Claire’s unexpected meeting with a British general turns tense when Captain Jack Randall arrives. Claire finds herself alone with Randall – a dangerous man determined to uncover her secrets.
The Garrison Commander opens with Lt. Foster asking Claire if she is with the Clan MacKenzie of her own free will. Claire assures Lt. Foster she is a guest of the Clan MacKenzie much to Dougal’s surprise. Lt. Foster believes his commander would still like to meet Claire and she agrees to go with him. Dougal says he will accompany her as she is under his protection. On the ride to meet the commander Claire has a sense of comfort being with the British Army since she was once a part of the Army in the distance future.
As they ride into the village, which is where the British troops are currently housed, Claire realizes Dougal is an Outlander on his own lands because of the British presence in the village.
Lt. Foster takes them into meet the general whose name is Brigadier General Lord Oliver Thomas. Lord Thomas asks who Dougal is and is introduced him. Dougal speaks with Lord Thomas and Lord Thomas mocks Dougal’s speech. Claire tries to defend Dougal by saying that in some places in England it is hard to understand the native speech. Lord Thomas says that not all speak the London English and Dougal tells him if he wishes to here London English he should go back to London. Lord Thomas is insulted and then intern insults Dougal by making remarks about his kilt and what’s under it. Claire scolds the men for their childishness and Lord Thomas seems impressed with her commanding presence.
Lord Thomas sends Dougal away and Claire eats with the British officers while telling them her tale of travel. Claire informs Lord Thomas she just wishes to be reunited with her family and continue on her journey. Claire believes these men believe what she’s saying and seems to have a sense of joy that she is close to returning to the stones.
Just as they’re about to have an another drink Randall burst into the room to tell Lord Thomas something but Lord Thomas scolds him for his filthy appearance. Randall turns to go back to the door but stops when he sees Claire. Claire stares down Randall and Lord Tomas asks if they know each other. Randall and Clair both say they thought they recognized one another but they were mistaken. Randall is angered by her presence and her ease with Lord Thomas. Lord Thomas introduces Randall to Claire. Randall gives an annoyed acknowledgement and then then goes to door and makes a big spectacle of kicking his boots on the door frame to clean them off. He pats himself down and asks if he’s good and Thomas says he’s fine with an exasperated tone. Randall tells Lord Thomas, Dougal MacKenzie is downstairs which talked Lord Thomas informs him he knows all about it.
Lord Thomas suggested Randall take Claire to Inverness so she can relate her tale of travels to him. Randall seems suspicious of Claire’s interactions with the MacKenzies. Lt. Foster comments Claire was treated well with by the McKenzies and Randall suspicions lead into a story about a Private who was found tied to a tree with his hands folded in his lap. Claire remarks it doesn’t sound so bad and how it sounds like a prank. Randall tells her the Private was holding his own severed head. Claire is Clearly stunned by this. Claire remarks on the men they found on the crosses and says both sides have committed atrocities and should be ashamed of their actions. Randall questions whether Claire has slept with Dougal and where her sympathies lie. Claire is offended and Lord Thomas is also offend for her. Randall goads her into showing her sympathies by getting her to say the English are the aggressors and the Scots just want the freedoms the English take for granted and it is the English who are occupying their lands. Thomas tells her it is the King’s lands. Claire realizes her mistake and tells Lord Thomas she is loyal to the king. Randall does a turnabout saying that she must have been with the savages to long. Lord Thomas seems to agree she should be returned to her family as soon as possible. Claire says she can leave that day if he allows it. Hawkin’s bursts in to tell of an ambush and injured men. Clare rushes to help and Randall appears to be annoyed by her.
Claire goes downstairs and finds Dougal. She asks if the men had anything to do with this ambush and he tells her they wouldn’t do such a thing without his knowledge or consent. She then tells him they’ll be looking for scapegoats and he should make itself scarce.
Claire orders the men about getting ready to amputate the injured man’s arm when the surgeon appears and Claire assists while the surgeon cuts off the soldiers arm.
