Outlander season 7 episode 12 recap: Men on a rampage

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Outlander season 7 episode 12, "Carnal Knowledge.”

After the shocking events of “A Hundredweight of Stones”, Outlander season 7 continues to be a rollercoaster of emotions for its characters in this week’s new episode. Because not only does William have to reckon with the truth about his parentage, but Jamie hears about what happened between his wife and Lord John.

It was a heavy episode that put many of the show’s characters through the wringer. Let’s recap what happened.

A friendship sours

Jamie is back and so is trouble, because when he arrived in Philadelphia after his trip across the ocean from France, he did not let the Redcoats search him, as he was carrying special messages addressed to the high command of the Continental army. Therefore he ran, and now he has to use his friend Lord John Grey to get away from the British soldiers.

The pair make their way out of Philly and as they take a break in the woods, Jamie thanks his friend for taking care of Claire before saying he is sorry that William found out their secret. But John cannot hear Jamie thank him or apologize when he has a terrible secret of his own ready to burst out of his lips. Plus, he is just angry at Jamie. It’s probably irrational anger tied to the fact that he thought his friend (also known as the man he has been in love with for years) was dead, but it’s anger nonetheless and he blurts out that he has had “carnal knowledge” of Jamie’s wife.

At first, Jamie does not believe him and asks “why” John would have slept with Claire, knowing she isn’t exactly his type. However, Jamie’s reaction only angers Lord John even more, and he ends up explaining how they both thought he was dead, had too much to drink and did in fact really sleep together, but he adds that they were both picturing him the whole time, which pushes it too far for Jamie, who knocks John out.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

The aftermath of “A Hundredweight of Stones” is not ideal for poor William Ransom and, frankly, he has had better days than the ones following the reveal that his real father is James Fraser. Understandably, the young man has questions and he turns to Claire to get some clarity about his background.

At this point, he isn’t even sure what he is supposed to call her and Claire points out that she is his stepmother regardless of whether she is Lord John’s wife or Jamie’s. William then wants to know more about his mother’s relationship with Jamie, and mostly he wants to make sure he is not the fruit of sexual abuse. Claire reassures him that Jamie did not assault Geneva and that there even was a form of love between them, however short-lived.

That does not suffice to make William feel better about the whole ordeal. He is hurt and angry (like his fathers!) and decides to go on a rampage around Lord John’s house, breaking everything on his way out, including a mirror as soon as he catches a glimpse of his reflection, because all he can see now is a bastard.

Upset that Lord John and everyone else have been lying to him his entire life, William later finds himself in front of a brothel where a prostitute named Arabella invites him in. Once in her room, William gets himself ready for business while Arabella fetches him a drink and when she walks in to find him breeches down, she laughs and since he is still pissed off after the day he’s had, he slams her drink out of her hands and only achieves to scare and anger her, so Arabella throws him out.

Lord John in peril

Back in the woods, Jamie beats up Lord John and demands to know everything that happened between him and Claire, but John is about as upset as Jamie and refuses to say anything. In fact, he even tells Jamie to just kill him. Several Continental army soldiers then interrupt, wanting to know what the heck is going on. After learning who is who, the rebels ask if John is a soldier and want to know why he is Jamie's prisoner.

Suspicious they want to take John back to their camp and Jamie lets them, telling John they are not finished, to which John answers that indeed they are not and that he is not “bloody sorry.” Really, between Jamie, John and William, all the men in this complicated family need to take a deep breath at this point.

When the rebels search John, they find a letter he did not have time to open yet and that indicates he is being recalled to duty. It doesn’t matter that John hasn’t even had a chance to read it, the Continental army soldiers figure he lied about being a loyalist soldier, so they take him to their camp where John meets Colonel Smith whom he recognizes as someone who once was a loyalist.

After telling John about his "cousin" Charles Grey’s involvement in the Paoli Massacre, a surprise attack on Continental Army soldiers that saw 100 men killed in cold blood, Smith tells John he believes him to be a spy, and that General Wayne will have him hanged. However, John offers to cooperate and that seems to convince Smith there is more value in letting John live.

