‘Outlander’ Season 6, Episode 4 Recap: “Hour of the Wolf”

“Hour of the Wolf,” the fourth episode of Outlander‘s sixth season, feels like it should be accomplishing something. We’ve been precariously teetering on the edge of calamity for weeks now, which means the storm must be due to break, right? Perhaps not just yet. Admittedly, nothing major really happens in this episode, but it does serve as a lovely character piece for Young Ian (John Bell) that offers a quiet bit of respite from the chaos that’s sure to follow as the season continues.

We start in flashback, as we often do, to Ian’s initiation as one of the Mohawk tribe. After spending so much time learning their customs and their language, he goes through a ceremony in which he is adopted as one of their own — flesh of their flesh, bone of their bone — and given a new name. Henceforth, he was to be known as Okwaho’rohtsi’ah, or wolf’s brother.

This scene is just to begin hinting at the truth of what actually happened between him and the woman he loved while with the Mohawk, and what ultimately led him to leave the tribe and return to Fraser’s Ridge. That story finally has the opportunity to be shared when Ian and Jamie (Sam Heughan) head off to hand over the guns from Major MacDonald to the Cherokee. Turns out, they’re not the only tribe that have turned up to the trading day. The Mohawk are also there, and Ian quickly spots Kaheroton (Braedon Clarke) and his face goes stony. We’ll find out why later on.

It’s worth mentioning here that Jamie has arrived at the handoff with a message to share with Chief Bird (Glen Gould). Brianna (Sophie Skelton) sulked her way through the weapons testing before the men set off, only to later reveal to Jamie that the guns they’re giving the Cherokee won’t be anywhere near enough to save them. In 60 years, the government will push them off their land and send them 1,000 miles away. During that journey, which we all know as the “Trail of Tears,” roughly 8,000 Native Americans will die. It’s a warning Jamie knows he can only share with Chief Bird as anyone else would think these future “premonitions” of sorts were akin to witchcraft.

The night Jamie and Young Ian arrive in Cherokee territory, Ian is moody and wants to put the handoff of the weapons off until morning. Jamie suggests as much and acts as a sounding board for Ian to finally reveal the depth of the heartache he experienced as part of the Mohawk, most of which he has never discussed, let alone healed from.

The Mohawk woman with whom Ian had fallen in love was named Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa. He called her Emily, he recalls bittersweetly, as he did not yet know how to pronounce her name when they met. In Mohawk culture, women choose their mates, and when Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa handed Ian a small carved stone wolf, he knew she’d chosen him.

They were married and happy for a period, but when she became pregnant, their happiness turned to sorry when she miscarried their daughter. Another miscarriage followed soon after, and eventually it was determined that this was because, according to tribe elder Tewaktenyonh, his soul is not Mohawk. Ian was basically forced to leave the Mohawk and found it hard to put up a resistance when it was revealed that Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa was now taken up with Kaheroton. Not only did he have to mourn the loss of his unborn children, but now the loss of his wife as well.

The following morning, Jamie meets Alexander Cameron, AKA Scotchie. He’s the Indian agent to the Overhill Cherokee and takes a bit too much of a liking to Jamie’s whiskey. He also steps in when Ian and Kaheroton get into a fistfight, helping to pull the men apart and then bizarrely challenging Kaheroton to a duel by pistol.

The two men agree, and it’s only when Ian comes to terms with the fact that Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa and Kaheroton now have a healthy son together that he hands over Jamie’s pistol to his successor and wishes him well. He also saves him again later when Scotchie tries to cheat during the duel and turns around early. Scotchie escapes with his life just barely as Kaheroton refuses to shoot a coward.

Meanwhile, back at Fraser’s Ridge, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is taking her ether on tour. She’s got Malva (Jessica Reynolds) working with her, and they’ve brought in Josiah (Paul Gorman) and Lizzie (Caitlyn O’Ryan) to be the guinea pigs on the stuff. Claire simply wants Malva to knock the two of them out for a bit so she can see how it works on other people. For one thing, she’ll need an assistant if she’s going to use ether when performing surgery. For another, she’s only ever put herself to sleep with it, so it’s time to take the trials to the public, in a sense. It all works just fine, but there’s not much to report beyond that.

Before heading home, Young Ian talks down to a stream, where he finally allows the stone wolf given to him by
Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa float away. This symbolizes a willingness to finally move on and find peace, even if he doesn’t quite feel it just yet. It’s likely Jamie’s own admission about having lost his own daughter, Faith, that provided comfort to Ian, who felt unrest that his own stillborn child, Iseabaìl, never had a chance to be baptized.

Finally, Jamie and Ian return home, and just in time because Claire’s feeling pretty randy. She basically jumps him in the barn, despite the fact that he mentions he’s bone tired and would rather talk about how he’s sick of being both a loyalist and a rebel. He plans to resign as Indian agent the following morning, but for today, Claire wants to get laid (again). Shame they’ve got little privacy, as Malva is standing on her tip-toes watching them through the window of the barn.

A few notes:

• The opening conversation between Claire and Jamie in bed is awwwkward. Jamie describing his sexual prowess as “greased lightning” and Claire explaining that it’s all about “extreme speed not lubricated brilliance” kinda squicked me out, not gonna lie.
• I know it’s such a small part of the show, but I live for the Lizzie/Josiah/Keziah throuple dynamic going on. It’s just hilarious and random and kinda the best.
• Fergus (Cesar Domboy) has been sent off to sell stuff for Jamie, which isn’t exciting in and of itself. What IS exciting is that he’s due to visit Aunt Jocasta on his travels, which hopefully (fingers crossed!) means the return of Maria Doyle Kennedy.

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Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.