'Devastating and beautiful' - Outlander fans react to emotional finale of episode

Roger faced a difficult decision at the close of Providence (Photo: Starz)

*Warning spoilers for Outlander series four follow*

The penultimate episode of Outlander's fourth series saw character Roger make the heartbreaking decision to abandon his escape from the Mohawk tribe holding him captive, instead opting to return and put his fellow captive Father Alexandre Ferigault out of his misery.

The religious man had been offered the choice of baptising his child or being burned at the stake and had opted for the latter due to a fear that his child would be damned due to his status as a fallen priest. The Frenchman is then joined by his child's mother Johiehon.

It made for heartbreaking television.

Soundtracked by Samuel Barber's classic Adagio For Strings, Providence's closing scene certainly tugged at the heartstrings of fans of the show.

@CurlySueChick19 tweeted: "I cried a lot in the last few moments of this episode. I cried for the priest in his pain & the woman he was leaving behind."

While @DJloriee posted: "Outlander killed me tonight- Adagio for Strings + the fire scene :("

@Oscardismore praised the show for the episode finale, stating: "Fire scene heart rending. Music wonderfully apt and so evocative."

@prizedham was also moved by the scene and compared it to earlier events in the series: "She jumped into the fire, the way he jumped into the “fire” for Brianna, without thinking, no hesitation. He sees that while love may make fools of us and it is painful, it is the strongest force on earth and what drives us as human beings."

@MyOutlanderPurg meanwhile tweeted that the fire would have "consequences" and that the scene was "heartbreaking."

Outlander fan @jonythemoony meanwhile described the scene as " both devastating and beautiful."

Others thought that the scene could be the making of Roger.

@mary_lou_ tweeted: "she threw herself into the fire cause life without him had no meaning and damn it broke my heart (perhaps now roger will understand that true love has nothing to do with being an idiot)"

But for some fans the episode and it's difficult finale was inconsequential due to the absence of main characters Claire and Jamie.

@gsbhlass summed up the feeling of many when they said: "The story of Outlander is the story of Jamie and Claire. Their love is the only fire that matters; all other characters, though important, matter only as they support them. Sam and Cait will always be the stars, they are what has made this show great."