Warning: major spoilers ahead for Episode 10 of Outlander Season 3, "Heaven & Earth."
Outlander has taken Claire and Jamie in some very unexpected directions in Season 3, as their reunion after spending 20 years apart in different centuries was marred by the kidnapping of Young Ian Murray. The lovebirds took off on a voyage to fetch him back before he's sold as a slave in the West Indies, and they seemed to leave their troubles in Scotland behind even as they ran into brand new problems on the high seas.
The last episode ended with Claire kidnapped by the English captain of the Porpoise who required her services as a doctor. In "Heaven & Earth," it was revealed that the captain and a certain member of the Porpoise crew had additional motives in holding Claire, and they have everything to do with a deadly secret from Jamie's past. As it turns out, they didn't leave all their troubles in Scotland behind them.
In "Heaven & Earth," Claire snooped through Captain Leonard's ledger to try and figure out if the Porpoise had crossed the ship that took Young Ian. She was shocked to discover notes on Jamie in the ledger. A sailor by the name of Harry Tompkins had rowed Captain Leonard over to the Artemis as part of the desperate search for a doctor, and Tompkins evidently recognized Jamie as the "Alexander Malcolm" who had been printing seditious materials in Edinburgh. Before he was pressed into service on board the Porpoise, Tompkins had been a customs agent who tracked Young Ian to the print shop, and he was badly burned in the fire that destroyed the premises. Suffice it to say that Tompkins has a motive for wanting to take down Jamie.
Upon spotting Jamie, Tompkins revealed the big secret to Captain Leonard, who decided that he would report Jamie to the authorities in Jamaica. As Jamie is sure to arrive in Jamaica in order to reunite with Claire, his capture is all but guaranteed unless he receives word of what's waiting for him. Unfortunately for Jamie (and Claire), the Brits have more than just treasonous activities with which to charge him, and the charges could prove deadly. Tompkins had one more damning discovery about Jamie in Edinburgh to make before being forced into service on the Porpoise.
Tompkins found the barrel of creme de menthe that just so happened to contain the body of the man Claire accidentally killed while trying to defend herself. Jamie is facing warrants for high treason and murder from the authorities if he lands in Jamaica, and he's sure to be captured quickly by British authorities. Unless he's warned that Tompkins has revealed the secret of his life as Alexander Malcolm (and the dead body in the creme de menthe), Jamie will walk right into a trap when he simply believes that he's reuniting with his wife. If captured, he would almost certainly be executed.
Naturally, Claire did not intend to simply wait and be used as bait for Jamie to come and rescue her, thus ensnaring himself in Captain Leonard's trap. The matter of being stuck aboard a British warship surrounded by English sailors and officers, however, meant that escape would be no easy thing. Luckily, she had made a friend out of Mrs. Johansen, who tends the goats on the Porpoise. Mrs. Johansen first attempted to help Claire make a run for it while briefly on land; when that failed, she went for a more drastic measure.
Mrs. Johansen lashed together a raft of barrels for Claire, then encouraged her to jump overboard before the Porpoise could sail away from dry land. Claire was understandably alarmed at the prospect of leaping off the top of a large ship with nothing but a improvised raft, a dress, and a small purse of coins. Still, Mrs. Johsansen was quite confident that Claire needed to escape and find a way to warn Jamie, and she threw the raft off the deck and into the water. So, throwing caution to the wind, Claire made the big jump down into the dark water.
Meanwhile, back on the Artemis, Jamie spent the majority of the episode in the brig, locked up for attempting to seize control of the ship from the captain to go after the Porpoise. He has no idea of the trouble that awaits him on Jamaica. We have to hope that Claire somehow makes it to him in time to warn him away. Her odds aren't looking too great at the moment, but she has beaten the odds time and time again during the series so far. She may have another win up her sleeves. We'll have to wait and see. All things considered, it's hard to believe that their biggest hurdle a few episodes ago was an angry Laoghaire.
Tune in to Starz on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of Outlander. For all the shows that won't be back on the airwaves, swing by our rundown of all the cancelled series of 2017.
