Outlander’s Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) could have formed a totally different relationship with Jonathan ‘Black Jack’ Randall (Tobias Menzies), according to one fan.
The heroine of the Starz series and her one true love Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) will soon be reunited on her screens for series 7, part 2.
However, one viewer has theorised that Claire could have taken a very different path all the way back in Outlander’s first episode, which saw her first introduced to the show’s villain before Jamie and his fellow Scots came to her rescue.
Episode one sees Claire travel back in time from 1945 to 1743, where she comes across the vile Jonathan Randall, who is an English knight during the time of the Jacobite Rising.
Claire confuses Jonathan for her husband Frank Randall (also played by Tobias Menzies), but quickly realises he is someone else when he becomes violent and tries to sexually assault her.
Taking to Reddit, a user with the name @ResponsibilityBig280 pondered over whether Claire would have been treated differently by ‘Black Jack’ is she had introduced herself as a Randall.
The fan posted: “What if Claire told BJR her last name was Randall? I’m on S3 right now, but I keep thinking…
“At that moment soon after Claire goes through the stones and see Jack Randall, and thinks he’s Frank: Randall put her against the wall asking for her name, and she says Claire Beauchamp.
“However, what if she had said Claire Randall? What do you think could have happened with her? Would Randall treat her well and maybe welcome her in his home/family?” (sic)
Other fans took to the comments section to share their thoughts on this theory, with many arguing against the idea.
“No. Jack Randall was a sociopath and a monster. He would have just questioned her even more,” one responded firmly.
Another penned: “I doubt he would buy the story of her being a distant relation, he probably would have just said she was lying and then carried on being Black Jack Randall in his usual sadistic sociopathic manner.”
A third agreed: “He is a psychopath/sadist. He doesn’t care about anybody. I would not have expected him to treat her any better.”
While another pointed out: “She could have said she was the Queen of England, he doesn’t care. She is an Englishwoman in her shift near the rebellious group of Scottish men.
“And again, what if he tried to figure out what branch of his family she belonged to? That would have caused even more problems because Claire would have turned out to be a liar.”
One more went on to praise Claire for her quick thinking, writing: “I think he would have thought she was mocking him and ended up going into an even bigger rage. She was smart not to tell him her married name.” (sic)
Following the closure of Lionsgate+ in the UK, new episodes of Outlander will be available on Starz and to stream on Prime Video channel MGM+ from Sunday, November 22. You must be an Amazon Prime member before you can sign up for MGM+.