Outlander season 5 spoilers: Jamie and Claire Fraser story detail CHANGED – here's why

Claire (played by Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) have had an incredibly tumultuous relationship throughout the course of Outlander.

They’ve been split up, threatened, left for dead, faced the monumental Battle of Culloden between the Jacobites and the British soldiers and Claire time-travelled back through the Stones and left her husband for 20 years.

Despite a myriad of obstacles in their way, the couple are now stronger than ever on the series and Jamie and Claire have settled down to build a family home at Frasers’ Ridge in North Carolina.

Now with their daughter Brianna Randall Fraser (Sophie Skelton) and first grandchild, it seems the Frasers are set for happiness for the time being on the Amazon Prime Video series.

Yet hard-core fans continue to point out various changes to the characters’ relationship from Diana Gabaldon’s book series to the screen, and some will never be satisfied.

Often these changes take place because producers are forced to translate certain aspects of the story to a completely different medium, and as a result some minor details have to be left out.

Other small moments seem much more important to long-time fans, so the show’s bosses are always going to disappoint some viewers.

One such pivotal change occurred withe the absence of Claire and Jamie getting matching tattoos on the corner of their hands.

The decision was a poignant moment in the original novels as the couple used another method to solidify their love for each other.

But unfortunately this was omitted from the series and wasn’t shown on screen.

READ MORE: Outlander season 5: Star teases ‘exciting’ and ‘bold’ new series

While initially a shame, producers may have tried to slip fans a nugget in later scenes when eagle-eyed viewers could spot the characters with tattoos of each other’s initials on their hands.

It’s not the first time the show has had to change things up from the books, and there are many for fans to trawl through and spot if they wish.

Jamie’s knowledge of what Laoghaire MacKenzie (Nell Hudson) did to Claire was also left out.

Frank’s character traits were changed and shifted, and there are a host of others.

One of the most important ones however is the differences in Murtagh MacKenzie’s (Duncan Lacroix) character from the books to the series.

In the books, Diana chose to keep the Highland warrior on the sidelines for much of the story, and while he and his godson Jamie had a relatively close bond, it was nothing compared to the show.

In the STARZ time-travelling drama Murtagh even learns the truth about Claire’s time-travelling ability, and he resurfaces in North America in season four.

But the biggest one is the decision the producers took to keep the character alive – Murtagh is killed off relatively early on in the books.

What else will be changed when season five of the hit period drama rolls around?

Another mystery about the show is that of the very first episode in season one – when Jamie’s ghost suddenly appeared in 1940s Inverness to watch over his future beloved Claire – here it is explained. 

Outlander season five returns to STARZ and Amazon Prime Video later this year.

source: express.co.uk