As any Outlander obsessive knows, bringing Season 6 to fruition has been anything but easy. Heughan, who stars as Jamie, told UK’s Daily Record back in March 2021, “We started in January and it’s going well. Obviously, it’s been tough with COVID protocols, but also the weather in Scotland has been pretty horrendous. The snow has been bad, but it feels like the spring is finally here. There is hope around the corner!” As a result of the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about while filming the new season in 2020, Outlander Season 6 has been reduced to eight episodes, which premiered on Sunday, March 6, 2022. But what it lacks in quantity, it seems it’ll more than make up for in quality. In November 2021, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon revealed about the upcoming season, “This is the first season where I have not had a single episode that I found less likeable… The season is extremely good throughout.” Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts has added, “We are excited to get into the editing room to work on bringing the fans one step closer to reuniting with the family back on Fraser’s Ridge. Filming in 2021 has presented an unprecedented set of challenges which led us to the decision to truncate the season in order to bring the fans the most vibrant and dynamic season as soon as possible. Dinna fash, we will then film an extended season seven with 16 episodes next year as life returns to normalcy.” The new season picks up where Season 5 ended, with the Frasers and the MacKenzies healing from the traumas and the losses they experienced. But they are all reunited as a family and that will make them strong as they face what lies ahead. Of course, the core family members are returning, including Heughan’s Jamie, Balfe’s Claire, Sophie Skelton as Brianna Randall MacKenzie and Richard Rankin as Roger MacKenzie. Keep reading for everything we know about Outlander Season 6 so far—including all the teasers, spoilers, cast pics and previews we can find, as well as what Heughan has said about Season 6’s tumultuous storylines.
When is Outlander coming back for Season 6?
Season 6 of Outlander premiered on Sunday, March 6, 2022 with an extended debut episode. It will also debut on that date in the U.K. via STARZPLAY.
Are there any Outlander spoilers for Season 6?
Yes, and as Season 6 approached, the cast and creative team behind the show are sharing more and more of them every day. For example, Heughan told Men’s Health on March 1, “Jamie’s past comes back to haunt him, an old adversary in the shape of a man called Tom Christie. He was also a fellow intimate in prison with Jamie years ago, and now he comes to live on Fraser’s Ridge with his family, and they really signal the beginning of the decay of the Frasers’ power.” Heughan added, “The Frasers have become affluent. The town has grown. Jamie and his wife Claire almost seem to be like chiefs. They’re very good landowners, but with the arrival of this new family, we really start to see people’s support and loyalty to Frasers start to wane, and it signals the beginning of change in Fraser’s Ridge.” Speaking of Jamie and his wife Claire, Heughan also recently told Radio Times that the two will enjoy more onscreen, one-on-one quality time than perhaps ever before. “We do somehow spend more time with them. There are some lovely moments where you see Jamie and Claire just being in each other’s company,” he noted. On Jan. 22, Starz shared a sitdown with Heughan in which he similarly said about his Outlander alter ego, “Jamie’s past almost catches up with him… or comes back to haunt him, per se. We meet some characters that come back into Jamie’s life and some are good and some are more unsettling.” He added, “This season, we’ve had the buildup to this War of Independence, this revolution, and Jamie Fraser’s very much been part of that. He’s been on the side of the British. He knows they’re the losing side. As we get closer to that point, the stakes are higher… but also Fraser’s Ridge, there’s a revolution within the home as well.” On Jan. 10, Starz dropped a similar Q&A with Bell. “In the beginning of Season 6, he’s in a much better place. He knows where home is, I think, in his heart,” Bell revealed about what’s in store for his onscreen alter ego. “He’s still struggling with his identity a little bit; he’s between the two cultures, but he’s now finding his path again back to his family.” On Jan. 3, Starz shared a behind-the-scenes interview with Rankin, who opened up about what’ll be in store for Roger this season. “I think where we find Roger and Brianna in Season 6 is more together than you’ve ever seen them. They’ve both embraced and accepted the 18th century as their home. In Season 5, you know, they tried and failed to go back to their time,” Ranking said. “But for Roger, I don’t think he quite realized that