The hit Starz show Outlander returned for its fifth season just a few weeks ago, and it’s clear that the Frasers are coming ever closer to the start of the American Revolution. However, just as a documentary can’t cover every battle that was fought, Outlander cannot feature every character in the eight-book (and counting!) series by Diana Gabaldon.
Minor characters, in any adaptation, must make way before a showrunner’s changes and cuts. Combining and replacing characters can tighten the plot and generally help adaptations improve their scenes and pacing. Therefore, here’s a list of ten book characters the show ultimately left out.
Pollyanne
Pollyanne is an ex-slave Claire (Catriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) help out once they arrive in North Carolina during Drums of Autumn. The couple come upon a woman dying from a botched abortion, something Claire believes she would have needed help with. With Phaedre’s (Natalie Simpson) assistance, they discover that Pollyanne, one of Jocasta’s (Maria Doyle Kennedy) slaves, is missing and it looks as though she left in a rush. With the death declared a murder, Claire and Jamie hurry to get Pollyanne to safety, with woodsman John Quincy Myers’ (Kyle Rees) help. With John Quincy Myers’ role shortened, Pollyanne’s subplot was cut entirely. However, it showcases another side of what it meant to self-medicate in the backcountry, as well as to endure slavery.
Ewan Cameron
Ewan Cameron, in Dragonfly in Amber, is in charge of intelligence operations at Edinburgh’s Holyrood Palace. He and Jamie exchange some heated words after Jamie finds his men held in the Tolbooth. However, after the fateful Battle of Culloden, Ewan and Jamie share a gentle farewell before Ewan is shot for being on the losing side.
Though Ewan’s role is small, he shows the humanity and purpose of the Scots who fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower). Many men fought at Culloden, and his is just one story. His death also serves as foreshadowing for Jamie’s own, which miraculously does not come to pass.
Annabelle MacRannoch
After Jamie’s trauma at the hands of Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) in Outlander, Claire heals him, including a grisly scene where she fixes one of his hands, smashed by a mallet. Lady Annabelle MacRannoch, wife of Marcus MacRannoch (Brian McCardie), who shelters them, assists her. Annabelle is thus similar to Claire; a highborn lady who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty and helping those who need her. Claire and Jamie wouldn’t have gotten away from Wentworth Prison safely without somewhere to go, and luckily, there were the MacRannochs, willing to help.
Mayer Rothschild
In Voyager, Claire and Jamie, searching for Young Ian, meet Mayer in Le Havre, as they need to ask him for information regarding Roman coins. He gives them the basic information they need, as well as another piece of the puzzle: the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow) purchased similar coins 20 years ago.
Before he leaves, Claire asks him if he has a surname, to which he replies that the Jews of Frankfurt aren’t allowed the use of family names, but neighbors refer to his family by the red shield on their door. Claire puts the pieces together, connecting Mayer with the famous future banking family, the Rothschilds, which means ‘red shield’ in German. It’s always nice when Claire has an opportunity to be correct (or at least plausibly correct) about future events, and Mayer is a prime example.
Ishmael
In Voyager, Ishmael and Claire interact a few times. Originally taken from the Gold Coast of Africa, he is captured for the second time by a slaving ship that later attacks Claire and Jamie’s ship, the Artemis. They end up taking him prisoner, but later release him in Jamaica, since they are looking for information as they search for Young Ian. Ishmael ends up becoming Mrs. Abernathy’s cook at Rose Hall.
Ishmael, like Pollyanne, showcases another side of slavery than the one that immediately springs to mind for an American audience, since his story is set in the West Indies. His narrative is powerful despite being minor.
Mr. Bainbridge
Though Mr. Bainbridge, an Inverness solicitor who Frank consults about history, is only briefly featured in Outlander, his presence gives a look into Claire’s strengths. Though he expects a demure housewife, that’s not what he gets, especially when Claire mentions a favorite curse after a mishap, one that she picked up from a soldier in World War 2: Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. Mr. Bainbridge’s expectations seem to allow Claire to simply be herself, even if that isn’t in line with being a ’lady’. The series goes further to show off her heroine skills.
Johannes Gerstmann
Claire and Jamie run into this Austrian musician during a party in France in Dragonfly in Amber. He is shocked at Jamie’s complete lack of a singing voice, and encourages him to sing a few notes, to everyone’s displeasure. Gerstmann is also good friends with Mother Hildegarde (Frances de la Tour), who Claire befriends when she begins her work at L’Hopital des Agnes. He later serves as an adviser for Claire when she is seeking advice on how to obtain a royal pardon from the king for Jamie after the duel with Jack Randall.
Alexander Fraser
When Jamie is recovering at the end of Outlander, he and Claire take refuge in the Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupre. One of Jamie’s cousins, Alexander Fraser, is the abbot, and takes them in. Half-brother to Jamie’s father Brian (Andrew Whipp), Alexander is willing to assist family, having nursed Jamie back to health once before.
The monks’ role in the show is cut down, and Father Anselm (Ian Hanmore) mainly counsels Claire on the nature of time travel and the balance of history. Regardless, it is helpful to know who is in charge, and that they are firmly on Claire and Jamie’s side, especially after such a harrowing ordeal.
Lawrence Stern
Lawrence Stern is yet another helpful character in the search for Young Ian who didn’t make it to the screen for season 3, the adaptation of Voyager. He is a Jewish natural scientist and meets Claire on the island of Hispaniola. Since she’s drifted from her intended course, he ends up directing her to the house of the defrocked priest Father Fodgen (Nick Fletcher), Hacienda de la Fuente. Stern later ends up traveling with Jamie and Claire to Jamaica, Another fun fact from the novels is that he is named after writer Laurence Sterne.
Nacognaweto
Claire and Jamie encounter Nacognaweto in North Carolina, as he is a village chief of the Tuscarora people. His grandmother Nayawenne is rewritten as the Cherokee Adawehi (Tantoo Cardinal) for the show’s season 4. However, Nacognaweto is notable for introducing Nayawenne to Claire and Jamie, when he brings food and relatives to welcome them as neighbors. Though the Tuscarora eventually have to relocate for their own safety after a measles outbreak, Nacognaweto showcases how, even with small acts, you can get along with those around you and generally improve your neighborhood in the process.
