Jamie and Claire both went through significant transformations during their 20-year separation, which affected the way they reconnected years later. Here’s a look at Jamie Fraser’s transformation for this #TransformationTuesday.
At the end of “Dragonfly in Amber” and Outlander Season 2, Claire and Jamie found themselves separated. This remained like this for 20 years, as Claire was certain Jamie had died at Culloden. However, Jamie survived but it wasn’t an easy life. Throughout Outlander Season 3, we watched his events unfold over the course of 20 years to see the sort of man he would become.
On this #TransformationTuesday, it’s time to delve into Jamie Fraser’s transformation over the 20 years. The changes affected Jamie and Claire’s relationship in future years. They were never going to be what they originally were.
That longing and hope
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Jamie believed he had lost everything that mattered to him. While he laid on the battlefield after the failed battle, he wanted to die. He was certain Claire was in the future and safe; their child would be born and live a happy life. So determined he was to die that he wanted Hal Grey to kill him by suicide squad.
Against his wishes, he was saved. Throughout most of those years, he lived with the loss of two children and a wife; the loss of what could have been. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to hope. There was that moment at Ardsmuir where he allowed himself to believe that Claire was alive and back for him. Of course, he was disappointed by Claire not being there and returned ready for his punishment.
All that hope had devastated him further. He threw himself back into that longing and the feelings of loss.
While his friendship with Lord John Grey and fathering William gave him something back, they were both taken away from him. He left Helwater a free man but with nothing left.
He became a stepfather
Throughout the 20 years, he took on various parental responsibilities. At first, he attempted to remain an adoptive father to Fergus. However, it was Jenny and Ian who had to take on the role as parents to the French orphan. It wouldn’t be until after Helwater that he could take up the role of father figure for Fergus.
Then he became a father to Willie, albeit a secret one. He couldn’t tell the young boy that he was really Willie’s father and there was no way that Geneva’s parents could ever find out. They’d never believe that he was blackmailed and coerced. As Willie started to look too much like Jamie (in the books), Jamie had to make the heartbreaking decision to leave Willie in the care of Lord John and Isabel. This was the third biological child to be taken away from him, believing he’d never see Willie again.
When he returned home, he became a stepfather to Marsali and Joan, Laoghaire’s daughters. Think what you may of Laoghaire, he tried to make this relationship work and he took on his role as stepfather seriously. He wanted the best for the two young girls, promising them as stable of a home as possible. That was returned with the two looking at him as a father; as someone they could trust and respect.
Marsali and Joanie remained in his life. This development led to decisions he would make in the future. While his marriage to Laoghaire may have been declared invalid, he still believed he owed something to these two young women. They would be ruined and in poverty if something happened to their mother and he would never let that happen. After all, he knew that it wasn’t their fault that all this happened.
In the end, Jamie did what he could to protect them. Despite everything that had happened to him, he kept promises to others, even if it hurt Claire. And then considering everything that had happened to him, he remained a kind-hearted and caring man, remaining the man he had been when he took Fergus in while in Paris.
He needed to be rebuilt
Throughout the 20-year separation on Outlander, Jamie had become a broken man. Losing Claire, losing Culloden, and not getting to die on the battlefield all affected him initially. Then he had to have his family do the one thing they never wanted to do: turn him over to the English.
While in prison he became the leader of the men and was reunited with people he’d fought beside, but he was still lost. He was half the man that he once was, as his soul was breaking. Then Helwater finished him off.
It was only when he married Laoghaire and found a footing in Edinburgh that he finally found a way to live; he found something to live for. Marsali and Joanie helped to rebuild him again. Fergus and Young Ian with the printshop helped him become someone new. They all helped him find this new identity, as he was rebuilt.
All these years and the upheaval would have naturally had an effect on future relations, even with the woman he loved deeply. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t initially want everything to change right away. He was a scared man, who, of course, wouldn’t admit such a thing. He didn’t want to change his life in case he changed again as a person. This is a man who would have been afraid of losing it all again and breaking once more.
Eventually, he did find a way to make things work with Claire. He did find a way to adapt his life and gained the courage to move forward. That only came because he felt responsible for the loss of Young Ian. Without that and the ability to reconnect on the voyage to Jamaica, it would have been much harder for Claire and Jamie to reconnect.
Next: 5 best Jamie moments in Outlander Season 2
What did you think about Jamie’s transformation over the 20-year separation? Did you look at if from the fact they were separated for two decades (rather than the minutes the book and show made it look)? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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