Outlander Season 3 is a time of potential rebirth for Jamie Fraser. Here’s a look at how his wisdom & resilience might help him find his way.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead. If you don’t want to know anything past Outlander Season 2 on STARZ, bookmark this post for reading at the end of Season 4. However, if you’re OK with discussions about Voyager and Drums of Autumn, please proceed.
Proverbs and sayings help us understand our humanity—our frailty, despair, strength, judgment, wisdom and resilience. Take this adage, for example, attributed to Taoism’s Lao Tzu, “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” Nowhere is this more clear than with our Scottish hero, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser.
Jamie sheds his skin, and various scars where possible, to reinvent himself, time after time, moving through and around one painful ending after another to forge a new beginning. Blessed with charm, good looks, mental and physical strength, skill with weapons and an excellent education, he seems at times to also have the luck of the Irish, always finding the resources and grace to move forward, even in the absence of any blessings we can see.
As he adopts each new persona, Jamie reveals a new shade of his soul. It’s the sum of those shades—of outlaw, strong warrior and leader, perceptive husband and father, and resilient victim and prisoner, to name a few—that earns Jamie Fraser the moniker King of Men. A closer look at the extraordinary Jamie and his life filled with the pain and joy of life also might earn him the name the King of New Beginnings.
As Sam Heughan said in the AOL BUILD interview, “Outlander Season 3 is a new beginning for the show.” And both Seasons 3 and 4 of the STARZ TV Outlander series will hold many new beginnings for Heughan’s character, Highlander Jamie Fraser—some that will prove much more significant than others. The qualities that have held him in good stead as he has adopted one new persona after the next—wisdom and resilience—are the same ones that will help him navigate others in the future.
Resilience
In the Outlander books, snippets of Jamie’s life are shared through various means, from his own words to his relationships with others—his friends and his family, wives and children. In his early life, he finds himself in situations not uncommon to an 18th-century Highlander. He loses a brother and becomes an orphan with only his sister Jenny remaining as immediate family. These painful endings lead him from the role of son and brother to Laird of Clan Fraser.
As a young adult with strong ties to his extended family, the Clan MacKenzie, Jamie finds himself at odds with some of his relatives and also with their common enemy, the British. His education and intellect serve him well, but Jamie can’t seem to escape the dastardly British officer Black Jack Randall who takes a particular interest in him and brands him an outlaw. In addition to dodging this sadistic man’s interpretation of British law, Jamie has to maneuver his way through the political scheming inherent in the Scottish Clan system.
Lucky for Jamie, he meets and marries Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp along the way who, among many other helpful actions, later helps him gain a pardon. The story gets really complicated here. Claire tells no one that she is a time traveler who, in the 1940s, touched a buzzing stone in Scotland and was transported back to the 18th century nor that she left behind a husband on the other side of the stone, but that’s a topic for another day. Trying to cover her tracks brings Claire under suspicion from both the MacKenzies, who take her under their wing, and the English because she also has a run-in with Black Jack. In marrying her to keep her safe from Black Jack, Jamie officially takes on the role of protector that he has unofficially filled since they first met.
His physical strength, worthy of gladiator status, plays a large role in his protection of those he loves. His attempt to protect Jenny led to one of four floggings, one that brought him to within an inch of his life. On top of rescuing Claire more than once, to protect her he gives his body to Black Jack who physically and mentally tortures and brutalizes him. (I still can’t watch those scenes and, forewarned, skipped that part of the book.) We see Jamie at his lowest point, in unfamiliar territory, a victim. He wants to die and I was sure he would. But it’s not his time and, true to Tzu, his horrible suffering leads to multiple new beginnings, forcibly brought back from the brink of death by Claire, a life with her in a new country, their first child on the way, and a mission to help change the course of history.
We watch as their best laid plans fail and we weep when their child is stillborn. We really, really weep when the end is near and Jamie saves Claire by sending her and their unborn second child back to the future. We know he is prepared to die in battle but, alas, God has other plans for him.
