It’s been nearly two years since Starz unrolled a new episode of “Outlander,” but fans can finally catch up with their favorite literary characters come-to-life when the sixth season debuts on March 6.
Based on the “Outlander” series of books by Diana Gabaldon, this show has seen a lot of change since it first debuted in 2014. Over the course of five seasons Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) have grown together and apart with centuries between them as they figured out their love, had their daughter Bree (Sophie Skelton), survived wars and bid farewell to loved ones.
Warning: Major spoilers for “Outlander” Season 5 follow below.
“Outlander” Season 5, which finished airing in May 2020, transitioned from a series about two separated lovers into a family drama that intertwined Bree and Roger (Richard Rankin) into the main story arcs. Set in North Carolina from 1770-72, the season loosely followed the events from Gabaldon’s fifth book, “The Fiery Cross.” It began with a wedding and wrapped with each family member accepting their place within the clan, all while those around them set the scene for the upcoming American Revolution.
With the sixth season picking up on those threads, here’s a refresher on everything you need to remember from “Outlander” Season 5 — from its main characters and plot points to the gruesome but hopeful season finale.
Establishing Fraser’s Ridge
The fifth season picks up with Bree and Roger’s wedding, which takes place following Roger’s decision to stay in the past with his beloved and her son Jemmy (Andrew and Matthew Adair). The kid may or may not be his biological child after Bree’s assault by Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speelers) in Season 4, but he has made a decision to raise him as his own. Speaking of Bonnet, during the reception Bree learns he isn’t dead after all, although she chooses to keep that information to herself for the time being.
Jamie is aware, having been involved in the conversation Bree overheard in the first place, but getting revenge on the man who attacked his daughter isn’t the only thing on his mind. Much of the season revolves around his journey to establish and solidify Fraser’s Ridge as a safe and functional home, while protecting those he loves and trying to do right by his community.
One of Jamie’s biggest obstacles this season is loyalty, which Governor Tryon (Tim Downie) also reminds the Scotsman of during Bree’s wedding. In exchange for the very land he’s settled on to create a safe space for his family, Jamie is obligated to the Crown and has promised to help them control and take down the Regulators — those fighting against the English rule. Complicating matters is the fact that Jamie’s godfather and best friend, Murtagh Fitzgibbons (Duncan Lacroix) is English Enemy No. 1, and the Crown expects Jamie to prove his commitment to their cause by killing his kin.
Murtagh and Jocasta
While Murtagh is busy fighting for his honor and evading the English, the love of his life, Jocasta (Maria Kennedy Doyle) is moving on with marriage. Although Murtagh previously told her to settle down and be happy, he now has a change of heart and tries to stop the festivities from happening. Unfortunately he’s too late and Jocasta reveals she cannot be with a man of war, effectively squashing one of his last reasons for living. At least in terms of the “Outlander” narrative, that is.
Sure enough, when the Battle of Alamance kicks off, it proves to be the final standoff between Jamie and his godfather. Murtagh saves Jamie’s life in a happy moment that quickly sours when a member of Jamie’s crew shoots the Regulator leader in the chest, and he dies in his godson’s arms.
As for Jocasta, she marries Duncan Innes (Alastair Findlay) and learns her lawyer Neil Forbes (Billy Boyd) is working with Bonnet. When she slyly confronts him about it, Forbes tries to smother her with a pillow, but Ulysses (Colin McFarlane) rushes in and saves the day. He snaps Forbes’ neck and then goes on the lam, afraid of what will happen if authorities learn he killed a white lawyer. In the end Jamie arranges for Ulysses’ safe passage back to England, where he will be a free man.
When Centuries Collide
Claire, meanwhile, spends most of the season bringing a touch of feminism to the past through her medical practice, which now includes her right-hand woman, Marsali (Lauren Lyle). Throughout the season Claire helps women and others by sharing her modern knowledge of medicine. That includes the early creation of penicillin and publishing medical advice under the pseudonym Dr. Rawlings, but it doesn’t sit well with everyone in the community — in particular the Browns, with whom Claire and Jamie have several fallings out.
She isn’t the only one attempting to better the lives of those in the past. Bree proves this season that she takes after her mother by bringing modern inventions to Fraser’s Ridge, including smoking out a memorable swarm of locusts.
The Ballad of Roger Mac
Although Roger decides to stay in the past with his family, that doesn’t mean he’s having an easy time fitting in. Throughout the season he struggles with his place in a time that doesn’t necessarily embrace intelligent men, although he eventually finds his own niche as a singer and storyteller.
All of that is ripped away from him in the middle of the season when Roger journeys to send (a still alive) Murtagh a warning from Jamie about the English hit on him. On the way back to Fraser’s Ridge Roger happens upon one of his relatives he previously met last season, and her husband Buck MacKenzie (played by former Dougal MacKenzie portrayer Graham McTavish) mistakes the entire situation. In a heartbreaking turn Roger’s own relation beats him and hangs him.
