Outlander doesn't need to get bogged down with the theories of time travel
As I get to the end of Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, I’m reminded of how there is a moment where the story is bogged down by the theories of time travel. As much as I love Bree’s scientific mind and he r and Roger trying to work it all out, the Outlander TV series really doesn’t need it.
This could be an unpopular opinion. After all, there are a lot of questions about how time travel works in the universe. Why are some people able to time travel? What do the gemstones actually do? How do people steer to specific times?
Well, while there are a lot of questions, unless the answers become an essential part to the overall story, we don’t need the answers. The show risks getting bogged down with discussing theories instead of actually focusing on important elements in the overall story.
Outlander doesn’t need to give us all the answers
A lot of fantasy ends up bogged down by trying to explain things. The same applies to sci-fi. We get so caught up in the “how does this work,” that the explanations take away time from the actual plot.
There are times that some explanations are needed. Let’s look at Outlander Season 2, where Geillis believed that a human sacrifice was needed to travel. That led to her killing her husband to time travel, and it almost led to her killing Claire. This theory led to a plot point, and it could connect to Rob Cameron taking Jemmy in Outlander Season 7A.
Then there’s the touch on needing gemstones. This is a bigger plot in the story. Gemstones aren’t all that easy to acquire in the past, but they’re needed. It leads to moments like Bree telling Roger that she kept the gem Bonnet gave her as “payment” for raping her, and Jamie asking Lord John Grey for the sapphire back. While not huge moments in the overall plot, they are important for character development.
The books get bogged down in theories as Bree talks to Roger about mass. Unless it plays a bigger part in the story, we don’t really need to know if moving mass from one time to another disrupts things. It’s information for the sake of information instead of furthering the story.
Yes, we will always have questions. However, a fantasy or sci-fi story doesn’t need to give all the answers if it doesn’t further the overall story. The characters aren’t exactly getting all the answers and are just sharing theories, so why do we need to know how it all works? We don’t!
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