【Seventeen (2019)】

This recap contains spoilers for Outlander Season 3,Seventeen (2019) episode 4, titled "Of Lost Things."

Season 3 of Outlanderisn't just a story about Claire and Jamie finding their way back together -- in many ways, it's also a story of parenthood, and the sacrifices that all of our characters make for the people they love.

While Claire is able to raise Brianna in the safety of Boston, Jamie's journey of fatherhood has been much more painful; he couldn't be with Claire after she lost their first baby, Faith, and he sent her back through the Standing Stones with the expectation that he would never meet their second child.

In episode 4, aptly titled "Of Lost Things," he finally gets his first real taste of being a father -- although sadly his son doesn't realize it.

While Claire, Brianna and Roger continue their investigation into whether Jamie survived Culloden (and Brianna and Roger grow inevitably closer) in the future, we rejoin Jamie after Lord John Grey has given him parole at the Dunsanys' estate, Helwater. In his new surroundings, Jamie finally finds a sense of "hope," according to Sam Heughan.

"It's a small life and he hasn't got an awful lot, but at least he has this world of horses and peace," Heughan says, "until the lady of the house messes it up."

Said lady is Geneva Dunsany, the spoilt eldest daughter of Lord Dunsany, who takes a liking to Jamie and -- upon realizing that she's doomed to be married off to the grotesque Lord Ellesmere -- decides that she would much rather let a hot Scot take her virginity instead of a lecherous old man.

Jamie is rightly horrified by the proposition, and it takes blackmail to get him into Geneva's bedroom, but once he's there, his chivalrous nature kicks in, and he resolves to give Geneva a first time reminiscent of his own -- one that's tender and respectful, despite the awkward circumstances.

Both Jamie and Claire have already been intimate with other people this season (they're both just too darn attractive to go 20 years with no nookie, no matter how devoted they are to each other) but Jamie's night with Geneva is probably the steamiest extramarital tryst yet.

It's hard not to feel conflicted about the scene -- Jamie's making the best of it, but you can't ignore the fact that it's against his will -- and the ghost of Claire looms large as he instructs Geneva in the intricacies of lovemaking, just as Claire did for him all those years ago. Still, in typical Outlanderfashion, the woman's pleasure is the priority, and it's sweet to see Jamie passing on his wisdom, even if Claire isn't the beneficiary.

Inevitably, Geneva ends up pregnant from this one night stand, but doesn't stick around to pick up the pieces -- she dies shortly after giving birth to Jamie's son, William, whom Ellesmere immediately threatens to kill, since he's well aware the "bastard" isn't his. Jamie gets to save the day and shoot Ellesmere, and while the Dunsanys offer him his freedom for the heroism, he decides to stay at Helwater to watch Willie grow up.

Unfortunately, Jamie's position as a groom -- and the Dunsanys' reputation -- mean that Willie has no idea about his father's true identity, and Jamie isn't in a position to raise the boy the way he wants to.

Plus, once Willie gets a little older, it becomes harder and harder for people to ignore the resemblance between them, forcing Jamie to leave the estate. Luckily, Geneva's sister, Isobel, has always had a soft spot for John Grey, who has been making quarterly trips to Helwater to check up on Jamie, and John -- in an attempt to hide his homosexuality -- agrees to marry her, enabling the couple to raise Willie on Jamie's behalf.

"It is very sad; this whole season is about relationships that they have to say goodbye to or they've created," Heughan says of Jamie's decision to leave Willie. "Even John Grey goes from being this person that Jamie doesn't trust and has an animosity towards to being a very close friend with a great understanding, and actually gives him the foster care of his son."

"It's really important to see that on Claire's side, she has this whole experience as a mother and raising a daughter, but Jamie's desire to have that for himself was equally as powerful on the other side," showrunner Ron Moore says of Jamie's Season 3 trajectory. "He knew he would never see the child he sent through the stones with Claire, so that child is gone to him. He has Willie, but he can't really be a father to him -- but he enjoys him for the few years he has, and then has to let go of him as well."

Luckily, Jamie's years of loss will soon be coming to an end.

OutlanderSeason 3 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Starz.

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