In Season 3 Episode 2, “Surrender,” Jamie reprises two roles—outlaw, spending years of solitude alone in a cave, and leader, when he arranges his own capture and heads to prison joining other Highlanders who see him as clan chief. Later, when he is paroled, he will spend time as a groom and be forced into a relationship that secretly brings another child into his life. He is allowed to leave before the secret is revealed and, after returning home to Lallybroch, he does marry again and gains two step-children. That’s all I can force myself to say about that.
Jamie is at heart a soldier, a guardian, fiercely protecting those he loves, no matter the cost. Sometimes successful, sometimes not, his protector hat is always on. He endures it all but he is more than a mere survivor, he is resilient, with this spirit that is rarely broken. Yes, there are times when he simply wants it all to end and, at the very worst of times, to determine his own fate by ending it himself. Even at his lowest point, however, with help from others he taps into his deep well of resilience and grace and somehow manages to rise up and move forward.
Wisdom
I do admire Jamie’s resilience, but what I adore most is that he is a lover and a fighter. He is, in essence, a born leader with the gift of easily discerning when it’s best to negotiate and when it’s time to break out that sword.
He also has his own peculiar sense of justice and duty that leads him to do things like take the punishment of others, be it she-who-will-not-be-named or his fellow war-weary ragtag clan members in prison. His dominant protector gene landed him in the role of outlaw more than once, first in his skirmishes with the British, which led him to the life of mercenary in France. Then, when his love of his adopted son Fergus led him to break a vow to Claire, forcing a looonnnng overdue duel with Black Jack who had assaulted Fergus, he became a prisoner in the Bastille.
Then there’s Jamie the lover. One of his qualities I find particularly endearing is that he pays attention. He’s got skills and he knows how to use them (which is the reason I’ve also named him the Lass Whisperer). So when he is forced/not forced to marry Claire, it’s no surprise that he has some serious wedding planner skills, too. He wants a proper wedding, one that would make his mother proud. He enlists help from friends and family and pulls together a ceremony that stands the test of time, from a perfect dress to a candle-lit church, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him chiming in on future nuptials planning.
That wedding led Jamie to a new beginning and the role that may have been the greatest challenge for him so far, and for many humans—that of spouse. Yes, Jamie’s a virgin (but not a monk) and he accepts the wedding night advice offered. With one minor moment of being directionally-challenged, he nails it on his honeymoon—pun totally intended. On top of busting out a great toast AND a present, the family heirloom pearls, he properly consummates the marriage, Scottish-style, and then again and again (hmmm, I may have lost count).
Yes, Jamie rocked in the role of bridegroom but, as time went on, success in the role of husband proved elusive at times. After a fight over 18th-century justice for wives who misbehaved and the resulting rift in their marriage, Jamie again discerned that negotiation was the way to move forward. The best make-up_sex_ever ensued and all was right with the world.
All hail our Jamie as he travels down one path and then another, his wisdom and resilience helping him adapt in order to survive. His precious memories sustain him over time, from one new beginning to the next.
With some of those new beginnings, Jamie adopted a new nom de guerre. The first one, however, was bestowed by his brother—Sawny, a nickname for Alexander—and memorialized on a carved wooden snake. His outlaw personas that we’ve seen in Seasons 1 and 2 were my favorite—Jamie MacTavish and Red Jamie.
In “Surrender,” we saw him as The Dunbonnet (with a look that I call “Cave Jamie”) and soon we’ll see him as prison clan leader Mac Dubh (a name that will follow him for years). Upon parole from prison, he morphs into Helwater groom Alex MacKenzie.
Then there’s the name we are all waiting to see on that Print Shop sign, the one that leads Claire back to him, Alexander Malcolm. In addition to his smuggler sobriquet, Jamie Roy, a couple more fleeting monikers come and go, Captain Alessandro and Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre, before the Native Americans aptly name him Bear-Killer.
The End
Seasons 3 and 4 will take us through the corresponding books and we have our collective fingers crossed that STARZ will take the series on into later books within the series. Diana Gabaldon is writing novel #9 and has announced that #10 will be the last, so it is inevitable that Jamie’s new beginnings WILL eventually end. JHRC… what will we do then, Ms. Gabaldon!?!
