We're still a few months out from the premiere of Outlander's fifth season, but over the weekend, the show's stars—Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton, and Richard Rankin—shared a first look at what's to come for the Fraser family with two new scenes.
"To help all of our dedicated fans get through Droughtlander [the clever portmanteau fans use for the period between seasons of the popular series Outlander], we are going to give you a little peek of the first episode of the new season," Balfe says in the video above.
The first scene is a flashback, which shows Murtagh comforting a young Jamie after his mother's death. “I swore an oath Jamie Fraser when you were no more than a week old and a bonny lad at your mother’s breast,” Murtagh says in the footage.
“I knelt at her feet and swore I would follow you always, do your bidding and guard your back when you became a man grown and was needing such service. She’s gone now, but I will always be with you.”
This scene, which Heughan revealed on Twitter to be the opening of the season, appears to foreshadow the brewing conflict between Murtagh, who is on the run from the British government, and Jamie, who has pledged his loyalty to Governor Tyron, a British colonist, as America teeters on the brink of Revolution.
“Jamie’s actually in a really difficult situation this season,” Heughan told EW about his character's predicament. “He’s done a deal with the British, but he’s working for two different camps. He’s trying to protect his people, and he’s trying to protect Fraser’s Ridge. To be honest, we all know Jamie’s heart. His line of thinking is more in the direction of the regulators than the Brits.”
Jamie is also the focus of the second scene released by Starz on Sunday, though this time he's all grown up, wearing those tiny glasses, and helping Roger to shave.
"It's not called a cutthroat razor for nothing,” he says, joking with his soon-to-be son-in-law. "Cannot have you looking like you've been to the war and back, not today," Jamie says, hinting at Roger and Brianna's wedding day.
Outlander's fifth season premieres on Starz on February 16. In the meantime, watch the video above, then check out a behind-the-scenes look at the production, which wrapped earlier this fall, below:
As the digital director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers culture, entertainment, and a range of other subjects
