Matt B. Roberts explains why Phaedre wasn’t at Jocasta’s wedding on Outlander

Why wasn’t Phaedre at Jocasta’s wedding on Outlander Season 5, Episode 6? Matt B. Roberts explains, and it wasn’t because the character was forgotten.

Phaedre became an important part of Outlander Season 4 during the River Run scenes, forming a bond with Brianna. However, when we visited River Run in Season 5, Jocasta’s slave was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t because the character had been forgotten about.

According to Matt B. Roberts in an interview with Vanity Fair, he shares that fans have questioned Phaedre’s whereabouts at the wedding and he understands the question. However, it was the logistics of the show. Natalie Simpson wasn’t available to film, so the character had to be avoided in the storytelling.

This isn’t the first time this sort of problem has come up. The show had to adapt Brianna’s journey through Scotland because Laura Donnelly wasn’t available to film. We know that there were plans to bring a storyline involving Ian Murray but actor Steven Cree wasn’t available in the way the show needed him.

It’s a downside of TV productions compared to books. While some shows choose to recast characters, Outlander has opted to change the storylines instead. Rather than have Phaedre somewhere in the story, she was replaced with another character for the sake of the episode. This doesn’t mean we’ll never see Phaedre again, but it could be a problem with filming later.

Roberts also shares that it would be impossible to turn the books into a show that everyone enjoys. After all, we all view a scene differently. We’ll look at a description and picture it differently, and that isn’t something possible to transform on the screen. Instead, Roberts gets as close as possible with what they have.

Did you wonder where Phaedre was? What have you missed from the books that the show just hasn’t been able to replicate for various reasons? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander airs Sundays on STARZ.