it was more home to him than he thought… So then it just becomes about, what is our purpose as a family here, settled, where we’re gonna spend our life.” On Dec. 28, Heughan told Good Morning America, “It’s Outlander. There’s everything there. There’s history, romance, adventure. It’s a shorter season due to COVID and some of the challenges we faced but the episodes are longer…. it’s just a great season. It’s dark, it’s exciting; the fans are really gonna love it.” Heughan also said in a video shared by Outlander’s official social media accounts right before Christmas 2021, “Well, I think Jamie’s past almost catches up with him slightly [in Season 6] or comes back to haunt him, per se.” He also teased that in the next batch of episodes, “We meet some characters that come back into Jamie’s life, and some are good and some are more unsettling. This season, we’ve had the build up to this war of independence, this revolution. Jamie Fraser’s very much been part of that. He’s been on the side of the British. He knows they’re the losing side and as we get closer to that point, the stakes are higher.” Perhaps most curiously, he also teased that Season 6 would see “a revolution in the home as well.” Previously, Balfe had revealed in a Dec. 14 Zoom interview, “I got to explore some things with Claire this season that I haven’t before. When you’re talking about the sixth season of a TV show, that you get to find out new things about your character and explore them in a new way, that’s, like amazing.” She added, “I think after the events that happened at the end of Season 5… Claire needs a long time to really heal. And I think she might be known to be a little bit stubborn, but I think she doesn’t allow herself the time to do that. One of the things that she discovers is that her old way with dealing of things and her old coping mechanisms… it doesn’t serve her very much anymore. So she’s having to discover whole new things about herself.” But wait, there’s more! As for Jamie, Balfe said, “Her and Jamie’s relationship is obviously going to have to evolve because of that too, and we have a lot of new people at the ridge and this looming Revolutionary War—all of these things are happening. There’s lots; even though its’ a truncated season, there’s lots going on.” Before Balfe’s latest spoiler, the series’ cast and creators have spoken at length about how Season 6 will compare in feel, style and tone to previous seasons, while also leaking some plot points here and there. For example, at Outlander’s New York Comic-Con panel in October 2021, the panel host reportedly asked at one point, “Did I hear something about a well being built?” In response, Heughan wound up confirming that Bree “designs the well, I think”—then immediately confessed, “That’s a spoiler!” Executive producers Roberts and Maril Davis have teased on an official Outlander podcast that the coming season will be a dark one. “There are some very traumatic and very emotional times,” Davis said. “It’s a difficult season for Jamie and Claire and everyone.” Davis has also said, “Jamie and Claire, their love deepens; Roger and Brianna, they have their own journey, and something fun and new happens with them. Caitlin O’Ryan, who plays Lizzie, has a great story, and she is such a phenomenal actress. There are just so many exciting things.” Balfe spoke more on that subject to EW, saying that the arrival of the Christie family at Fraser’s Ridge will shake things up, especially Malva Christie (Reynolds), who has a secret life. “Outlander does baddies and villains quite well,” Balfe said. “[The Christies] aren’t your typical villains, which is great and refreshing. Claire and Malva build a great relationship and bond. It’s very destabilizing for Claire. It’s a really heartbreaking, but a really twisted narrative that they all get embroiled in.” Also in Season 6, Marsali (Lyle) and Fergus (Domboy) will be having a difficult time, Lyle told Radio Times. Again, if the series sticks to the book, it is because Marsali gives birth to a son with dwarfism, and the superstitions of the time cause problems with their neighbors, who believe that the boy’s condition is a punishment due the parents as a result of their sins. “Marsali and Fergus have always been this fun, romantic couple – young, cool – like the ones that make people laugh and are just really in love with each other and have all these kids,” Lyle said. “And this time, it just got really deep and really dark… They’re at their most tested.” Then she adds, “It’s the first time you see her having to step up, and she’s sort of supporting the family and dealing with her own needs.” Fergus, especially, is distraught. He knows what it is like to grow up as an outcast and he fears being unable to protect his son, Henri-Christian, from the tribulations life will bring his way. Since A Breath of Snow and Ashes encompasses