She reminds her that talking about the people they’ve lost can make it seem as though they’re still with them. Fanny tears up. She reveals Jane used to whisper good night before they went to sleep. Claire is surprised that Jane spoke French. Jane said that’s what their mother used to call her. Jane used to tell Fanny about their parents before bed.
Claire reminds Fanny that Jane was trying to help her keep their memory alive. Fanny reveals Jane would tell her good things or funny things, but they would never talk about anything serious. She talked to the other girls at the brothel. Fanny knows Jane was trying to protect her. Sometimes Fanny wishes Jane hadn’t. Claire goes to close the window. She sees Mrs. Cunningham. She asks Fanny to take the madam into the parlor. She guesses Mrs. Cunningham came for the slippery elm powder. Because she promised her.
Fanny takes care of Mrs. Cunningham. She asks her to wait in the parlor. But Mrs. Cunningham refuses to wait. She breaks into Claire’s room. She tells Claire that she needs help. She falls into her arms. Fanny carries a chair for Mrs. Cunningham. Claire asks Fanny to go to take some whiskey. She helps Mrs. Cunningham sit on the chair. She asks her what happened. Mrs. Cunningham tells Claire that the person tripped over the scuttle like a fool and fell on her shoulder. Claire comforts Mrs. Cunningham that she can fix it.
Mrs. Cunningham takes over the whiskey from Fanny. Claire asks the madam where her son is. Mrs. Cunningham reveals her son isn’t at home. Claire checks Mrs. Cunningham. She finds out that she broke a bone. She heals her in Fanny’s help. Mrs. Cunningham says something Fanny can understand. Fanny leaks she lived in a brothel. She talks about the virtues of a prostitute with Mrs. Cunningham. Claire realizes that she shouldn’t let the girl continue on the topic. She asks the girl to go to make up a plate for the madam. Fanny leaves. Mrs. Cunningham tells Claire that her first husband was a sailor. She thinks Fanny is a remarkable child. But Fanny shouldn’t say so in public.
Claire tells Mrs. Cunningham that she can say anything tonight. Because she won’t let her return home with her condition. Mrs. Cunningham thanks Claire. It makes Claire laugh.
Brianna visits John. She greets William when he goes downstairs. He’s surprised that his sister came. John asks the guy to invite the guest in. She’s had quite a long journey. William explains it to Brianna that he forgot himself after he was happy to see her. John introduces Amaranthus to Brianna. Brianna feels sorry for Amaranthus’s loss. Amaranthus didn’t expect that the painter would be a woman. She guesses Brianna must be very skilled. She wonders where she came from. Brianna reveals she came from North Carolina. John worries about the lady immediately. He asks her if she undertook the journey alone. He thought her husband would accompany her. She says that the guy did it. But he needed to attend to an errand outside the city. Amaranthus claims that it’s time for Trevor’s bedtime feed. She walks away.
John lets Brianna and William stay alone in the room. He closes the doors. He leaves as well. William brings up that Brianna was on the way to Boston when he met her. She says that these are dangerous times. They thought it best to be with family, so they returned to the Ridge. He realizes that she met Fanny. He asks her if the girl is fine. She laughs. She says that Fanny is. Her mother has taken quite a liking to Fanny. So has her father. She means their father. He asks her if she knew it on the day they met in Wilmington. She did it. She wanted to tell him that Roger, her husband, was with her. The guy was just around the corner at the inn. Her children, Jem and Mandy. She really wanted him to meet them. Even if he didn’t know they were his children. She thinks she should say something polite like, only if he wants them. But that’s a bit late for that to lie about the truth. She apologizes for not telling him. But Lord John and Da felt so strongly that it wasn’t her place. William accepts Brianna’s apology. But he’s glad that she didn’t tell him. He wouldn’t have known how to respond to such a revelation at the time. She wonders if he does it now. He says that he doesn’t. But he hasn’t blown his brains out. When he was eighteen, he might have. He explains it to her that he didn’t mean that with any derogatory reference to her and her family. She points out that it’s his family.
The next day, Fergus visits Percy. Percy has known that Fergus is the son of his sister. He takes out the marriage contract that can prove Fergus’s identity. He wants him to help him get the land. William visits Amaranthus. He wonders if he did something to offend her. She claims that she’s enjoying her literature in solitude. She thinks he can get Brianna to accompany him. He’s surprised that she’s jealous. She can tell that there’s a history between him and Brianna. He thinks she’s right. Brianna is an important person to him in his life. She realizes that she was a fool. She tries to walk away. He confesses it to her that Brianna is his sister when he follows her. She stops after she heard his words. She doesn’t believe it. Because he told her that he didn’t have any siblings. He reveals his mother was married when he was born. But the Eighth Earl wasn’t his father. The man who sired him was Brianna’s father.
