Author Diana Gabaldon has just revealed that she helped write the Season 7 premiere of Outlander. However, initially, it was intended to be an episode in Season 6.
Thanks to the global coronavirus pandemic, Season 6 of Starz’s Outlander was a shortened season. This led to a mere eight episodes, and some fans were disappointed the season was truncated.
The Season 6 finale saw Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and her husband, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), separated, leaving fans on a desperate cliffhanger regarding whether or not they will be reunited. However, this was originally not going to be the season finale.
Diana Gabaldon helped write Episode 9, which became the Season 7 premiere
According to a tweet by Diana Gabaldon, who is the author of the Outlander book series, the episode she helped to write was for Episode 9 of the sixth season.
However, thanks to shortening the season, this episode was then changed to be the Season 7 premiere.
This reveal came about after an Outlander fan asked the author if she had written an episode for Season 6.
“I did, but it was 609,” the author wrote.
The series was set to explore the entirety of book six in the Outlander series, but with the complication of the coronavirus pandemic, Starz decided to shorten the season, and a rewrite had to be done to finish with Episode 8. However, some parts of the author’s original script still remain in the Season 7 premiere.
“So then they truncated S6 to 8 episodes. Small bits of my script are used in ep. 701, though.”
Season 6 of Outlander dealt with the introduction of the Christie family that caused untold misery for Clarie and Jamie. In addition to this, the American Revolutionary War is marching closer.
These two plotlines will be explored further still in Season 7, but, as yet, it is unclear exactly which parts of the upcoming story Gabaldon helped to write for the TV show.
Season 7 of Outlander will be longer than Season 6
While Season 6 of Outlander was truncated, the good news is that Season 7 will be extended. Part of that will help to finish up storylines from book six.
As previously pointed out by Monsters and Critics, Caitriona Balfe has revealed that Season 7 will run for 16 episodes.
This will not only help to tie up those loose ends relating to the Christie storyline, but it will also give plenty of room for everything that occurs in the seventh book in the Outlander series.
As yet, though, there is no news on when Season 7 will premiere. Still, it is likely some way away yet, as filming has only just recently gotten underway for the next installment of Starz’s hit historical time-traveling series.
Outlander has been renewed for Season 7, but, as yet, no premiere date has been released by Starz.