the years 1773-76, the Frasers are coming closer to the American Revolution. Some high points from the book that may or may not be included in the TV series are: —Jamie’s new job as “Indian agent” finds him away from Fraser’s Ridge a good deal as he travels to meetings with the Cherokee tribes. —Claire is accused of murder. —Roger becomes a minister. —Brianna and Roger have a daughter. —Lizzie is pregnant, but she isn’t sure whether the father is Josiah or Keziah Beardsley, so they all three raise the child together. And Heughan hints at a change for Season 6, telling Parade.com in an exclusive interview, “Every season, every episode, there is always something that you don’t expect. And I’m like, ‘OK, that’s what Jamie’s doing. That’s who he is.’ Actually, this season from what I’ve seen of the scripts, I’m excited because I think there is another side to him you haven’t seen before.” When Season 6 begins, the first episode will be titled “Echoes,” and it has nothing to do with An Echo in the Bone, the seventh book in the Outlander franchise. Rather, showrunner Roberts told Elle, “When you see the first episode, the title will speak for itself. Each character will be dealing with something from their past and it will help us tell stories going forward. There was a different title on my very first drop.” But since Roberts shared that information, fan sites are posting the titles for several other episodes as well, but those have not yet been confirmed by Starz:
- “Echoes”
- “Allegiance”
- “Temperance”
- “The World Upside Down”
What will happen in Outlander Season 6?
From the trailers and teasers we’ve seen so far, we know that Season 6 reveals the ramifications of what happened at the end of Season 5, especially for Claire, but the Frasers and the MacKenzies are also moving forward as they are joined by the Christie family on Fraser’s Ridge. We also know that Outlander Season 6 will be based on Gabaldon’s sixth novel A Breath of Snow and Ashes. A portion of the story from A Breath of Snow and Ashes was covered in Season 5 of Outlander, but it is a big book, so there is a lot more story to come. John Bell, who portrays Young Ian on the series, told Digital Spy about Season 6, “It is my favorite season so far, it is just so strong, the storylines throughout it—it feels like there is a change of pace, there is an ominous feeling that is happening this season. It is sort of like Harry Potter when it was getting darker, it is a little bit of that feeling that we can’t stop this inevitability.” Skelton has also shared, “Season 6 for Brianna picks up with her keeping a close eye on her mother but not in a way she feels suffocated by Brianna’s care. Brianna has huge empathy for what Claire’s going through. She can recognize little signs that maybe other people can’t.” As it opens, the Frasers are overcoming the traumas from last season: Claire’s kidnap and sexual assault, Brianna’s abduction by Stephen Bonnet, Roger’s being hung and almost dying, Jamie’s brush with death after being bitten by a poisonous snake and the death of his godfather Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) at the Battle of Alamance. “When we left Season 5, the whole family is fractured,” Heughan said during the Outlander End of Summer series. “They are together but Claire still has some healing to do.” And Balfe agreed, “One of the things I am looking forward to seeing is how she copes with all of that and the repercussions of it. How the family as a whole unit heals together or help her to heal. I think that is going to be a really lovely part of the story.” In an interview with EW, Balfe talked about the arrival of the Christie family at Fraser’s Ridge and how that will shake things up, especially Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds), who has a hidden life. “Outlander does baddies and villains quite well,” Balfe said. “[The Christies] aren’t your typical villains, which is great and refreshing. Claire and Malva build a great relationship and bond. It’s very destabilizing for Claire. It’s a really heartbreaking, but a really twisted narrative that they all get embroiled in.” Also in Season 6, Marsali (Lauren Lyle) and Fergus (César Domboy) will be having a tumultuous time, Lyle told Radio Times. If the series sticks to the book, it is because Marsali gives birth to a son with dwarfism, and the superstitions of the time cause problems with their neighbors. “Marsali and Fergus have always been this fun, romantic couple—young, cool—like the ones that make people laugh and are just really in love with each other and have all these kids. And this time, it just got really deep and really dark… They’re at their most tested.” Then she adds, “It’s the first time you see her having to step up, and she’s sort of supporting the family and dealing with her own needs.”
Is there a trailer for Season 6 of Outlander?