Claire returns to the dining room to find Randall getting a shave by Corporal Hawkins, Lord Thomas is now off hunting the rebels and she is left alone with Randall.
As she watches Randall being shaved Claire starts to remember a time when she use the same shaving blade (Frank’s being an heirloom) to share Frank. Claire and Frank are saying their goodbyes to each other before Frank goes off to war.
Claire is brought back to the her present when Corporal Hawkins cuts Randall while shaving him. Randall is clearly angry and switches positions with the corporal to show him how to shave a mans face. Randall appears as if he is making a split decision not to kill Corporal Hawkins and scrape the corporal’s neck with the blade in simulation of a shave.
Claire wishes to leave but Randall says Lord Thomas agreed before she showed her true sympathies. Randall continues by saying he is appalled by their last meeting and he essentially apologizes for attacking her. He hopes to reveal his true nature to her and that they will meet honesty with honesty. Claire appears hopeful by this and agrees.
Claire sits down at one end of the table while Randall takes the other end. Claire begins retelling her false tale. Randall calls her on her lies saying that there are no Beachamps in Oxfordshire. She tells him he’s no expert as he’s from Sussex. This appears to disturb and surprise Randall and asked her how she could possibly know where he’s from. She covers by saying it’s his accent and that it is clearly Sussex. He tells her that his parents and tutors would be appalled to know such a thing since they went to great expense to hide that fact.
In French, Randall asked her if she speaks French and she in turn answers him in French that she does. He then says something about prostitution in French and then states that he doesn’t believe she is a prostitute. Claire tells him all she wishes to do is to continue on her journey and she makes no claims on the garrison, the McKenzies or him and she just wants to be allowed to go on to her family. Randall tells her that after their first encounter he discovered a Scottish rebel attacked him who works for Dougal McKenzie who is currently downstairs. He tells her she’s either a trollop or a spy. Claire basically says that those are not the only two choices she should have and then confesses he is forcing her to reveal something a woman never should have to which is that she followed a soldier who claim to love her only to find him false. When she refused his advances he attacked her and that’s why she was in her shift. Randall clearly doesn’t believe her though Claire seems convincing in her tears.
Randall gets up and goes to his jacket and pulls out the drawing pencil. He sits down at the table and proceeds to draw on a linen napkin. He questions Claire about who this soldier is and she tells him she would not wish to ruin the man’s reputation or his career. Randall looks at Claire for a moment and then asked her to come look at what he’s drawn. She is surprised it is her likeness. He tells her the portrait is called “beautiful liar.”
Randall proceed to tell her that if she wishes to go to Inverness she should supply him with proof of McKenzies treason. He knows they are Jacobites and asked her if they have spoken about the rebellion in her presence. She tells him repeatedly she’s not heard them speak of any rebellion to which Randall tells her he wouldn’t believe her if she were to tell him the day is light and the darkness is night. He tells her she won’t be leaving the room until he is convinced of her innocence.
Claire confronts Randall about his flogging an innocent Highlander boy. Randall proceeds to tell her that innocent Highlander boy is wanted for murder to which she tells him she believed he was wanted for stealing a loaf of bread. Randall goes on to tell Claire about the flogging and says the Highland boy took his flogging without a sound and that he couldn’t let that stand. Randall decides to give him (Jamie) another 100 lashes.
We’re taken to the scene Jamie being tied to the post with his back exposed and it has already flogged bloody. Randall goes up to Jamie and pokes him in the back which is clearly painful. Jamie is shaking and Randall asks him if he is scared to which Jamie replies he’s afraid he’ll freeze before Randell’s done talking. Randall tells Jamie he will break him and goes around Jamie and starts flogging him with the cat-o’-nine-tails.
In the dining room, Randall tells Claire that it turned them into something dark and ask if she thinks he is a monster. Claire tells Randall she believes his desire for her not to believe that he’s a monster means that there’s still hope for him. She clearly wants to see the best in him as he reminds her of Frank.
