Outlander’s Brianna has proven to be a very divisive character. Despite how some fans may feel about her, Bree is just as complex and important a character as Jamie and Claire, and some would argue that she is equally lovable. Bree is brave, strong, and outspoken — truly Claire’s daughter and a Fraser, through and through.
For fans of the show, many of Bree’s finest moments are yet to come. That being said, here are 10 times that Bree was one of the best characters on Outlander.
She Left Her Own Time To Save Her Parents
Shortly after her mother travels back in time to be with Jamie, Bree learns that Jamie and Claire will die in a tragic fire sometime in their near future. She makes the decision to leave behind her own time — including Roger and everything else she has ever known — and makes her way from the Scottish Highlands to the Americas.
It’s a dangerous journey, especially as a woman traveling alone, but Brianna faces it fearlessly, determined to save her parents.
She Took Lizzie With Her To America
Before Bree boards a ship for America, she is approached on the docks by Lizzie Wemyss and her frantic father. Lizzie’s father begs Brianna to take Lizzie with her so that she is not sold as a concubine. Bree agrees, and the two become friends on their journey together.
Although Lizzie later makes the near-fatal mistake that results in Roger being beaten and sold to the Mohawk, Brianna forgives her, and Lizzie goes on to become an important part of life on Fraser’s Ridge.
Her Entire Relationship With Lord John
While her parents are away searching for Roger, a pregnant Bree stays with Jocasta. As her due date approaches, her aunt implores Brianna to find a husband to prevent her child from being branded a bastard. Jocasta throws a dinner party, where she invites several wealthy, single suitors in a not-so-subtle attempt to help Brianna get engaged. Just before the dinner party, Lord John appears, checking in on Brianna as he promised Jamie he would do.
Brianna learns about Lord John’s sexuality and uses it to convince him to marry her to keep the other men — and her aunt — at bay. He hesitantly agrees to the engagement. The two bond over the next few episodes. She confides in John that she is afraid Roger could not love a child that isn’t his. Lord John assures her that it is possible, having experienced it with his own son.
Later, Lord John is the one who escorts Bree to Wilmington for the first time since her rape. Although he does not agree with her decision to confront Bonnet while they are there, he stands by her.
Bree Is A Provider
Although this trait of Bree’s hasn’t been fully explored in the show, Bree is a provider. After moving to Fraser’s Ridge, she joins Jamie on hunting trips and works hard to pull her weight.
She uses her talent with firearms — a skill she learned from Frank when she was a child — as well as her inventive nature, to do what she can for her family.
She Doesn’t Hold Back With Jamie
After learning the truth about what Jamie and Ian did to Roger, Bree doesn’t hold back. After a heated exchange where Jamie implies Bree lied about being raped, she slaps him and explains what really happened. When Jamie learns that Stephen Bonnet — the very man he helped escape — was the one who raped his daughter, he is enraged.
Bree tells Jamie that he doesn’t get to be angrier than her and that, rather than deal with Stephen Bonnet, his priority needs to be finding Roger.
Her Relationship With Frank
Frank may not have always made the best decisions, but he was ultimately a good man and a great father to Bree. Although we love Claire and understand her absence in Bree’s childhood, Frank was often the better parent. Although Bree was not his biological child, Frank loved and raised her as if she was. He never let his resentment for Claire’s infidelity taint their relationship.
Bree was an equally good daughter to Frank. Even after learning the truth about her parentage and traveling back in time to meet Jamie, she doesn’t forget Frank. She continues to think of him and mourn him throughout the series.
When She Confronts Stephen Bonnet
In season four’s “Providence,” Brianna travels with Lord John to Wilmington to confront her rapist in an effort to gain closure. She goes to the jail where Stephen Bonnet is being held until his scheduled execution. Brianna tells Bonnet about her pregnancy and the chance that the child is his. She tells says she hopes it makes his death easier, knowing a piece of him might still live on. He gives her a gemstone for the baby’s “maintenance,” and she leaves.
Confronting her rapist was anything but easy, but she did so — against everyone’s advice —because she knew it was what she needed.
Her Portrait Of Phaedre
During her time at River Run, Bree is vocal — and rightfully so — against her aunt’s decision to own slaves. One day, while Phaedre is measuring Brianna for a new dress, Bree notices how the light hits her face and asks her to sit for a portrait.
This portrait soon becomes a hot topic among Jocasta’s house guests. Mrs. Alderdyce asks her why she would ever choose a slave to be the subject of a portrait when there are so many beautiful landscapes around her. Brianna tells the crowd that she draws whatever inspires her. Before she can go any further, Jocasta interrupts the conversation and redirects the group’s attention.
When She Tells Murtagh She Forgives Jamie
Although viewers don’t actually get to see it happen, Bree tells Murtagh in season four’s finale that she has already forgiven her father for what happened with Roger and the things he said to her during their subsequent fight. Forgiving Jamie was the right thing to do, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.
Jamie beat Roger, sold him to the Mohawk, and then implied that Brianna lied about being raped. It’s understandable that it took Brianna so long to forgive her father. The fact that she did, though, is a testament to her strength.
She Encourages Claire To Find Jamie
After Roger discovers that Jamie didn’t die at Culloden and that he is alive in North Carolina, Claire struggles with an impossible decision. After decades of believing he was gone forever, she finally has a chance to be reunited with the love of her life. In doing so, she will have to leave her daughter behind, seemingly forever.
In the end, it is Bree who convinces her mother to go back in time and find Jamie. Although she doesn’t want to lose her mother, she knows how important it is for her to be with the man she loves. Had Bree not given Claire her blessing, Claire may not have been able to go through with the journey.
