Outlander: Blood of my Blood season 1 episode 5 recap: What happens at Beltane won’t stay at Beltane

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Outlander: Blood of my Blood’s fifth episode, "Needfire”.

It’s time for the best pagan festival: Beltane (or May Day). It’s the one night of the year where, apparently, all bets are off and everyone can do whatever they want.

Brian and Ellen take advantage of the festivities to get really acquainted with each other while Murtagh finds out a devastating truth and Henry laments he cannot find Julia. Let’s recap what happens in this new episode of Outlander: Blood of my Blood.

Keeping up appearances

Brian and Julia’s plan to attend the Beltane celebration near Inverness together is short-lived as, when they try to sneak out of Castle Leathers, they get caught by Mrs. Porter who says Julia cannot go anywhere. For one, she is carrying Lord Lovat’s child, a news she breaks to Brian, who is upset that Julia lied to him about who the father of her baby is (she didn’t, but she cannot really tell him that in front of Mrs. Porter). But that’s not all, Lord Lovat’s seer, Maisri, is coming to Leathers to do a reading for him on Beltane, and Julia needs to be there.

Too bad for Julia, who could have been reunited with her husband at Beltane. But really, this isn’t surprising: we are only halfway through this first season of Blood of my Blood so the show wasn’t going to make life that easy for the time-traveling couple this early on. That’s not how the Outlander universe rolls.

Meanwhile, Ellen is on the way to the festival with her sister, Jocasta, who is a bit bitter that Ellen is being set up for an ideal marriage. The two of them keep bickering in the back of the carriage and Ned eventually tells them to cut it off.

Later on, we learn that the reason Jocasta is upset with Ellen is because she blames her for having to marry Lord Cameron and being stuck in a loveless marriage. Good thing Murtagh decided to tag along with Brian for the festivities, at least that will give Jocasta some distraction.

Indeed, Murtagh somehow still thinks he has a shot with Ellen and hopes to make a move on her at Beltane. Brian, who hasn’t yet revealed to his cousin that he is in love with the same woman as he is, tries to dissuade him but Murtagh is fully delusional at this point.

When they arrive at the festival, Ned tries to convince Ellen that marrying Malcolm is the best possible match for her and asks her not to do anything reckless. Ellen then meets up with Malcolm and plays her part, pretending that she is looking forward to their union.

A quick ceilidh is organized before the evening festivities and Malcolm invites Ellen to dance. But guess who shows up? Brian. In between steps, he and Ellen make a plan to meet up later and Murtagh notices their little chat, hoping his cousin is putting in a good word for him. Delulu, we said.

Meanwhile, Jocasta spots Murtagh and he makes her quite happy when he asks her to dance, even though he ditches her as soon as the music stops to go talk to Brian.

Afterwards, Ellen is chosen as May Queen and told to pick her king. Of course, Malcolm volunteers, but Murtagh too, the enamored fool. Luckily other men step forward as well and, to avoid Murtagh getting in trouble, Brian also joins. But of course, Elle has to keep up appearances and chooses Malcolm Grant.

Prophecies and warnings

Henry catches up with Ned to tell him Isaac Grant has received Lord Lovat’s letter questioning Ellen’s reputation, so the Grants are concerned and Henry wants to know more.

Ned assures him there is nothing to be worried about and adds that Lovat probably wants to mess up their deal because he hates the MacKenzies. He also explains that Lovat himself is accused of the kidnapping and rape of a noblewoman, which should tell Henry everything he needs to know about the kind of man Simon Fraser is. Ned encourages Henry to talk to whoever he needs to in order to ease Grant’s concerns, but insists he will find Lovat’s accusations have no merrit.

Speaking of the devil, over at Castle Leathers, Lord Lovat holds a divination seance with his seer. Maisri assures him he will soon return to the position he once held. When he asks her about the child Julia is expecting and whether the bairn will be worthy of his legacy, she tells him it is a boy with the purpose to unite clans for centuries to come. Lovat is convinced she is talking about a prophecy saying a Scottish ruler will rise from the Fraser bloodline, so he thinks Julia is carrying a future king.

Later on Mrs. Porter goes to see Lord Lovat and tells him she does not think Julia’s child is his because she is sure that Julia was already pregnant when she arrived at Leathers. However, Lovat does not want to believe her and tells Mrs. Porter she better never speak of this again or he will have her killed.

Back at the festival, Arch Bug warns Murtagh about staying away from Ellen and gives him a beating to get the message into his head.

Later on, Henry drinks his feelings as he is sad that being near Craigh Na Dun did not magically bring Julia back to him. Ned comes to sit with him and tells him of how he lost the love of his life before joining clan MacKenzie and that the pain he felt could have been the end of him. He suggests that Henry decide when he should abandon his search to avoid a similar fate.

It’s the horniest time of the year

After Ellen finally manages to ditch Malcolm Grant to go find Brian, they share a tender kiss witnessed by… Murtagh, who of course feels betrayed by Brian, and decides to go sulk at the bottom of a bottle.

Brian and Ellen go to a castle ruin to spend some time together which turns out to be quite productive: they profess their love to one another and really want to have sex but since Brian doesn’t want to ruin Ellen’s reputation, he and Ellen get handfast before getting the deed done. "Blood of my blood, bone of my bone," it’s all very lovely and giving Outlander a run for its money as this scene will surely enter in the pantheon of fan-favorites.

However with Henry looking into Ellen’s virtue, Murtagh now knowing of Brian and Ellen’s relationship and her losing her virginity to Brian, this will most likely be causing the two of them a lot of problems.

But until any of that happens, Ellen and Brian take advantage of their post-sex glow to talk about themselves and their family. He tells her his father is worse than what is said about him, and explains he went on the Camino de Santiago to find out more about himself and come to terms with his station. He asks her if she regrets choosing him and she says he is the one thing in her entire life she has chosen for herself and would do it again and again.

When the night comes, Ellen gets dressed with the most gorgeous gown for the Beltane celebration and Malcolm comes to see her to give her a small gift. It’s a token of his affection he made after they first met at Leoch when they were children (and it’s the gift he wanted to give her back in episode 1).

Meanwhile, Jocasta finds Murtagh drunk and injured and comes to his help. He tells her he wants to be wanted and they kiss but when he pulls away, Murtagh calls her "Ellen," and that’s just one more knife crammed into poor Jocasta’s heart.

As the Beltane celebration goes on, Brian watches Ellen and Malcolm be at the center of everyone’s attention, and Murtagh watches Brian. As much as Ellen and Brian only have eyes for each other, there is no doubt that this will soon get them into a world of trouble.

Will Murtagh spill the beans about Ellen and Brian’s relationship? Will Henry find out that Ellen’s virtue has indeed been ruined? We’ll have to wait for a new episode of Outlander: Blood of my Blood, on Starz and MGM+, to find out.