‘Outlander’: Sam Heughan Teases New Season 6 Characters
Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, and the rest of their Outlander co-stars are gearing up to start filming season 6. Fans may not get new episodes until later this year. But Heughan is offering a few fun tidbits to look forward to. In a recent interview, the actor teased the introduction of two new characters next season.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, A Breath of Snow and Ashes and The Fiery Cross.]
‘Outlander’ season 6 will follow multiple books
Outlander is based on Diana Gabaldon’s beloved literary series. And each season has followed the sequential storylines of her books. Season 5 covered the events of Gabaldon’s fifth and sixth novels A Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
With season 6, Outlander will continue certain storylines from those two books. But according to Heughan, it may also dive into the events of book 7, An Echo in the Bone, and beyond.
“Actually, if I could tell you…I can’t because I haven’t seen all the scripts…I would say because we have so much history and time travel and all that, we can pull from any book,” Heughan revealed in a recent interview with Parade. “So, there may be not just book seven, but other books we pull from.”
Sam Heughan teases two new characters
In a recent behind-the-scenes video Heughan, Balfe, Sophie Skelton, and Richard Rankin gave fans a tour of the Outlander costume department. The cast didn’t reveal too many details about season 6. But Heughan did hint at the addition of two new characters. “Obviously we have to dress lots of people because there are many, many more settlers coming to Fraser’s Ridge,” Heughan said.
“We have a new character, but he’s not so new to Jamie,” he continued. “Actually in Ardsmuir, Tom Christie is one of Jamie’s ancient foes. He comes to Fraser’s Ridge and tries to take a bit of power actually. So there’s a bit of power play and his daughter becomes a very, very special part of this story. I can’t give away more.”
Who is Tom Christie in the ‘Outlander’ books?
Tom Christie was first introduced in The Fiery Cross. His back story is that he was a prisoner at Ardsmuir Prison, and during Jamie’s stint there, the two led opposing religious factions.
When Jamie is recovering from his near-fatal snakebite, Tom Christie comes to Fraser’s Ridge with his family. Not knowing his history with Jamie, Roger allows them to join the settlement.
Tom’s daughter, Malva, also has an extensive storyline in the Outlander books. In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, she becomes Claire’s apprentice. And when Claire falls sick of a mysterious illness, Malva reveals she is pregnant and claims Jamie is the father.
Malva is later found dead and it is revealed that she had used Claire’s own medicines to make her sick. It turns out, Malva’s brother, Allan is the one who impregnated her. And Malva tried to kill Claire so she could cover up the incest and marry Jamie.
When Claire finds Malva’s body, she tries to save her baby but is ultimately unable to. She is charged with Malva’s murder, but eventually, Malva’s father Tom takes the blame. Allan later reveals that he was the one who murdered his sister.
