Warning! Spoilers for Outlander season 8, episode 3 ahead! Outlander season 8, episode 3, “Abies Fraseri,” sees Jamie finally get to the bottom of what Captain Charles Cunningham is up to, and he’s definitely not happy about it. This episode picks up as Brianna and Fanny shop around the trading post. While it’s initially a great bonding moment for the two, the mood shifts as two men approach Fanny with clearly dishonorable intentions. Once the men finally leave, Fanny tells Brianna that they were officers. She recognized that sort of behavior after years of observing patrons at the brothel where she grew up.

Since these men were at the trading post to visit Captain Cunningham, this is our first big red flag of the Outlander season 8 episode. Of course, more on that later. A lot more happens before Jamie discovers the truth about Cunningham. First things first, a letter from Lord John Grey opens back up Jamie’s wounds of jealousy. John wants Brianna to come to Savannah to paint a portrait of Ben Grey’s widow, Amaranthus, and her son. Jamie is immediately irked and forbids Brianna or Claire from having anything to do with Lord John. Naturally, this doesn’t go well.

Jamie and Claire’s final big fight over the Lord John Grey situation from Outlander season 7, part 2, is joined by a slew of other events. We see William continue his investigation into his cousin Ben’s death, and though he doesn’t find the answers he is searching for, the process brings him closer to Ben’s widow. This Outlander episode also gave us another peek into Lord John’s conflicted relationship with Percy Beauchamp, who asks his old partner for a favor involving Fergus Fraser. Then there is the big event of Outlander season 8, episode 3, when Claire magically resurrects a stillborn infant.

This is all followed up by the inevitable confrontation between Jamie and Captain Charles Cunningham. While this man is difficult not to like, Jamie has had a hard time trusting him. As it turns out, it was for good reason, since this Outlander episode reveals that Cunningham hasn’t retired from His Majesty’s army after all.

Charles Cunningham Is Raising A Loyalist Militia On Fraser’s Ridge

While in the woods with Fanny, Jamie hears gunshots and discovers that Benjamin Cleveland has shot and killed the two men who had visited Cunningham at the trading post. The gleeful Mr. Cleveland reveals that the men had been smuggling guns onto Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie stops his neighboring landowner from stringing up the corpses and buries them instead, but not before searching their bodies and coming away with a letter addressed to Captain Cunningham.

Jamie confronts Cunningham, pointing out that while the letter seems dull at first sight, key words indicate something else entirely. A quick search of the trading post allows Jamie to turn up a key, and, when laid over the letter, it unveils a new message. The sender of the letter, revealed to be Major Patrick Ferugson, is promising to send new weapons while requesting new recruits.

With that information out in the open, Cunningham has no choice but to tell Jamie the truth. He hasn’t retired from the British army at all, and is raising a loyalist militia on Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie is, of course, enraged. However, Cunningham expresses his desire for Jamie to join his cause. These two men have spent some time together, and Cunningham believes that Jamie’s political views aren’t truly so different from his own. He encourages him to help the king claim victory so that the war and violence can finally end. As Outlander season 8, episode 4 comes to a close Jamie is left to consider the offer.

How Claire Resurrected The Stillborn Baby & What That Means For Faith

The big Cunningham reveal may have been the primary focus of Outlander season 8, episode 3’s ending, but Claire’s big miracle served as the climax. Earlier in the episode, a laboring woman, Suzannah, shows up at the Fraser house in desperate need of help. Upon examination, Claire discovers that the woman is carrying twins. The two babies are caught on one another, stalling Suzannah’s labor. Of course, this is nothing Claire can’t solve with a little practical medicine and maneuvering.

The first baby is eventually born without issue. However, the trouble begins when the second baby arrives. The infant appears to be stillborn, but Claire does all she can to rouse her. She knows it’s hopeless, however, and so does Jamie. As he watches on sadly, he sees Claire’s desperation and knows that she has been brought back to that moment in France all those years ago, as she held Faith’s body. We observe this from Claire’s perspective as well. She cries over the baby as she sees visions of Faith and blue wings, and hears Master Raymond’s voice.

