Outlander fans are used to seeing changes from book to screen. There are times those changes are necessary, and there are times that they’re not quite as needed. There’s no doubt that many book-first fans are angered by the decision of the Faith plot throughout Outlander Season 8, just as an example.

However, while Matt B. Roberts and Maril Davis will run with changes to help their story, there are some that they back peddle on. This is when Diana Gabaldon makes it clear that a change wouldn’t be best for the overall tale. If she is adamant about something, they will listen.

‘Outlander’ Almost Changed Black Jack Randall’s Death

Book fans were ready for Black Jack Randall’s death at the Battle of Culloden. It happened during the books, and it was a clear end to this part of Jamie’s story. There was absolutely no need to keep him alive after this point, and yet, the show’s creative team considered it.

Roberts shared with SYFY Wire that this idea didn’t go down well with Herself, as book fans adoringly refer to her. Gabaldon simply said, “I wish you wouldn’t,” and that was it.

It makes sense that as show creators they thought about keeping him alive. There are some substantial differences between shows and books, and with TV shows, the actors make their characters their own. They jump off the screen, and they can pull viewers in via ways that book characters can’t necessarily manage.

However, Black Jack Randall had his time, and that time was over during the Battle of Culloden. In fact, it’s something that comes up on Outlander Season 8, as Claire thinks about using knowledge as power. Black Jack’s date of death was the one that she knew and could hold over him, so in the end, his death date had to remain the same.

Diana Gabaldon Has Offered Ways to Keep Characters Around

While characters have died in the books, they haven’t always on the show, and that’s because of the way the characters have come to life thanks to their actors. One of those was Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser, who was supposed to have died at the Battle of Culloden. In the end, we met him again at Ardsmuir Prison and Jamie and Young Ian later come across him in Wilmington, North Carolina.

At one point, he was going to be in Jamaica. Gabaldon offered a way to make the most of the inclusion of the character that better suited both the character and the narrative, leading to Murtagh becoming disenfranchised after his time as an indentured servant and leading the Regulators.

So, for those who don’t think the Outlander showrunners ever listen to Gabaldon, they do. When it really matters to the overall story. That doesn’t mean they’ll listen every single time, as the show is their own adaptation.