Outlander has told us that time travel is genetic. That doesn’t mean everyone in a family can do it, but it does mean that it runs in the family. Genetics are wonderful when you look into them.
This isn’t a post about genetics, though. What the idea of there being a time travel gene confirms is that one of Claire’s parents (at least) had to have had it. It may have been dormant, but either of her parents passed on the ability to time travel to Claire.
Which one was it? The Outlander books have never confirmed this. We need to look at a few theories to figure it out.
Time travel may come from the Beauchamp line in Outlander
It certainly seems intriguing that the name Beauchamp comes up in Outlander, and not just because of Claire. We hear the name connected to Fergus Fraser. His mom was a Beauchamp, and there’s a chance that his father was Comte St. Germain.
We know the Comte is a time traveler. If Fergus is his son, that would suggest Fergus is a time travel. It’s possible that it’s the Beauchamp line that has it through him. However, that would also mean that at some point, someone takes the Beauchamp name back.
Instead, we’re possibly looking at the Beauchamps of France also being time travelers. This would then allow for Henry Beauchamp to eventually be the time traveler.
Wouldn’t that mean Uncle Lamb was a time traveler? Well, he could have the gene, but he doesn’t necessarily need to be able to travel. And there are likely plenty of time travelers out there who don’t even know they have the ability, so we can’t completely rule it out. It’s possible that Uncle Lamb just never came across a portal since Claire was with him when exploring and neither of them came across anything.
Could Julie Moriston be the time traveler?
It is possible that it’s not the Beauchamps at all. They’re just the initial thought since we have a Beauchamp connection in the Outlander books. There is a chance that it was Claire’s mom who carried the gene.
This doesn’t mean she could time travel. However, like with other time travelers, it’s possible that she didn’t even know and she just never went near any portals.
Until Diana Gabaldon changes her mind about writing about Claire’s parents, I guess we’ll never know. We’ll get Matt B. Roberts’s story in Outlander: Blood of My Blood, but there’s no guarantee that we’ll learn which parent has the time travel gene.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood is in production and will come to STARZ.