Your Exclusive First Look at ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2

Emma Baty//STARZO utlander: Blood of my Blood season 1 ended with more than one major cliffhanger. Ellen and Brian escaped Castle Leoch only to find themselves facing battle, while Henry seemingly sacrificed his own chance to return to the 1920s so Julia could go instead. Now, Cosmopolitan has an exclusive first look at season 2, with never-before-seen images and a preview of what’s to come from a visit to the Scotland set last October.Although the eventual fates of both couples are already known to longtime fans, it’s the journey that is so fun to watch, and that’s what season 2 is built around. “Everybody knows Brian and Ellen get together. Everybody knows they have babies, but they’re pretty intrigued on how this happens. And that's the key word, how?” showrunner Matthew B. Roberts told Cosmopolitan on set. That mentality extends to big moments, like battles.“We know these battles happen from history, but you don't know actually what takes place in the battle and who does what,” Matthew said. “When we do battles, you want to have someone on both sides that we care about, and that creates the both the visual drama and the emotional drama.”Emma Baty//STARZEmma Baty//STARZThe writers had much more room to play with new dynamics and character pairings in season 2.“In season 1, we spent a lot of time just getting the story started, getting the audience up to speed. But now that you’ve seen how they work, it’s, how can we put this person together with this person?” Matthew said. “That’s what we started to do more. Then you can start exploring those different relationships.”Even though this series is not based on any one Diana Gabaldon novel, the characters come from her world, so the writers are always looking for book threads to pull on, incorporating details and Easter eggs fans will devour.“We look for those in every episode, every story, every place that we go,” Matthew said. “I don't like them to drive plot, and I'm not going to tell you what they are, because that makes the hunt a little less fun.”Our two main couples have a lot to resolve in season 2. Henry and Julia barely had time to talk when they reunited in season 1 because they were running to the stones. Fans were ready for a conflict about Henry’s (accidental??) cheating that never materialized. Jeremy Irvine and Hermione Corfield, who play Henry and Julia, tease that it’s coming.“It's coming,” Jeremy said. There was a longer conversation in an earlier draft of the season 1 script, but it was rewritten during filming. “Now it's great, because we get to explore it in a much deeper way. They had this rushed conversation, and Matthew went, hang on there. We need to give this a bit more time. But they don't really have time. And that was the problem. They're surviving minute by minute. They've just got to try and get away.”Emma Baty//STARZEmma Baty//STARZEllen and Brian (played by Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy) are in the midst of their own escape, so to speak, after the murder of Malcolm Grant. They’ve made quite a few enemies in a short span of time, but who will prove to be the most problematic? “The way that we see Uncle Malcolm, how ruthless he can be, I think there might be something to be said about that,” Jamie Roy said. And Harriet Slater pointed out that Lord Lovat is always a problem, too. “Oh yeah, can't forget him,” Jamie agreed. “And the thing is, we know from Outlander that he doesn't go anywhere. We're gonna have to deal with him for a while.”Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.Use your Google account to add this to your settings.Emma Baty//STARZMore conflict brings more characters, and there are exciting additions to the cast in season 2.“There's going to be a couple new characters,” Matthew said. “One of our main characters will have a love interest, and we'll play that out and see where that goes.”One of those new-ish additions is Dougal’s now-wife, Maura Grant. The arranged marriage they find themselves in will get more complicated as the season goes on.“We see such a lovely journey of them learning to communicate with each other, learning to cope with this fantastically bizarre scenario, this arranged marriage between two families that never thought they would be conjoined in this way,” Sam Retford, who plays Dougal, said. “And much like many arranged marriages, the the love that is there is one that is quite forced and platonic, but one that grows into something very interesting.”Bobby Rainsbury, who plays Maura, thinks their relationship provides a nice contrast to the other couples on the show. “You get the fairy tale with Brian and Ellen, but I think this relationship is maybe a bit more cemented in like reality and truth.”Emma Baty//STARZThe female characters have a huge role to play this season, Matthew said, with episode three being a particular showcase for them. "Episode three is about people underestimating women. And when I say people, I mean men,” Matthew said. “And the men who underestimated these women, they get a big surprise.”Emma Baty//STARZThe storytelling for season 2 feels more ambitious, and the production appears to match. Walking through the sets during Cosmopolitan’s visit in October, the world of Blood of My Blood felt noticeably more expansive than it did in season 1, with larger sets and increasingly elaborate costumes. It’s a show that seems to understand its own identity.While the flagship show naturally had to set seasons in other places (France, North Carolina, etc.), the prequel series doesn’t have that dilemma. “The irony of ironies is Outlanders is the iconic Scottish show that 80 episodes were filmed somewhere other than Scotland,” Matthew said. “It's crazy that how little time we spent in Scotland on Outlander. Blood of My Blood is entirely in Scotland. We're staying in Scotland. It's an amazing country.”Emma Baty//STARZEmma Baty//STARZEmma Baty//STARZ