While visiting the Cherokee, Ian encounters a man from his past who dredges up painful memories of his time with the Mohawk. Jamie meets an Indian Agent who challenges his convictions, causing him to re-evaluate.
I am so behind on giving my recap/thoughts on 604 Hour of the Wolf. Partly, this is because I’ve been very busy at work and the other reason is because I just didn’t want to. I’m of the unpopular opinion that this wasn’t a good episode. I didn’t hate it but there were so many contrived moments it made me feel like Young Ian’s story was cheapened. So here goes…
Hour of the Wolf opens in the Mohawk Village. Young Ian has been left behind and is undergoing the ritual to wash him of his “white blood.” This entails having his hair ripped out from his scalp and the tattoos being made on his face. I did love seeing this though I always liked in the book that this happened before Jamie and Claire leave so they see Ian becoming Mohawk.
Ian is given the name Okwaho’rohtsi’ah (meaning Wolf’s Brother). We get a nice call back to Blood of My Blood and Bone of My Bone when the Chief tells Ian he is essentially that to them now. He’s family. Works With He Hands (Wahionhaweh or Emily) is watching with interest.
Back on the Ridge
We get a scene straight out of the book with the reference to Greased lightning. I’ve never really cared about the reference, but it is niece they are including more of the humor and the quiet loving moments between Jamie and Claire.
Later we see Jamie and Fergus sending him off to Cross Creek with Mr. Bug to sell their trade goods which was something Fergus was already dong in the books and seems like more of an afterthought here. Fergus reminisces about the print shop and the good times they had when he felt more useful and capable. I mean by this point this is something Jamie is supposed to be thinking about when it comes to Fergus.
We also see some of the men (including Bree) firing off the guns brought to Jamie for the Cherokee. Roger hits his target and a really weird moment where Bree just comments he must have been practicing rather than congratulating this hopeless shot that is Roger. However, something is on Brianna’s mind, and we then see her telling Jamie about the Trail of Tears.
“About sixty years from now,” she said at last, eyes on the ground, “the American government will take the Cherokee from their land and move them. A long way–to a place called Oklahoma. It’s a thousand miles, at least, and hundreds and hundreds of them will starve and die on the way. That’s why they called it–will call it–the Trail of Tears.”A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 41, “The Gun-Smith”.
At the Cherokee Village
Jamie and Ian arrive, making a show of putting all their weapons away. Ian notices there are three Mohawk in the village, and one is Kaheroton who we have meet before in the Mohawk Village where Ian lived. Kaheroton greets Ian but Ian seems less than pleased to see him. I, however, was a little excited to see him but then things took a weird turn down the Young Ian story.
Later, Ian tells Jamie why he wasn’t excited to see Kaheroton. Ian explains he and Wahionhaweh, who he called Emily, liked each other. In the flashback, Emily gives Ian a carved wolf’s head. Ian and Kaheroton become friends and are talking about what happened back in the Mohawk Village when Roger was there. Kaheroton had liked the woman who was in love with the priest. I can’t remember her name. Ian wonders if Kaheroton will choose another wife but Kaheroton tells Ian the women choose pointing to Ian’s necklace from Emily.
We see time pass as Emily teaches Ian the Cherokee language. The two become close and we see them spending more and more time together including in bed. I liked the touch of Emily giving Ian the bracelet to remember their marriage. It is Ian’s thistle ring I suppose.
We see the Mohawk come together to share stories and Ian tells his in English because he’s not yet fluent enough in the Mohawk language to tell it. He tells them of Geillis. The Bakra.
Ian and Emily are in better, time has obviously passed, as she is heavily pregnant. She wakes in pain with blood everywhere. Ian calls for help and the woman come and carry Emily away. Ian tries to follow but Kaheroton stops him. It isn’t their way. They women will help her. If he must do something, “go into the woods and pray.”
Ian does go to pray, first to God and then to the Mohawk Creator. This is interesting because you see Ian’s dual nature in his prayers. It is something that has become a huge part of Ian. He has one foot in two different worlds, and he must find his own path with it.
Kaheroton finds Ian in the forest later. Emily is alive but their child has died.
Back in the dwelling with Jamie and Ian, he tells Jamie he never got to see his bairn. They’d already wrapped her up.
We flashback to the Mohawk village as Ian conveys Emily got pregnant again and they suffered another loss.
Time goes by and one of the women come to Ian at Emily’s behest to tell him to leave. Basically, his spirit isn’t strong enough to overcome Emily’s which is why their babies have died. She tells him he was made Mohawk, but his spirit isn’t Mohawk, and he must leave. “Wahionhaweh (Emily) agrees.”
Ian refuses to go and instead finds Emily who is with Kaheroton. When he asks if it is what she wants she tells him it is what must be.
While I was happy we got to hear Ian’s story, I didn’t really appreciate all the added story of them going to the Cherokee and stumbling on the Mohawk there. It just seemed unnecessary.
Ian asks Jamie if he should have fought for Emily. He asks if Jami would have left had it been Auntie Claire. We all know Jamie would have but he says, “Tis no’ the same, lad.” He’s right and wrong.
Then we see Scotchee (which I believe comes up later) who is impressed with the stories about Jamie (Bear-killer) which falls flat for me because it wasn’t a bear it was a man who’d lost his mind. I get the show couldn’t bring a bear into the show, but I didn’t like how the bear thing was done. The whole point was Jamie did something out of the norm which is what impresses the Cherokee to begin with.
