Whether you’re excited about the Outlander prequel or not, there’s no denying that there are some significant elements of the show’s universe already revealed. The two time periods for Outlander: Blood of My Blood are definitely something that should stand out.
Well, it’s more of the time between the two time periods. Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser’s love story takes place in 1715, and while Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp end up having Claire in 1918, there’s a good chance that their love story will begin in 1917. Have you done the math?
Time travel may not be used (but the 202-year rule will be)
There are 202 years between 1715 and 1917. This is a major theme within the world of Outlander, starting with Claire’s initial travel through the stones. She goes from 1945 back to 1743. Now yes, this changes in the UK version of Outlander because Claire and Frank wouldn’t have been in Scotland in May 1945 because the war in Europe was still ongoing and rationing was still a thing, but the 202-year rule has constantly been a thing in the series.
Brianna and Roger end up traveling 202 years in the past as well, and if you look at Jerry MacKenzie’s story in A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows, he travels around 202 years. So, the decision to set Outlander: Blood of My Blood 202 years apart is significant.
I can’t tell whether this was a well laid-out plan by Diana Gabaldon or not, though. Her first novel was more for practice than anything else, and she has forgotten dates in the past. In fact, in Outlander, Geillis comes from 1967 but in Dragonfly in Amber she’s in 1968. So, I think it could have just ended up being a coincidence that the prequel series has managed to run with.
This assumes that start dates for the two stories in Outlander: Blood of My Blood
When it comes to this 202-year gap, it assumes a couple of things. We know that Ellen and Brian ran away with each other at the 1715 Gathering at Castle Leoch. Of course, there’s no saying that their relationship started in this same year. It’s possible that it started a little earlier in 1714, but I’d go with 1715 is a good date.
As for Julia and Henry’s love story, I’m assuming that theirs starts in 1917, which is a year before Claire’s birth. This makes a lot of sense as with World War I going on, their relationship may have taken time to get off the ground. At the same time, they could have ended up rushing things because nobody would have known if they would have survived the Great War. This was the scariest of wars up to this point, with the most causalities until World War II.
We know that Henry will be in the trenches at some point. He writes a series of letters to Julia, and she presumably writes back, which helps their love grow as they are forced apart. They do make it back since we know Henry and Julia both die when Claire is five, so that would get them to 1923, so it likely means there’s a fairly long courtship and marriage before Claire is born in 1918.
So, while there isn’t any time travel necessarily in Outlander: Blood of My Blood, time is still important.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood premieres on Friday, Aug. 8 on STARZ.
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