As with reading the Diana Gabaldon’s novels and watching the STARZ series, in life we are all on different paths. Some watchers don’t read, at least not ahead, and I’ve heard that there are readers who don’t watch by choice. No matter our starting point, we move along in parallel, through one forest, then another, our paths joining and diverging, sometimes rejoining people who were once part of our lives, sometimes saying goodbye forever. We look ahead, remember back, trying to make sense of our place in life. To paraphrase Call the Midwife author Jennifer Worth:
“…There is a time for reaching out, looking back…Time to take stock, measure joy and pain, find ways to say this is who we are and what we have now become. In doing so, we acknowledge what we cherish most of all. New beginnings, accepted with grace, become loving memories.”
While it’s clear that Season 3 will be an emotional one, we can already tell we will be rewarded with more new beginnings (think print shop) and more of the great real-life drama we so love about this story (think brothel and Lallybroch). We canna wait, right?
The last new beginnings I experienced? I quit a long-term job, moved cross-country and was selected as an Outlander Cast blogger. Life is good. What was the last new beginning you experienced?
It bothers me when I read that you could not read or watch a most important aspect of Jamie’s life. How then can you give a full accounting or view of what happens to him. Something that you could or would not share with him that affects his and Claire’s whole future. Just mystified.
Thanks, Diane. Your comment challenges me to face my limitations. Seeing anyone in pain, even fictional characters, elicits a physical reaction that is quite disconcerting. I will watch anyway and report back…
Reporting back, Diane. I had a good sense already of this storyline from social media and other Obsessenachs discreetly filling me in on the scenes. It was difficult to say the least but I finally read Ms. Gabaldon’s passages and watch the Jamie and Black scenes. While first hand knowledge didn’t enhance my understanding of Jamie’s or Claire’s character but I did learn more about Black Jack. It made the final scene between Jamie and Black Jack at Culloden that much more poignant as did something Mr. Heughan shared in a recent LA Times Enetertainment interview. He said he thinks Tobias Menzies added in a soft ‘Claire’ at the end of the scene. My conclusion now is that Black Jack desperately desired a love like Jamie and Claire’s but, for some reason known only to our beloved author, was incapable of finding it in a socially acceptable manner. Maybe he himself had been mentally and physically tortured. I hope Ms. Gabaldon shares Black Jack’s secrets with us one day and that they are portrayed on screen. Thank you, Diane, for your encouragement to fully experience the story!
Beautifully written. I enjoyed your article very much! My husband and I are going thru a new beginning as I write this. We sold our home of 14 years and moved in with my 84 year old mother, who is in excellent health. My husband’s family owns property in an area called Acworth, which is about 30 minutes outside the city of Atlanta. We are renovating his Mother’s home (totally gutting the house) and building a country farmhouse. Our goal is to provide a place for my 84 year old mother and his 87 year old mother, who happen to be the best of friends. Incredible huh? Each Mom will have their own space for privacy and so will we.
We have a total of 8 acres and family lives on the other acres, We’ll literally have our very own ‘farm’ with laying hens and goats! I’m a professional actress by trade and my husband produces documentaries. We are thrilled that our mothers will be able to live out their years with family close by and like in the old days…we’re all there to take care of one another. It’s a little scary because we’ve never done this before, but we’re approaching it with a positive attitude.
It sounds like you’re taking a very proactive approach, Angie. That a positive attitude makes for a great start. Best wishes to all of you!
