Why the tartan discovery scene was cut from Outlander Season 3
In Voyager, there’s an important moment in Ardsmuir where a piece of tartan is discovered. It didn’t make Outlander Season 3, but it could have done.
Many “Voyager” fans expected an important moment in Outlander Season 3, especially when they saw Murtagh handling a piece of tartan. This didn’t happen, but it turns out that it was going to at one point in the filming. Ron D. Moore took to the Outlander Season 3 deleted scene to explain the reason for its disappearance from the series.
There are spoilers from “Voyager,” just in case you’re not caught up with the books and want to avoid the special details.
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In the books, while it’s not Murtagh, a prisoner is caught with a piece of tartan. Considering tartan was outlawed after the Battle of Culloden, it’s not surprising to hear that a prisoner caught with this faced lashings. However, Jamie Fraser takes the punishment for his men, showing the loyal person he his.
When fans saw that Murtagh had the tartan, they expected this moment to play out in Outlander Season 3. A deleted scene from the DVD and Blu-Ray shows that it nearly did. Murtagh was supposed to be caught with the tartan shortly after Jamie escapes and returns to Ardsmuir Prison. Knowing that his friend and godfather wouldn’t survive 60 lashes, Jamie offers to take the punishment by claiming that the tartan was his. You’ll need to watch the full Outlander Season 3 deleted scene to see how Lord John Grey reacts.
Showrunner Ron D. Moore explained that the tartan discovery scene needed to be cut from the series. While fans find the scene important for Jamie’s character, Moore shared how the scenes just didn’t fit together. There would have likely been more complaints over the rushing of Lord John Grey’s story during the episode had the scene been kept.
It’s always difficult to know whether a scene should be kept or not. Transforming an 800+ page book isn’t easy and some elements need to be removed for the sake of time and cost. This was one of those moments because it wasn’t possible to delve deeper into the story and offer more time to Grey’s development. I’m on side with this, as much as I adore Jamie’s character development in the books at this point.
Next: Should this Outlander 3x09 deleted scene have stayed?
What do you think? Would you have liked to see the scene kept? Does Moore’s explanation help you see why it was removed? What did you think of the scene itself? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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