Warning! SPOILERS about Outlander season 7, episode 5 and the Outlander books ahead.Reaching the midpoint of Outlander season 7a, episode 5 continued to hook viewers in as it included reunions and separations and also set up the scene for the height of the battle in the Revolutionary War struggle. The episode contained as much military strategy as it did wholesome heart-to-hearts, while also frustratingly highlighting the struggles some women faced in the workplace (in both the 18th and 20th century) as Claire and Brianna were both discriminated by their collegues. Introducing Jemmy's problems at school due to the use of Gaelic, Outlander season 7, episode 5 reiterated how things didn't become simpler for the MacKenzies purely because they traveled to the future.
Outlander season 7, episode 5 contained shocking developments in Denny, Rachel, and William's northbound journey, and pleasant yet unexpected surprises for young Ian, even if he only welcomed them because he begrudgingly traveled to his ex-wife Emily's village as a messenger due to the Revolutionary War. Moreover, Jemmy's Nuckelavee stories continued in Outlander season 7, episode 5, even if Roger began wondering whether there was some kind of truth to it, given the garbage on the side of the road and Mandy's fear. All in all, Outlander season 7, episode 5 furthered multiple storylines with potentially major consequences in the future.
Unlike the Battle of Culloden and the Jacobite rebellion, which inspired Jamie and Claire to work towards preventing it so they could change history, Fort Ticonderoga's fall in Outlander wasn't advanced by Claire's knowledge of the future. Indeed, Jamie's realization that what he calls "Sugar Loaf Hill" would be the higher ground advantage the English would need to expunge Fort Ticonderoga eerily predicts how that battle really unraveled in history, but that was only due to his knowledge about war strategy rather than Claire's knowledge about the future.
Nevertheless, despite his certainty, Jamie couldn't convince Fermoy of his idea (even if he was right).Although this case didn't involve knowledge from the future, it still highlighted how even if Jamie showed things as clearly as he could to some higher-ups, there was no guarantee he'd been heard. Indeed, Outlander season 7, episode 5' ending showed Jamie predicted the outcome almost perfectly as well as how he did his best to avoid what he feared. Yet, just like the Jacobite rebellion and the Battle of Culloden, Jamie couldn't have avoided the outcome he knew would have happened.
Brianna's new job started terribly as her subordinates decided to lock her in a tunnel, but the knowledge she garnered in Loch Errochty's tunnels hinted at a book time travel story potentially happening soon in future Outlander season 7 episodes. Indeed, worry about the tunnel portal was central in An Echo in the Bone once Rob Cameron kidnapped Jemmy to force them to reveal the Jacobite gold's location, because knowing about it being a portal, the MacKenzies were deeply worried Cameron tried to bring Jemmy back to the past. While the tunnel portal discovery hasn't set up the kidnapping yet, Outlander season 7, episode 5 left multiple clues about the book story.
