As Sept. 10 draws near and with it the Season 3 premiere of Outlander, anticipation over the time-traveling Starz series reaches near fever pitch. The last time we saw our star-crossed lovers, Jamie had sent Claire back to 1948 to protect her. He never thought he’d actually survive the Battle of Culloden, and therefore didn’t plan to mourn the loss of his great love and their child. But he did survive, and now they must both navigate lives without each other in them.
What will happen with Claire and Jamie? Did Claire really return to Frank for good? Is it even possible for her to return to the 1700s? And what about the baby?! The questions keep coming, and fans are ready for answers.
Of course, much of the mystery surrounding the fate of our favorite characters will remain just that — a mystery — until Season 3 actually unfolds. However, that’s not to say we can’t do a bit of pre-premiere homework. If you can’t wait another minute without some intel, keep reading to find out scoops about the season’s biggest storylines.
A battle to begin
Although the books don’t focus much on the Battle of the Culloden, executive producer Ron Moore revealed to Entertainment Weekly that they felt compelled to cover it. “For the TV show, we’ve been promising this for a while, and it just felt like we should have something. We should give the audience some sense of what happened on that moor.”
Back to life, back to reality
According to Outlander author Diana Gabaldon, this season will focus heavily on Claire and Frank, who are trying to make it work in the wake of her unexpected return. “I think it’s difficult for both of them,” actor Caitriona Balfe told Entertainment Weekly. “They’re tentatively trying to see if they can patch things up and allow themselves to embrace a future together. They really do try, but it’s not quite that easy.”
The death of a marriage
Tobias Menzies — who plays both Frank’s and Jamie’s nemesis, Captain Black Jack Randall — opens up even more about the state we find Claire and Frank in over the course of Season 3. According to TV Line, Menzies confirms the season will bring about the disintegration of the couple’s marriage… maybe once and for all?
And baby makes 3… -ish
Now that Claire has returned to the ’40s with her first husband, Frank, Season 3 will explore how she navigates introducing baby Brianna to him. “Obviously, this is Jamie’s child, but Claire’s in a new time and believes that Jamie is dead. So she’s really trying to look forward and give her daughter a new life, a stable family,” Balfe told Entertainment Weekly.
Dark days ahead
In an interview with Collider, Sam Heughan — who plays Jamie — touched on Jamie’s journey this season. “He’s lost Claire, and he goes through some quite dark moments,” said Heughan. “Talking about spoilers here, but, it takes some quite big things to happen to his extended family for him to realize that he still has people to live for, and something to live for.”
A long pause
If you were hoping to see Claire and Jamie reunited early in Season 3, you’ll be sorely disappointed. “Twenty years, I believe,” Heughan revealed of the time the couple spends apart. And while fans won’t have to wait quite that long to see their reunion, a leaked listing of the season’s episode titles points toward the pair not getting back together until halfway through the season.
Balanced POV
Speaking to TV Guide at the ATX Television Festival, Moore explained that you get more of Jamie’s perspective this season than you do in the book. “It’s not just Claire’s story; it’s Jamie and Claire’s story,” he said. “So we wanted to show both perspectives.”
About the sex
Don’t worry; not even decades apart can temper Claire and Jamie’s passion. At the 12th Annual Oscar Wilde Awards, Balfe said, “I think if anything, when Jamie and Claire get together again, their love is timeless and who they are inside is timeless. That was the fun part about this season: to sort of take that and try to see what 20 years of life does to a person. In terms of the sex, I think old people have good sex too, last I heard!”
A prison stint
Poor Jamie! He can’t seem to catch a break this season. According to Harper’s Bazaar, our hero will sadly spend time in prison. However, this will apparently be an important plot catalyst, as he’ll forge a longtime friendship with Lord John Grey (David Berry) during his prison stint. Lord Grey will be the person in charge of the jail.
Claire’s confidante
Happily, Claire doesn’t struggle entirely alone. She and Frank move to Boston, where Frank has accepted a position at Harvard. There, Claire attends medical school, where she finds a confidante in classmate Joe Abernathy (Wil Johnson). The two become quite close according to Harper’s Bazaar.
All grown up
Because of the time-hopping nature of Outlander, we get to see parallel universes evolve at the same time — in different times. Confusing? Yep. Riveting? You bet. Once Claire returned back to the ’40s and to Frank, she gave birth to her and Jamie’s daughter, Brianna. And in Season 3, we’ll see “Bree” as both a baby and as a young woman (pictured here, for example, at her high school graduation).
That kiss, though
In the Season 2 finale, sparks sure seemed to be flying between Roger and Bree. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that these two share a romantic interlude in Season 3, as evidenced by this fleeting moment grabbed from the upcoming season’s teaser trailer.
Jamie’s other child
Fans undoubtedly won’t be too pumped to discover that Brianna isn’t the only baby Jamie has in Season 3. According to the Inquisitr, he will bear another offspring, and alas, Claire will not the mother. Cue all the sad face emojis, ’cause this definitely adds a wrinkle to Claire and Jamie’s love story.
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