Wow. I am printing this amazing article to keep with my books and DVDs for family members to enjoy in the future. How in the world did you do this? Your synopsis is a perfect example of “a glass half full” rather than “a glass half empty.” You took a tragic, epic story, focused (rightfully so) on Jamie Fraser and made it into something really beautiful. I saw Jamie Fraser as a victim because I mainly saw his body. But you told us about Jamie’s soul, which is unbelievably beautiful and strong. I will view future episodes through the lens of your eyes….Jamie’s beautiful soul. Thank you for such an uplifting article. Job well done. Regards, Carolyn
Thanks so much, Carolyn! I am so glad you connected with my viewpoint. Jamie has always been a ‘glass half full’ character for me. I adore how he loves to learn from Claire. Diana Gabaldon must be a white lady to have created these magical characters. 🙂
This was a wonderful summing up of Jamie’s character. (I actually typed “characters” first, and maybe, given the number of personas he ends up assuming over the years, that might have been a “Freudian Typo.”
There is one point you make that I must take a bit of issue with, and it’s not unique to you. Don’t take it personally! You’re not the only one who calls Jamie a “born leader.” I don’t think there is such a thing. Leaders are made, not born. When we consider what we know about his parents: Ellen McKenzie, strong enough to defy the conventions of her time and her own family to marry the man she loved, Brian Fraser, and Brian himself, who seems to have been universally beloved because of his own strength of character. He stood up to his own nasty bit of work, his own father, Lord Lovat, and established Lallybroch by hard work and wise management of his tenants. We can see how they shaped Jamie by seeing the strength and no-nonsense common sense of his sister Jenny. Yes, sometimes she could be too much of a force of nature. Her intervention does in regards to she-who-must-not-be-named turns out poorly, but how well would Lallybroch and Ian Murray have fared if she wasn’t so strong and capable a woman?
Jamie also had the benefit of receiving guidance from Colum McKenzie and his godfather Murtagh Fraser. Yes, Jamie had the intelligence to listen to both of them and gain in wisdom once his parents were gone, something his Uncle Dougal failed to do on so many levels. Perhaps he learned what NOT to do as a leader of men from Dougal.
And then there’s Claire. Finding her was a totally unexpected bit of luck for Jamie, but if men tend to marry women in the image of their mothers, what does it say about Jamie’s that he recognized Claire was a match for him in every way? He was not yet the leader he will become when they met. She taught him much about handling people because she was such a handful! When he wanted to give up after Wentworth, she wouldn’t let him. She poked and prodded until he came back, stronger than before. The leader “Red Jamie” we saw trying to reason with a clueless Bonnie Prince Charlie was the result.
I’m looking forward to watching more than four seasons of Outlander. The Jamie we see now is the King of Men, indeed, but he wasn’t born that way!
Thanks for letting me borrow your soapbox.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Carolyn. Respectfully, I stick with my opinion.
Based on my life experience, I believe there are people who are born with personalities that make them effective leaders. I think of it as a ‘default’ personality with qualities like caring and fairness.
There are numerous programs designed to teach those and other leadership principles. Anyone can learn those principles but effectively putting them into practice is a whole ‘nother ballgame.
By the way, my husband agrees with you. He and I agreed to disagree, not the first disagreement for us in our 39 years of marriage. 🙂
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I feel it is down to his strong faith for he recognizes and acknowledges and is grateful for what he has, and doesn’t dwell on what is lost, although he acknowledges that also, of course.
I agree that Diana has given him a deep faith. We saw that in 305 where he prays to St. Anthony and lights candles in memory of those he has lost. If you’re a book reader, do you think his faith is more evident in the books or the TV series?
I think book Jamie is more religious, deeply religious. He even prays for the souls of men that he kills in battle. And he would never have committed suicide, that being a mortal sin that immediately lands you in hell. He has to avoid that so his soul can find Claire again.
I agree, Tammy! We only see glimpses of his faith on the TV series. I hope everyone reads the books so they can get the full Diana Gabaldon character experience.
I agree with your opinion of Jamie and you expressed it well. I have always seen him as a strong warrior that has amazing luck to with his intelligence and ability to read people. Somewhere in the story a fortune teller told him that he would have nine lives and he has used up a good many of them by the end of book 8. He just seems to be able to figure a way to get out of every “sticky” situation. The protector Jamie reminds me a lot of my husband but his work ethic and physical attributes remind me of my father. Jamie is just an all around hero in my eyes!
