Fans of Outlander have come to the defence of lead character Claire Fraser, following criticism over a “frustrating” mistake she made. The historical fantasy series, which first aired in 2014, is based on Diana Gabaldon’s book series of the same name.

Caitriona Balfe portrays Claire in the Starz series, a character who travels between two different periods of history during the show. It’s in 1743, two years before The Jacobite Rising, that Claire encounters the dashing Scot Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), who later becomes her husband.

In her actual timeline, 200 years into the future in 1945, Claire is a World War II nurse and married to Frank Randall. As fans eagerly await the next instalment of Outlander, some have returned to the book series to fill the gap.

However, one fan confessed they were “frustrated” after spotting what they believed to be an error Claire made in the third book, Voyager. Posting on Reddit, @SorryIAmNew2002 wrote: “I’m on book 3 to keep busy while waiting for the new episodes to drop and I love it so far.

“More details keep me shocked and gasping like… Marsali being 15 and Fergus being 30? Yuck,” they added. They then elaborated on what had annoyed them about Claire’s decision-making, reports the Express.

“But what I cannot shake is the frustration about how Claire didn’t research more before going back,” they continued.

“Obviously in Jamaica, she entered unforeseen terrain but once or twice now she’s been clueless about a cure because she didn’t know which herbs to use or because she was unsure of history questions.

“If I were to take such a huge step as to travel back in time I would’ve gobbled up all the books I could find about medical plants and relationships / important people from that time.

“Maybe I’m just being too harsh on her, I’m not a huge fan of Claire. But it really bugs me reading.”

Many fans, however, countered these criticisms with their own insights in the comments section.

One chimed in: “I think you’re overlooking two things: how much actual research has been done/published on the subject and how easy is it to find.

“In Claire’s time, it’s not so simple to find that sort of esoteric knowledge. That’s the whole reason she and Frank were in Inverness the first time, he had to go find the original documents and oral histories.

“Not every book was in wide circulation, especially ones that deal with a niche topic. Even the existence of the document you’re looking for might only be known to a few people. That information may be widely known in the community of people interested in the topic but not exactly widespread knowledge.”

Another enthusiast defended: “I would think she wanted to travel as soon as possible because all she knew is that Jamie was in Edinburgh a year earlier. The longer she waited the greater the chance he’d be somewhere else.”

A third person commented: “She can’t know everything. She didn’t know they will end up in Jamaica/ in fact, anywhere outside Scotland. How could she learn it all in the short amount of time she had?

“Research would include reading huge amounts of books, and she had her work to finish at hospital, do all the paperwork for Bree and limited amount of time.” (sic)

Meanwhile, another reader pointed out: “Claire specifically says in the book, during a time she’s lamenting not knowing more, that she didn’t bother to brush up on American history because she assumed she and Jamie would be in Scotland.

“She knows a tremendous amount about herbal medicines, in addition to her medical degree, but she can’t know EVERYTHING […] Plus, her having all the answers would ruin many plot points!” (sic)

Source: dailyrecord.co.uk

By Damyan Ivanov

My name is Damyan Ivanov and i was born in 1998 in Varna, Bulgaria. Graduated high school in 2016 and since then i'm working on wordpress news websites.