All of a sudden, the stillborn baby begins to cry. Something spectacular has happened. Claire has always had a knack for healing with practical medicine, but this was purely magical. Later, when Jamie questions how this happened, Claire explains that she felt a blue light spread through her into the baby, and it was the same experience as when Master Raymond healed her in France. This raises the question of whether the mysterious man had used the same power to bring back Faith, just as Claire saved Suzannah’s little daughter.

William & Amaranthus’ Big Kiss Explained

William continues to have a rather complicated time in Outlander season 8. The fantasy show’s previous seasons proved to be extremely tumultuous for him, as he learned the truth about his father and failed to save Jane’s life. Now, William is struggling to cope with the news that his cousin, Ben, has died while in rebel captivity. In Outlander season 8, episode 2, William discovers that another man is in Ben’s grave, which gives him hope that his cousin has somehow survived. However, further investigation in episode 3 makes that seem unlikely.

William attends a luncheon where Major General Lesley, Ben’s commander, is in attendance, and he subtly questions him about Ben’s death. William hopes that Ben would have gotten word to Lesley had he actually survived. However, it’s clear the Major General has no reason to believe that Ben didn’t die in the camp as the rebels claim. Once William returns his cousin’s uniform to Amarathus and discovers the tin soldier he had once given Ben among her belongings, he has to accept that his investigation is over.

Though William is reluctant to accept that Ben really died, the realization seems to open the door to another complicated romance. He and Amaranthus already had a good deal of chemistry, but their walk through the garden sealed the deal. There’s little doubt that the widow’s friendliness is actually flirting, but William still seems taken by surprise when she plants a kiss on him. Still, he most definitely kisses her back. William’s conflicted expression afterward makes it clear that he feels immediately guilty, but he and Amaranthus are sure to have more such moments as Outlander continues.

Percy Beauchamp Is Searching For Fergus Fraser

Another interesting moment in Outlander season 8, episode 3, came at that luncheon in Major General Lesley’s honor, as Lord John Grey and Percy Beauchamp have a clandestine conversation. These two have a complicated history. They were once lovers, but things fell apart rather dramatically. Still, Percy wants a favor from Lord John. He explains that he has been making efforts to get in touch with Fergus for some mysterious reason, but Jamie’s adoptive son has ignored his letters. Percy hopes Lord John will bridge the gap in communication.

Lord John agrees to consider helping, but, in exchange, he wants Percy to locate Captain Richardson. This was the double agent who had William kidnapped in order to blackmail Lord John. He’s been missing ever since, and both Lord John and William are eager to see the man face justice.

Roger & Brianna Want To Use The Jacobite Gold To Buy Weapons In Savannah

As previously stated, Lord John wants Brianna to come to Savannah to paint a portrait of Amaranthus and her baby. Despite Jamie’s objections, Brianna agrees to the trip. However, she has ulterior motives in wanting to head to Savannah. It appears in Outlander season 8 that the Battle of King’s Mountain that Frank wrote about in his book is inevitable. If they can’t avoid the fighting, Brianna and Roger want to ensure their allies are sufficiently armed. In Savannah, there will be ample opportunity to buy guns.

Brianna and Roger plan to use the Jacobite gold that Jamie hid away to make this purchase. At first, Jamie forbids it. However, this has more to do with his rage at Lord John than anything else. He gave that gold to Brianna, and she has every right to use it how she pleases. After Jamie and Claire get the resentment over the Lord John situation out of their system, there’s nothing holding Roger and Brianna back from getting those weapons.

What The Ridge’s Looming Battle Means for Outlander Season 8

Everyone was eager to believe that Frank’s warning about the Revolutionary War coming to Fraser’s Ridge was false. However, between the appearance of Benjamin Cleveland and the reveal that Cunningham is raising a militia, it seems the writing is on the wall. We know there is no chance that Jamie will join the Redcoats as Cunningham hopes. So, these two men are doomed to meet on opposite sides of the battlefield. Whether Frank was also correct about Jamie’s death at the Battle of King’s Mountain remains to be seen. Doubtless, future episodes of Outlander season 8 will come with answers.