TheOutlanderuniverse continues to grow on screen with the prequel seriesOutlander: Blood of My Blood,but to what extent was author Diana Gabaldon involved in its creation?Outlanderis one of the most beloved and successful examples of period romance storytelling of all time, combining real-world history with the fantastical aspects of time travel.
Where the originalOutlanderseries focuses on 18th-century Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and WWII nurse Claire Randall’s (Caitríona Balfe) century-spanning romance,Outlander: Blood of My Bloodinstead reveals the stories of Jamie and Claire’s parents. Since their parents play a nearly non-existent role inOutlander’s storytelling, they were the perfect, consequence-free subjects for a prequel series.
In an interview withScreenRant’s Tatiana Hullender forOutlander: Blood of My Blood, showrunner Matthew B. Roberts was asked aboutOutlanderauthor Diana Gabaldon’s part in creating the story of Claire’s parents and whether there were any plot beats or characters the prequel series had to include or steer clear of.
Tatiana Hullender:Matthew, I’ll start with you. When the idea first came to bring Claire’s parents back to life in another timeline, were there any conversations that you had with Ron [Outlander showrunner Ronald D. Moore], with Diana, about what is or isn’t off the table in doing that?
Matthew B. Roberts:No, no, nothing was off the table. I just went to Diana, and I asked her if she was okay with me doing it, and she said yes, she was fully on board. She wasn’t interested in doing it, she doesn’t want to tell that story herself. To her, they’re dead, so I didn’t have a lot [of notes] like, “Don’t do this or don’t do that.” I think she knows me well enough that I’m not going to destroy the canon of the show, and certainly I can’t destroy the canon in the books, because they’re dead in the books.
What This Means For Outlander: Blood Of My Blood
Prequels are notoriously difficult to get right. Breaking or altering canon is normally a real concern, but as Roberts points out, that’s not an issue inBlood of My Blood. Both Claire and Jamie’s parents have died (or have been presumed dead) by the timeOutlander’s story starts, so while the series could potentially change our perception of Claire and Jamie’s characters, the narrative itself will be minimally affected.
Gabaldon is currently writing an untitled prequel novel about Jamie Fraser’s parents (she’s released an excerpt titled"A Bird in the Hand"), which explains Gabaldon’s involvement inBlood of My Bloodas a consulting producer and a writer on two episodes. According to Roberts, the author has shown no interest in telling the story of Claire’s parents, Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield), herself, however.
As such, it’s understandable that Gabaldon didn’t feel the need to provide much input for Roberts' initial creation of Claire’s parents' new story. Roberts, who has written numerousOutlanderinstallments himself, is well-versed in its history. Anything that happens in the prequel to Claire’s (and Jamie’s) parents will only add to our understanding of theOutlanderworld, rather than confuse it.
Our Take On Outlander: Blood Of My Blood
The fact that Claire and Jamie’s parents aren’t alive in the original series doesn’t meanBlood of My Blood’s storycan’t change their histories, however. Claire, for instance, believed that her parents died in a car crash when she was a young girl. No spoilers, butBlood of My Blooddoes provide new background on their supposed deaths, making Claire’s separation from them all the more tragic and meaningful.
The love stories between Jamie’s parents, Brian (Jamie Roy) and Ellen (Harriet Slater), and Claire’s parents draw beautiful parallels between Jamie and Claire’s epic romance.Outlander: Blood of My Bloodisn’t your run-of-the-mill prequel series; it’s about the power of true love and how it can affect a family’s fate for generations.
New episodes ofOutlander: Blood of My Bloodpremiere weekly on Fridays on Starz.
