Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 5 left us speechless! The episode puts several characters in situations where their choices could change everything. After our chat with Matthew B. Roberts, we sit down with episode director Emer Conroy to talk about bringing these pivotal moments to the screen, from Julia’s desperate attempt to protect her child to the very different struggles facing Ellen and Colum. Ready?
Here we go!
Julia Is Not the Woman She Thought She Was
Julia killing Seema in self defense is one of the episode’s most shocked moments. But, how much of the death itself did Conroy want us to see? When we asked her about the choices behind the scenes and what she wanted us to feel about Julia afterward, she explained that the focus wasn’t on Seema’s death as much as on what Julia was prepared to do. As Conroy put it, she “wanted it to be more about what Julia was prepared to do than it was to see the death of Seema,” which is why she didn’t hold on Seema for very long, instead using “some quick cuts to her.”
The reason for that approach comes down to Julia’s fear for her child. She has no idea whether he’s alive, whether she’ll find him in time, or even whether Seema has already killed him. As Conroy explained, Julia “has no idea if Davina is alive or dead, or whether Seema has killed them or not.” The threat is even worse because, if Seema hasn’t killed the child, she has threatened to kill Julia and raise him as her own.
That possibility is particularly painful given what we know about Claire’s circumstances. Conroy pointed out that it’s “quite sad at the moment because obviously Claire is being raised by somebody else.” Julia is already facing the possibility of losing her own child. And the thought of Seema taking him away makes the situation even more unbearable. As Conroy explained, “just all became too much for Julia,” until “mama bear came out, and it was Seema or her.”
Julia isn’t someone who would ever have imagined herself capable of killing another person. Conroy emphasized that she’s “not of this time” and that she’s “an academic,” making this kind of violence “so far from where she is.” But the danger facing her child pushes her beyond what she thought she could do. As Conroy explained, “you put a mother and a child in front of a bear, the bear is going to get it, right?”
That instinct to protect her child explains Julia’s actions. But Conroy also wanted the scene to show what happens when the immediate danger has passed. As Julia comes down the stairs, the pacing slows, giving her—and us—time to take in what she’s done. Conroy described that moment as the beginning of a realization: “‘What have I actually done?’ This is not her.”
The director wanted the aftermath to reflect the shock that comes when adrenaline begins to wear off. As Conroy explained, “the adrenaline is going through your body and then drops.” Julia has acted in the heat of the moment, but now she must face what that action means. The sequence also emphasizes the uncertainty surrounding her child: “there’s no candles on, there’s no fire on this, so there’s no sign that anybody’s been there.”
Julia can’t hear William, and although the episode eventually reveals that he’s alive, she doesn’t know that yet. Conroy stressed the importance of keeping us with Julia in that moment of fear, when she has no idea what has happened to her child and must confront the consequences of her own actions. “But at that moment, there’s that fear of everything that she’s done,” she explained.
Because the consequences could be devastating. Killing Seema may have saved Julia from an immediate threat, but if someone accuses her of murder, she could face another danger entirely. As Conroy put it, “she’s going to die if somebody accuses her of killing Seema. They’ll kill her.”
The scene therefore isn’t simply about Julia doing whatever it takes to survive. It’s about a mother pushed beyond her limits. S omeone who discovers she’s capable of an act she would never have imagined committing and who must now live with the consequences. Conroy’s decision to focus on Julia’s actions and the shock that follows keeps that realization at the center of the scene.
What Comes Next Could Change Everything for Ellen and Colum
Ellen and Colum are facing a very different kind of crisis. Ellen is trying to protect her unborn child, while Colum is beginning to understand the weight of his decisions. When we asked Conroy how she connected their storylines through the way she filmed them, she distinguished between the two characters and what each was struggling with.
For Ellen, the turning point is that she has finally told Brian about her unborn child. As Conroy explained, Ellen is “trying to protect her unborn child, who she now has spoken out loud to Brian. So now it’s real. There’s no going back.” Until then, the pregnancy had been her secret. Speaking about it changes the situation because she can no longer keep the reality of it entirely to herself.
Conroy acknowledged that this doesn’t necessarily make easier if anything happens, but it does make the pregnancy feel more real. She compared it to how people might have dealt with a miscarriage a century ago, explaining that “if something happened, they told nobody, right? But when you speak it out loud, it becomes real.”
Her point was that, when something remains unspoken, it can be kept private in a way that becomes more difficult once it’s acknowledged. For Ellen, that means protecting her child has taken on a new significance. She has acknowledged the pregnancy to Brian, and now she must find a way to get out of danger. As Conroy put it, “with Ellen trying to protect her child, she uses her mind to try and get out of that.”
Colum’s situation is driven by a different kind of pressure. Conroy explained that “the weight of what he wants and what he has been brought up to be and what he has done to achieve that.” That includes the ways he has used his sister in pursuit of his ambitions.
His concerns about Ellen are also tied to his own position and what the future might hold. If Dougal returns from the war having won and becomes the hero of the conflict, Colum has to wonder where that leaves him. Conroy raised precisely that question: “if Dougal comes back and he’s suddenly won the war and he’s going to be the war hero, where does that leave Colum?”
The possibility of Dougal returning victorious forces Colum to consider whether the choices he has made will bring him the future he wants. But his regrets aren’t limited to his relationship with Ellen or his rivalry with Dougal. Conroy also connected his growing awareness of his limitations to Janet’s death.
“Janet died saving the castle,” she explained, while Colum was unable to do the same. Conroy emphasized that “he couldn’t do it physically,” recalling that he tried to get up to speak but fell to the ground. So Janet’s death has become another part of the burden Colum carries.
All of this is particularly difficult because Colum is still a young man trying to fulfill a demanding role. Conroy compared the responsibilities he faces with the challenges of young men today. The comparison highlights how much is being asked of Colum, who has to make decisions that affect others while trying to become the man he believes he must be.
For Conroy, the important point is that Colum is beginning to understand the price of his ambition and responsibilities. He may have wanted to become the man his position requires, but he now has to face the consequences of what he has done to get there.
“There’s that moment of realisation for Colum that what he is doing and what he is trying to do is going to cost,” Conroy explained. And while Colum says at the end of the speech in the chapel that he is willing to pay that price, Conroy stressed that “it’s going to cost him.” And we can’t wait to fall down the rabbit hole with him!
Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 airs on Fridays at 8:00 PM ET only on STARZ and at midnight in STARZ App.
