Outlander fans slam major character for 'huge error' in third book

A key Outlander character has drawn criticism for being "frustrating" due to a perceived "error" in one of Diana Gabaldon's novels . Protagonist Claire Randall, who is played by Irish actress, Caitriona Balfe, has caused some annoyance among fans.

While Clarie's story begins in 1945, where she works as a Second World War nurse and is wedded to Frank Randall, the plot sees her accidentally traveling through a time portal. She initially time travels by mistake, then later makes a conscious decision to return to the future before journeying back again with the intent to reunite with love interest, Jamie Fraser.

As fans anticipate the forthcoming second segment of Outlander's seventh season, many are revisiting the novels to survive the excruciating 'Droughtlander'.

One reader expressed their frustration on Reddit after spotting what they judged to be an oversight by Claire in the third installment, Voyager. The user, @SorryIAmNew2002, commented: "I'm on book three to keep busy while waiting for the new episodes to drop and I love it so far."

"But what I cannot shake is the frustration about how Claire didn't research more before going back. Obviously in Jamaica, she entered unforeseen terrain but once or twice now she's been clueless about a cure because she didn't know which herbs to use or because she was unsure of history questions."

"If I were to take such a huge step as to travel back in time I would've gobbled up all the books I could find about medical plants and relationships/important people from that time. Maybe I'm just being too harsh on her, I'm not a huge fan of Claire. But it really bugs me reading."

Claire-defenders instantly sprung to her aid, explaining that the fan had overlooked two things: "how much actual research has been done/published on the subject and how easy it is to find."

They explained that access to knowledge differed in Claire's era: "In Claire's time, it's not so simple to find that sort of esoteric knowledge. That's the whole reason she and Frank were in Inverness the first time, he had to go find the original documents and oral histories."

Clarifying Claire's urgency, another fan reasoned: "I would think she wanted to travel as soon as possible because all she knew is that Jamie was in Edinburgh a year earlier. The longer she waited the greater the chance he'd be somewhere else."

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