Amaranthus believes that the guy must have been a very striking gentleman. William admits it. She wonders if the guy has acknowledged him. He says that he doesn’t want the guy to do that. Because he doesn’t owe him anything. He tells her it because she asked. He enjoys her company. He asks her if she enjoys his company as well. She tells him that he’s bold. But she likes it. He brings up that he’s not the Ninth Earl. He complains it to her that he wanted to give up it. But he failed, according to the law. She offers to hand it on. But he doesn’t have an heir. She asks him to marry her and give it to their firstborn. She mentions she’s a widow.
In James’s house, Mrs. Cunningham cannot stand it after she thought Fanny slammed doors. Claire tells the madam that Fanny didn’t do it. She’s on the way to take milk over to Evan. Mrs. Cunningham wonders who did it. Claire says that houses make sounds. All she knows is that when the wind is in the east, the house makes that particular noise from the attic. Mrs. Cunning wonders why Claire built an attic. Claire reveals her husband is the Fraser of Fraser’s Ridge. If there should ever be any kind of emergency that causes our tenants to have to leave their home, then they can take refuge there with them.
Claire asks Mrs. Cunningham if she believes what her son says about her grandson’s death. Mrs. Cunning believes her son. She thinks it’s a comfort. Claire was thinking about what Cunningham said to his son that he would see Charles again in seven years’ time. She asks Mrs. Cunningham if she believes that. Mrs. Cunningham only knows that her son believes it.
Cunningham knocks at the door. Claire goes to open the door. He claims that he came to pick up his mother. She tries to go to help Mrs. Cunningham get her things. But he volunteers to do it in person. She takes him to see his mother. He asks his mother if she’s fine. He heard that she was hurt. She admits it to him that her shoulder was hurt. But Claire healed it. Her husband is away at the moment on business. Cunningham tells Claire that he wants to talk with her husband. Claire expresses that her husband wants to see Cunningham as well. But the guy is busy. She gives the herbs to him. The herbs can ease his mother’s discomfort. He thinks she must feel very empty since her husband left. But she claims that she’s fine. She thinks her husband will come home at any moment. She will let her husband know he came.
Fergus returns home. Marsali asks her husband if he thinks Percy told him the truth. He says that he knew Amelie. He didn’t know she was his mother. There’re many children born in a brothel. The little ones, they would call any whore mother, anyone who would feed them. If a whore had to attend a customer and their child was hungry, she’d just hand him to another girl. Amelie, they called her “The Baroness” for her haughty manner. Even then, he knew the name was cruel, but until today, he didn’t realize how cruel. She asks him if Amelie was kind to him. He reveals Amelie detested all of the children of the brothel, but me most of all. He understands now he was the spawn of the man who took everything from her. Her love, her freedom even her family. He was six years old when she died. She contracted the morbid sore throat. He remembers she summoned him to her chamber. She asked him to be a good kid. Marsali thinks it was unfair for Amelie to blame Fergus for what happened to her. Fergus wouldn’t expect fairness from one whose life was filled with so much cruelty at the hands of such a villain. Le Comte St. Germain in France, he tried to kill milady. Now he knows that the guy is his father. Marsali tells Fergus that he’s not like the guy. She knows that better than anyone. If he’s truly his heir, then he can use what he’s left him for good. If he takes Percy up on his offer. But he tells himself that he should know the man is a whore. The guy’s likely been one all his life. He has to accept that he’s Le Comte St. Germain’s son if he accepts the land. But he has been the great man James’s son.
In John’s house, Brianna hears the cannon fire. She’s startled. John comforts her that it’s a French warship, the Truite. It has taken to firing her cannon on occasion. She’s anchored on the far end of Hutchinson Island, out of range to do any damage there in town. He promises her that she’s perfectly safe. He hands over the wine to her. She asks him why he didn’t tell William she was coming. He explains it to her that he didn’t know how the guy would react. He reveals William has been lost since he knew the truth of his parentage. But William and Brianna share a rather unique experience, discovering that James is her father. Brianna learns the reason why John invited her. Not to paint a portrait of Amaranthus. He thinks she might can help William. He admits it. She tells him that he could have told her the truth. But she would have come anyway. He figures it out that her husband’s task is related to the Continental Army encampment. She promises him that she will try her best to help William.
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The next day, James takes Buck home. Claire welcomes Buck. Rachel brings a bad news to Ian that his ex-wife’s hometown was ruined. He decides to go to the north. She volunteers to accompany him with their child. The next day, Ian is going to set off. James mentions Frank’s book. Ian promises his uncle that he will guard him after he comes back.
Roger finds Marion at the camp. Marion intends to help Roger after knowing he will get payment. But he changes his mind after knowing Roger’s boss is James. He knows James abandoned his soldiers for his wife. He refuses to help Roger even if Roger explains that James did it for a reason. Marion disallows Roger to leave the camp. Because they’re going to attack a city. He worries that Roger will betray them. He plans to give Roger a gun when he wants to take part in the battle. But Roger prefers a sword.