When it comes to Outlander spinoffs, there are a lot of requests for a Lord John Grey one. I’m not surprised, and I’m totally on board with it. However, he’s not the only character who needs a spinoff.
Geillis Duncan is one of the most intriguing characters of the series. The novellas and short stories tease a little more, making it clear that there is a story to tell. Here are three reasons she is the one I would love to get an Outlander spinoff about.
There’s a lot of buildup in 1968
We know in Outlander season 2 (and the second book) that Geillis Duncan was originally called Gillian, and that she did a lot of research into time travel. She believed that a blood sacrifice was needed, and while we know different, there has to be a reason she started to believe that from her research.
What made her realize that time travel was a possibility? Why did she suddenly believe that the stones at Craigh na Dun allowed her to travel to the past? What was her original plan when she went to the past to help Scotland becoming an independent nation?
These are all questions that I’ve developed over time. There is an intrigue to her story, and I want to learn more about that buildup to her going through the stones in 1968.
What happened to Geillis before Outlander season 1?
It’s clear that Geillis Duncan ended up a little too early for the Jacobite cause — or maybe a little too late if she wanted to get to the Fire Jacobite Rebellion. She landed sometime around 1735, and that gave her some time to craft a story and build her connections. We know by 1739, she was in Cranesmuir, but she wasn’t all that trusted.
By 1743, she had built up a reputation as a healer, but it’s clear that some people also viewed her as a witch. What did she do to gain this sort of reputation? What sort of relations did she have with other men, as Arthur Duncan and Dougal MacKenzie were not the only men in her life at that point?
With so much available, there’s a wealth of story for an Outlander spinoff to explore. We get to see more of who Geillis was before she met Claire — and maybe even why she realized Claire was a time traveler.
The aftermath of the witch trial
We know that Geillis didn’t die at the witch trial. She managed to get to Jamaica, where she ended up with another dead husband. While there, she was viewed as a dark and dangerous woman, and there has to be a reason for that.
Outlander season 3 jump ahead in her story, but there are teases of her role in The Space Between, and this is the reason why at claireandjamie.com, we’ve said we want to know more about her. She got to Rose Hall quite early on, and she managed to live there without too many issues for some time. However, she ended up meeting with Lord John Grey, and it’s clear that he suspected her of murdering her husband.
Wouldn’t it be great to get that story? There could be a bit of a murder mystery within it, while also seeing Geillis’s abilities to make people uncomfortable.
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Outlander is available to stream on STARZ.