**Warning: spoilers for "Outlander" season 5, episode 7**

There are several ways in which the "Outlander" TV series differs from Diana Gabaldon's book (open in new tab). Caitriona Balfe explained in an interview with MarieClaire.com last season why the TV series deviates from the original books, "It's very hard to fill in all the different threads and try to bring everything together" (opens in new tab). 'These books are very dense and have a lot going on in them. Sometimes I am disappointed with the changes that were made, but I also think that due to time constraints, I don't know if I was able to tie everything together correctly. This is true throughout the series, but it is Murtaugh's story that stands out the most.

Murtaugh is an important link to Jamie's past. He is the Scotsman who rescued Claire from the evil Black Jack Randall at the beginning of the "Outlander" series and brought her back to meet other Highlanders on the run from England in 1743. When Jamie was captured by the British army, his godfather Murtagh helped him find Claire. In the book, Murtaugh and Claire take Jamie to a French monastery to recover the rescued Jamie. Finally, Claire and Jamie confide to Murtagh the secret that Claire is from the future.

Claire knows that the Scots will be defeated by the English army. The Highland way of life will be destroyed. She, Jamie, and Murtagh try to change history to prevent it, but find themselves in Caroden on the eve of the battle in April 1746. Jamie finds himself a dead man after killing his uncle Dugal. He is killed by his uncle's followers. Jamie chooses to die in the battle of Karoden. However, he orders Murtagh to lead the Frasers of Lallybroch (Jamie's territory) back home. He does not want his men killed in a desperate battle. Murtaugh refuses the order. He stands his men on the road and says he will turn back to fight with Jamie until the end. Meanwhile, Jamie takes Claire to Stone and sends her back to the future to save her and the child she is carrying.

Jamie is mad with grief over the loss of Claire and is prepared to die in battle. But as Scotsmen are being killed by English artillery and bullets all around him, Jamie is unharmed. He actually reaches the English lines and kills some of the soldiers there. And this is where the book and the show diverge. In the book, when Jamie tries to return to the Scottish lines, he finds Murtaugh mortally wounded in a field. Jamie holds his dying godfather in his arms, but his godfather comforts him with the words he said in tonight's season 5, episode 7: "Dinna be afraid, a bhalaich, it doesn't hurt a little to die. The bhalaich is a term of endearment used by godparents for the boy they love. In both the book and the TV show, this moment is heartbreaking.

The producers of the "Outlander" TV show decided to keep Murtaugh alive because he was a popular character. The show reveals a surprise when Murtaugh is captured in Karoden and is first seen with Jamie in Ardsmuir Prison. When the prison is closed, Murtagh is sent to the colony as an indentured servant along with all the other prisoners except Jamie; more than 20 years later, Jamie finds Murtagh working as a blacksmith in North Carolina. Murtagh is overjoyed to hear that Claire has returned and that she has a daughter. He reunites with Claire, meets her daughter Brianna, and begins a romance with Jamie's aunt Jocasta, who is killed in the Battle of Alamance after saving Jamie's life.

While his death in the TV series was probably inevitable (and we should have seen it coming - Sam Hughan inadvertently spoiled (opens in new tab) this crucial plot point after a few whiskeys), it remains heartbreaking. Especially since we've spent a couple more seasons falling in love with Duncan Lacroix's character in Slàinte mhath (opens in new tab), Murtagh.