Randall tells her it made him sick to do such a thing but he needed to send example. He then relates the scene of him flogging Jamie and says that he wanting Jamie to beg for mercy, to cry out but he wouldn’t.
We see Jamie hanging from the whipping post clearly in a massive amount of pain and Randall is covered in blood. Randall then relates that one of his men fainted and the spectators laughed which angered him more and he decided to make an example of Jamie by flogging him mercilessly.
Randall then says all the spectators melted away and it was just him and Jamie creating a beautiful masterpiece though a bloody one.
Randall tells her that coming to Scotland changed him and there’s a darkness inside. Claire tells him there is not a soldier that isn’t changed by combat. Claire’s hoping his confession means there is good in him just buried deep inside. Randall doubts that he could be rehabilitated and he asks if escorting her to Inverness would be a first step in that direction. Claire has been overcome by emotion during his whole speech and has been teary-eyed the entire time but now smiles brightly at him. He tells her that making her happy is an odd sensation. Randall calls Corporal Hawkins into the room and asks for his assistance. Randall then helps Claire to her feet and she’s about to thank him when he punches her in the stomach. Claire collapses onto the floor gasping for air. Randall gets close to her telling her that he dwells in darkness and darkness is where he belongs.
Randall tell the Corporal to kick her Claire. He does so gently and Randall calls him a milksop and demands that he kick Claire. Claire’s coughing and Randall seems disgusted by a woman’s softness. Randall then tells Hawkins to kick her again. Just as Hawkins is about to kick Claire again, Dougal bursts into the room and scares Hawkins off. He goes to Claire, helping her up and threatens war with the English if he is not able to leave with Claire. Randall tells Dougal he’s to present Claire at Fort William the next day by sundown or he will hunt Dougal down unto death.
Claire and Dougal ride off and Claire marks to herself she is sore and that she doesn’t wish to go for galloping through the Highlands and is starting to feel faint. Just then Dougal stops taking Claire to hidden spring. Dougal takes a sip and remarks on the smell. Claire drinks from the spring while Dougal pulls his dirk and hides it behind his back. He then asks her again if she’s a spy for the English or the French. Claire becomes angered and gets up and tells him she’s just Claire Beauchamp and nothing else. She asks if they can finally be done with the question of her being a spy. Dougal sheaths his dirks and tells her they can. She’s stunned and asks if he’d planned to us his dirk on her. He tells her he would have hated to as she’s a handsome woman but he would have. He tells her that he knows now that she’s telling the truth and tells her that the spring is Saint Ninian’s Spring the liars spring and should you drink from it and prove untrue it will burn out your gizzard. Claire says that Randall wouldn’t be so easily convinced.
Dougal tells Claire that he can not keep her legally from the English unless she is a Scot and then she can only be compelled by proof and the consent of the Laird of land she’s on. Claire realizes that he’s been talking to Ned Gowan.Dougal suggest to make Claire a Scot she must marry one. She refuses but he asked if she’d rather go to an English prison to which she clearly would not. Claire wonders if she supposed to marry him and he says grinding her corn does sound good to him but it wouldn’t be to him who she’s marry.
We see Claire looking over a marriage contract and Jamie approaches with alcohol. Claire mentions Dougal wants them to marry and Jamie basically tells her that he knows about it. Jamie remarks he owes her for all of her bandaging him up and that he wouldn’t be a very good friend if he left her to Randall. She inquire if he’s interested in another to which he says he’s not a good prospect since he’s wanted and only has the soldiers pay. Claire says as far as Jamie is concerned they could start the honeymoon tomorrow. Jamie doesn’t appear apposed to this though tries to remain unaffected. She ask if he’s bothered that she’s not a virgin and he tells her it doesn’t as long as it doesn’t bother her that he is a virgin. She’s a little shocked. Jamie then remarks that he reckons one of them should know what they’re doing. Jamie then goes to rejoin the men.
We see the men talking at the wagon as Claire approaches. She walks right up to Dougal and takes his bottle of alcohol without stopping. She continues on past the men with her drink and the screen fades to black.
