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At the end of the Outlander Season 7 premiere, it looks like Jamie kills Richard Brown. Is that what happened in the books?

Caution: This post contains spoilers from the Outlander Season 7 premiere.

After getting Claire back, Jamie knew that there was one more thing he needed to do. He needed to take care of a certain man also staying at the inn Claire and Jamie were at. Yes, Richard Brown happened to be there.

Jamie made it clear that Richard would not be allowed to remain a threat to him or Claire. Of course, Richard didn’t think Jamie would do anything.

Jamie has proven himself to be an honorable man in the past, so Richard thought that would be the case here. What Richard doesn’t realize is that Jamie is also a violent man; something he has always told Claire. We know that, so are we really surprised he would take action to look after his family.

Did Jamie kill Richard in the Outlander books?

The question for many people is whether this follows the book storyline. This is something created by the show, but it does make sense.

In the books, there’s a little more time to deal with the situation. Jamie is able to weaken Richard in a political sense, which protects his family from the Browns. There isn’t the time to show that in the series, so we have this moment where it looks like Jamie is going to kill Richard.

The bit that is a little off for Jamie is sending Young Ian and the Cherokee to take care of all the Browns. At the start of the episode, Ian told Jamie that the Cherokee and John Quincy Myers had gone back to the Ridge to look after the people there. I get a sense that Jamie didn’t send Young Ian off to kill all the Browns. However, the comment was enough to throw Richard off a little. It was enough to give Jamie the upper hand when it came to killing Richard.

None of this is in the books, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad storyline. It’s actually one that is very true to Jamie’s character.

MORE: Why is Outlander moving to Fridays on STARZ?

What did you think of Jamie probably killing Richard in the Outlander Season 7 premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander* airs on Fridays on STARZ.