Episodes 01

“Sassenach”

In 1945, Claire Randall is a former WWII combat nurse visiting Inverness, Scotland, with her husband Frank, getting to know each other again after their wartime separation. Frank is researching his family history, in particular his 18th Century ancestor Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall. The morning after observing a modern Druid ritual at the standing stones on the hill of Craigh na Dun, Claire touches one of the stones, and wakes up lying on the ground. Soon she is in the middle of a skirmish between English redcoats and rebel Highlanders, and comes face to face with Frank’s double, Randall, who is captain of the Dragoons. A Scotsman rescues Claire and she meets Jamie Fraser. As they flee, she sets his dislocated arm and later treats his bullet wound. Claire is brought to Castle Leoch, and realizes that she has somehow traveled back in time.

Episodes 02

“Castle Leoch”

Claire is presented to Colum MacKenzie, laird of Castle Leoch, where she learns she has landed in 1743. After a while, she realises she is suspected of being an English spy. She meets Geillis Duncan, and witnesses Jamie doing a kindness for Laoghaire, the pretty young granddaughter of Mrs. Fitzgibbons. As Claire plans to return to Inverness and the standing stones, Colum decides it is best to keep her at Leoch, against her will, as healer to the clan.

Episodes 03

“The Way Out”

Claire hopes that her medical skills will earn her the trust of the MacKenzies, and her eventual freedom, but manages only to make herself indispensable. By saving Mrs. Fitzgibbons’s nephew from poisoning, which the fanatical Father Bain had declared as demonic possession, Claire makes a new enemy, and even though she earns some trust from the MacKenzies she is called a miracle-worker and is therefore presumed too valuable to let go. After she and Jamie collude to help a youth punished for stealing, Claire is given renewed hope of being able to travel home when she hears a folk tale about a time-traveller and the standing stones.

Episodes 04

“The Gathering”

Claire plots her escape during a clan gathering at Leoch, but Jamie convinces her that she would fail. Escorting her back, he finds himself in a dangerous position with Colum that he had been trying to avoid, but manages to make an oath of loyalty while manoeuvering himself out of trouble with his kinsman. Claire earns Dougal’s respect while tending a dying man on a boar hunt, and he decides to take her with him on his rent-collecting tour.

Episodes 05

“Rent”

Claire clashes with Dougal and his men on the rent-collecting journey, especially when Dougal uses Jamie’s scars to collect more money from the villagers. A young man, who would turn out to be a red coat, tries to “free” her from the Scots, unsuccessfully. Later, she realises that they are collecting funds for the prospective Jacobite army, an army they would use to achieve Scotland’s independence from England. Knowing from history that their cause is doomed, she tries to warn them off. The episode ends with the young red coat returning with more of his kin to retrieve young Claire from the Highlanders.

Episodes 06

“The Garrison Commander”

The redcoats take Claire to meet Brigadier-General Lord Thomas, who promises her safe passage to Inverness in the company of Black Jack Randall. When the General leaves, Randall tries to discover why she is in Scotland. She concocts a story and he describes in detail his vicious whipping of young Jamie. Dougal comes to take her away, but Randall insists that he has to deliver Claire to Fort William the following day. They leave, and Dougal tells Claire he does not have to turn her in if she marries Jamie and as a consequence becomes Scottish.

Episodes 07

“The Wedding”

Claire and Jamie marry to protect her from Randall, and try to get to know each other better afterwards to make the consummation less awkward. They realise their feelings for each other, but Claire is still torn thinking about Frank.

Episodes 08

“Both Sides Now”

In 1946, Frank is losing hope of finding Claire, but goes to the standing stones one last time. In the past, Claire finds herself nearby to the stones and runs for them. She hears Frank calling, and he hears her as well. But Claire is captured by English troops before she can reach the stones, and a despondent Frank leaves as she is taken to Fort William. Claire nearly talks her way out of being interrogated by Randall, but he turns the tables on her. Just as he is about to rape her at knifepoint, Jamie appears in the window.

