The final episode of Outlander will premiere next Friday, May 15 on Starz, bringing the epic love story of James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) to an end.
For almost twelve years, we’ve watched Jamie and Claire overcome all sorts of impossible odds to find themselves, once more, in each other’s arms. Their unlikely romance — he an 18th century Scottish warrior, she a 20th century feminist — was only made all the more rapturous by all of the drama they survived. Of course, part of what also made Jamie and Claire’s story so intoxicating was the intense passion they feel for each other.
Jamie and Claire’s love is spiritual, emotional, and, yes, very, very physical. Ever since the two were pushed in a marriage of convenience only to discover that, yes, they really, really liked each other and had incandescent sex together, we, as Outlander fans, have been reaping the rewards.
To honor Outlander‘s upcoming series finale on Friday, May 15, we took a look back at the eight Jamie and Claire sex scenes that gripped us the most and never let us go. Here are the eight best Jamie and Claire sex scenes in Outlander‘s eight season run…
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The Wedding Night (Season 1, Episode 7)
In many ways, Jamie and Claire’s first night together might still be their greatest. Okay, so their first go at it was awkward and ungainly. However, by the time their nerves settled down and their hearts became open, they were fully intoxicated with one another.
Jamie and Claire’s wedding night was a euphoric expression of pure love and desire — and a preview of the passionate romance that would defy all odds.
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Splendor in the Grass (Season 1, Episode 8)
Talk about enjoying your honeymoon in the highlands! In just the very next episode, Jamie and Claire take to the great outdoors to express their desire for one another. The two steal away from the rest of the men to get a little horny amongst the heather. This scene is iconic mainly for the way in which it encapsulates the true fantasy of Outlander: going back in time to hook up with a highlander amid Scotland’s stupendously gorgeous scenery.
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Knife Play That’s No Game (Season 1, Episode 9)
The first bit of trouble in paradise for the newlyweds came when Jamie tried to inflict some antiquated patriarchal norms on Claire. When it’s decided that Claire ought to be punished, Jamie insists on whipping her with his belt, as is his right, he thinks. However, our 20th century gal will have none of it. She turns the tables during their makeup sex, holding a dagger at his throat. It’s a kinky turn for the couple.
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A Farewell to Arms, Legs, Hands, Lips, and So Much More (Season 2, Episode 13)
Every sex scene between Jamie and Claire is an iconic sex scene, but this one tugs at the heartstrings like none other. At the end of Outlander Season 2, a pregnant Claire must return to her time to save herself and her unborn child. Jamie makes one of his most indelible declarations of love, noting that he’ll take whatever fate God hands him in the great beyond because He gave him a “rare woman” to love in life. Then the couple makes desperate love on the ground for what they believe will be the last time.
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Reunited and It Feels SO GOOD (Season 3, Episode 6)
One of the most beloved moments in all of Outlander comes when Claire returns to Jamie in the past. You can still feel chills watching Claire enter the print shop in Season 3 and feeling, in real time, Jamie realizing that a miracle has taken place.
Even better? When the two reunite in the bedroom. This scene not only lives up to the massive expectations fans have, but sagely draws from the wedding night to evoke the purest strain of Jamie and Claire’s mad love for each other.
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The Boat’s A-Rocking
There have been so many incredible Jamie and Claire sex scenes over the years, but the “turtle soup” one is often cited as a fan favorite. An injured and drunk Claire comes onto her husband like never before, prompting Jamie to repeatedly establish consent before they latch the door and get down to business. The raw passion that follows is a rougher, but no less loving, version of Jamie and Claire.
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Outlander, Take Me Away (Season 4, Episode 6)
As Claire and Jamie’s relationship has deepened, so have the expressions of their love. One of the most romantic moments in the whole series comes in Season 4, when Jamie treats Claire to a soothing spa moment in a new bathtub. The heroic highlander tenderly washes his wife’s hair before gently taking her to bed. The dream bedtime routine for so many people, to be quite honest.
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Setting the Table (Season 7, Episode 12)
One of the most magical things about Jamie and Claire’s romance is how they keep finding ways to overcome the wildest challenges to their happily ever after. Case in point: that time in Season 7 that Claire thought Jamie drowned at sea and immediately married Lord John Grey to save her skin in Philadelphia. Jamie was furious when he returned to the realm of the living and Claire was upset by his anger. Nevertheless, Jamie and Claire came back to each other. They came back and they came… on poor Lord John’s dining room table.
All in all, every Jamie and Claire sex scene is an incredible one, but these eight are just some of the ones that have stayed with us the most over the years.
Will we get one more iconic sex scene for old time’s sake in the Outlander finale? We’ll just have to tune into Starz on Friday, May 15 to find out.
