Outlander fans have spoken of their horror after Claire Fraser was turned into a drug user in the opening episode of season six.
The nurse, played by Caitriona Balfe, creates the painkiller ether and self-medicates with it as she tries to get over her traumatic experiences at the end of season five.
Ether is a drug that was used in the 20th century as an anaesthetic during operations but also found fame as a recreational drug.
It is an inhalant which causes users to have no memory of taking it and also make them oblivious to pain and their current surroundings, similar to heavy alcohol intoxication.
Ether is referred to in Hunter S Thompson's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where he describes it as having the most powerful effect on humans.
He wrote: "The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge."
Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) uses the drug to self-medicate following her harrowing experience at the hands of kidnappers led by Lionel Brown when she was repeatedly raped.
However, this is a wide swerve from the books, where she did not use the drug at all, with a number of upset fans taking to social media to air their concern about this.
When asked about the situation, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon confirmed that Claire did not use ether in the books.
Fans described the nurse using the drug to sleep as "out of character" for her and questioned why STARZ decided to turn her into a drug user.
Twitter user 1morelight0720 wrote: "I must be the only one slightly disappointed. HUGE lover of the books. Claire abusing Ether never happened-totally not her character. Unless I'm having a complete memory loss."
Brandy Schoolcraft added: "I don’t like how they have had Claire looks to be self medicating with ether. I just don’t see her doing that I could’ve seen her self-medicating with alcohol but not the ether."
Celestina425 wrote: "Out of character. Not book Claire."
And Ronile999 said: "Hate the ether storyline, Claire is SO VERY cautious about it in the books, she’d find a different way to self medicate IMO."
Outlander appeared on the STARZPLAY app in the early hours of Sunday morning, with hundreds of UK fans getting up early to watch it.
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