It takes some time but Claire, Jamie and Bree finally realize Roger is missing. They find him hanging and pull him down just in time. Unfortunately his vocal cords have been completely damaged and it takes him nearly the rest of the season before he can speak again. It’s a crippling turn of events for a character (and scholar) who relies so heavily on his voice, and he takes it out on his family in nearly all of the subsequent episodes.
The Return of Ian Fraser
Young Ian (John Bell), who previously saved Roger’s life last season by striking a deal to live with the Mohawks, returns in Episode 8 armed with new skills and knowledge that prove helpful in terms of keeping the Frasers safe. He and Roger begin to bond again, and when Ian decides this world is too much and tries to end his own life, it’s a deeply wounded Roger who stops him.
Like Roger, Ian has been through a lot in this series, from getting kidnapped and being sexually assaulted to watching Bonnet kill someone in cold blood. In other words, his PTSD is real. So is Roger’s, which is why the men bond. Something else significant clearly happened to Ian during his time with the Mohawks to bring him to the point of death, but all he reveals for the time being is that he had a wife while living with the tribe.
Meanwhile, this is the season where Ian finally learns the truth about the time-traveling stones and where Claire, Bree and Roger truly come from. After hearing the story he accepts the truth and fully integrates himself into the family’s inner circle.
Fergus Makes an Appearance
Although Fergus (César Domboy) is essentially Jamie and Claire’s adoptive son, he has few storylines during Season 5. He and Marsali continue to grow their family and he’s often seen helping Jamie and Young Ian on various missions, but his lack of real storylines has left many fans asking for more of him in Season 6.
Roger and Bree
While the couple contends with the brutal realities of living in the early 1770s, they also grapple with the idea of returning to their own timeline once Jemmy is old enough to travel through the stones. When they realize he can indeed make the journey, they say some painful goodbyes and head “home.” However the stones have bigger plans for the family, and they drop them off right where they were, leading them to realize their true home is alongside Claire and Jamie in 1772.
The End of Stephen Bonnet
Throughout the season, Bonnet’s shadow lurks over all of the main characters, to the point where Jamie and Claire decide to do something about it by creating an elaborate whiskey ruse involving the pirate. But Bonnet, who is more determined than ever to claim Jemmy as his son so that he can retain control over Jocasta’s property once she leaves it to the tot, is wise to the plan.
While Jamie, Roger and Ian wait for him at the planned spot, Bonnet kidnaps Brianna while knocking Claire out on the beach. He then takes her to his home in the middle of an island and the pair play house (he for real and Bree for safety). Before long Bonnet realizes Bree is faking it though, and in retaliation he forces her to watch him having sex with a prostitute before informing her he plans to sell her for six pounds.
It’s that prostitute who winds up saving Bree’s life when she alerts Claire and Jamie to their daughter’s whereabouts, and Roger exacts revenge on the pirate with his knuckles. Bree decides she wants the court to serve justice and Bonnet is sentenced to death by drowning, but Bree takes matters back into her own hands. As she watches Bonnet waiting for the water to drown him, she proves she’s the shot to beat by putting a bullet in Bonnet’s head instead.
Claire and Jamie
Sure, Season 5 expands into more of a family drama but there are still key moments between the central couple that started it all. During various jaunts they discuss everything from war and medicine, to whether they should have had more children, with several love scenes thrown in for good measure.
At one point in the season all of that is jeopardized, of course. Jamie is bit by a poisonous snake during a hunting trip and nearly dies, insisting he’d rather do so than to amputate a leg. The admission leads to an intense conversation between Ian (whose father only has one leg) and Fergus (who only has one hand). Meanwhile Claire has the penicillin ready to go, but her needle has been broken so she can’t inject it into Jamie’s blood. In the end it’s another Bree invention — using the fang of the snake in question as a needle — that helps bring her father back to life.
Claire’s Attack
In the Season 5 finale, one of the hardest moments from the book series comes to life onscreen. Things between the Frasers and the Browns have been uneasy all season long, but they come to a head when Jamie refuses to help Lionel Brown (Ned Donnehy) start something of a neighborhood watch. It’s around this point that Lionel realizes Claire is Dr. Rawlings, and he is personally offended by the advice she’s given the female members of his family.
As a result he attacks a very pregnant Marsali and kidnaps Claire before brutally beating her and raping her alongside several of his men. It’s a gruesome and controversial scene, and while the cameras don’t linger (Claire goes into a dreamlike state involving a Thanksgiving dinner instead), it’s still a hard watch for fans.
In the end Jamie, Fergus, Ian and Roger rescue her, and although her body is intact and healing it’s clear her mental recovery will be one of the major focuses in Season 6.
