Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 ending explained: Who are crowned the King and Queen of Beltane?

Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 continues to unravel the story of two pairs of star-crossed lovers, one who remains luckless in finding each other, and another who has been sneaking out to be together. Both have their own hefty dose of misfortune as they look ahead into each of their futures against the backdrop of the burning fire at the Beltane festival.

Brian and Ellen make good on their promise to meet at Beltane despite numerous obstacles. Ellen makes a huge decision about the man she loves, but since their relationship is still a secret, she has to choose someone else for the coronation at Beltane festival.

As Ellen is chosen as the Queen of Beltane, she is forced to choose her betrothed, Malcolm Grant, as her King, with the end of Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 seeing their coronation ceremony. Meanwhile, Ellen and Brian Fraser's secret rendezvous are accidentally revealed to another, which could cause a later complication.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Who gets crowned the King and Queen of Beltane at the end of Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5?

The King and Queen of Beltane (Image via Starz)

Beltane festival features a May Queen and her King, the Green Man, who symbolizes the start of the summer and the fertility of nature. In Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5, Ellen MacKenzie is chosen as the Queen of Beltane after the dance.

To pick the King, Ellen must choose from the single men who lined up and volunteered to be chosen, including Malcom Grant, Ellen's betrothed, Brian Fraser, his cousin Murtagh, and a few single men. Although Ellen wants to choose Brian, he gives her a subtle shake of his head to say no. Their romance is secret and they have to pretend to be strangers.

Ellen ends up choosing her betrothed, much to the crowd's delight and to Murtagh's heartbreak. Despite Ellen wanting to choose someone else, the man she loves, the coronation at Beltane is simply another picture of her being in an invisible prison. Ever since her father died, as seen in the Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 premiere, Ellen has lost her freedom.

She may be looked at as a highly coveted woman from a desirable clan, but she lacks the freedom to make choices about her life. She's promised to Malcolm Grant, and she can't do anything about it without suffering serious consequences. Her love affair with Brian Fraser is also doomed, as he is the son, though illegitimate, of Lord Lovat, the man who considers the MacKenzies his enemy.

But despite being forced to bind her life to another man, Ellen only has eyes for her real soulmate, Brian Fraser, who looks longingly as Malcolm Grant steals a kiss from her in front of the crowd.

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Outlander Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5: Do Julia and Henry Beauchamp find each other?

Julia is left at Castle Leathers (Image via Starz)

Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 ends with Julia and Henry still unlucky about finding each other. They could have found their way to each other at Beltane if things had gone as planned. Unfortunately, Davina interrupts Brian and Julia's plan to sneak to the Beltane festival and forbids Julia from going. She also reveals that Lord Lovat supposedly fathered Julia's child.

While Brian understands that Julia is in a rough position, he feels slightly betrayed that Julia didn't tell him. In the end, Julia is left at Castle Leathers, entertaining the seer Lovat has invited to give a reading about their supposed unborn baby. Meanwhile, Henry is in the middle of the festivities at Beltane, still hoping to find Julia.

The episode ends with them still longing for each other, holding on to hope that they will eventually find their way to each other. However, the question about whether they will ever find one another or should try to move on and make do with their current lives has started to take root in their minds.

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What happens to Murtagh and Jocasta in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5?

Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser's secret rendezvous at Beltane in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 is inadvertently revealed to another, and it's none other than Brian's cousin and Ellen's long-time admirer, Murtagh. After seeing their romantic trysts in the woods, he quickly leaves without the two knowing that he has accidentally stumbled across them.

Jocasta and Murtagh in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 (Image via Starz)

Murtagh's mood has already soured early in the festival after realizing that he couldn't compare to Malcolm Grant in Ellen's eyes. The betrayal deepens the cut because his cousin has pursued the woman he has openly said he fancied. He's predictably heartbroken the rest of the festival and drowns his sorrows at the bottom of a cup.

But it turns out that Murtagh is not the only one with some hidden feelings for another. Jocasta, who has evidently been charmed by Murtagh for some time now, tries to help him, ending with the two passionately kissing. But while the married Jocasta is feeling in the moment, Murtagh, muttering Ellen's name as they kiss, ends their affair, leaving Jocasta heartbroken and even more jealous of her sister.

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Will what happened between Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser at the chapel in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5 change everything?

Brian Fraser has "ruined" Ellen MacKenzie in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5. Beltane festival isn't only to celebrate the beginning of the summer and fertility, it's also reportedly the event where most maidens lose their innocence. The lore holds true in Ellen's case, where she loses her innocence in an abandoned chapel away from the festivities at Beltane.

But besides making the choice to fall prey to the passion of their romance, the star-crossed lovers have their version of the handfasting ceremony, the Celtic ritual symbolically tying the couple's hands to signify their unity and commitment to each other. But while things may have happened secretly, it has some big implications for their futures.

For one, Murtagh knows about their secret rendezvous, and there's bound to be a confrontation between him and Brian. There's also the possibility that Brian and Ellen have created a child, which will complicate things since she's already betrothed. If it comes out, she will be ruined. Earlier in the episode, Henry shared the Grant clan's concern about Ellen from the Fraser clan's rumors.

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Catch Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode 5, along with the show's previous episodes, streaming on Starz.