Will you need to watch Outlander to understand Blood of My Blood?

We know Outlander is worth watching. However, there are people out there who haven’t checked out the series yet. They may not have heard of it.

What may reach them is the new series Blood of My Blood. This is the title of the prequel spin-off, which started filming in Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this month.

With eyes on the new series, potential viewers will want to know if the flagship series is necessary first. They have time to watch it, so why not spend that time now to make sure they’re caught up if they need to be?

Outlander: Blood of My Blood is a prequel series

Technically, there shouldn’t be a need to watch Outlander first. After all, Blood of My Blood is a prequel series, focused on Jamie’s parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser.

These are two characters we’ve heard a lot about. We have met Brian, but we haven’t met Ellen yet. We know the basics about their marriage and their lives together, but we haven’t seen anything play out on screen.

Really, there’s just the basic canon that we already know. Just remember that the canon is stories told by other people. Brian likely has the stories closest to the truth, but even then, there are elements missing and there may be things that played out that nobody knows about. Others who tell the story will be biased in their own opinions, and they may be unreliable narrators.

Maybe it will work out better not to have seen Outlander first. That way the “well, that’s not what we were told” comments will stop. Just look at the Supernatural prequel series—you had to watch all the way to the end to understand how canon had changed.

There will likely be some Easter eggs for fans of the flagship series, though. That will be why watching Outlander first will be worthwhile.

Outlander is available to stream on STARZ.