Outlander: 25 most gut-wrenching moments so far

6. Frank’s death

Frank has always been a polarizing character. There are times when he’s absolutely beloved. Other times, it’s hard to respect him. He was, at one time, wholly devoted to Claire and did prove to be an amazing father to Bree.

However, as the marriage wore on, it was clear that Frank had checked out, and was seeing other women. Right before his death, he even threatened to take Bree from Claire.

So when Frank died suddenly, essentially freeing Claire, fans were quite taken aback at how sad it all was. Perhaps it was in part because the actor playing Frank (and Jack Randall) was leaving the show as well.

“That’s it,” Tobias Menzies told THR when Frank died. “It’s strange. It’s the end of three and a half years. I’ll miss everyone very much. It’s been a great journey. I worked hard on both of these characters. It was a challenge to make them different, but in a subtle way so it wasn’t too obvious. I hope that it worked but one can never really know. My biggest takeaway, I think, is the friends I’ve made. All of them will stay in my life for a long time, so that’s wonderful.”

No one can forget the emotional goodbye that Claire gave her first love. She spoke to his lifeless body, assuring him that she really had loved him, and she did.

And, I think, so did we.