Phaedre plays an important role in a storyline in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Why wasn’t the character in Outlander Season 6 at all?
If there’s one character we looked forward to seeing more of, it’s Phaedre. Jocasta’s body slave has an important role in a storyline in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. It all starts with a letter being sent to Claire and leads to a storyline involving Brianna and Bonnet.
However, Phaedre wasn’t in any of Outlander Season 6. This was despite seeing Jocasta and Duncan Innes. What happened to the character? Really, it all comes down to not having the actress available.
Phaedre in Outlander Season 6
In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Phaedre is part of the plotline that involves Bonnet kidnapping Brianna. Of course, that happened in Outlander Season 5. That was chosen due to the possibility of not having Ed Speleers around for filming the sixth season. The writers didn’t want to take a chance so pulled the storyline forward.
As you’ll notice, Phaedre was missing from that storyline too. It was for the same reason as the one for the storyline being pulled forward in the first place. Natalie Simpson’s schedule didn’t work with the Outlander filming schedule.
With Bonnet gone, it did mean that Phaedre wasn’t all that necessary in Outlander Season 6. However, even if the writers wanted to include her into the story, Simpson’s schedule was likely booked up anyway. According to IMDb, she has a project in post-production, which would have likely been filming at the same time as Outlander Season 6. This is a risk show creators take when it comes to guest roles.
There are storylines involving Ulysses and Phaedre in later books. We find out about connections between Phaedre and Hector Cameron as well as Jocasta and Ulysses. It looks like the series is keeping those connections out of the story. After all, Phaedre hasn’t been in the show for two seasons and Ulysses has gone to England by the end of Outlander Season 5.