What happened to Claire's parents in Outlander?

Fans of Outlander rejoice, for the Droughtlander we are experiencing while we wait for the eighth and final episode of the epic time travel saga has come to an end, with the introduction of a prequel.

Claire and Jamie enthusiasts, like us, will no doubt have been counting down the days until we are hurled back into the Outlander universe, with Outlander: Blood of My Blood giving us the origin story we so desperately need.

Get set to be transported even further back in time to find out what happens when Red Jacob, laird of Clan MacKenzie, dies unexpectedly. Amid a power struggle in the aftermath of his death between his sons, Colum and Dougal, their sister, Ellen, falls in love with rival clan member Brian Fraser - and so, Jamie's beginnings are told.

Before Claire became a nurse during World War ll and found herself torn between different centuries and love for two men, her parents found themselves meeting and falling in love by chance during World War l.

However, their story apparently ended in tragedy, and viewers have been wondering just what really happened to them. We take a look at the fate of Claire's mum and dad, Henry and Julia.

What happened to Claire's parents in Outlander?

Outlander has always maintained that Claire's parents died in a car crash when she was just five years old.

As a result of their deaths, Claire was adopted by her uncle, Quentin Lambert Beauchamp, a historian and archaeologist who inspired Claire's love of history.

This is as far as author of the Outlander book series, Diana Gabaldon, ever went with references to Claire's parents.

However, as the prequel isn't based on any of her novels, executive producer of Blood of My Blood, Maril Davis, has been able to create an entirely different fate for Henry and Julia - and it looks like their paths could cross with their daughter's once again.

It would seem the prequel show will turn Claire's parents into time travellers, altering their perceived fate altogether. The opening episode of the new series confirms this huge twist.

"All we know is they died in a car crash, and the fact that they didn't die in a car crash, and they've actually gone through time, is such great connective tissue to the mothership, in terms of Claire's abilities to travel," Maril Davis told Yahoo Canada.

While it remains uncertain whether Claire, Jamie or any other Outlander favourites are set to appear in the prequel, the time travel aspect allows for characters to show up at any point - the back stories of the mysterious Faith and Master Raymond could be explored in depth while viewers come to terms with the fact Claire's parents are actually alive.

Claire's uncle could even know the real fate of Henry and Julia, fabricating the story of a car crash - Claire would've had no reason to suspect her uncle of lying to her about such an important issue.

Whichever direction executive producers Matthew B. Roberts said Maril Davis choose to take this exciting twist, we can't wait to see how it opens up the Outlander universe even more.

Henry and Julia are currently separated in a foreign century in the show - they just need to find each other before any of our Outlander fantasies can unravel.