"Outlander" season 3 is still many months away, which means that Droughtlander is far from over. But to tide fans over until star-crossed lovers Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) return to the small screen, here are the top five most intriguing, most highly anticipated, and most downright crazy things about the Starz drama's upcoming season.
Zombies and pirates await. "Outlander" season 3 is based on Diana Gabaldon's "Voyager," the third book in the bestselling author's "Outlander" series of novels. The season will find Claire returning to 18th century Scotland with her grown-up daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and their friend Roger Wakefield (Richard Rankin). It will also find Claire and Jamie embarking on a long sea voyage, where they will come across pirates, as well as voodoo zombies. Inverse notes that while the fantasy/romance has previously done away with some of the magical elements in the Gabaldon novels, it can't easily cut out these new interesting characters, as they are pivotal to the "Outlander" season 3 plot.
Jamie has a non-consensual one-night stand. Inverse reports that actress Hannah James has been cast in the role of Geneva Dunsany, a "Voyager" character who engages in a one-night stand with the "Outlander" protagonist while he is separated from Claire. The intimate scene is a controversial one given that Geneva tells Jamie to stop but he doesn't, which means that he essentially raped her. How this scene is adapted in "Outlander" season 3 could thus make or break the series.
Fergus is an adult, and so is Laoghaire's daughter. The boy Claire and Jamie adopted in season 2 will be all grown up in "Outlander" season 3. Actor Cesar Domboy has reportedly been cast as the older version of Fergus while actress Lauren Lyle will take on the role of a grown-up Marsali, Laoghaire's (Nell Hudson) daughter. Fergus and Marsali become lovers in Gabaldon's historical/romantic fiction. Aside from these two, there will be more new faces in "Outlander" season 3, including Wil Johnson as Claire's colleague Joe Abernathy and John Bell as Ian, Jamie's nephew.
Jamie and Black Jack duel. Fans will finally see how the final duel between the "Outlander" hero and his former tormentor Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) plays out in "Outlander" season 3. Viewers will also learn how Jamie survived the Battle of Culloden, during which many of his friends and clansmen were killed.
Two decades of Frank (Tobias Menzies) and Claire's marriage. Before Claire learned that Jamie had lived through the Battle of Culloden, she had returned to Frank, given birth to Brianna, and was married for twenty years. In "Outlander" season 3, fans will see what Claire and Frank's marriage was like and how Claire coped with Jamie's absence.
"Outlander" season 3 is currently without an official release date. It is slated to return to Starz sometime in 2017.
