“Well, that’s not how it went in Outlander.” That’s a phrase I’m expecting to hear a lot throughout Outlander: Blood of My Blood when it comes to Brian and Ellen’s love story. And then there will be complaints that the Outlander prequel writers didn’t bother to look back at what was said in the original story.
Just please don’t go into this series thinking that you know exactly how it will all go. The stories we’ve heard didn’t come from Brian and Ellen themselves, and there is a lot missing from their story when told by others.
Jamie and Murtagh aren’t necessarily reliable narrators in Outlander
Something to keep in mind is that Brian isn’t the one who has told us the story of how he and Ellen met and fell in love. We hear all about Brian and Ellen via other people, whether it’s Jamie telling Claire of the stories that he’s heard or Murtagh sharing what he knows. They aren’t exactly reliable narrators in the world of Outlander.
Brian and Ellen aren’t exactly going to have told people everything. They will offer the cliff notes version, and as long as the bones of the story are there, Outlander: Blood of My Blood won’t have changed anything.
Yes, we need to see Ellen choosing to leave The Gathering in 1715 to be with Brian. And yes, we will need to see Ellen returning to Castle Leoch visibly pregnant as the way to avoid anyone trying to annul her marriage to Brian Frase. However, what happened during that time? Where did they go? What did they do?
There’s a lot open for interpretation in Outlander: Blood of My Blood
The truth is there’s a lot that we don’t know about Brian and Ellen. We don’t know exactly when the two met, and we don’t know exactly how the MacKenzies felt about Brian Fraser. Sure, they looked down on him because he was an illegitimate son of Simon Fraser, but we don’t know to what extent they looked down on him. This is something that needs to be explored in the series.
Then there’s the way Ellen and Brian fell in love. Do we really think that it was love at first sight? Do we really think that Ellen didn’t think carefully about her decision to run away from her family and marry Brian? I don’t! There is a huge story to tell in this, and I’m excited to see the version Outlander: Blood of My Blood comes up with.
So, before you go in thinking you know everything that should happen because of Outlander, adjust your expectations. Remember that we may not be dealing with reliable narrators.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood premieres on Friday, Aug. 8 on STARZ.
Stay up to date with the latest Outlander news with Claire and Jamie.