‘Outlander’: The Loves of Lord John Grey’s Life, From Jamie to Percy

The end of Outlander is bound to break a few hearts, but one of them shattered into pieces even before the show crossed the finish line.

In the penultimate episode of the Starz TV series, Lord John Grey (David Berry), the stoic but sweet royal who has been a part of the story of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) in profound and intimate ways for three decades, finds himself a prisoner inside a plot to sway the American Revolution. However, he isn’t just there for his name and his title. His secret life as a gay man in an intolerant time has been wielded against him by the last person he ever thought would commit such a blatant betrayal — Percy Wainwright (Michael Lindall), the man who loves him.

In the episode, titled “Pharos,” Outlander book series author Diana Gabaldon takes, arguably, her most important supporting character (he is the star of her spinoff novellas) on a journey of heartbreak and retribution. But how did we get here, and who can count themselves as someone Lord John’s been in love with? Let’s look at his romantic history.

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Hector Dalrymple

For Outlander fans who never read the books, the importance of Hector Dalrymple to Lord John’s life is contained in a single scene in Ardsmuir prison in Season 3. As overseer of the prison, Lord John has taken a liking to one of his charges, Jamie, and often invites him to play chess. During one of their tense but playful games, Lord John confides in Jamie about the tragic death of his first love, Hector, during the Battle of Culloden. Lord John finds Hector’s body, and in the books, his brother even makes him stare at his lifeless corpse in the hopes it will serve to traumatically shock him out of his infatuation with Hector. But it only fortifies how meaningful he was to him. The TV series actually shot this scene but ultimately dropped it from the final cut of the Season 3 premiere showdown at Culloden, instead letting Berry recount its impact on Lord John to Jamie at Ardsmuir.

Manoke

Another one of Lord John’s unseen but influential lovers is Manoke, an Indian cook at the Mount Josiah plantation in Virginia. Lord John recounts the fleeting nature of their intimate relationship, suggesting neither expected possession nor a long-term commitment. After an intimate moment with Claire (more on that below), Lord John lays bare his appreciation for Manoke, whom he likens to a deer that comes onto his property from time to time. He says he values the time the deer spends there, and doesn’t lament when he is gone.

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Claire Fraser

Perhaps the most unorthodox “relationship” in Lord John’s past is his momentary marriage (yes, you read that right) to Claire. In one of the show’s more outlandish storylines, which was contained to a single breakneck episode in Season 7, Jamie is feared lost at sea, and in order to protect Claire, who has come under suspicion of espionage, Lord John marries his best friend’s distraught widow. In a grief and booze-addled night, Lord John and Claire drunkenly consummate their marriage, and then spend the next morning talking of their shared affection for Jamie and his history with his “white deer” Manoke.

It is an incredibly exposed moment for the two, especially Lord John, and shows him in perhaps his most vulnerable state with anyone throughout the series. Jamie returns, and everything goes to hell, but for a second, there is a genuine (albeit circumstantial) bond built between the two people who love Jamie Fraser most.

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Percy Wainwright

The ways in which Lord John and Percy Wainwright’s lives intersect are complicated, to say the least. Initially, the two men were technically stepbrothers when Percy’s stepfather married Lord John’s mother. But let’s be honest, the branches of a royal family tree, with its arranged marriages and strategic divorces, are hardly easily deciphered. That being said, their connection is undeniable, and over the years, they have remained entangled in each other’s affairs. In the books, Lord John even helps Percy escape a charge of sodomy that would have led to his execution.

But in Season 8, their reunion has been fraught. First, Percy’s presence at Lord John’s Savannah home inadvertently leads the men to be reckless, and they are caught kissing by his son, William (Charles Vandervaart), who didn’t know his father was gay. Then, Lord John is kidnapped and quickly learns that Percy is partially responsible because he was blackmailed into revealing their relationship to Captain Richardson (Ben Lambert). Percy’s betrayal, despite telling Lord John he loves him (an admission that is not explicitly returned), gives Richardson the leverage to try to rewrite the victors of the American Revolution. He also tells Lord John he has obtained a statement from another one of his intimate partners, Neil Stapleton, who is featured prominently in the Lord John novellas. Richardson threatens Lord John with exposing his “proclivities” and even uses the dreaded word “incest” to force Lord John to convince his powerful brother to back continued British resources in the revolution. Richardson is a time traveler, and he believes that America remaining part of the British Empire (aka losing the war) will keep the institution of slavery, outlawed by the British, from taking root stateside.

Jamie, Claire, and William thwart Richardson’s plan, and Lord John puts a bullet in his head for good measure. But it’s Percy who gets his final wrath. Despite sharing a great deal of affection over the years, Lord John arrives at Percy’s office with very little love to offer. He comes with an ultimatum: death, or a signed affidavit acknowledging his part in the kidnapping and his malicious intent in trying to slander Lord John’s name. Percy pleads for Lord John to simply look the other way, but he can’t. In an instant, he seals both their fates. Percy signs the affidavit, pressured in part by the pistol Lord John has laid on the table between them — one he takes when he leaves. Still, once he is out the door, Lord John hears a shot ring out.

A tragic story of lovers separated by the prejudice of their time ended even more unfortunately at the hands of their own actions. While Outlander the TV series won’t be able to mine the impact this has on Lord John, one has to imagine playing a part in Percy’s death will weigh heavily. But that’s what Gabaldon’s 10th and final book is for!

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Jamie Fraser

Of all the people in Lord John’s life, it is most difficult to try to encapsulate what he and Jamie mean to each other. At first, their relationship is a power dynamic in prison, one played out over chess; then they are unexpectedly dependent on each other after Lord John orchestrates Jamie’s escape into a world that constantly threatens their well-being. They have lived on a tightrope in the decades since, as they reckon with how they can be best friends when one has a clear romantic affection for the other. To Lord John’s credit, he has never put Jamie in a position to feel uncomfortable about his interest, nor does he take Jamie up on his offer in Season 3 to consummate Lord John’s said interest as payment for his help.

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Jamie’s love for Lord John, even if he isn’t willing to call it that, fuels the betrayal he feels learning his friend and his wife had slept together in his absence. Perhaps even more of an affront to Jamie’s ego is Lord John’s admission that they used each other as a surrogate for Jamie physically in that moment. His anger toward Lord John plays out with his fists, and his negligence in saving his friend when he is captured by the militia. In the penultimate episode, they finally have it out, and Jamie tries to make amends for his own fault in the fracturing of their friendship.

It is hardly perfect, with so many unspoken things lingering between them. But at the end of Lord John’s story in the TV series, the case could be made that they are among Outlander’s great love stories. One that turns a game of chess into a platonic lover’s quarrel.

Outlander, Season 8, Fridays, 8/7c, Starz