As we inch closer to Outlander: Blood of My Blood, we’re looking for clues as to what to expect. Right now, we know that this is the love stories of Ellen and Brian Fraser and Julia and Henry Beauchamp. However, it almost wasn’t going to look that way.
While talking with Entertainment Weekly, Matthew B. Roberts and Maril Davis discussed how the prequel series grew from initial conception to the series that it is now. There’s a reason both sets of parents are included in this tale and not just one of them.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood was originally just going to be one set of parents
When chatting with the publication, both executive producers explained that originally, the series was only going to be about Jamie’s parents, Ellen and Brian. This makes a lot of sense, since Diana Gabaldon is already working on a book about their love story, and much of the Outlander: Blood of Blood will likely follow some of the story that Gabaldon is already telling.
Of course, the series won’t tell exactly the same story as the one Gabaldon will tell. Her novel hasn’t been published yet, but she has released a few snippets, which could help with the direction of the story. She also offers her advice as a consultant on the series, which can also help steer the creators right.
On top of that, focusing on Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser makes sense since we already know so much about them. Jamie and Murtagh have told their versions of this story already, and it’s time to see how reliable of narrators they are.
Claire’s parents had to be added into the Outlander prequel
Claire’s parents, Julia and Henry, weren’t originally going to be part of the story. This was developed as Roberts realized that there wasn’t enough of a story in Jamie’s parents to make an entire series. So, more needed to be added, and that lead to the decision to include Claire’s parents.
"When I first thought about doing the prequel, my initial thought was just Jamie's parents, Ellen and Brian, because there's the thread in the book. As I started to work it out, there wasn't a lot of story there. I thought, 'Well, we'll need to tell both stories to give this legs for a series that could be ongoing.'"
There’s very little that we know about Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp, which the Outlander prequel can go into. They died when Claire was just five, and they haven’t been mentioned all that much since. Claire was raised by her father’s brother, Uncle Lamb, and then she met and married Frank Randall when young.
Gabaldon hasn’t dived into the two characters, either, as she says they don’t speak to her. She is adamant that both of them died in a car accident, but is that the way Roberts and Davis will go with this story? Will they work with the many Outlander theories out there? Only time will tell.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood will premiere on Friday, Aug. 8 on STARZ.
Stay up to date with the latest Outlander news with Claire and Jamie.