Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 is quickly approaching its final stretch! We sat down to talk with Matthew B. Roberts, the show’s executive producer, about the consequences for our favorite – and not-so-favorite – characters after Ellen’s humiliation in episode 8, titled “A Virtuous Woman.” Ready?
Here we go!
The Devil Is in the Details
Ellen’s virginity test is carefully crafted, and Roberts shared with us how he managed to make it so real and, most importantly, why it was important for us to feel transported back to that moment in time. Like he said, “across Outlander and Blood of My Blood we do a lot of deep dive research on what things would really be like in the time. And obviously, we have the books because, Diana does a lot of research herself. But when you have to practically make things and set things up, we have to go even deeper because we have to visualize it.”
“We have to make these things. We want the shows to be period correct, not only for the fans, but for the actors as well because we want them to come on set and feel like they’re in the 18th century so it helps them get into character. I think it helps them perform at a heightened level. They’re fantastic anyway, but we help them in any way possible. Every department just jumped in and wanted to make this as real as possible. And I think they did a fantastic job,” he pointed out.
Despite the humiliation Ellen suffered, her wedding with Malcolm is going ahead. However, we still don’t know much about how she feels about everything she went through, how she will cope with it, or if she will ever be able to forgive her brothers for putting her through that test. In this regard, Roberts commented that the show “will explore how everything happened” and how it “plays out.”
“Will she ever forgive them? You might have to watch the show to find out that. But I think that dynamic is really complicated. There’s a lot of feelings, a lot of betrayals and love. And it’s not easy to just say ‘I’m done with you.’ There’s so much depth there of character on all the Mackenzies. Ellen has different relationships with Colum and Dougal. And we’ll play that out over the course of these stories,” Roberts shared.
MORE: INTERVIEW: Tony Curran On What to Expect From Lord Lovat in Blood of My Blood
Unexpected Consequences
Now that Ellen passed the virginity test—contrary to what her enemies thought would happen—both Lord Lovat and the Grants are at a disadvantage. After all, Lord Lovat was the one who accused Ellen of not being a virtuous woman, and the Grant clan humiliated her by giving credence to Lovat’s words and demanding that Ellen take a test to prove her virtue. Regarding this, Roberts confessed that “by passing the test, which is kind of the double edged sword, she gets to stay alive. But that means that the betrothal stays intact and she has to get married to Malcolm. So it’s kind of ‘I win, I get to stay alive, but lose, because I have to marry him and I can’t be with Brian.’”
“Ellen can’t just walk out on the betrothal because there’s major consequences. Certainly the Grants wouldn’t allow that and neither would Malcolm, because there’s a contract. We may have said it in a line, but what we didn’t really want to spend a lot of time with is that before a betrothal, two clans or two families would get together and form a contract. And that way you would break down the dowry, what you get, and what they get. Then, the betrothal happens and people go get married. In Blood of My Blood that would have already taken place and Ned and Colum have a conversation about that. So that contract would be broken if Ellen ran and bad things would happen to her and Brian. So, but we’ll see how that plays out,” he shared.
MORE: Meet The Mackenzies & The Frasers in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Press Conference
The Moment That Changes Everything
Delving deeply into the dynamic that arose between Lord Lovat and Brian due to Lovat’s insistence on questioning Ellen’s virtue, the truth is Brian always wanted his father to be proud of him. But when he does, it’s because Brian “helped” his father to destroy the woman he loves. Roberts discussed with us why it was important to make it very clear in Blood of My Blood that, for Brian, his love for Ellen comes before everything else.
“That’s one of the easiest decisions that is made in the story, because you wonder where Jamie gets it. Maybe he gets it from his father, maybe he gets it from his mother, who knows? But maybe he gets a little from each. After all, Brian picking Ellen is the story. And does he want his father’s approval? I think as we go, it’s probably less and less. Before Ellen, I think he did. After Ellen, maybe he doesn’t care as much. And that’s the arc that you’re seeing in episodes 4 to 7. You’re seeing that kind of ‘wait a minute, she’s so much more important to what goes on in here,’” he said.
“Apart from this arc, Brian is trying to know who wants to be. When the story come in, he’s kind of found his place in the world. And that’s his place in the world is just to be Brian, the Fraser, the bastard son of this man that call himself ‘Lord Lovat’ when he’s not at the time because he doesn’t have a title or a land. So Brian is like ‘I’m just going to raise horses, I’m going to figure out, I’m gonna live my life.’ And that’s it until he meets Ellen. When he meets her, everything changes for him. He starts to think things like ‘I can have a life, I can have love, I can have all these things, but I have to fight for them,” Roberts pointed out.
And we’re excited to see the way Brian and Ellen fight for each other!
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
