The episode opens in the aftermath of World War II. Former British combat nurse Claire Randall and her husband, Frank, a history professor, are on a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands, hoping to rekindle their marriage after years of separation caused by the war.

This is Captain Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall—the very ancestor Frank had been studying. Claire doesn’t know this yet, but she senses danger. She claims she’s on a walking tour and has lost her party. Randall offers help but his eyes never leave her. He orders his men to escort her to the nearest garrison.

Claire wakes again, this time tied to a tree. Her captors are a group of rugged Scotsmen, their faces streaked with woad and dirt. They speak Gaelic, their voices harsh. Their leader is a young, broad-shouldered man with fiery red hair and a scarred face—Dougal MacKenzie, war chieftain of Clan MacKenzie.