Outlander season eight won’t be gracing screens until next year, but Starz has unveiled a teaser trailer to keep devotees on tenterhooks, reports the Daily Record.
The preview arrives shortly after one cast member revealed details about their fresh venture beyond the sweeping historical drama.
The season eight teaser weaves together new scenes from the upcoming series with nostalgic moments from earlier instalments.
Yet viewers have been left frantically speculating about one specific scene at the trailer’s conclusion when an unseen character addresses Claire Fraser (portrayed by Caitríona Balfe) as “Mrs Fraser”.
This occurs whilst Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Claire appear to be in an intimate embrace, with this mysterious figure seemingly shattering their blissful moment.
As Jamie steps back, Claire appears utterly stunned as the camera zooms in on her expression.
Flocking to Reddit, numerous devotees believe they’ve identified the mystery voice speaking to Claire.
One user commented on the platform: “It kinda sounded like Henry to me” whilst another concurred: “Yes! ! It sounded like Henry to me as well! !”
A third viewer shared similar thoughts: “I mean it could be possible for Henry to time travel to find Claire and he ends up in this time. That would be crazy, but look at what happened with Roger. He found his father in 1739 and was older than his father was. If Henry traveled [sic] directly from 1715 to 1779 (or whatever year it is), he would be younger than Claire. That would be crazy!”
This theory suggests Claire will be reunited with her time-travelling father Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), whom she believed had perished alongside her mother Julia (Hermione Corfield) in a car accident.
One viewer speculated: “I think it’s going to be her brother but played by the same actor for her dad Henry” whilst another suggested: “What if it’s her brother?”
However, this possibility was dismissed by another fan, who remarked: “She wouldn’t recognise him she doesn’t even know he exists. I strongly believe it’s Henry. She would have had pics of her parents growing up.”
Numerous supporters expressed scepticism about the trailer’s editing and whether the dialogue corresponded to the scenes shown, with one Reddit user observing: “I don’t think the “Mrs. Fraser” and “Is it possible?” are from the same scene. I don’t know about the “Mrs. Fraser”, but I bet the “Is it possible?” will be early on when Jamie and Claire talk about Faith. Claire is probably asking Jamie if it’s possible their Faith lived. In the books they both mutually agree that she died and Fanny’s Faith isn’t theirs. I wonder how the show will play it [sic].”
Another enthusiast commented: “Agree. I think her looking stunned is the “hello the house” moment. Same expression as when she first saw Brianna in the past.”
Someone else said: “Exactly. It’s a red herring. They did the same thing in a 7B trailer when they showed Jamie at Claire’s bedside after she’d been shot and his voiceover saying “we don’t have much time”. The line was actually said to William later in the episode.
“Exactly! Teasers are always edited in order to misdirect. The dialogue rarely has anything to do with the scene. They want to get the buzz going. It’s all smoke and mirrors,” added another fan.
The “hello, the house” represents a pivotal moment in Diana Gabaldon’s eighth and ninth Outlander novels, witnessing Jamie and Claire’s emotional reunion with Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna Fraser (Sophie Skelton) along with their family at Fraser’s Ridge, having thought they would never encounter them again.
Additional viewers theorised that the enigmatic voice belonged to either Lord John Grey (David Berry) or Jamie’s son William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart).
The eighth series is anticipated to draw from Gabaldon’s source material, though it remains uncertain whether it will solely adapt the eighth book Written in My Own Heart’s Blood or incorporate storylines from the ninth novel Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.
The writer’s 10th and concluding Outlander series novel A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out remains under development and is unlikely to feature in the programme, given that the eighth series will premiere before the book’s publication. Moreover, the scriptwriters are anticipated to deviate from the original novels with the Faith Fraser plotline and potentially connect Outlander to its prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood.