THAT Outlander Season 4 change meant good things for Brianna

Outlander book fans were understandably upset that a major moment from the books was cut and changed. However, it was a good thing for Brianna’s development.

If you ask the majority of Outlander book fans, they’ll tell you of one thing they disliked (and some even hated) about Season 4. Jamie and Claire not being there for Jemmy’s birth was understandably disappointing for many. Despite that, it was important for Brianna’s development.

Sophie Skelton explained to Entertainment Weekly that while the birth scene in the book is a beautiful moment for the Fraser family, she was happy to offer something different for Brianna’s character. In a way, it was important to have Brianna separate from everyone else when giving birth.

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While she wasn’t surrounded by strangers as such, as was surrounded by people she barely knew. Lizzie was the one she knew the longest while being in the past, but that was only for a year or so. It wasn’t that long at all. She certainly didn’t know Jocasta and Phaedre all that well.

By only having them there for Brianna, it showed an inner strength that Brianna wouldn’t have known she had. It was another look at how far Brianna has come over the season. When she first came to the past, she was a 1970s woman just looking for her parents. She didn’t know too much about the world, especially the world of the 18th century.

After giving birth, she’d become a mother who wasn’t sure if she could even accept her child. Not fully. She’d told Bonnet that the child was hers and would never remember him, but there would have still been an element of doubt in her mind. All that doubt disappeared when she held him and when she realized the strength that she had.

There wouldn’t have been that development if Claire and Jamie were around. Plus, the support that Claire and Jamie offered — the unspoken bond between them — was evident at later moments in Outlander Season 4 and now we have a lot to look forward to when it comes to the growing family in Season 5.

Skelton also shared that it would resonate with the current time:

"“It kind of resonates today with a lot of modern women. There are single moms, or maybe their parents aren’t around because they passed away.”— Sophie Skelton"

So, while it the change was something fans of the novel didn’t like (I’ll say as a show-first fan, I didn’t care Claire and Jamie weren’t there and it was implied early on that it wouldn’t happen anyway), there is something positive to take out of it.

What would you like to see in the fifth season? What did you think about Season 4 (except the understandable dislike for the change to this iconic scene)? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander Season 5 is currently filming. Like Claire and Jamie on Facebook for more updates straight to your feed.