In the two-and-a-half-minute official trailer, the Revolutionary War is about to start as Claire declares, “The tide has turned.” Jamie says, “I can’t be two things at once Claire, a rebel, a Loyalist, an agent of the crown, and an enemy of the king.” To which she replies, “You can’t live your life being afraid of who you are.” Later on, Claire declares, “I don’t belong here. Brianna, Roger, they don’t belong here yet here we are, all of us, because I loved you more than the life that I had. And this I promise you won’t come between us.” Before that, a minute-long, Season 6 preview was revealed by members of Outlander’s cast at New York Comic Com on Saturday, Oct. 9. The trailer shows that when Season 6 arrives, the Revolutionary War is close at hand. Claire tells Jamie in the clip, “It’s starting. A storm, the war. It’s almost here.” The trailer also revealed more returning cast members, including Sophie Skelton (Brianna), Richard Rankin (Roger), Lauren Lyle (Marsali), César Domboy (Fergus), and John Bell (Young Ian), plus newcomer Jessica Reynolds as Malva Christie. Before that, a first look at Season 6 from Heughan, Balfe, Skelton and Rankin debuted back in March 2021, featuring lots of behind-the-scenes footage. In the clip, those four stars shared what they’re most excited about for Outlander Season 6, including all the new faces and new families, like the Christie family. “The characters forge new relationships, which makes for potential drama,” says Rankin. “That’s what Outlander does so well.” “The underlying theme of the season is there is a lot more turmoil here,” adds Heughan.
Is there a new opening credits for Outlander Season 6?
Yes! Starz released the new opening title sequence for Season 6 in November 2021, along with the new rendition of the theme song, the “Skye Boat Song,” sung as a duet this time around by Raya Yarbrough and Griogair Labhruidh (rather than the Season 5 version, which was performed by a chorus).
Will there be a Season 7 of Outlander?
Yes! Starz has given the green light for Season 7 of its romantic, time-traveling series, and there is a possibility of an Outlander spinoff! “Conversations are underway on both Season 7 and spinoffs,” executive producer Ron Moore previously told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think we will have good news on both those fronts before too long, so I feel optimistic about it. I agree that it should have happened before this, but everything happens in its time and I think that both of those things are probably going to happen and, hopefully, we will be able to say something about it before too long.” We also know that at least one Season 7 episode was penned by Gabaldon herself; she revealed in November 2021 that the installment she wrote was originally intended for Season 6, but once that season got shortened due to COVID, her script was reserved for Season 7. Now, the potential bad news: Balfe has hinted that she hopes the series’ seventh season also proves to be the last. “We will have hit the almost 10-year mark by the end of that [season], which feels like a nice kind of time frame, but we don’t know,” Balfe told Vanity Fair in January 2022. “Those decisions are far above my pay grade.”
Outlander Season 6 First-Look Photos
On Oct. 28, Heughan rewarded fans who’ve waited so long for Season 6 with a never-before-seen pic of him in character as Fraser. Before that, Starz had released some more first-look Season 6 photos:
What does Caitriona Balfe’s pregnancy mean for Season 6 of Outlander?
Did Balfe’s pregnancy affect filming on Season 6 of Outlander? It was previously announced that Season 6 had been shortened due to COVID-19, and to make up for that, additional episodes would be added to Season 7. “I don’t know how to write ‘COVID-friendly scenes,’ certainly not an Outlander scene, because we are going to have people next to each other, being emotional—you talk close to people, and that’s where it transfers COVID,” Roberts told Elle. “We had to figure out, how do we keep Outlander, Outlander? So, we wrote the scripts [as originally intended] and dove in with production: Our producer in the U.K., Guy Tannahill, and our new production designer, Mike Gunn, and our staff over there who have worked on Outlander for a long time. We said, ‘Okay, this scene can’t happen like this. If we did this, this, and this, then we can make it happen.’” But now, counting the months, it is clear that the producers had the additional issue of Balfe’s pregnancy to deal with as the actress was pregnant the entire shoot, as filming began in January 2021. That means there was a good chance she may have been showing toward the end, which would be a problem. As fans of the books know, in The Fiery Cross, Claire was having hot flashes, which means she was starting menopause. And while it is possible to get pregnant during menopause–hence the term “change of life babies”–it is more difficult. Plus, when Jamie and Claire left Fanny’s baby in Brownsville for others to care for, they decided that their family was finished. They had Brianna, Roger, and baby Jeremiah. But the biggest question of all is, will there be any love scenes between Claire and Jamie in Season 6, which is something we all tune in for? Knowing that Balfe was pregnant, the producers could have filmed them early on before she began showing, or they may not have written any at all. We will just have to wait to see when Outlander returns in 2022.
