By Caitlin Gallagher,mliss1578

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Despite the peaceful Scottish music, the images at the beginning of Episode 8 of Blood of My Blood quickly turn unsettling. The preparations for Ellen MacKenzie’s purity test show many 18th-century gynecological instruments, some looking like straight-up torture devices, while Ellen calmly bathes. The juxtaposition is haunting. And perhaps that’s the point — that this horrific test was rather commonplace for women in that time.

As ordered by Isaac Grant, MacKenzie brothers Colum and Dougal are overseeing the test to see if their sister is a virgin. Colum is spinning out about whether Ellen has managed to squeeze in a dalliance at Beltane or the House of Nairne. To Dougal’s credit, he doesn’t expose that he saw Ellen and Brian Fraser canoodling at the Jacobite meeting. Colum tries to get intel from Ned Gowan, who truly is naive about Ellen’s relationship with Brian.

Colum has gotten into Ned’s head, so he goes to Mrs. Fitz to see if she knows anything about the status of Ellen’s virginity. After all, the stakes are high with the implication being that the Grants may kill Ellen if she’s found to have had sex before her marriage to Malcolm. But Colum has proven he’s not worried about this because he loves his sister — his number one concern, like his father’s before him, is the status of Clan MacKenzie. But thankfully, love is very much part of Mrs. Fitz’s motivation, and she doesn’t reveal to Ned that Ellen has been handfasted to a Fraser.

Over at the Fraser homestead, Simon is hitting the road to drink from the Well of Spa in Aberdeen to help with his troubles in the bedroom. (Little does he know that Julia’s herbal treatments are the reasons for said troubles.) Before he goes, he drops the bomb on his son Brian that Ellen’s virginity is going to be tested. Lord Lovat is giddy at the prospect of destroying the MacKenzies despite Brian being wrecked at the love of his life having to go through such an ordeal. As with Colum, “love” is not part of Simon’s vocabulary. The moment Simon leaves, Brian declares to his mom that he’s off to “rescue my wife.”

Mrs. Fitz is trying to set up Brian’s wife for success by having her drink lots of water. Because as part of the test, Ellen will have to hold her water (aka, urine), and then it must be clear when she is ordered to go. Cause obviously, clear pee is proof that proves a woman is a virgin. Even the traditional Mrs. Fitz acknowledges that this highly-scientific test occasionally has false conclusions. But Ellen confesses she isn’t going to pass since she’s not a virgin. And though she admits that she wasn’t handfasted to Mrs. Fitz’s nephew, Murtagh, she won’t reveal who her husband is.

Brian is ready to blow up his own spot, though, as he prepares to storm Castle Leoch to run away with Ellen. Davina is not thrilled with this plan, as it surely means he’ll be killed. So Julia steps in with a more unconventional plan. Using her photographic memory of the Trotula, she creates a concoction that, when applied and dried, can convincingly appear like a hymen. (The ingredients are ground sugar, egg yolk, alum, and saltpeter… keep the recipe handy for the next time you need to create a convincing fake hymen.)

Even though Julia now has the opportunity to reunite with her husband Henry at the Grants, she insists on going with Brian to the MacKenzies to help him save Ellen. Davina promises to guard baby William since Julia is protecting her son. While on the road together, Brian yet again offers Julia the chance to go to Henry at Castle Grant. But Julia couldn’t live with herself if anything bad happened to Brian or Ellen, so she stays the course. (Just ignore that the typically quick-witted Julia should have figured Henry would be at Leoch too, since she knew the Grants were there for the test.)

Good thing Julia didn’t head to the Grants because Henry is not at home — he, too, is headed to Castle Leoch for Lady Ellen’s test. And Henry decides it’s in his best interest to cozy up to Malcolm, as he’s far more compassionate than his father, Isaac. Malcolm is upset about the test since he trusts Ellen and asks Henry to tell her so via Ned Gowan. While waiting to meet Ned in the hallways of Leoch, Henry handles his St. Anthony’s necklace when he spots a servant. And not just any servant — it’s Julia! On her way to help Ellen.

But Claire’s parents’ reunion will have to wait since Henry chalks up the vision to his PTSD, which has been getting worse since his time traveling. Henry asks Ned for his help to escape his service to the Grants, while Julia heads to Ellen’s bedchamber, where Ellen and Mrs. Fitz accept her help administering the solution.

Malcolm also visits Ellen at her bedchamber and reveals that it was Brian’s father, Simon Fraser, who claimed that she wasn’t virtuous. Malcolm apologizes that she must do this test. Yet, despite all of these men having misgivings, no one actually tries to put a stop to this barbaric practice. And Ellen is forced to prove her virtue — complete with urinating in front of 10 or so men (including her brothers and her betrothed) and being examined to see if she’s “intact.”

Ellen is proclaimed to be a virgin, so Julia’s mixture did the trick. But that doesn’t erase the suffering Ellen experienced going through such a humiliating and invasive ordeal. And while she continues to put on a brave face for Malcolm, she stares at her brother Colum with absolute loathing.

Back in her room, Ellen says she’s eternally indebted to Julia, who then heads back to meet Brian through the secret passageway. Along the way, she spots Henry, and finally, Claire’s parents have found each other in the past! Though Henry still can’t believe his eyes, Julia proves it’s her by quoting from her first letters to him, “Hope springs eternal,” and telling him she named their son William after Henry’s grandfather.

Their reunion is short-lived, though, as Brian comes to retrieve Julia and the eternally-annoying Arch Bug comes looking for Henry. Julia says they’ll find a way to each other soon, but begs Henry not to come looking for her at Castle Leathers because it isn’t safe. Sounds like a challenge.

To add to the Beauchamps roadblocks, Henry has made himself too indispensable to the Grants, with Malcolm telling him he wants him to serve as bladier for years to come. At the very same time, a letter arrives announcing that Isaac Grant has died (sadly, the actor who portrayed Isaac, Brian McCardie, passed away last year), which will surely make it even more difficult for Henry to flee the Grants and return to his own time with Julia.

Things aren’t looking up for Brian either. Yes, his beloved Ellen passed her virtue test, but Mrs. Fitz finds Brian and Julia before they leave Castle Leoch and gives him back his tartan from their handfasting. “If you truly love her, you’ll stay away from her.” But while the fate of Julia and Henry is still a mystery, Outlander fans know that Brian has no plans of staying away from Ellen.

Caitlin Gallagher is a New Jersey-raised, NYC-based entertainment writer. When not writing about or watching TV, she can be found planning her next Halloween costume, crying over rescue animals, or praising Season 2 of The Leftovers.