Scotchee gets drunk off Jamie’s whisky. He confides to Jamie he has acquired land in Tennessee which is across the Treaty Line and therefore off limits. Scotchee wants to get Jamie a good deal but Jamie refuses.
Back at the Ridge
Claire is demonstrating the ether to Malva, Josiah, and Lizzie. In the book it was Bobby Higgins rather than Josiah but we’ve yet to meet him which makes me a little sad. Hopefully soon. Josiah and Lizzie take turns being put out by the ether and both have the same reaction. Neither realizes they were put to sleep. Claire comments that the experience is different for everyone telling us some of nightmares which are all in your mind. This is a nod to the books when Bobby does have horrible visions while under.
I’m not really enjoying the story of Claire self-medicating. It is very out of character for Claire. I understand the idea is she is suffering from PTSD and is finding an outlet in a few minutes of dreamless sleep which doesn’t seem like it would help in the slightest. In the book, the whole point of this exercise is to fine tune her technique and have some understanding of how much she should be giving patients. As I recall in the book, she mentions overdosing a patient could kill them but, in the show, it is perfectly harmless.
Malva in all scenes seems to have a nefarious edge to her.
Back at the Cherokee Village
Jamie presents the rifles to Chief Bird who is overjoyed. They all celebrate.
Jamie goes to Chief Bird with a warning. He confides to Bird his wife and daughter have knowledge of things to come. He tells Bird about the “trail where they wept.” There is little that can be done to stop what is to come but Jamie wants Bird to tell his descendants and perhaps escape what is to come.
Interesting side note, there were some Cherokee who managed to escape the Trail of Tears. I wonder?
Bird asks if Jamie paid a great deal for Claire and Jamie says, “She cost me almost everythin’ I had. But she was worth it.”
Ian speaks with some of the other Mohawk who tell him about Kaheroton’s son with Emily (I’m going to keep calling her that just because I have to look up her name to spell it every time). News of this child doesn’t make Ian very happy. Ian confronts Kaheroton (I can spell his name from memory because I’ve spelled it a thousand times now), accusing him of turning his wife against him. “Ye’ve turned my wife against me. Ye stole her hand! Let’s hear that story around the fire, shall we? How you saw one man’s happiness and wanted it for yourself!”
A fight ensues but Jamie and Scotchee break it up. Scotchee escalates things by holding a knife on Kaheroton. When Scotchee lets him go Kaheroton comes after him, but Scotchee pulls a pistol. The two decide to dual later which is when things really take a turn into ludicrous.
Scotchee Cameron is an historical figure but for some reason he’s being turned into a total buffoon. It seems unlikely that he held so little regard for them considering the real man live with them, married into the tribe, and was accepted by them. In fact, the Cherokee regarded him highly enough to deed land to his sons and it sounds like he was involved with trying to stop settlers from cheating the tribe out of land. It is baffling why then the show runners would turn him into this stereotypical version of the evil white man.
Let’s talk about Kaheroton. Does anyone by that he would participate in a duel which is the way of things for the English? Not to mention, should he kill the “friend” and agent to the Cherokee; I would think there would be consequences between the two tribes.
Ian finds Kaheroton and offers him Jamie’s good pistol which Kaheroton takes. Kaheroton in turn ask Ian to go to Emily and his son if he dies. He also asks Ian to give Emily the bracelet she made for him. Ian agrees.
Scotchee doesn’t acquit himself well and cheats. He goes to fire early, but Ian stops him. Jamie informs Kaheroton he can fire at will. Kaheroton approaches Scotchee who pleads for his life and Kaheroton spares him saying he has proven himself a coward. Again, why? Why do this to this historical character?
Ian returns Kaheroton’s bracelet.
As they are leaving the Cherokee village, we get this sense that Ian is shedding his Mohawk identity to some degree which I think doesn’t really fit with Ian. In the books, Ian continues to straddle this line of he is and isn’t. Yes, the books are different, but it seems to me Ian isn’t going to go back to the Ian he was before the Mohawk.
On the Way Home
Ian and Jamie make camp. Ian turns to Jamie about his grief over his daughter. Ian is concerned that his daughter wasn’t baptized of even given a name and wonders if she is wandering alone. Jamie gives a very weak answer which is unlike Jamie. Granted Catholics believe in the concept of limbo. The living prays for a soul to exist limbo and move on to heaven. Why not give Ian that hope? Ian confides he thinks of his child as Iseabaìl which means devoted to God.
Jamie tells Ian about Faith and how their situations are remarkably similar. Jamie has them pray. They are going to ask Faith to look after her cousin. This seems to bring Ian some peace.
Ian lets the carved wolf Emily gave him float down the stream. This makes me sad because what a thing to lose.
I do love Jamie telling Ian to call himself whatever he wishes as he’s been known by many names. Isn’t that true.
On the Ridge
Malva gets a look and Claire’s book and asks why she writes in it. Claire tells her it is recipes for medicines but also notes to help future healers know what worked and what did not. Malva seems captivated by all the things no matter how gruesome. She isn’t captivated the same way Claire is.
Claire hears the wagons and rushes out to see Jamie while asking Malva to stay and clean up.
Claire and Jamie come together in the stable. They are making love and we see Malva watching unseen.
Thoughts
Malva has reasons. I’m sure of it. There has to be a reason for her to watch them. I can’t imagine it is for her enjoyment or her own knowledge. There is just something about her that suggests something nefarious.
I predict something bad will happen because of the ether. It just seems like this is all coming to a head.
Show Watchers: Any question I posed which is explained in the books is purely for the show watcher. I know who, what, when and where about the Outlander series. I just want to get us all discussing.
