Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) is in dire straits on Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

In episode 3 of the prequel series, Julia is still trapped in Lord Lovat’s household as a serving maid, and she’s feeling the pressure of her pregnancy. Davina (Sara Vickers) suspects that Julia is pregnant, and she tries to convince Julia to take a concoction of herbs that will induce an abortion. But Julia refuses to take it and denies she’s pregnant, even after Davina warns her that Lord Lovat (Tony Curran) will get rid of the child himself.

As the episode nears its close, Julia reaches a true state of desperation, knowing that she doesn’t have long before she won’t be able to hide the pregnancy. She notes that Davina is the mother of Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), who lives under his father’s protection, and hopes to provide the same defense for her child.

In a letter that she writes to Henry (Jeremy Irvine), whom she still believes is in the future with their daughter Claire, she explains, “I am in a prison, kept by the rules of this time, unkind and hostile to women. I am determined the baby will live.”

Following those words, we see Julia enter Lord Lovat’s bedchamber and drop her robe to reveal that she is completely naked. “Come and warm yourself, my English rose,” he croons, inviting her into his bed and thus giving her the ability to pass her and Henry’s child off as his.

“We don’t know how long she’s been at the house,” Corfield tells Entertainment Weekly. “But it’s been enough time that she’s had to make that difficult decision. She realized it’s a case of it’s either the baby’s going to get killed or taken away, or I’m going to have to sleep with Lovat and convince him that this is his child. It’s a very difficult decision, but she realizes very quickly that she has zero options other than that.”

The Outlander franchise is no stranger to sexual violence, but this scenario is a slightly different take on things with Julia actively choosing to go to Lovat’s bed. Still, Corfield says audiences should interpret this as a moment of assault all the same. “She’s being held there against her will,” she says. “It’s an act of desperation. Lord Lovat is also a violent man and sexually violent, so yes, I would say it’s still sexual violence.”

Already, Julia has written to Henry in the letters she pens to help keep her sane. But if the two do manage to find each other in the 18th century, how might he respond to learning about this? Corfield hopes that he would only offer her compassion.

“I would hope that he would understand,” she reflects. “It’s not in the means of her own survival; it’s for her child. He would understand that. The circumstances they find themselves in — going back in time — no one can fathom how you’d cope in that scenario and the ways you’d cope. One of the interesting things about Julia is her different strategies for survival. It’s a horrible one, but it’s a necessary one.”

New episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood air at 8 p.m. ET/PT Fridays on Starz and are available on the Starz app the same day.