Fans of Outlander have long wondered exactly why Claire Randall Fraser travelled back through time to the 1700s, as it didn’t appear she had any control over where she was headed when she plunged through the Standing Stones in Inverness. For one thing, the World War II nurse had never heard of Jamie Fraser before let alone met him, so she had no idea what she would be going back to. Perhaps Jamie’s ghost travelled to the future and pushed his great love to make the trip across time and space to find him, but another theory suggests the reason Claire ended up in the 18th Century was actually because of her connection to husband Frank Randall and the presence of his ancestor Black Jack Randall back then. 

nalin420 began: “I have a question when Clair went through those magical rocks in 1946 she reached in 1743 and when Geillis went through rocks in 1960s she reached in 1740s too why?”

PigsWalkUpright replied: “Geillis knew when she wanted to travel to and researched how to do it.

“Claire did it by accident and we can only guess that all the talk about Frank’s lineage had that time frame on her mind when she went through.”

Was it simply Claire’s thoughts that propelled her back in time?

READ MORE: Outlander season 5 release date, cast, trailer, plot

However others were convinced if Claire had actually been thinking about her husband, there is no way she could have travelled through the stones. 

I don’t think she could have been thinking about Frank. She would not have left her time,” the Reddit-user declared. 

sparklerette22 noted: “With that said (the ‘Jamie pulled Claire…’ comment), could that have anything to do with the highlander (supposedly Jamie) that Frank saw in the 1940s staring up at Claire while she brushing her hair in Season 1, Episode 1?

“Is it possible for Claire to ever pull Jamie to her time?”

Diana Gabaldon has made very clear through her books that Jamie cannot time travel – such as in the moment when Claire goes back through the stones in book two – the Highlander can’t hear the sound of the buzzing. 

But perhaps there is one final gigantic twist to come in the couple’s story?

Outlander book nine is expected to be released this year and season five of the TV adaptation premieres February 16 on STARZ and Amazon Prime Video.