I am disappointed that S3 of Outlander will not be covered by the A.V. Club.

I also like how Diana adapted the Duke's motive for the attack in Paris. In the book, Sandringham did not owe a debt to Monsieur Le Compte. Since the show did not include an important Paris event from the book where Jamie meets Fergus (and just prior to the meeting, Jamie being at port arms with a sausage instead of…

Rupert dies in Dougal's arms in the book… "You are my chief, man, and it's your duty," he whispered. "Come now. Do it now. This dying hurts me, Dougal, and I would have it over"

He's called Hal in MOBY. John's older brother, Lord Melton. Repays a debt of honor in the beginning of Voyager.

SPOILER

In a way this episode for me was like 202 - laying the plumbing. I wish we could have seen Jamie throw Lovat's wooden teeth into the fire (like in the book), but Anne Kenney did note the logistics of that did not work.

Having the girl in the 'Title Card' scene in 1954 was a nice Easter Egg. Knowing what was coming in this episode, that scene made me smile - even though it was not in any of the books.

The king is just that. He is the king and can taunt whomever he chooses. I think that if anyone attempted to challenge the king to a duel, the challenger would en up in the Bastille at the very least.

'The Space Between' I am referring to is a Novella by Diana Gabaldon (the series author, and screenplay writer for episode 211) in which we learn more about Master Raymond and Le Comte.

You pose a good question. Just keep watching :)

Have you read "The Space Between"

The attack is pretty much from the book. Also, make an effort to remember the birthmark on one of the assailant's hands.

Ditto :)

The question "I’m also getting very confused by the timeline, because shouldn’t Claire have looked way more pregnant in those scenes with Frank from the season premiere?" is an excellent question. In a way, I am glad you're confused. I came by a similar confusion while reading the book.

There were many good moments in this episode. My favorite was how & when Jamie finally found Sawney.

I agree that Murtagh was definitely an entertaining part of this episode. From his missing "Lard Bucket" and "Big Head" to his fascination with the pair of swan jewelry, he has provided multiple highlights in tonight's show.

It's a framing story (like bookends), and it was meant to cause the reaction 'how the heck did we get here?'. From this we know that Claire and Jamie failed to stop the rising and stop Culloden. Now we get to see what went wrong and also what convinced Claire to return to the 20th century.