Summary
- Jamie and Claire's relationship is built on survival and dedication, as they consistently choose each other despite facing trauma and obstacles.
- Claire's love for Jamie is stronger than her love for her husband Frank, as she realizes that what she shares with Jamie is undeniable and cannot be compared to her previous love.
- Despite being separated multiple times, Jamie and Claire always find their way back to each other, proving that their relationship is steadfast and unwavering.
With so much time travel on Outlander, the relationship timeline between main characters Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) on the popular Starz series can be confusing to follow. In Outlander season 1, Claire finds herself transported from 1945 to the year 1743. She meets and falls in love with Jamie, but her husband Frank (Tobias Menzies) remains in the 1940s. Throughout their time together, Jamie and Claire reside in Scotland, France, Jamaica, and finally the American colonies. Even though Jamie and Claire are not from the same timeline, Claire realizes that what she shares with Jamie is stronger than her love for Frank.
What makes the relationship so compelling is the idea that the two met by accident but are the loves of each other's lives. Jamie and Claire prove to be soulmates throughout Outlander by doing whatever it takes to keep the other person alive. Their story is one of survival and dedication as they consistently choose each other. Even though their commitment to one another is unquestionable in the later seasons of Outlander, Jamie and Claire continue to face trauma and obstacles throughout their journey to build and protect their own family unit across the show's timeline.
Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode 5
After serving as a nurse during World War II, Claire spends the beginning of the first episode of Outlander visiting Scotland with Frank. When she touches one of the standing stones at Craigh na Dun, Claire wakes up in a new time period where she meets Jamie, a Scottish Highlander. Jamie and Claire's relationship timeline begins with her healing his injuries. This sets off the theme of their romance of always coming to one another's aid. Because of her experience as a nurse, Claire is kept in the Highlander clan as a healer, and she tries to plot her way back home.
Season 1, Episode 6 - Episode 7
Claire catches the interest of Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall (also played by Tobias Menzies), an English knight who is also an ancestor of Claire's husband Frank. Randall becomes fixated on figuring out Claire's history, and to protect her, it is arranged that she marry Jamie. The marriage between Claire and Jamie will officially make her Scottish, which would prevent Randall or another English officer from removing or arresting Claire without due cause.
In Outlander season 1, episode 7, "The Wedding," Jamie and Claire marry out of necessity, but their union marks the start of their romantic feelings. Before consummating the marriage, the two discuss their childhoods and backgrounds so that their wedding night is not awkward. After sleeping together, Claire is torn because she realizes she is developing feelings for Jamie while still longing to return home to Frank.
Jamie takes seriously his vow to protect Claire no matter what. After marrying Jamie, Claire returns to the standing stones in an attempt to return to Frank. She is captured by Randall, but Jamie rescues her. When Claire is accused of witchcraft, Jamie once again rushes to her side. In Outlander season 1, episode 11, "The Devil's Mark," Claire confesses to Jamie that she is from the future. Even though he does not understand it, he believes her story.
Until this point in their relationship timeline, Claire was actively torn between her growing feelings for Jamie and her past love for Frank. Jamie gives Claire the opportunity to return home to Frank. When confronted with the chance to leave, Claire realizes that Jamie is who she really wants to be with, and she returns to him.
Season 1, Episode 12- Episode 16
After a raid goes poorly, Jamie is captured by redcoats, escapes, and is then recaptured. While imprisoned, Jamie is tortured and raped by Randall. Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) devises a plan to rescue Jamie, but even after he is freed, he is haunted by the assault he endured. When he admits he wants to die, Claire professes her love for Jamie, telling him, "If you take away the one last thing that makes sense to me, then I will die with you right here now." The first season of Outlander ends with Claire and Jamie leaving for France, and at the start of their voyage, she tells him she is pregnant.
