Why you don’t find the Gaelic closed captioned on Outlander
Whether you watch Outlander on STARZ, Netflix, or DVD, you won’t find the Gaelic in closed captions. Annoyed you can’t understand what they’re saying? Here’s why it’s part of the fun.
When you watch Outlander, you may find the need to have closed captioning on. This isn’t just great for those who are hard of hearing but for those who struggle to understand the Scottish accents. However, you’ll notice that the Gaelic isn’t translated in your closed captions.
This isn’t a mistake. Whether you watch the series through STARZ, Netflix, DVDs, or any other source, the lack of captioning is the same. And yes, it can be annoying, but there’s a great reason not to have this captioning included.
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The whole point of the Gaelic not being captioned is to put you into the story in the way that Claire is. This is her story — while the books are Claire’s story about Jamie, the show is Claire’s story in general — and the producers wanted you to experience it in the way that the lead female does. So, that means no captioning because Claire doesn’t understand Gaelic.
You’ll notice in Season 2 that there is captioning for the French. This is because Claire understands this language and is able to communicate fluently. So, we see it all through her eyes and understand everything the characters are saying.
It’s not like the captioning is needed for Gaelic, to be honest. You can get the gist of it through the actions and the facial expressions. Jamie and Murtagh are also there to translate it all for you, such as Murtagh explaining everything at the Gathering at Castle Leoch. The captioning would make the explanation unnecessary.
When Claire finally starts to understand Gaelic, her voice narrations are able to explain some of it, as she does in the books. However, the later seasons haven’t seen the need for it as much since Gaelic isn’t used as much throughout them.
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Do you wish the Gaelic was closed captioned? What did you think when the Highlanders first started speaking? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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