In the Outlander prequel series Blood of My Blood, love that perseveres clearly runs in the family.
Decades before Jamie and Claire (Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe) endured separation, trauma and war as a testament to their devotion, their parents are navigating their own hurdles—and season two has a few more in store.
“The first season was all about getting to know characters and establishing our relationships,” executive producer Maril Davis told SYFY Wire. “Season two is much more about diving deep into those relationships and testing the love, testing how far people will go to sustain that love. It’s Outlander after all, so no one’s going to sail off into the sunset yet.”
As to the biggest challenges to come?
“Time will test one couple for sure,” showrunner Matthew B. Roberts teased, “and war will test all of our couples. These guys, they can give up at any point. This is not convenient love, [but] they fight through it all—and the all is the best part of the story. All the stuff we put between them that keeps them apart, just to see them fight through it—to me, that’s the fun part of the stories.”
How Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie’s Love Evolves in Season 2
Season one’s finale saw Jamie’s parents Brian (Jamie Roy) and Ellen (Harriet Slater) fleeing Castle Leoch together—only for the burgeoning Jacobite rebellion to uproot their plans.
“The first season was very much forbidden romance, Romeo and Juliet, young love at first sight sort of thing,” Roy told SYFY Wire. “Whereas now, war is here, and that has changed the relationship in some ways. That definitely makes the two of them grow up much faster. There’s a much more mature relationship that we see in the second season. Especially as it goes on, it only deepens.”
War not only transforms their relationship but also them as individuals.
“Brian is almost a completely different person,” Roy said. “Compared to a bit more reserved, quiet confidence of season one—season two, now he’s somehow [taken on] a leadership role in a rebellion.”
Ellen, likewise, finds more fire within her as battle looms.
“When you think you know a person, war thrusts them into these completely new situations where they have to be different people in a way,” Slater added. “Brian becomes a leader, and Ellen does too, in a way. In episode three, she becomes—I don’t know how much I can tease—but we see the warrior side of Ellen too.”
How Henry and Julia Beauchamp Hit “Rock Bottom” in Season 2
Meanwhile, Claire’s parents Henry (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia (Hermione Corfield)’s botched escape plan at Craigh na Dun has put a wrench in their love story.
Season two opens with Henry waking up as a patient at the Inverness Lunatic Asylum in 1924, having time traveled alone through the stones. Julia and baby William are stuck in the past, and his memories of them are in jeopardy due to electroshock therapy.
“They both end up at rock bottom, I think, in the first episode,” Irvine told SYFY Wire. “They’re sort of trying to claw their way back, and claw their way back to each other and the family.”
But, assured Corfield, “I promise we start getting some hope after episode one. Things do improve, because they’re pretty rough at the beginning.”
Despite their obstacles, the mettle to push through them is something Henry and Julia have in common.
“They’re both very resilient,” Irvine said. “They’re both very resourceful. Henry’s quite a broken character, so Julia’s sort of his cornerstone, anchoring [him].”
New episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood air Fridays on STARZ and stream on the STARZ app and all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms.
