What period is Outlander timeline set in? Details explored in depth as Season 7 tops charts

Starz's Outlander is a historical fiction and fantasy romance series based on the series of books written by Diana Gabaldon. The show premiered in August 2014 and released its Season 7 in November 2024. The show will return for a final and eighth season.

Time travel is a central plot for Outlander, where a young woman named Claire (in the 1940s) accidentally travels back to 18th century Scotland, where she meets a Highlander, Jamie, and they fall in love.

The show runs back and forth, jumping between different timelines (1940s, 1740s) as more characters are introduced who can time travel, including Claire's daughter Brianna and her husband Roger.

Here is the complete timeline of Outlander.

Exploring the timeline in Outlander Seasons 1 and 2

Since Jamie and Claire are in their separate timelines when the show starts, there are primarily two timelines, which are as follows:

1945: Claire's story starts in the 1940s when she is on a honeymoon in Scotland with her husband, Frank. The two have been apart since WWII, and the honeymoon is a way for them to rekindle their romance. Since Frank is a history professor, he tells his wife various stories of the past and the magical stones of Craigh Na Dun. Claire visits them one morning and is transported 200 years back in time.

1743: After traveling through the stones, Claire is transported back to 1743, where she doesn't see the city of Inverness and is certain that she has traveled back. She is taken to Castle Leoch by Clan McKenzie, where she reluctantly marries Jamie to save herself from Black Jach Randall.

Season 2 takes Jamie and Claire to France in 1744 and Jamie prepares for the Battle of Culloden in 1746. When he discovers that Claire is pregnant with his child, he sends her to her timeline, and she travels to 1948, where she is reunited with Frank and they move to Boston.

Jamie and Claire meet after 20 years in Outlander Season 3

1952: Jamie somehow survives Culloden but ends up in Ardsmuir prison, where he meets Lord John Grey. He also reluctantly marries Laoghaire but finally leaves for Edinburgh in 1765 to open a print shop, where he will eventually meet Claire.

1949: Claire tries to rebuild his marriage with Frank in Boston, who tries to raise Jamie's daughter Brianna as his own. By 1968, Brianna and Claire travel back to Scotland, where Claire goes through the stone once more to find Jamie.

Claire goes to Edinburgh in 1766 and is reunited with Jamie after 20 years. They both travel to Lallybroch but eventually end up on a beach in the New World in their effort to save Young Ian.

Outlander Season 7 showed a new timeline

Things got interesting when Claire and Jamie were joined by their children, Roger and Brianna, in Season 4. However, they travel back to the 1960s because of their daughter, and the show again follows two separate timelines.

Season 7 saw a new timeline, where Roger ended up with Buck in search of his son. They both accidentally ended up in 1739 in Lallybroch, where they met Jamie's father. Buck also got a chance to meet his father, who had accidentally ended back in time. He guides him back to his own time, but we do not know if he safely reached there.

After finding Roger's letter, Brianna travels back to him with their children, reuniting the pair. The season end hints that they will reunite with Jamie and Claire in the 1775 timeline for the show's last season.