What To Remember Before the Prequel Officially Returns for Season 2

No television series can fully replicate the Outlander phenomenon. That might sound like hyperbole, but Starz’s adaptation of author Diana Gabaldon‘s historical fantasy romance series is a pristine example of the magic that happens when the right project and people assemble at the right cultural time. Outlander‘s spirit, however (passionate star-crossed lovers, period drama intrigue, breathtaking Scottish landscapes), lives on through Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

Last summer, Season 1 of the prequel series introduced how the respective parents of Outlander‘s time-traveling lovers, Claire Beauchamp Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), met one another, and how both couples’ destined paths collide in the harsh yet beautiful Highlands of the 18th century. Here are all the essential developments and revelations to remember before Season 2 premieres this month.

Ellen Mackenzie and Brian Fraser Are Star-Crossed Lovers in ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’

It’s 1714, and Red Jacob MacKenzie (Peter Mullan), the laird of Castle Leoch, dies without naming a successor. His decision leaves Clan MacKenzie vulnerable to attack from outsiders, while his two eldest sons, the restrained and calculating Colum (Séamus McLean Ross), and the impulsively violent Dougal (Sam Retford), compete for leadership. Their older sister, Ellen (Harriet Slater), suggests that Colum rule during peacetime while Dougal assumes control during war, and the brothers eventually agree. Otherwise, the two men ignore Ellen’s other insightful suggestions. They’re loyal to their sister, but the men resent Ellen for receiving the affection their father denied them.

During a Clan MacKenzie gathering, Ellen accidentally meets her future husband, Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy). The MacKenzies and the Frasers are enemies, but Brian’s father, Lord Lovat (Tony Curran), ordered his son and Brian’s cousin, Murtagh (Rory Alexander), to sneak into the gathering as spies. Ellen and Brian are instantly drawn to each other but don’t exchange names until later, when they secretly meet on a bridge. The two vow to find a way to be together, no matter the consequences.

Ellen’s brief disappearance from the gathering triggers a catastrophic chain reaction that ends in Colum arranging Ellen’s engagement to her eager suitor, Malcom Grant (Brian McCardie), as a peace offering between their families. Furious at Colum’s betrayal, let alone how he and Dougal scoff at her iron-clad will, Ellen pretends to agree to the marriage in public while privately visiting Brian. Murtagh, who nurses his unrequited love for Ellen, notices them canoodling during the Beltane festivities. Heartbroken, he kisses his own future lover, Ellen’s sister Jocasta (Sadhbh Malin), only to stop as soon as he says Ellen’s name instead of hers. Meanwhile, Ellen and Brian passionately consummate their handfasting marriage.

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Changes Everything We Knew About Claire’s Parents

As for Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), the two fall in love sight unseen in 1917. As Henry fights on World War I’s horrifying frontlines, Julia works in London’s Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department. She’s captivated by one of Henry’s letters; the two strike up a correspondence, and they marry at the first opportunity.

Years later, during a vacation in Scotland, a car accident (the same one Claire believes took her parents’ lives) hurtles Julia and Henry through the standing stones back to 1714. They’re separated, however, with Julia being sold to Lord Lovat as a servant and the Grants forcibly making Henry their new bladier. He valiantly searches for his wife for months, up until he believes Arch Bug’s (Terence Rae) lie that Julia died in childbirth. Henry’s grief and wartime PTSD cause him to hallucinate sleeping with Julia, when he’s actually in the arms of Seema (Lauren McQueen), a local sex worker.

Julia and Brian become tentative friends after Brian protects Julia from his father’s sadistic violence. Brian’s mother, Davina Porter (Sara Vickers), deduces Julia’s pregnancy and warns her that if she doesn’t have an abortion, Lovat will kill the newborn. Julia refuses; after exhausting every other option, she accepts Lovat’s sexual advances, hoping to convince him that he’s the father. Lovat, hungry for power, decides a seer’s reading of his unborn child means “his” son becomes Scotland’s future king. Once Davina realizes how much her traumatizing assault and pregnancy at Lovat’s hands resemble Julia’s situation — as well as the unconditional love both women have for their sons — she stops viewing Julia as a threat to her or Brian’s livelihood.

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 1 Ends on Two Cliffhangers

Image via Starz

Both Frasers try to prevent Lovat from marrying Julia, since a Scottish king must be of legitimate birth. Yet the slippery laird has a reverend backdate the marriage registry and conduct the ceremony. Seeking to disrupt the upcoming MacKenzie and Grant alliance, he also plants rumors that Ellen slept with another man. The Grants demand an invasive test to prove whether Ellen remains a virgin. Brian and Julia charge over to Castle Leoch to help her, the latter armed with a medicinal way to fool Ellen’s tormentors. Henry and Julia finally reunite, but can’t escape without the compassionate Ned Gowan’s (Conor MacNeill) help. On Ellen’s wedding day, the Beauchamps and their baby William run away to the stones. Arch Bug is right behind them, however, having been pointed toward Craigh na Dun by Seema. Henry presses Julia’s hand against the stone, and the family’s fate is unknown.

Before Ellen’s wedding, Dougal reveals Ellen and Brian’s relationship to Colum; Dougal had spotted the pair together during an earlier meeting of the Jacobite rebellion. Between her brothers, the Grants, and assassins tracking Brian, Ellen briefly agrees to spurn her love for his safety. She immediately changes her mind when she learns Colum hired the Gallowglass assassins. With Jocasta and Murtagh’s blessing, the lovebirds flee — but not before Malcolm witnesses them together, and forces Brian to kill him in self-defense. To keep the MacKenzie-Grant alliance intact, Dougal marries Malcolm’s sister, Maura (Bobby Rainsbury). Brian and Ellen barely have a moment to themselves before the Jacobites’ fiery crosses call all of Scotland to arms.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 premieres September 18 on Starz.