Outlander fans may be in the midst of the usual hiatus between seasons – a.k.a. another Droughtlander – but Starz has been delivering plenty of good news for the growing TV universe. After confirming when the prequel series, called Outlander: Blood of My Blood, will arrive in the 2025 TV schedule, the network has announced a Season 2 renewal. Yes, we're guaranteed a Season 2 before Season 1 even premieres, and there's even a tie to the original series that already made me emotional.
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood Renewed For Season 2
The first season premiere date of August 8 already struck me as a callback to the original series' premiere ahead of "The Gathering" online event that was packed with treats for fans, so an early guarantee of more episodes seems fitting. Showrunner Matthew B. Roberts commented on the Season 2 renewal, complete with high hopes for how viewers will respond to the upcoming epic love stories compared to Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan). He said:
The passion and talent our cast and crew have poured into ‘Outlander: Blood of my Blood’ has been extraordinary and we’re thrilled to continue these epic love stories in Season Two. Just as audiences fell in love with Jamie and Claire, we hope viewers will be enamored by these new couples when they meet them this summer.
Apparently, the show being billed as a "stand-alone prequel series" based on the love stories of Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) in the 18th century as well as Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) circa World War I doesn't mean that it'll be a one-and-done series with a single season.
It remains to be seen if Jamie and Claire's parents can capture the romance magic that transcends centuries on Outlander, but the goal of the Starz series is to start fresh enough for new viewers to watch as well as treat longtime Outlander fans to familiar faces like Dougal, Colum, and – one of my personal favorites out of the entire franchise – Murtagh, to name a few.
Of course, Murtagh won't be the man he was when he was devoted to Jamie in the era of the main series, but I'm already invested in getting to know him a second time. Yet the promise of Murtagh's return isn't what had me emotional out of the details of the renewal news.
Why The Details Are Surprisingly Emotional
Along with the news that work on Season 2 was already starting on June 23, Starz's renewal announcement also confirmed that production will occur on the same stages where Outlander filmed for ten years before filming finished for Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe last year. While I'm sure Blood of My Blood taking over those stages was for practical reasons rather than plucking at any heartstrings, it really does feel like the prequel is carrying on the legacy of the original.
Hopefully we'll also get some of that lovely Scottish scenery that was so frequently featured in the earlier seasons of Outlander, which seems likely for the timeline following Jamie's parents. All in all, there's a lot to celebrate as the weeks count down until Blood of My Blood premieres... and, if we're lucky, a premiere date for the eighth and final season of the original series.
For now, Outlander: Blood of My Blood is scheduled to premiere on Friday, August 8 at 8 p.m. ET on Starz, with episodes also streaming weekly on the Starz app and Starz streaming and on-demand platforms. Interestingly, that Season 1 premiere is just one day off from the eleventh anniversary of the original series back on August 9, 2014.
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