Outlander: Blood of My Blood seems to be missing one of the key aspects of the original series, but one added detail has me reassured. With Outlander coming to a close with the upcoming season 8, it’s a relief to know that another series set within this world is on the way. The prequel spinoff may not follow Jamie and Claire themselves, but the fact that it will give us a closer look at the lives of their respective parents is certainly intriguing. Still, we have to wrap our minds around the fact that Blood of My Blood will likely feel very different from Outlander.
Outlander has followed Claire on her time-traveling adventures, but Blood of My Blood will instead focus on the Frasers and Beauchamps in their respective centuries. Season 1 has been advertised to introduce Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, who will meet in the early 18th century. About 200 years later, in the early 20th century, Henry Beauchamp and Julia Moriston will meet around the events of World War I. Audiences will be jumping between these two couples throughout time. However, Outlander: Blood of My Blood seemingly won’t feature any time-traveling characters.
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood May Be Missing The Time Travel Element
There’s So Far No Sign That Anyone Will Travel Through Time
Time travel is the key hook of Outlander. The story pivots on the fact that Claire and a handful of other characters possess the biological ability to travel through time using standing stones. It’s this that categorizes Outlander as a fantasy series, which would seemingly continue into any spinoffs. However, as far as we can currently see, none of the four primary characters of Blood of My Blood will be a time traveler.
It’s evident in Outlander that Jamie does not have the biological ability to time travel, indicating that his parents also wouldn’t possess this gene. One of Claire’s parents might have technically been a time traveler, but Outlander author Diana Gabaldon said neither of the Beauchamps had ever traveled. Though Starz’s prequel story may shift Gabaldon’s story, there’s no indication in the Outlander: Blood of My Blood trailer that either the Beauchamps or the Frasers will jump through time. The emphasis is only placed on the fact that their stories exist in two different centuries.
As intriguing as Blood of My Blood is, it’s a bit concerning that the Outlander franchise’s first spinoff would throw out the old time travel mechanic. Gabaldon’s books and the TV show adaptation differ from other fantasy series in that there are no magical fairies, elves, dragons, or other common staples of the genre. It’s largely a historical fiction drama, but the time travel is what sprinkles in the magic. Without this, Blood of My Blood would really be missing what made its parent series so great. However, the spinoff may have captured the magic in other ways.
The Outlander Spinoff’s 2 Timelines Hide A Magical Secret
Jamie & Claire’s Parents May Have Begun Something Fantastic
Though it doesn’t look like anyone will travel through time in Outlander: Blood of My Blood, there are hints within the Frasers and Beuchamps’ stories that there will still be a healthy dose of magic. Though the exact setting of each story isn’t yet clear, we know from Gabaldon’s books that Brian and Ellen Fraser met and got married in 1715. We don’t know when Henry and Julia Beauchamp were married, but since Claire was born in 1918, they likely tied the knot near the beginning of 1917. This would mean that Jamie and Claire’s parents met or married their respective partners exactly 202 years apart—a very significant number in Outlander.
Jamie and Claire’s parents met or married their respective partners exactly 202 years apart—a very significant number in Outlander.
Though time-traveling characters can technically land in any century or year, Claire only ever jumps between two parallel points that are exactly 202 years apart. She first used the stones in 1945, and went back exactly 202 years to 1743. Later, when she traveled back to the future after a couple of years and then back to the past after a couple of decades, this 202-year interval continued. This makes the fact that Jamie and Claire’s parents seem to have met at the same time on these parallel timelines significant. Perhaps Blood of My Blood is the magical catalyst that starts it all.