Episodes 09

“The Reckoning”

Jamie saves Claire from Black Jack Randall, but the dynamic of their marriage is tested. Jamie tries to ease the conflict between Colum and Dougal sparked by Claire’s rescue. Jamie rebuffs a seduction by Laoghaire, who then leaves a bad luck charm under Claire and Jamie’s bed.

Episodes 10

“By the Pricking of My Thumbs”

Claire confronts a spiteful Laoghaire, but is surprised to learn that the charm came from Geillis. Jamie petitions the Duke of Sandringham for help to rid himself of Randall and the price on his head, while Claire secretly uses her historical knowledge to leverage his help in Jamie’s favour. Dougal is inconsolable after his wife’s death from an illness, but Geillis, pregnant with his child, is pleased. When Geillis’s husband dies at a banquet for the Duke, Claire realises that Geillis poisoned him. Colum forbids Dougal from pursuing a relationship with Geillis, exiling Dougal to his estate with Jamie in tow. Claire and Geillis are arrested for witchcraft.

Episodes 11

“The Devil’s Mark”

Claire and Geillis face charges of witchcraft. Ned Gowan comes to their defence, but witnesses, including Laoghaire and Father Bain, testify against them, and they are found guilty. Before Jamie can fight his way out of the courtroom with his wife, Geillis confesses and exonerates Claire. Claire recognises from the smallpox vaccine scar on Geillis’s shoulder that she too is from the future; 1968 to be exact. Geillis is taken to be burned at the stake. When Jamie asks Claire about her scar, she tells him of her time travel. He believes her, takes her back to Craigh na Dun, and wishes her well in returning to her own time. But Claire decides not to go back.

Episodes 12

“Lallybroch”

Jamie takes Claire to his family home of Lallybroch, where he clashes with his strong-willed sister Jenny. Taking up his role as laird, he disrupts the household until Claire sets him straight. After Jamie narrowly avoids a run-in with passing redcoats, he and Jenny make amends.

Episodes 13

“The Watch”

The men of the Watch arrive at Lallybroch, and Jamie pretends to be a Fraser cousin. Claire realises that Jenny’s impending childbirth will be a dangerous, breech birth, but Jenny swears her to secrecy. The redcoat defector Horrocks appears, and threatens to reveal that Jamie has a price on his head unless Jamie pays him. Jenny’s husband Ian kills Horrocks. Coming clean to the Watch leader MacQuarrie, Jamie agrees to join their raid. Jenny gives birth to a daughter with Claire’s help. Meanwhile, the raiding party is ambushed, with Jamie captured by the redcoats.

Episodes 14

“The Search”

Claire and Jenny set out to find Jamie. They learn he has escaped his captors, and a newly-arrived Murtagh takes Claire on a journey to find him. Their plan is to have Jamie find them by touring the countryside with Claire as a singer called “The Sassenach”. They attract Dougal’s attention, and he tells them that Jamie has been recaptured and tried, and is awaiting execution at Wentworth Prison. Claire makes a deal with Dougal that she will marry him if she couldn’t save Jamie from execution. She then convinces three of Dougal’s men, including Willie, to help her rescue Jamie.

Episodes 15

“Wentworth Prison”

Randall appears at Wentworth Prison and tortures Jamie, seeking his submission. Meanwhile, Claire gets into the prison to save her husband. When Randall catches her, Jamie submits to rape by Randall in exchange for her freedom. Before she leaves, Claire “curses” Randall and tells him what will be the date of his death. When all seems lost, Murtagh comes up with a plan to rescue Jamie.

Episodes 16

“To Ransom a Man’s Soul”

Murtagh’s rescue is successful and Randall left for dead, but Jamie remains tortured by his ordeal. As Claire tends to his injuries, Jamie is tormented by memory of his rape and torture. He asks for Willie’s blade to end his life. Claire convinces Jamie by reminding the promise he made when they got married and tells him that she will have him in any way that she can and if he wishes to die she will die with him. Murtagh accompanies them as they set sail for safety in France, where Claire hopes to meet Charles Stuart and somehow prevent the catastrophic Battle of Culloden. As they set sail, Claire tells Jamie that she is pregnant.