Yes. Warrior and protector – JAMMF is our all-time hero. Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts??
This is a wonderful article. I will print and keep since it is such an informative article on the show and particularly JAMMF. Like you, I do not like to look at the pain that he experience with BJR. I did watch it the first time, but do not need to witness such brutally more than once. However I often look at other parts the show. Resilience and wisdom are the best tools one can have for survival. Life can throw various situations and blows your way that would require you to be wise and know like the serenity prayer–what things you can not change and courage to change those things you can. The way you deal with things in life shapes who you become. Again, love the article. It is beautifully written with loads of insight on a character who is full of resilience and wisdom and how he makes it work no matter what the situation. Look forward to future articles.
Thanks, Jerie! Our own actions are really the only thing we can control, right?
I love it. I also think that one of his amazing attributes is his FAITH. He has a tremendous amount of faith, and doesn’t lose hope. There are times when he is on the brink, but he comes through. There is mental, physical, and spiritual strength to Jamie Fraser.
Joey, I agree. if you’re a book reader, do you think his faith is more evident in the TV show or in the books? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Through out all 3 seasons, at least so far, the show has conveniently left out Jamie’s faith… and pretty much left out Jamie in S2, in my opinion.
Although we get glimpses of true Jamie here and there, the show seems to have decided that modern, strong woman, hero Claire should be the focus of the show.
Jamie’s faith, family, education and experiences, coupled with the man God (and of course Diana!) created him to be is what makes him every woman’s hero and every man’s competition!
The books are riveting, spellbinding and uplifting. The show is often poorly written fan fiction in my opinion. It’s too bad, because I can see glimpses of how it could be great every so often and long to see more.
Thank you for a very well written article Karen.
I agree with you and Joey, Patti! I think book readers get a much deeper look into that side of his character. Thanks for your kind words!
Hi Karen! I LOVED your article! I’ve had a few leaps of faith “new beginnings” in my life too, including leaving a job I loved to move to Europe to work in a totally foreign environment. Life sometimes leads us in directions we never ever imagined, yet those have been the most exciting (although scary) times in my life, and through those unexpected experiences, I learned the most about who I am, and who my husband is. That knowledge is a blessing! One of the things I love the most about Outlander is that it doesn’t feel “filtered”. Anything and everything can happen to our characters, sort of like real life. The main characters are wonderful people at their core, but they are not perfect. They take risks, stumble, struggle, learn, and then grow as a result of their experiences. They are survivors, resilient. And pretty good at inspiring us to be resilient too, in spite of the inevitable obstacles we all face in life. I love their strength and love, and positive attitudes! And I simply adore Outlander in all of its incarnations.
Thanks, Mary! Sometimes we have to take those leaps of faith that take us in a new direction in order to grow, don’t we? Our wisdom and resilience hold us in good stead as we navigate new waters. Then, sometimes, we simply are blessed with luck. It’s what we take from all our opportunities, and the opportunities we make for ourselves, that make a life well-lived. <3
My mind jumped at one sentence. Jamie knows when to talk and discuss, but also when to pull his sword. It seem as though it is analogous to our situation, right now. Each day wake up to find out which lie we have to hear from the President. We talk among ourselves, use reasonable logic and discourse, and get frustrated. We don’t have Jamie’s ability to metaphorically pull out our sword.
Endings change your life. Other people can impose them. My daughter took her daughter from our home, her guardians. My life is more peaceful. However, every day I worry about her safety. No one will listen.
Hi Frances,
While I was revisiting previous articles I’ve written, I saw your comment from 2018. A lot has happened since 2018. I hope you’re doing well and that the same is true for all your family
Take care,
Karen
Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Finding
the time and actual effort to create a great article… but what can I
say… I hesitate a lot and don’t seem to get nearly anything done.
Ayam,
I hope you’re doing well. While I was revisiting previous articles I’ve written, I saw your comment from 2018.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a reply and for your kind words. It sounds like you enjoy writing. I’m wondering if you’ve found time during the last few years to write?
Take care,
Karen