Outlander is a show known for a lot of things: romance, sizzling chemistry between the leads, family, and history. But another great aspect of the show? The incredible action in the fight scenes. The choreographed fight sequences make you feel as though you are right there in the thick of it with your favorite Outlander characters. Some have been intense and brutal while others felt gratifying and like they had been a long time coming.
Here we will be ranking the very best fight scenes in Outlander history. Most of them were quite honestly some of the most iconic moments in the show and resulted in huge turning points for the main characters of this wonderful series.
The Duel Between Jamie And Blackjack Randall
The pure hatred Jamie had felt for Jonathan Wolverton “Blackjack” Randall up until this point knew no bounds. He had tortured and assaulted Jamie, had threatened and nearly killed his wife, Claire, and all the while he still continued to carry on living his life as if none of this had happened.
So when Jamie finally got the opportunity to challenge him to a duel while in France, he jumped on it. But Claire urged him not to as it would result in Frank, Claire’s first husband, never being born. He obliged her request only to continue with the duel when he found Randall harming Fergus. While the duel itself had dire results for Claire and Jamie’s unborn child, Faith, the duel was just what Jamie needed after years of torment. He was even able to maim him where it counted.
Murtagh And The Duke Of Sandringham
Murtagh is a man of his word and a man of honor. While Murtagh had been escorting Claire and the young Mary Hawkins around Paris one evening, they were attacked by a group of men who ended up attacking and harming Mary. Murtagh felt responsible for this because he had been knocked out right away by one of the men and could not protect her from harm’s way.
He promised her he would avenge her and he certainly did when he killed the Duke. Evidently, it was he who had been behind the plot to attack Claire and Mary so Murtagh took matters into his own hands – literally.
The Brawl Over Claire
In the episode “Rent” in season 1 of Outlander, Claire is having a difficult time being a part of the clan MacKenzie as an unwilling guest. She feels like an outsider since she is an Englishwoman amongst Scots. They give her a hard time and make jokes at her expense often, but there is a moment in this episode where she finally feels accepted.
While the men are taking a break from the road and are having a drink together, they hear other men making lewd jokes about Claire in Gaelic. Angus ends up leading the clan in a brawl against these men to defend Claire’s honor, which Claire was unaware of until she was seeing to their wounds. Murtagh remarks, “You’re a guest of the MacKenzie. We can insult you, but god help any other man who does.”
The Showdown Between Claire And Geillis
Claire and Jamie have both faced many life or death scenarios throughout the Outlander series thus far. But there may have been no greater challenge Claire has faced than saving the life of her daughter, Brianna, at the hands of Geillis Duncan.
Geillis had every intention of ending the life of Jamie and Claire’s daughter by going back to the ’60s to kill her, just so she could have the true Scottish King rise, according to the prophecy. That was, after all, her main goal in time-traveling in the first place. Claire stops her by grabbing a nearby blade before she can time-travel and nearly decapitates her former friend in the process. It was rather…intense.
Jamie’s Bear Fight
In season 4 of Outlander, Jamie and Claire are finally settling into a life of domesticity at their new home, Fraser’s Ridge, in North Carolina. They are beginning to have troubles with the local Cherokee tribe whose land they have taken over.
Jamie ends up in a fight for his life against a bear on his land, only it’s not an actual bear, but rather a man who was shunned from his Cherokee tribe for assaulting another, and has now taken on the persona of a bear complete with its skin and claws. Jamie, of course, ends up coming out the victor in this fight and ends up winning over the Cherokee tribe in the process. He is even referred to as “Bear Killer”.
The Battle Of Prestonpans
Season 2 showed a lot of backroom political discussions and thwarting of plans on Jamie and Claire’s part. Jamie became close to Bonnie Prince Charlie in hopes of stopping his Jacobite Rebellion to save Scottish lives. When they are unsuccessful, they must continue in the fight and support the Jacobite Rebellion, which meant battling the English. This all began to culminate at the Battle of Prestonpans.
They were very stealthy and cunning in their plans to defeat the Redcoat soldiers by using an unknown shortcut to get to their camp while they were very unprepared. The Scotsmen won this battle with near ease and it was a fight sequence that we aren’t soon to forget.
Claire Confronting Laoghaire
Back in the first season of the show, when Claire and Jamie were adjusting to married life and falling hard and fast for each other, they still had a thorn in their side: Laoghaire. Laoghaire briefly had a fling with Jamie before he married Claire and felt as though Claire had stolen him from her, which was utterly ridiculous. Because of this, she continuously attempted to split them up, even going so far to put an “ill-wish” under their marital bed to curse their marriage.
Claire then confronts her and when Laoghaire is less-than-apologetic, Claire finally slaps her. It was a moment fans had been waiting for after Laoghaire’s antics.
Jamie And Dougal Face-Off
In the finale of season 2 of Outlander, the Battle of Culloden is upon them and Claire and Jamie are scrambling to put a stop to the impending massacre. Claire tries to tell Jamie they must poison Bonnie Prince Charlie to stop the battle from happening.
Dougal, the Scottish War Chieftain helping lead the Jacobites, and also Jamie’s Uncle, overhears this exchange and becomes enraged. He attacks Claire and Jamie, causing Jamie to fight his uncle to the death. Jamie finally has the upper hand with his dirk at Dougal’s throat but he still needed that extra strength to fully overpower him. That’s when Claire steps in and helps push the dirk into his throat, effectively ending his life.
Ian Proves He’s A Man Of Worth
At the end of season 4, Jamie and Claire are desperately searching for Roger, Brianna’s husband Jamie had mistakenly beaten and sold to the Mohawk. In their search, they finally find him and must make an exchange that was heartbreaking and difficult, to say the least.
They had Young Ian, Jamie’s nephew, with them on this journey. Ian is as honorable as his Uncle Jamie and decides to give himself over to the Mohawk in exchange for Roger, so Jamie doesn’t have to. Because of this, he must prove he is a “man of worth” to the Mohawk tribe by facing the Mohawk gauntlet and suffering an onslaught of blows from the tribe. He succeeded in the end in proving his worthiness.
The Battle Of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was a battle that had been building for a long time. Fans of the show were anxiously waiting to see the infamous battle played out on-screen with our favorite Scottish warrior, Jamie, leading the fight.
Though we all knew it would not play out in favor of the Scots, we also wanted to see who of our favorite characters would survive and who would ultimately perish. While we lost some great soldiers – R.I.P. Rupert – we had incredible fight scenes to watch and we also got to see the demise of Jamie’s greatest enemy: Blackjack Randall. The best part? Jamie was the one to deliver the final blow.
