'Outlander' Season 2: Go Inside That Gruesome Death With Ron Moore & Maril Davis! [VIDEO]
Outlander's Claire and Jamie can't always exact revenge on those who've done them wrong, but Murtagh and Mary insured the Duke of Sandringham received his just desserts in "Vengeance is Mine."
Ironically enough, the Starz series used a Diana Gabaldon penned script to deviate from the authors books in a particularly gruesome, yet wholly satisfying, way. While the Duke's (Simon Callow) death takes place outside of Claire's (Caitriona Balfe) purview in Dragonfly in Amber, Outlander viewers were privy to every bloody moment on Saturday night. As gory as it was, seeing Mary (Rosie Day) and Murtagh (Duncan Lecroix) deliver the killing blows provided a whole new level of closure.
"It was time to put an end to this," showrunner Ron Moore told The Hollywood Reporter. "Enough with this guy who keeps everybody dancing, where you never can tell which way he's going to go. Eventually, you're going to run into Murtagh and he's going to cut your head off."
Moore and executive producer Maril Davis wanted to also give Callow the send off he deserved. Sandringham was an insidious worm of a human, but that doesn't mean he wasn't played to perfection by Callow. A combination of that desire with the need to show Claire and Mary's vengeance resulted in the events of episode 11.
"We just wanted Claire, who had been through this attack, and Mary specifically, who had been through this rape, we thought it was fitting that certainly she was the one who stabbed her rapist at the end. That scene worked out really well," David explained. "And then Murtagh with the ax, while violent, was also so touching. In all these episodes, Murtagh has made this vow to Jamie, and was finally able to fulfill it and lay his head at their feet. It was a really touching moment, while also being incredibly gory."
Do you like the deviations from the book? Sound off in the comments below!
Find out what's next for Claire, Jamie (Sam Heughan), and the Jacbite Rising when Outlander airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on Starz. Click the video below to see a preview for the series' next episode, "The Hail Mary."