Later on, a doctor who is none other than Denzell Hunter is sent to look at the wounds Jamie inflicted upon Lord John. He is worried about John's eye and tells him he’ll have to wear an eyepatch, regretting Claire isn’t there to do more. Then, after talking to Smith, Denzell figures his real plan is to hang John because he is worth more dead than alive, so Denzell brings Lord John a knife to help him escape and he explains his plan.

William and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Meanwhile, William continues to spiral and while he is assisting with the evacuation of loyalist civilians from Philadelphia, he runs into Ian and Rachel who are back from visiting Quakers in Valley Forge in hopes they would allow them to marry. The Quakers didn’t though, so they are now back and Ian doesn’t even yet know that his uncle is alive.

That’s not William’s concern though because upon hearing that Rachel and Ian are engaged, his blood boils up again and he punches Ian. Not so much because of the engagement, although a little, but mostly because his “cousin” is yet another person who lied to him. Ian realizes the cat is out of the bag, Rachel is not surprised to find out Jamie is William’s real father as she had noticed the resemblance, and William picks up a fight with Ian that ends with him making sure his cousin is arrested for assaulting an officer.

Rachel is beyond herself. How dare thee, William. She is so upset that she slaps him, a reaction going against all her Quaker principles. Naturally, that prompts William to kiss her because by now he has been doing everything wrong so he might as well keep going that way. And she spits at him!

Later on, after going to see Colonel Morgan, giving him the letters brought from France and declaring himself George Washington’s “most obedient servant” (shoutout to the Hamilton fans in the audience), the newly appointed General Jamie Fraser makes his way back to Philadelphia and runs into his arrested nephew.

Upon learning William is responsible for the situation, Jamie sets the record straight with his son, ordering him to make sure Ian is released or he will tell his superiors who he truly is. William agrees to comply but does not miss this opportunity to, once again, dam his biological father to hell. He then frees Ian under the watchful eye of Rachel.

After yet another challenging day, we later find William back in the Philly brothel where he argues with Captain Harkness over who will have Arabella for the night. He wins the bid and she takes him to her room where she assumes they will have intercourse but William insists he will not have sex with her. In fact, he apologizes for his previous behavior and says he just wishes for them to have a good night’s sleep.

With no intentions to “molest her”, William gets ready to turn in while Arabella - whose real name is Jane - gets into bed. She tells him to at least come lay down with her and it then does not take long before she makes a move. William continues to refuse to have sex with her, insisting that the only honor he has left is his word and that he must keep it. But she makes him break his word and they too get carnally acquainted.

Confronting the truth

Back at Chestnut street, Claire cleans up William's mess and wonders where Jamie, Lord John and everybody else is. When Jamie returns to the house, she quickly sees he is not in the greatest mood. He tells her John revealed he had “carnal knowledge” of her and Claire finds the phrase to be a rather accurate description of what occurred. But Jamie wants to know exactly what happened between her and John, to the point that he goes to the bedroom where they did the deed so she can give him the play-by-play.

Claire describes how she sat there, drinking brandy and considering killing herself and how John came in also looking like he wanted to die. Neither of them wanted to mourn him alone that night so they held onto each other, however after more interrogation, Claire is now so annoyed with her husband that she wonders if he did kill John.

The whole scene is one of those very raw arguments between two people who share a deep connection. Jamie says he understands why they slept together but explains he needs to know what happened because he is jealous. Claire details how being with John was in fact not about sex or pleasure for either of them, it was about both of them grieving him, the one they love.

She recalls how John stopped her pain by “placing his grief” over hers and Jamie eventually admits he beat John after hearing him say that they were both thinking of him while they had sex. He then also admits John once “bandaged” him with his friendship in the past, so he didn’t kill him.

In the end, the couple find a way to put the matter at rest for now because “there is nothing in this world” that can take them away from one another. Now that they are done with talking, in true Claire and Jamie fashion because that’s how they’ve always reconnected with one another, they then have sex.

Meanwhile, at the rebel camp, John cuts off his rope and attempts to escape but he is soon chased by the Continental Army soldiers, and shots are fired.

As there were many things to tackle around Claire, Jamie, Lord John and William in this episode, we did not stop by 1730s Scotland to check in on Roger. Surely we’ll catch up with him and his wife Brianna next week, on a brand new episode of Outlander on Starz and MGM+.