Outlander’s Claire Fraser married Lord John Grey in season 7 after she was accused of espionage, but some fans have pointed out how she could have avoided the marriage, despite facing execution for her supposed crims
The second part of Outlander’s seventh season was filled with high drama, including the apparent death of Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) in a shipwreck.
Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) found herself in deep sorrow and was accused of espionage after her letters were intercepted while she was assisting Mercy Woodcock (Gloria Obianyo), who was spying for the Continentals.
Facing execution for her supposed crimes, Claire was rescued by Lord John Grey (David Berry), who proposed marriage as a means to protect her.
Despite her doubts, Claire agreed, and the two exchanged vows before consummating their union.
However, Jamie soon arrived in Philadelphia, very much alive and enraged at Lord John for sleeping with his wife, according to the Scottish Daily Express, reports the Daily Record.
Interestingly, Claire could have simply returned to the future to evade the authorities.
She had previously journeyed back through the stones before the Battle of Culloden and might have chosen to flee again.
Claire could have reunited with Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin), as well as her grandchildren.
As before, Claire might have been able to build a new life for herself and even tried to find out if Jamie was still alive in the past, returning to him once more.
Some fans have voiced their opinions on the brief marriage and passionate night between Lord John and Claire.
Echo in the Bone readers went into a frenzy on Reddit, with one stunned fan exclaiming: “WHAT IS HAPPENING? HOW COULD SHE MARRY AND SLEEP WITH LORD JOHN? AFTER ALL SHE HAS SEEN AND DONE – SHE REALLY WOULDN’T WAIT TO CONFIRM JAMIE IS ACTUALLY GONE?”
Another chimed in with their own disbelief, confessing: “I remember being so shocked the first time I read this and I empathetize with your reaction so thoroughly [sic].”
A third attempted to justify the contentious choice: “Why did she marry him? You know why…. she was gonna get arrested! Confirming Jamie is actually gone would have taken months.”
One reader expressed astonishment over the unexpected plot twist: “This was honestly the weirdest twist Diana Gabaldon has ever twisted.”
Yet another participant discussed the tumultuous aftermath of the book’s release: “Welcome to TBE (The Big Event)! I remember the Lit Forum boards when Echo first came out – everyone was reeling.
“It does make more sense as you keep reading, and I actually came to really appreciate the bond that Claire and LJ form during this time. But yes, our Clair is never far from drama (though tbf, that’s true of Jamie and LJ as well [sic].”
Fans weren’t alone in their fervor as Outlander producer Maril Davis reflected on the mix of strong reactions: “Everyone had big thoughts and feelings about that scene.”
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To Glamour, she defended the scene’s presence, highlighting the intense heartache driving the narrative: “But to me, it was a no-brainer. It had to be shown. I think it just shows the lengths or the depths of grief that’s happening, that these two people who would never normally be together are thrown together in their joint grief and their need to connect to Jamie.”
Further explaining to Glamour the significance of depicting Claire and Lord John’s mutual distress, the executive producer gave more insight.
She expounded on the sequence, affirming it “just illustrates how deep this grief goes and how much you’re willing to do to hold on to some part of Jamie.”