Sam Heughan: Jamie’s experience in Outlander season 7 is “quite painful”

The seventh season of Outlander has officially begun, and things are already intense. In the first episode alone, Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) was narrowly saved from execution, and soon enough she and her husband Jamie (Sam Heughan) will have the Revolutionary War on their doorstep to deal with. They can’t catch a break, these time-traveling lovebirds.

So how will the pair deal with the war on the way? Claire, who traveled here from far in the future, knows what’s going to happen, but the two of them have tried and failed to change history often enough. “I think Jamie and Claire have always tried to circumnavigate war and tried to change it, certainly in Culloden and Prestonpans they tried to change the course of history,” Heughan told Deadline. “And we realized that you can’t, no matter what happens, it seems to always find its course.”

"So this time, they’re just trying to be on the right side but it feels bigger. This feels like a really unavoidable sort of force of nature that’s happening, and Jamie switches sides now. Unfortunately for him, they kind of both get roped back into it and they do the best that they can to protect those that they love and those they have responsibility for. But yeah, it feels like they’re really staring down the barrel of a gun. This time, they don’t really know how it’s gonna turn out for them."

Jamie will be “at odds” with his son in Outlander season 7

Indeed, Jamie sided with the British for a while, but given that he knows the Americans win this war, he’s shifting his allegiance to the rebels. That could put him at odds with his illegitimate son William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart), who’s been raised by Lord John Grey (David Berry) this whole time.

“[William] obviously comes into play, and he’s been nurtured by John Grey [David Berry], and they’re on the other side, the side of the British,” Heughan said. “So that instantly puts them at odds. Without giving too much away, Jamie does essentially meet William, and their whole relationship plays out. It’s a really cool storyline, and something that’s gonna be quite painful, I think for both sides.

Well, pain is something Jamie is used to by this point, at least.

Outlander stars”don’t know exactly what” the final season will be yet

Season 7 is the penultimate season of Outlander. With one more to go after this, the cast is starting to feel feelings.

“We’ve one season left to film, which we haven’t started yet,” Balfe said. “We don’t know exactly what that’s going to be. It’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to these characters. I think what we feel good about is that this has been such a strong season and it gives us a real great launchpad to finish this story on high and say goodbye to these characters in a really sort of positive and considerate way.”

Heughan weighed in as well: “I think everyone’s got their own way of how they’d love to end the story. I think Caitríona said it so nicely that we get the opportunity to do it satisfactorily and to really tell their story, right? But I don’t know how we’re going to end it but I guess we’re all gonna pitch for what we want. Whatever happens, I think it will be great storytelling.

New episodes of Outlander air Sundays on Starz.

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