Outlander fans took to Reddit about the Easter egg
Outlander fans have been left gobsmacked by an Easter egg they discovered in the show, reports the Express.
The Easter egg in question appeared in season three, episode four titled Of Lost Things as the instalment drew to a close when the Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) was bidding farewell to his secret son William Ransom (Clark Butler) as he left Helwater forever.
The poignant scenes saw the Highlander weeping as he rode away on his horse, while a cover of Bob Dylan’s track A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Walk Off the Earth played.
Taking to Reddit, the Outlander fan wrote how the Dylan song borrowed a similar format of questions and answers from the English ballad Lord Randall.
The user said: “Now, the Dylan version doesn’t mention the name Randall at all — which means you’d only spot the connection if you already knew the ballad, or looked up the origins of the song, like I did. That’s what makes this such a hidden gem of an Easter Egg!
“The use of that specific song, at that specific moment, in a show where the name Randall (Frank, Black Jack AND Claire) is so thematically central? There’s just no way that’s accidental [sic].”
The user Pungiaan also noted the Dylan song featured lyrics about a “blue-eyed son”, which likely referenced Jamie’s son William who has the same coloured eyes as him.
Another line references a man “wounded in love” and another “wounded with hatred”, which seemed to be nods to Jamie and Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall (Tobias Menzies).
They concluded: “I’m honestly in awe of how layered this is. It’s the kind of detail you’d only catch if you dig a little — but once you do, it hits you like a brick.”
A second user commented underneath: “These types of Easter Eggs are scattered throughout every season. Also, I’m now going to have to listen to both versions.”
A third person said: “Thanks for calling attention to this detail and now it makes me want to find Easter eggs too. I appreciate your thoughtful analysis.”
Someone else said: “Thank you! Mind officially blown” as another added: “Omg, this is wonderful! I would’ve never noticed it unless someone pointed it out, and you did it amazingly!
Thank you, I love this! [sic].”
Quoting writer Toni Graphia in the Making of Outlander book, yet another user posted an excerpt: “Before I even started writing ‘Of Lost Things,’ I had the Bob Dylan song in my head because, to me, the song is about fatherhood, whether it’s about individual fatherhood or fatherhood of a country. So I played it on a loop when I was writing.”
Graphia chose the Walk Off the Earth as it was cheaper to pay to use than the Bob Dylan original, but also resonated with the writer.
Graphia said: “When I heard that one, I knew that was the one, because it’s a duo of a male and female singing the two parts, and I thought, Ah, that’s Claire and Jamie. “That’s the male and female perspectives that we kept cutting to in the show.
“I wrote it for the montage at the end because I thought, Everybody’s losing something. Claire is losing hope to find Jamie. Jamie’s losing his son. Roger’s losing Brianna.”