Blood of My Blood Season 2: What the Outlander Prequel Has in Store

I fell hard for Outlander years ago, the way half of us did. It was hard not to. I mean, first you have the time travel element, and don’t tell me you haven’t fantasized about going back in time. Then, of course, you have the Jamie and Claire love story that just draws you in, leaving you unable to stop watching. 

I’ll admit I was a little nervous when they announced a prequel. Prequels can be a letdown. This one wasn’t. I loved the first season far more than I expected to, and now we’re being teased with what’s coming in Blood of My Blood Season 2.

They left us on a cliffhanger as all good TV shows do, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Ellen and Brian and Julia and Henry next. I’ve been glued to every scrap of news going, and let me tell you, Blood of My Blood season 2 is shaping up to be quite something.

A Quick Word on Where Season 1 Left Us

Two love stories, two centuries. Jamie’s parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser, falling for each other in the Scottish Highlands against a backdrop of clan politics.

Claire’s parents, Julia and Henry Beauchamp, found each other in the chaos of the First World War. Then came the twist that made every Outlander fan sit up. Julia and Henry were pulled through the standing stones, and by the finale, the two of them had been torn apart at Craigh na Dun. 

But who made it back through the stones, Julia or Henry? That’s what we’ll have to find out. Ellen and Brian, meanwhile, ran off and eloped with impending trouble approaching.

When Does Blood of My Blood Season 2 Come Out?

Mark your calendar. Season 2 premieres on Starz on Friday, September 18, 2026, with episodes rolling out weekly rather than all at once. Starz clearly has faith in it, because they renewed the show back in June 2025, before season 1 had even aired. 

Filming wrapped in December 2025, and the first teaser trailer arrived in April 2026, timed rather nicely to land on World Outlander Day. 

If you’ve been refreshing for news, then this is the latest sneak peek at Season 2.

What Can We Expect in Season 2?

Here is where it gets interesting, because both of our couples are in for a rough time.

Henry and Julia, Split Across the Stones

The first season 2 trailer in April confirmed what we’d all been fretting over. Henry is the one who made it back through the stones, leaving Julia stranded in the eighteenth century. So he begins the season alone, cut off from the woman he loves and from any real hope of reaching her. 

Diana Gabaldon has said that what they do with Henry at the very start is both dramatic and heart-wrenching, and the show has made it clear that he’ll be wrestling with his state of mind as he tries to find his way back to her. 

Jeremy Irvine, who plays Henry, put it best. He said where his character starts season 2 is wildly not what you’d expect. When the two do finally find their way back to each other, brace yourself for some very awkward conversations about the time they’ve spent apart, and a fair bit of forgiveness and reconciliation to work through.

Ellen and Brian, and a Country Choosing Sides

Over in the Highlands, Ellen and Brian don’t get an easy ride either. The Jacobite cause is stirring, and every clan is being forced to pick a side. Brian finds himself pulled toward the rebellion, and that tug between duty and love is exactly what threatens to pull the pair of them apart. 

If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s the very same bind their son Jamie will find himself in years down the line. We know where these two are heading, of course. A home at Lallybroch, children, and a wee boy called Jamie. Getting them there is the story.

Who’s Who in Season 2

The core four are all back. Harriet Slater returns as Ellen MacKenzie, Jamie Roy as Brian Fraser, Hermione Corfield as Julia, and Jeremy Irvine as Henry. Around them sits a fabulous supporting cast from the original series:

• Séamus McLean Ross as Colum MacKenzie
• Sam Retford as Dougal MacKenzie
• Rory Alexander as Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser
• Conor MacNeill as Ned Gowan
• Tony Curran as Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat
• Sara Vickers as Davina Porter

One face we won’t be seeing again is John Lumsden’s Malcolm Grant, whose character didn’t survive season 1.

Are There Any New Characters?

As things stand, the show hasn’t made a song and dance about big new cast additions for season 2. And that’s what I love about the prequel. The faces we’re seeing on screen aren’t strangers at all. They’re younger versions of characters we already adore from Outlander. 

Watching a young Colum and Dougal MacKenzie throw their weight around, a fresh-faced Murtagh, and Ned Gowan before the grey hairs set in is half the fun. 

Tony Curran’s Lord Lovat is the one I’d keep your eye on. He’s the cunning old schemer they called the Old Fox; he’s Jamie’s grandfather, and he was a very real man indeed.

How Close to Real History Is It?

Closer than you might think, at least in the bones of it. The Jacobite risings were real, the clans were real, and the business of Highland families being torn apart over whether to back the Stuart claim to the throne is well documented in history. 

The love stories and the time-travel are pure invention, naturally. But Diana Gabaldon has always been known for doing her homework, and the political world these characters move through is grounded in fact.

One thing worth keeping in mind. If the show sticks to the timeline laid down by the novels, Ellen and Brian’s story plays out in the years around 1714, when Jacobite feeling was building toward the rising of 1715. 

That’s a full generation before Bonnie Prince Charlie’s doomed campaign of 1745, the one the original Outlander marched us all toward. 

Lord Lovat is the perfect example of real history bleeding into the drama. The actual Simon Fraser played every side against the middle for decades, threw his weight behind the ’45 when it suited him, and ended up the last man beheaded at Tower Hill in 1747. 

You couldn’t make him up, and why bother when you have a real historical person to have as a character.

While You Wait for September

If September feels a long way off, you’re not on your own. I’ve been filling the gap with a few other historical dramas that take you back in time the way Outlander does. It’s not quite the same as new Blood of My Blood, but it will do nicely until Henry and Julia are back on our screens.

So, are you as excited for Blood of My Blood season 2 as I am? I’ll be counting down to September 18, cup of tea in hand, ready for the off.