A rough-edged informer who provides James with crucial intelligence, including the revelation that Horace was likely being poisoned with arsenic-laced honey beer.
James purchases a ship at auction, but finding manacles and chains on board triggers visceral, nightmarish flashbacks related to the slave trade and his past traumas. Taboo - Episode 2 ...
Lorna asserts she married Horace in Ireland two years prior, which would give her a legal claim to his estate. A rough-edged informer who provides James with crucial
Episode 2 reinforces the idea that James Delaney is a man caught between two worlds. He performs ritualistic chants and displays tattoos that hint at a spiritual or cultural immersion in Africa that the London elite find terrifying. His "competency" and refusal to fear his enemies make him a ghost in his own city, a man who knows "things about the dead" and uses that knowledge as a weapon. Taboo: Episode 2 Review – Human Kindness Episode 2 reinforces the idea that James Delaney
For the East India Company, Lorna is a potential "backstop." If they cannot bribe or break James, they may find her easier to manipulate.
James inherits his father’s assets but pointedly ignores his debts, though he later pays off certain creditors in full as a show of unexpected power. ⚓ The Game Board Expands
The episode culminates in a brutal nighttime ambush. James is stabbed by an assassin—likely hired by the East India Company—but he retaliates with animalistic violence, biting a chunk from his attacker's neck before collapsing. Themes of Trauma