Starz’s massively popular Outlander series, adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s novels of the same name, continues to deliver just the right blend of history, swashbuckling, time travel, and romance. Over the course of the show’s seven-season run thus far, the show’s stars Jamie and Claire Fraser (played by Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe, respectively) find themselves in binds of history-altering proportions. While romantic hero Jamie Fraser comes to Claire’s rescue many times, his character tends to act on instinct, sometimes without considering the longtime impacts of his actions.

On the other hand, his unlikely best friend, the closeted gay man Lord John Grey (played by David Berry), has swept in to rescue both Jamie and his family on a number of occasions, and his motivations are entirely selfless. In season 3, when Jamie is held as a prisoner of war at Ardsmuir for his role in the Jacobite Rebellion Battle of Culloden, Lord John confesses his romantic feelings for Jamie, and while they remain unrequited, he continues to be a devoted friend to Jamie, often going to great lengths to protect his family, making him the unsung hero of the show.

Despite His Unrequited Love For Jamie, He Still Selflessly Helps The Family

Lord John Grey Is A Rare Diversion From Toxic Masculinity In Outlander

While Outlander gained traction for the passionate romance between Jamie and Claire that spans across time, the series also offers a unique look at a tumultuous few decades in Scottish and early American history. Both Claire and Jamie save one another in a number of pivotal moments (mostly when Claire helps him heal from serious injuries given her experience as a World War II combat nurse and later surgeon), but they are often motivated solely by the love that they have for one another.

On the contrary, Lord John Grey’s motivations are often incredibly selfless. Lord John first meets Jamie as a teenager when he spares his life amid the Jacobite Rebellion. In return for this, when they reunite at Ardsmuir Prison, he saves Jamie from being shipped to Colonial America alone, instead allowing him to choose indenture in England. Lord John marries his friend Isobel Dunsany, whose sister once blackmailed Jamie into a one-night stand (she vowed to never consummate the marriage with the elderly Earl of Ellesmere and threatened to expose Jamie’s outlaw status).

After Jamie and Geneva conceive a child out of wedlock and Geneva dies in childbirth, Lord John raises William as his own, vowing to never expose Jamie’s secret. This is the first of many instances in which Lord John helps the Frasers in situations when they cannot help themselves. Later, in season 3, when Jamie and Claire go to Jamaica to save young Ian Murray after he was captured, Lord John happens to be the Governor of Jamaica, and manages to help them retrieve him and arrange for safe passage to Scotland. This was another complex situation that he did not need to get involved in, but did so purely out of kindness.

Lord John Grey Raises Jamie’s Son To Be An English Nobleman

After Seeing Jamie’s Struggles In Scotland, He Vows To Give His Son A Better Life

Lord John Grey keeps Jamie’s secret at his request. Jamie was once the Laird of Lallybroch in Scotland, but loses his inheritance of the family land in a business deal made at Culloden in season 2, placing it with his nephew young Ian Murray instead. Given Jamie’s socioeconomic struggles, Lord John graciously offers William a high-quality education and a nobility title, both of which he knew his friend could not provide at that time. Protecting children born out of wedlock was not the norm, which makes this secret even greater as a sacrifice.

When Lord John Grey and Willie go to visit North Carolina in season 4, it is evident that Willie has had access to an upper-class upbringing that Jamie never had the same access to. Lord John gives Jamie space to get to know Willie without divulging his secret, when he takes Willie camping at Fraser’s Ridge. While Lord John is incredibly jealous of Jamie’s love for Claire, he comes to accept that the best thing he can be for Jamie is a friend, and he parts ways with the family on good terms when he leaves for England.

He Volunteers To Marry Brianna To Protect Her Child When Roger Is Presumed Dead

After Roger Is Sold To The Mohawk, Lord John Steps In Yet Again

20 years later, when Claire travels back to the 1760s from the 1960s, her daughter Bree, who she shares with Jamie, follows her there to warn of a disastrous fire. Upon Bree’s arrival in Colonial Era North Carolina, she becomes engaged to her boyfriend, Roger McKenzie, who follows her through time to protect her. Immediately following their union, she is raped by Stephen Bonnet, leaving her pregnant and unsure of the father of the unborn child. After Roger is accidentally sold to the Mohawk Tribe and widely presumed to be dead, Lord John agrees to marry Bree for her protection.

While this plan took some coaxing, Lord John’s willingness to yet again offer a helping hand to a marginalized person in a time period in which his status as a white noble from England did not require him to do so was incredibly altruistic. Yet again, he had nothing to gain from marrying Bree, given his sexuality and his own wealth, and he solely agreed to do so based on her time of need and his longstanding friendship with her father. Lord John tends to settle issues through careful planning that benefits all parties involved, while Jamie’s passion sometimes escalates into conflict, making Lord John the unsung hero of Outlander.

Lord John Grey’s character is one of few LGBTQ+ characters in Outlander, and portraying his positive attributes in a time period where the community was frequently criminalized brings a tragic hero element to the show’s story. His character weaves in and out of the show in the Frasers’ time of need, and he is too often the forgotten hero of the Outlander universe.