Which Outlander cast members are returning for Season 6?
Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser
Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall
Sophie Skelton as Brianna Randall Fraser
Richard Rankin as Roger Wakefield
John Bell as Young Ian
Caitlin O’Ryan as Lizzie Wemyss
How long does Sam Heughan plan to star on Outlander?
“I hope we get to the end and I hope we finish it properly,” Heughan told Parade.com in an exclusive interview back in January 2021. “We are about to do Season 6 and we will see what happens. We love the story. It is getting there. I think it’s had a second life with being released on Netflix and various things and lockdown. People are discovering it, which is great. Scotland will always be my home. I will always have a place there. I would love to find a place. I don’t know for my career. Something I keep asking myself is where will I go when this is all done. I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen. What is life after Jamie Fraser?”
Where was Outlander Season 6 filmed?
The entire season was filmed in Scotland, which doubles for North Carolina.
How many episodes will there be in Outlander Season 6?
Despite our wish for more, there will only be eight episodes in Season 6, down from the 12 there were in Season 5. As of late January 2021, Starz has revealed what the title of each Season 6 episode will be: Episode 601: “Echoes” Episode 602: “Allegiance” Episode 603: “Temperance” Episode 604: “Hour of the Wolf” Episode 605: “Give Me Liberty” Episode 606: “The World Turned Upside Down” Episode 607: “Sticks and Stones” Episode 608: “I Am Not Alone”
Where can I watch and stream Outlander Season 6 on TV and online?
What happened in Outlander Season 5?
Despite being only 12 episodes, Outlander Season 5 was jam-packed. Here are the highlights: Brianna and Roger were married in a lavish wedding at Fraser’s Ridge, when Brianna learned that Stephen Bonnet was still alive. Jamie pretended to hunt for his godfather Murtagh Fitzgibbons with the aid of Redcoat Lieutenant Hamilton Knox, even though he had no intention of capturing him, much less killing him. Truth be told, Jamie’s sympathies were actually on the side of the Regulators, but Governor Tryon threatened to take away Fraser’s Ridge if Jamie didn’t raise a militia to subdue the Regulators. Claire learned that the medical advice she distributed using the pseudonym Dr. Rawlings, which is the name of the doctor on the medical chest that was a gift from Jamie, had gone far and wide, which put her life in jeopardy. Jocasta married Duncan Innes even though her heart belonged to Murtagh. The Redcoats and the Regulators faced off at the Battle of Alamance. When a Regulator tried to shoot Jamie, Murtagh saved his life, only for one of Jamie’s soldiers to shoot Murtagh. Murtagh died before Claire could try to work her medical magic. Roger was mistaken for a Regulator and hanged by Governor Tryon. Jamie and Claire had him cut down just in time, but he lost his singing voice. Young Ian returned from his time with the Mohawks, but was a changed man. Jamie was bitten by a venomous snake and extracted a promise from Roger to kill Stephen Bonnet in his stead if he died. Claire used every trick in her book to save Jamie’s life. Brianna was abducted by Stephen Bonnet, who planned to sell her into white slavery. Jamie, Roger, Claire and Ian came to her rescue just in time. Stephen Bonnet was sentenced to death by drowning–his worst fear–and Brianna took pity on him and shot him before the water rose all the way. Claire was kidnapped and assaulted by a group of renegade men from Brownsville, forcing Jamie to gather a group of loyal men to rescue her. They managed to save her life, but not before she was sexually assaulted and abused. Next, Will There Be an Outlander Season 8? Here’s What Executive Producer Maril Davis Told Us
