Outlander: Claire Makes a Dangerous Bet with Mary's Future

The penultimate episode of Outlander's second season tied up the last major loose end before the Scottish Jacobite rebellion reaches Culloden Moore: the marriage of Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies).

The reemergence of the show's darkest villain should make everyone shudder, but it's Claire (Caitriona Balfe) who took the most deplorable route in this episode.

Yet when she was given the chance to make sure Frank's ancestral line stayed in tact and save Mary Hawkins (Rosie Day) from a life of being tortured, she allowed her young friend to wind up in the arms of the most evil man either of them have ever known.

The two are already expecting a child, but it has become apparent that Alex won't live long enough to see the baby born.

[...] he proposes that Mary marry his brother Black Jack Randall to ensure that she'll have a secure and prosperous life after Alex's death.